The Ministry of Defence has hit back at claims that the European Union (EU) is creating a European Army.
The news comes as a Change petition is being circulated round social media to push for the Government to not support a European Defence Force. 182 people have so far signed the online petition, with only 18 signatures needed for it to gain approval. A UK Parliament petition on the same issue was rejected last month.
"We must not undermine member states' sovereignty over their military forces"
The Ministry of Defence provided Blasting News with a statement saying: "The UK does not support the notion of a European Army.
We have been consistently clear that we must not undermine member states' sovereignty over their military forces, or create new institutions that compete with NATO."
George Connolly, the UKIP candidate for Wyre Forest, Worcestershire, in the 2017 General Election, told Blasting News: "We were warned by Nigel Farage in the run-up to the 2014 European Elections that there are plans for an EU Army. Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg dismissed these claims and said there is no chance of this whatsoever. How wrong he was!
"When you're told by people that the Leave camp lied in the referendum because of some numbers on the side of a bus that may have been slightly over-inflated, compare that with the lies we've had for half a century- a European Army is happening.
"They are just as deluded as Mr. Clegg"
"Ministers including Boris Johnson and Michael Fallon have been signing up to the EU's military plans on the basis that they will lay down a loose marker for post-Brexit security cooperation. They are just as deluded as Mr. Clegg."
Major-General Julian Thompson outlined the disadvantages of Britain joining an EU Defence Union in a speech to the Veterans for Britain Bruges Group event at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester last month.
During his Tory Party Conference speech, Major-General Thompson told delegates a European Army would have a substantial impact on NATO and that MPs have been bypassed on an issue more advanced than British commentators realise.
According to the army general, Britain has been signed up to this scheme since November 2016.
He dismissed suggestions that many Leave voters did not know what they were voting for when he decided to opt for Brexit.
Major-General Thompson said he does not want unaccountable politicians sending young people to war.
The army general revealed to conference delegates a Ministry of Defence paper written by the French and Germans setting out plans for a European Defence Union. He referred to the numerous times European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Emmanuel Macron have mentioned the possibility of a European Army.
Major-General Thompson said there is nothing stopping the UK from fashioning its own defence agreements post-Brexit. He referred to the Memorandum of Understanding between Britain and Holland which authorised cooperation between their respective Marine Corps that has been in place since the early 1970s, or the Anglo-French agreement.
The army general said this is an example of how mutual operational support can continue and there is no solid reason why that would change once the UK leaves the EU. He blasted "Remoaners" for failing to understand this.
"The creation of a European Army has never been formally proposed"
The Ministry of Defence told Blasting News the creation of a European Army has never been formally proposed at an EU level and the idea would never receive unanimous support across the trading bloc.
They added that for the UK, NATO remains the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security and this will not change.
Mr. Connolly said: "In the last century, we have had two world wars, both of which we have fought against a European dictatorship.
Surely an EU Army is just the start of another? Thank goodness we are leaving this madness. It started out as a trading union and we are now seeing that it has its own anthem, parliament and now the start of an army. This is the new United States of Europe!"
