Britain to Leave EU Next Year?
A headline that splashed across the International Herald Tribune stated what the Trumpet has been proclaiming for years, and what its predecessor, the Plain Truth, had pronounced even decades before that: “The Skeptics Could Push Britain Out of the EU.”
When Britain joined the European Community in 1973, Plain Truth founder Herbert W. Armstrong definitively stated that Britain would not remain in a United States of Europe. Bible prophecy makes this clear. Sadly, Britain—biblical Ephraim—is prophesied to be a victim of aggression by the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. It is clear that this empire has been rising since the mid-20th century as a united Europe (now known as the European Union). So when Britain joined the Community, Mr. Armstrong knew this would only be temporary.
In the last great work of his life, the 1985 book Mystery of the Ages, Mr. Armstrong wrote about a “union of 10 nations to rise up out of or following the Common Market of today.” He proclaimed, “Britain will not be in that empire soon to come.”
And now comes the February 9 International Herald Tribune article—with a headline that might have seemed ludicrous maybe 5 or 10 years ago.
The article stated, “This week Britain’s Parliament is finally beginning to debate the European Union’s new constitution. This will mark the start of a slow but profoundly important process that could, by the end of 2006, see Britain close to leaving the EU. This would be an extraordinary turning point in British foreign policy and a major weakening of its international influence.”
There you have it—a respected global news source giving about two years until Britain’s exit from the EU becomes a viable outcome.
A referendum on the EU constitution is scheduled to take place sometime in 2006—perhaps in the autumn. Polls indicate that Britons are not in favor of turning national sovereignty over to a continental superstate. This referendum will truly be a defining moment for the British peoples—and it may just rock the foundation of the European Union.
Some EU countries are forming unofficial contingency plans for when Britain votes “no” to ensure that the UK doesn’t derail the charter that Eurocrats have worked long and hard to perfect. The Telegraph reported that under a scheme to create a “core” group of countries—as revealed by senior officials from Germany, France and Belgium—“Britain would become increasingly irrelevant” (March 1).
This national referendum could be key in Britain’s eventual secession from the Union—the fulfillment of a prophetically based prediction made over 30 years ago!
As the July 2004 Trumpet stated: “In a matter of months, the fate of Britain will largely be decided. Will its people reject the EU constitution? … Will the British people, or their leaders, walk out of the European Union? Or will Europe be done with Britain’s wavering and wash its hands of the British once and for all? …
“You have been told. Whether Britain is forced out or whether it voluntarily leaves the EU, one thing is certain: ‘Britain will not be in that empire’ now building in Europe.
“And when those headlines splash across the pages of newspapers worldwide, proclaiming Britain’s exit from an otherwise united Europe, remember that one man and where you read it first!”