THERE is a wonderful saying about Government that I’m sure you all know: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”

Whoever coined that – alas, I don’t know – was a sage. And yet perhaps still lacking a little in worldly wisdom for the remark doesn’t quite cover every option. And I’m certain that all politicians secretly cherish an addendum: “But you can fool enough of the people enough of the time.”

The trick was performed by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1975 to keep Britain within what was then called the Common Market. A pamphlet sent to every household ahead of the referendum which confirmed our membership stated: “Britain will not have to put VAT on necessities.” We now pay VAT even on energy bills. The pamphlet also asserted: “No important new policy can be decided in Brussels without the consent of a British Minister answerable to a British Government and British Parliament.” Now, an endless flow of EU laws and regulations is imposed on us without such sanction.

Few people today dispute that the 1975 referendum was a great deception. It’s generally accepted that what Britons voted for was a trading bloc – but they got something else. From the grumbling about the EU that became endemic, and the mounting clamour for a new referendum, you would have thought that a vote to leave was a certainty.

But here we are now, with polls showing the Remainers a good ten points ahead of the Leavers. And, do you know what, our Government has succeeded in making this referendum a re-run of 1975, with trade at its heart.

First, fear was raised that we would be denied access to the EU’s own open market. Then it was suggested we could face years of struggle to set up trade deals with other nations. Finally, special friend or not, President Obama dumps us at the back of a ten year queue for a deal with the US.

Signs are that enough people will swallow all this for us to accept our shackles to the EU, again on the basis of trade, only to find later that the shackles tighten, to our permanent, profound, discomfort.

For what the referendum is really about is maintaining our democracy. The essence of democracy is the ability to throw out the government. But we can’t get rid of the EU ‘government’, which doesn’t exist. The EU is an autocracy – rule by an unelected elite. How many of you – please be honest – can say how the EU works? What’s the Council of Ministers – and what is its authority vis a vis the European Commission? What role does the EU Parliament play? Name your MEP.

Let me quote again the words of Jean Monnet, regarded as the founder of the EU: “Europe’s nations should be guided towards a superstate without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation.”

There you have it – and it’s happening again right under your eyes. Surely you’re not numbered among those “enough people” who can be fooled enough of the time?