Wednesday, 27th August 2008

When the invitation to visit Iceland arrived on my desk I jumped at it. Not only would I meet Heimssyn, the movement opposed to Iceland’s joining the EU, but as everyone knows my interest in fishing has not been dampened and what an opportunity Iceland would give me to find out about life outside the Common Fisheries Policy.

Wednesday 20 August
I was met at Reykjavik airport by Bjarni Hardarson, Centre Party MP and former journalist and businessman. On the way to the hotel he explained to me how hard the credit crunch had hit Iceland. In previous years growth had been as high as 8%, but now inflation was running at 15% and several of the banks were effectively “Closed for Business” Added to this, of course, was the volatility of the Icelandic krona. So the “If we join the EU and adopt the euro everything will be great again” drum-bangers have used all the bad news to their advantage. Alarmingly, public opinion has been moved by all this nonsense and a narrow majority of the voters is in favour of joining.

In an interview for Icelandic National Broadcasting Service on that evening’s news, I explained that right across the EU the people are turning against the Union...as witness the Irish vote. I said I was really quite shocked that such a modern country as Iceland was being taken in, for the moment, by arguments about the euro that are so very out of date. There was a sharp intake of breath from the interviewer…he may well be having a re-think!

I was then met by Ragnar Arnalds, Chairman of Heimssyn (which literally translated means “World View”). Ragnar had been an MP for thirty-six years and was fiercely proud of his independent Iceland, which had only freed itself from Denmark in 1944. Together with Hjortur Gudmundsson, who runs the organisation and who invited me, we head off into the country – destination Pingvellir.

This stunningly beautiful place, a plain surrounded by mountains and volcanos, is the site of the ancient Icelandic parliament, which first met in the open air there in 930 AD. Ragnar explained to me that Pingvellir is the oldest parliament in the world. In the days when it met it was accompanied by great revelry, drinking and feasting by thousands of observers...Sounds a bit like Strasbourg really!

Thursday 21 August
The first meeting of the day was with the fishing vessel owners. Their view on the EU is pretty straight forward – total outright opposition. Having won the “Cod War”, the last thing these people want is the Common Fisheries Policy. Remember, fisheries products account for over a third of Icelandic exports. These guys can see their country's future at stake and they are worried and angry about the pro-EU sounds they are hearing.

Many people forget that their near neighbour, Greenland, did leave the EC in 1986. My Icelandic fishing friends forget nothing...and wish me well on my visit.

The main event of the day is at the National Museum, where I address a public meeting. It was a good turnout, with several MPs and journalists and a bucketload of accountants with a shedload of questions centering on the economy. I looked around and decided it was time for me to give it both barrels...so both barrels they got.

I told them in no uncertain terms that the answer to complex economic problems was not to hand control over to Frankfurt...unless, of course, they wanted a more problems, more debt and more uncertainty about their future – a future as puppets of the EU. That melted the ice and the meeting went well. I then spent the rest of the afternoon having some great interviews with the journalists who had been rather hostile at the beginning of the meeting.

After a visit to the Alpingi, the current parliament, we are off to a party to celebrate the new mayor of Reykjavik taking office. I met, Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister and leader of the governing Independence Party. He is, without doubt, a strong Eurosceptic and we have a long conversation about whether David Cameron is...

I know what I think David Cameron is. I know what the Prime Minister of Iceland thinks David Cameron is. What I'd really like to hear is what YOU think David Cameron's EU views are, because I don't think we're going to hear anything about the EU from DC if he can possibly avoid it..

Do you know the Independence Party in Iceland has 40,000 members among a population of only 300,000? That just shows that UKIP really does have a long way to go.

I finish up with some young Eurosceptics in downtown Reykjavik, where beer costs over £5 a pint (it's a good job Godfrey Bloom is not with us!)

Friday 22 August
The day begins with a meeting with Einar Gudfinnsson, the Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture. What a delightful man, He is passionate about the Icelandic fishing industry as his father was a fisherman.

Einar now decides to give me a lesson about whales.

There are between 40,000 and 50,000 whales in Icelandic waters. That is a lot of whales. Between them they consume up to three million tonnes of fish every year, cod being their favourite. As Einar says: “It's the whales or us.”

When Iceland recently resumed whaling there was loud International condemnation. Greenpeace, which is heavily funded by the EU Commission, is opposed to all forms of whaling. Yet Iceland is only killing 50 whales a year. If they increased this to 200 a year cod stocks would rise. And if they sterilised 10,000 of them...Well, you've heard the phrase “Breeding like whales....”

My last formal meeting was with the farmers' representatives, who are also very worried about EU membership. They simply do not believe the argument that inside the EU they would have great influence. Yes, we've heard that one before! It is the Icelandic farmers who have paid my hotel bill here, for which I am very grateful

The Final Farage
The EU never misses a trick. It turns out that much of the pro-EU propaganda that is currently being put around in Iceland is being done by the European Movement. Wherever and whenever there is some sort of crisis they are there offering the EU and the euro as the answer.

Was the trip worth doing? Heimssyn were delighted with the trip, especially with the amount of newspaper coverage. I was honoured to have met some really good people and to learn more about this interesting country.

Commonwealth war graves in Iceland

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