The photo of the faded graffiti
accompanying this post has been on a wall near where I live for
possibly over 40 years since the last referendum about Britain’s
membership of the Common Market, or the European Economic Community
to give it its proper title. Despite the weathering and attempted
removal you can still just about make out the words EEC NO. (The
photo was taken on Jan 12th 2013) Britain joined the EEC
in 1973.
Forty years later the debate about
Britain’s membership of the European Union is being questioned, and
there is talk of a referendum, and changing Britain’s relationship
with its neighbours across the channel. We could probably survive/do
without the extra laws that have been generated since the early 90's
when the union became more about creating social policies as well as
economic ones for its member states. By 1993 the Economic had been
dropped and it became just the European Union. But what about the
economics....I mean Britain doesn't produce enough food to feed its
people, it is nearly all imported from Europe, which was ironically
a concern when Britain first joined the union in 1973. If Britain
were to opt out then all the old trade deals would become as
redundant as the workforce. Or would they? I don't think anyone
really knows what the consequences would be for Britain if it did
leave the EU, but I can't see it happening, for one The USA wont allow Britain to leave the
EU, after all Britain is still Americas trojan horse in Europe, and
when it comes to special relationships Britain always favours
America, no matter what the cost; you only have to look at the
numbers of troops killed and wounded in Afghanistan and Iraq, more
British service men than German or French have lost their lives.
An island mentality
It's about the power. Britain wants to
be a great European power, but those days of colonialism and Empires
are over. Then there's the German question? The fear of a Europe run
by the Germans, and some people find this hard to deal with
because.... isn't that what Britain fought two world wars for, to
stop Germany taking over Europe. (Their view not mine) The same
people also believe that Britain has been invaded by immigrants from
Europe who are taking our jobs and house or living off state
benefits.
Immigration has provided a workforce to
do the jobs that British workers either didn't want to do, or were to
expensive to hire.
Anti European feeling has been fostered
in the media, thanks to stories about EU laws that dictate the length
of the British sausage, and the size of our crisps, running along
side tales of how much the 'immigrants' receive in state benefits.
The increased popularity of UKIP shows
that there are more people out there who are unhappy with Britain
being in the European Union. A pound to the mark/franc says that
many of these have views and opinions that veer further to the Right
than is healthy. All this anti-Europe sentiment plays into the hands
of the extremists, and in comparison with the Labour, Conservative
and Liberal parties, UKIP are extreme, not to the extent of the BNP,
but who knows what could happen over say the next 10 years.
Is membership of the European Union a
threat to our democracy? Well....no, not unless our leaders let it
be. Which is what they have done since Britain joined, other
countries have had regular referendums over changes in European
legislation.
All the new laws from Europe have
created large and costly bureaucracies and new levels of management
to administer politicians and civil servants interpretation of the
laws from Brussels. I use the word interoperate, because when the
Smoking in the workplace legislation came from Brussels, The British
Labour government decided to ban it completely, but many European
countries left that decision to the employers, who set aside
designated smoking areas.
Using smoking in the workplace as an
example, we can see that it's one rule for one country and another
one for another country. The same goes for immigration, both Germany
and France have placed a cap on the numbers that they allow in. It's
the same with the Human Rights that see terrorists appealing against
convictions in Britain, but in France they are sent back to their
homeland, no questions asked other than that they have been found
guilty. Is it tolerance that makes Britain Great? Or is it colonial
guilt that dictates over common sense?
Having the cake and eating it! I'm
sure a total withdrawal from Europe is not on the cards, I can't see
any government putting that question before the masses of X-Factor
voters and Racist bigots. I can see them renegotiating the social
policies that are strangling a nation with bureaucratic red tape, and
haemorrhaging money through the layers of management employed to
enforce the laws, such as health and safety.
I don't want a European Super state,
especially not if Tony Blair's up for being the EU President. But I
don't want isolation, it's about inclusion, involvement, and yes
integration in a world that has changed dramatically over the last 50
years. These changes have left some confused and unable to cope with
the fears that Britain is losing its 'national identity' these people
are easy targets for the media and right wing politicians. The fact
is that Britain has changed and will continue to change, the same
goes for other EU states, and it's always the economic migrants and
the dispossessed that bare the brunt of peoples anger at being let
down as they see it by the politicians, and they may have a point,
but the answer to 'the European issue' does not lie to the far
right, nor to the far left, it lies down the middle, a balance
between the good and bad that the European Union offers to all member
states, rather than letting them eat cake!
.JPG)
