The claim, made in December 2011, is that "perhaps some people like the European Union because they see it as a check on the exercise of unaccountable, undemocratic power in this country." The cause is the perception that the EU constrains unaccountable domestic power; the effect is support for the EU. This is a modestly hedged claim ("perhaps some people") and the evidence confirms that this perspective genuinely existed in British political discourse around that time. The News International phone-hacking scandal had just highlighted concerns about unaccountable media and political power, and the Leveson Inquiry was underway. Arguments that European institutions (the EU, the ECJ, and the ECHR) serve as external checks on domestic executive, legislative, or corporate power have a documented history in British debate — including the Independent letter citing Conrad Russell's argument that "the only power capable of controlling Parliament… is the European Union." The legal mechanisms are real: EU law supremacy, ECJ rulings, and competition law have at times constrained UK government and corporate actions. Multiple pro-European voices and constitutional analysts have made exactly this argument. However, establishing that this perception is a genuine causal driver of EU support — rather than merely one rhetorical justification among many (economic, trade, security) — is harder. The claim does not assert it is a dominant motive, only that "some people" hold it. Given the hedged framing and the clear existence of this argument in public discourse with real institutional mechanisms behind it, the link is reasonable and likely for at least some segment of opinion, but it is not decisively established as a major driver. Sources: - The Independent, "Letter: EU promises constitutional reform" — https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letter-eu-promises-constitutional-reform-1444147.html - Chatham House, "Britain, the EU and the Sovereignty Myth" — https://www.chathamhouse.org/2016/05/britain-eu-and-sovereignty-myth - LSE/Democratic Audit, "News International and corporate power in Britain's democracy" — http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/81239/1/democraticaudit.com-News%20International%20and%20corporate%20power%20in%20Britains%20democracy%20just%20the%20tip%20of%20the%20unelected%20oligarchie.pdf - POLITICO, "Murdoch's long-ish shadow" — https://www.politico.eu/article/murdochs-long-ish-shadow/