Leadership Quote by John Redwood

This is political code-switching dressed up as reassurance: a promise to the base that the party still speaks their language, even if governing requires compromises that don’t. Redwood’s key move is the phrase “core supporters.” He’s not arguing a policy case so much as policing loyalty and signaling that the real audience is inside the tribe. The verb “remind” quietly admits drift; something has happened - coalition discipline, technocratic necessity, changing public mood - that makes those supporters suspect they’ve been deprioritized.

“Democracy… being replaced” is calibrated alarm. It turns a complex, negotiated reality (shared regulation, pooled sovereignty, cross-border courts and standards) into a zero-sum coup: your vote versus their paperwork. The genius, and the cynicism, is in how “European bureaucracy” functions as a villain without needing specifics. Bureaucracy is faceless by design, so it’s perfect for blame. “In so many areas” widens the charge while keeping it conveniently un-auditable; the listener can fill in the blanks with whatever grievance is top of mind.

The subtext is less anti-Europe than anti-mediation: resentment toward decisions made somewhere that doesn’t feel culturally accountable, translated through institutions that don’t speak in stories. Redwood, a Thatcher-era Conservative with deep Eurosceptic roots, is tapping a long-running British tension between parliamentary sovereignty and supranational governance. The line’s real intent is strategic: consolidate a faction, frame internal party debates as a fight for democracy itself, and make technocratic trade-offs look like betrayal rather than governance.