Hi,

I've just discovered this website today and had a look around and it seems to be a really good site. However, one of the first pages that I came across was the "ten EU truths" page, and I have to say that I have some concerns over it. Sorry to be critical with my very first post, but if we're going to fight the EU, if we're going to try to win people over, to get them to disvoer the truth about the EU, we need to make sure that everything is watertight and is backed up, rather than going with sensationalist claims. Some of the poins made are basically good, but need more substance. I would suggest putting a "find out more" link next to them to take the reader to a page with more details. I will go through the points in turn:

1. A bit vague, but generally OK.
2. "The EU Constitution is similar to the old Soviet Union's" - really? Seriously? In what respects? To me this sounds like a completely outlandish and mad claim unless something more substantial can be given. "The laws of a police state" - what laws? Can we give any examples?
3. What is clause I464? I have tried in vain to discover what is being referred to - can we give a link or explanation? What is in the Constitution (or reform treaty) that will "abolish" England or Britain?
4. This point contradicts itself. It says that it is illegal under UK law and then that the Treason Act has been repealed so that it is no longer illegal. Which is it to be? Also (as a law student) I can tell you that I strongly doubt that the Treason Act or any other Act make the EU "illegal" - the principle of implied repeal means that the European Communities Act 1972 will have overridden any provisions existing in the Treason Acts which may have prevented the EU being legal. Also, I strongly doubt that the Treason Act was repealed so that anyone could escape prosecution in relation to the EU. Is there a shred of evidence for this?
5. This is effectively a repeat of point 2. Can we not come up with at least ten bad things about the EU? The criticisms that I made in relation to point 2 also apply here. And as much as I love the Daily Mail, I'm not sure that it's a hugely credible source.
6. Again, a completely un-backed up claim. Is there any evidence for this?
7. Why the use of the future tense? Is it not already an economic disaster? When will it be a disaster? Also, the "our politicians lied to us" tagged on the end is not really appropriate here as it does not say what the politicians are supposed to have lied about, or give any evidence.
8. Yet another repetition of points 2 and 5, and unfortuantely no evidence or facts here either.
9. Oh, the EU police state again. Where have I heard about that before? Points 2, 5 and 8, perhaps. Can we provide evidence on the nuclear weapons claim? Can we provide evidence on the party abolition claim?
10. In substance the point about Britain being the fourth largest (although I was under the impression it was the fifth largest?) economy is good, but let's say why this means that we should withdraw from the EU.

I hope that this will be taken in the spirit that it's intended, which is constructive criticism to improve the site and the organisation. What is really needed here, as I said above, is each point to link to a page which gives more information, facts, etc. Remember that we have to win over a sceptical audience. Every time we make a point we must ask ourselves "why?", as a sceptical voter would. We must also provide evidence, to show that we are not just scaremongering or exaggerating.

Let's have ten separate points, fully reinforced with evidence and facts. Let's make sure that every point can be directly related to by potential readers. How does the EU affect my every day life? How will I be worse off due to EU membership.

Something I would definately want to emphasise in this list is cost. A few years ago, I took part in a mock referendum on the Euro at school. The one question that people wanted to know that answer to was "will things cost more?" We won many voters on that basis alone. Also, evidence shows that, more than anything else (and I should imagine this applies especially to students), what changes people's votes is financial well-being. So let's push this, right up near the top of the list. When I turn my mobile phone on, my welcome message is "what would you do with £110m a day?" To me, this is a key, key point. Let's tell people how much it costs, in terms that are relevant to them. "The EU costs you £xxx a year".

Perhaps another point to consider is "who is opposed to EU membership?" People need to know that it is not just loonies, fruitcakes and racists that oppose the EU. Let's have some statistics. "xx% of people want to leave the EU". "Key figures who oppose EU membership include xxx".

How about the fact that we cannot choose who we have in the country any more? I think on the main page is something about the proportion of young people who are victims of crime. "We cannot (in most cases) deport criminals if they have EU nationality (treaty article no. xxx)".

Just thinking about some of the things that I learnt studying EU law that I never knew beforehand and I think most people would be shocked to know - how about that EU law has supremacy over UK law, and that where there is a conflict, British courts have to apply the EU law, and not the UK one (see the Factortame cases).

I think that it is possible to have a very strong list of reasons about why we should leave the EU. However, I am worried that the current list looks sensationalist and is not reinforced by fact, and that some of the claims are plain wrong. If we can just fix a few minor things like this, then this should be a great site.