“Euromyths” are so common in the UK’s billionaire press that they have had this special name for over 20 years. “Euromyth” is quite a kind name though; these stories are lies, deliberately concocted as propaganda against the European Union and the ordinary people who live here.

426 of these lies have been addressed by people in the European Union, carefully, politely and thoroughly, in the Euromyths blog.

Since 2000, the UK Government has also had a policy of rebutting these lies, but this policy seems to be ignored by UK MPs, especially Conservative MPs who, themselves, have been a major source of such lies in recent years.

If the EU were a person, that person could have bankrupted several newspapers with numerous libel claims, but EU is not a person, so the lies go unpunished.

Looking at the Euromyths blog, we can see the sources of these lies (one lie is often repeated by several sources):

The largest source is the Mail (the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday). These are owned by Viscount Rothermere. Is he part of the elite? The clue is in his title. He is a billionaire, and doesn’t like to pay tax.

Next comes the Express. During most of the time covered by these Euromyths the Express was owned by Richard Desmond who is a billionaire and doesn’t like to pay tax.

Third is the Telegraph, owned by the billionaire twins, the Barclay brothers. These two are control-freaks, very keen on having their own way and very keen to avoid tax.

Fourth is the Sun and fifth is the Times. The Sun and the Times are owned by Rupert Murdoch, now a US citizen (originally Australian). Anthony Hilton, writing in the London Evening Standard (25 February 2016), said,

“I once asked Rupert Murdoch why he was so opposed to the European Union. 'That's easy', he replied. 'When I go into Downing Street they do what I say; when I go to Brussels they take no notice.'

Of course, none of these like the European Union’s Anti-Tax-Avoidance Directive, which was introduced this year.

It is reasonable that people should be able to trust their national newspaper, radio, television and their MP to basically tell the truth. Most of us would expect some spin on the presentation of facts, but the facts should be real.

When I talk to people who want to leave the European Union, they usually repeat one or more of these Euromyths that they have heard several times and that they believe to be true. Why wouldn’t they? The lies are frequent and loud and those who refute them do not have the resources to make frequent and loud public corrections.

Those telling the lies benefit from their dishonesty; those who are bombarded with the lies pay the price. The late Robin Cook was very vocal about this issue 20 years ago. The propaganda of Euromyths is not a long-running joke; it is a well-funded attack, by a rich and powerful elite, on our British values and on the well-being of the ordinary good people of the UK. We must find a way to stop it.