The claim, understood as Farage's rhetorical assertion that politicians would not want to reduce their own power, is contradicted by substantial historical evidence. There are numerous documented cases of politicians and legislatures voluntarily limiting or reducing their own power: 1. **UK devolution**: The UK Parliament passed the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998, and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, devolving significant legislative authority to subnational bodies and thereby reducing Westminster's own direct power over large areas of policy. 2. **European Communities Act 1972**: The UK Parliament voluntarily enacted legislation giving effect to EU law, including accepting that domestic courts could disapply inconsistent UK primary legislation (as occurred in the Factortame case). Lord Bridge explicitly characterized this as a voluntary acceptance of limits on sovereignty. 3. **Term limits**: In 1995, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 227–204 in favor of a constitutional amendment to limit its own terms; several state legislatures (e.g., Louisiana in 1995, Utah) voted to impose term limits on themselves. 4. **The Self-Denying Ordinance (1645)**: The English Parliament required members serving as military officers to resign one position or the other. 5. **Bhutan's king** voluntarily abdicated absolute power and introduced democracy, though this is a monarch rather than elected politicians. 6. **George Washington's resignation** as commander-in-chief, though also not strictly a "politician" reducing power, illustrates voluntary relinquishment. While it may be broadly true that politicians often seek to preserve or expand their power, the categorical claim that they would not want to reduce their own power is inaccurate. The assertion is contradicted by well-documented instances of politicians and legislatures choosing to limit their own authority, often for constitutional, principled, or strategic reasons. Sources: - European Communities Act 1972, legislation.gov.uk — https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/68/section/2/enacted - UK Parliament European Scrutiny Committee, "The EU Bill and Parliamentary Sovereignty" — https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmeuleg/633/63304.htm - Public Law for Everyone, "If EU law is supreme, can Parliament be sovereign?" — https://publiclawforeveryone.com/2016/02/21/1000-words-if-european-union-law-is-supreme-can-parliament-be-sovereign/ - Commons Library, "EU powers after Brexit: 'Power grab' or 'power surge'?" — https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/eu-powers-after-brexit-power-grab-or-power-surge/ - Wikipedia, "Self-denying Ordinance" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-denying_Ordinance - U.S. Term Limits, "Myth-Busting 101: Congress Will Never Vote to Term Limit Itself" — https://termlimits.com/myth-busting-101-congress-will-never-vote-to-term-limit-itself/ - Wikipedia, "George Washington's resignation as commander-in-chief" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington%27s_resignation_as_commander-in-chief