Shropshire MP Mark Pritchard to be keynote speaker at EU conference
Shropshire MP Mark Pritchard will be one of the keynote speakers at an international conference taking place this month on whether there is a future for Britain outside the European Union.
The Wrekin MP resigned as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party International Office two years ago in a protest over Government policies on Europe and immigration.
He claimed the EU was hurting businesses in the county.
Now he will be one of six speakers at the conference – titled "Restoring Self-Government to Britain: The Future for Britain outside the EU" – which is due to take place in London on November 22 from 10.30am to 6.15pm.
It has been organised by The Bruges Group, which was set up to battle against closer relations with Europe and British involvement in a single European state.
Mr Pritchard said he was looking forward to speaking and making his views known.
"I will be setting out to make the intellectual and emotional case as to why Europe needs to fundamentally reform and change if the UK is to remain a member of the European club," he said.
"There are many economic, political and diplomatic benefits to our EU membership, but there are also clear dis-benefits.
"It is reducing these dis-benefits that the Prime Minister will seek to achieve when he re-negotiates our relationship, after the general election, which he will then put to the British people via an EU referendum."
Other speakers include Mark Reckless, who stunned the Tories when he left the Conservatives in September to join Ukip.
Sir Bill Cash, MP for Stone, is also due to speak as is the Rt Hon Peter Lilley MP.
Solicitor Jeremy Nieboer and economist Ewen Stewart complete the line-up.
Back in 2012, in his resignation letter to David Cameron, Mr Pritchard said he was concerned about an increasing number of Government policies "not least on immigration, Europe, and a lack of clarity for national and individual aspiration".
He said that remaining in the post would "inhibit my ability to speak out more freely on these and other issues".
Mr Cameron appointed Mr Pritchard to the position, which promotes democracy in developing countries, in 2010.
The MP has also gone on record as saying the Conservatives needed to be far more robust on Europe.
He said: "The EU is eroding our independence as a nation, costing jobs, increasing taxes and hurting businesses in Shropshire."
Mr Pritchard also announced he would not stand for re-election as the secretary of the powerful backbench Tory 1922 Committee.
