My name is John Stefan Burmicz.

I live in Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire.  I have lived here for 27 years.  I have been a Councillor both locally and for East Herts District.  I have also been privileged to be Mayor of Sawbridgeworth, 2019 to 2020.  I am privileged to have been selected as Spokesperson for Hertford and Stortford.

After being forced into a Siberian Gulag in 1939 and subsequent liberation from Siberia in 1941, my father made the trip mainly on foot through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and what was then Persia to Palestine where he enlisted (underage) with the Army.  He served both in the Karpathian Lancers attached to the British 8th army in both North Africa and Italy, where he was wounded out at Monte Casino.  From there, owing mainly to his ability to fix radio receivers for the RAF and being good at Maths (a talent that has bypassed me), his RAK colleagues got him a transfer to the RAF here in the UK and was adopted as a Navigator in 301 Squadron, Bombers.

My mother was a fashion designer and worked with Susan Small in the pre-war years.  Her specialities were cocktail dresses and ball gowns!  She was from North London.  She was evacuated to East Finchley following the tragic death of her two brothers (my uncles) during the Blitz in the Angel, Islington, where they had small factories producing artificial horizons for the RAF and theodolites for the RN.

From all of this background of triumph over adversity, I think that I have always had the guts and determination to succeed in what I truly believe.

I believe that this great country of ours has lost its way in the world and although we still stand for the rights of free speech and personal dignity, some of the many other contributions to world advancement have been forgotten.

The pride that we have lost in this great country is mainly down to apologists and weakness on so many fronts; from being the first country to fight against slavery to the world leadership in aeronautical engineering and advancement, we have thrown away our good name and it is time to re-think how we present ourselves on the world stage.

We are suffering an invasion of illegal immigrants which has to stop.  We cannot rely on our European neighbours to help in this matter.  As was the case so often in History, we are on our own and will have to act on our own.  We are and have always been willing to be of assistance to those who are really in need, but the current situation is unsustainable, but only Reform has the determination to deal with this thorny issue.

I have fought locally against crazy housing developments locally, but we have to take a stand nationally against unbridled house construction that does not seem to have been located sensibly or with any infrastructure in mind.  We have this locally here in Hertfordshire as I am sure many other people do too.

Common sense seems to have been thrown away with the bath water.  We have a great message to deliver but somehow we are stifled by the established media who are in reality scared of our message.  This is evident at every turn of the page of current affairs.  I firmly believe that sense will ultimately prevail.