Mark Francois, the current Communities Minister at DCLG and a former Conservative Shadow Europe Minister, has declared his intention to back the Vote Leave campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
Mark served as Shadow Europe Minister from 2007 - 2010 and was the last MP to hold the post prior to the current Ministerial incumbent, David Liddington. During his three years in post Mark led the day to day debate against the Lisbon treaty, supporting the then Shadow Foreign secretary, William Hague.
Mark believes that the EU holds too much sway over our national life and that as the fifth largest economy in the world we are more than capable of prospering outside of the organisation.
Commenting on his decision to back Britain’s exit from the EU Mark said:
“I spent fourteen nights in Parliament debating the 300 or so pages of the Lisbon Treaty, aware that we did not have the power to change a single word of it. I have thought about this issue long and hard and I believe we should live in a country that makes its own laws and that this referendum is now a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring that about.”