Claim ddd94108Checked 09 Jul 2026
Strongly SupportedOn the evidence scale
“Perhaps some people like the European Union because they see it as a check on the exercise of unaccountable, undemocratic power here.”
Reasoning & Evidence09 Jul 2026
The claim is a fair description of a real pro-EU motive that was publicly expressed in the UK in 2011. In a House of Commons debate on 7 September 2011, Priti Patel said the European institutions were “thoroughly unaccountable” to the British public and could “provide the effective check on their undemocratic and unaccountable ways,” which closely matches the idea that some people liked the EU as a constraint on unaccountable power at home. A UK Parliament research paper on the EU’s democratic legitimacy also discusses the EU’s democratic deficit, the role of national parliaments, and the argument that EU structures can add legitimacy and accountability. That does not prove this was the dominant reason people supported the EU, but it does strongly support that it was a genuine and articulated reason for at least some people. Sources: UK Parliament Hansard, 7 September 2011 debate on European institutions; UK Parliament Research Paper RP14-25, "The European Union: a democratic institution?" (publications.parliament.uk)
From article
True, but some of your small shopkeepers might look at the huge supermarket chains and ask: Will any political party ever rein them in? Likewise, Parliament was afraid of News International. Perhaps some people like the European Union because they see it as a check on the exercise of unaccountable, undemocratic power here…
Sources opened+ 61 search hits considered
| [1] | publications.parliament.uk |
| [2] | researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk |