The style of government favoured by the European Union is very different from the free state that our ancestors fought to develop over many centuries. The single most important element of our constitution is that the government can be thrown out at any time by a simple majority in the House of Commons, and an immediate election called. This possibility remains, but now that fewer of our laws are made by Parliament, the value of being able to hold rulers to account has diminished. The EU makes occasional con­cessions to democracy here and there, but the primary thrust of the EU project from the outset has been to centralise power in the hands of rulers who have as free a hand as they can get away with. The EU will not change, which means that we need urgently to recover our powers of self-government, while we still have the chance.