Tendring Topics……..on line
The EU isn’t some hostile foreign
alliance!
…….but
sadly, that’s how some newspapers and some politicians behave as though it
were. The European Union is a political
and economic association of European States that Britain joined for its own
advantage. Over its policies and
activities we have as much power and influence as any other member. What’s more, it is the only international
association of which the UK
is a member and of which we – the members of the public - have already been
asked in a referendum whether or not we wished for membership.
The
Scots have recently been able to say whether or not they wished to be part of
the United Kingdom
– but neither the English, the Welsh nor the Northern Irish, nor any of our ancestors
have ever been asked in a referendum whether we want to be part of it. Probably there’s little doubt that most of us
would vote ‘yes’ to continued membership – but a resounding ‘yes’ is much less
certain about our continued membership of the United Nations or of NATO, or our
‘special relationship’ with the USA. I
would not have voted yes to the last two of those. I think it’s quite likely that they have cost
us more in pounds and pence (keeping that Trident submarine fleet active for
instance) than the EU ever has and they have certainly cost us much more in
British lives. They have dragged us
into an illegal war in Iraq that has made us thousands of implacable enemies
world-wide and has certainly not made Iraq a happier, more peaceful and more tolerant
country in which to live; and into an unwinnable war in Afghanistan from which
we are now withdrawing if not in defeat, certainly not victoriously. When the Falklands
were invaded and we could have done with some help from the ‘allies’ we support
so loyally, we received none.
Freedom
of movement of goods, capital and people was an important feature of the
European Union when we joined and for some years no-one objected. We wanted a ‘level playing field’ for our
exporters and importers so there naturally had to be union-wide labour and
health and safety regulation. The
membership, when the UK
joined, was of nations with similar economies and public services. There was no influx of workers into Britain from Germany ,
or the Netherlands or Denmark or any
of the ‘old EU’ member countries. If
anything the flow of migrants was in the other direction. The popular tv comedy series Auf Wiedersehen Pet was, at least in the
first instance, about a group of British building workers who found employment
in Germany . My grandson, an international Tourism
Publicity Consultant, lives in Brussels but
commutes to his office in Ashford in Kent (near the Eurostar
station). His business takes him to
every part of Europe and indeed the world but, thanks to Britain ’s membership of the EU, travelling in most
of Europe is much simpler than it once was.
Some years ago
the then existing members considered making their union a united political and
economic bloc capable of co-operating and where appropriate competing on equal
terms with the USA and China, or expanding to include former members of the
Soviet bloc like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Tony Blair, then Britain ’s prime minister, was one
of the keenest and most determined of European leaders to draw these countries
into the EU fold. The problems that this
could lead to were fairly obvious. Their economies and public services were in
no way comparable with those of existing members. The uncharitable thought crossed my mind that
his enthusiasm for expansion could have been to ensure that Europe would never
unite into a strong federal political force – a United States of Europe – that
might not please his bosom friend across the Atlantic ,
George W. Bush.
Well,
the expansionists got their way, and provided Nigel Farage and his Ukippers
with some ammunition, though hardly as much as they had hoped for. Do you remember
the imaginary coach-loads of eager immigrants from Romania
and Bulgaria
who, according to the popular press, were just waiting for the gates to open so
that they could flood in, swamping us poor natives and taking our homes and
jobs? Some turned up – mostly those who
had jobs waiting for them, but in a trickle rather than a flood. The swarm of migrants who now seem to be
permanently camped near Calais waiting for an
illegal opportunity to enter the UK are not from EU countries.
The
strange thing is that the worry about immigrants from the EU seems, at least
from a casual glance, to be in inverse proportion to the number of EU
immigrants in the area. We clearly have
some Polish immigrants here in Clacton because
I note that there is now a shop here dealing with Polish delicacies. Perhaps if
I were a Roman Catholic and going to mass at Our Lady of Light Roman Catholic
church, I would meet some of them - and be pleased to do so. As it is, I don’t think I have ever
encountered a Pole in this town, though a Polish worker was one of the team
from Enfield that very efficiently, insulated my roof space a year or two ago. As a former public health inspector I have
met Greek and Italian restaurant owners – but they were here before we were EU
members!
Ukippers
have convinced themselves that if there is a simple IN or OUT referendum on EU membership, there will be an overwhelming
OUT majority. They may well be
surprised at the result. I voted NO to
EU membership in that earlier referendum because I had a romantic notion that
the Commonwealth could be moulded into a viable political and economic
unit. It was a stupid idea that I have
outgrown. In any future referendum I
shall vote for continued membership, hoping that the EU will become more
politically and economically united and that there will be fewer UK opt-outs.
Nor would I be alone. Recent MORI and
Ugov public opinion polls, publicised in the London Evening Standard, indicate
that nationwide, despite the rise of Ukip
and although there is a big worry about immigration, a comfortable majority favour retaining EU membership and that this
majority is even larger in the London
A Boost for the Ukippers
The
shock was considerable. The timing
calculated to bring maximum joy into the hearts of Nigel Farage and his motley
band of followers. If I were a believer
in ‘conspiracies’ I’d be considering the possibility that an under-cover
Ukipper had penetrated the inner
defences of Brussels and, just when
Europhiles were rejoicing at opinion polls showing that most Brits would prefer
to stay within the EU, arranged for ’Brussels’
to send the UK a peremptory demand for the almost immediate payment of the
eye-watering sum of £1.7 billion pounds!
And, adding insult to injury, they were proposing to give substantial
cash hand-outs to France and
Germany .
Rarely
has there been such agreement between British political leaders. They were unanimous. We weren’t going to pay it and we asked our
Prime Minister to make that clear to other European leaders. No one, it seems, even considered the fact
that the criteria that decided whether EU members were to get a hand out or a
demand had been agreed by our representative as well as that of other members.
Nor was much said about other countries who had received demands that seemed at
least as ridiculous as ours. The Netherlands is
probably as well able to pay as we are, but are scarcely likely to be any more eager
than us to do so. How about Greece ? We haven’t heard much about the Greeks
recently but not long ago many of them were literally starving. Then there was Cyprus
and the Irish Republic France or Germany .
The
decision to demand payment from us is at least partly because of our
much-trumpeted economic recovery and growth. It had been more than expected. The anger of the public, reflected in that
of the top politicians, has been strengthened by the fact that very few of us
have noticed any improvement whatsoever in our daily lives as a result of
George Osborne’s economic triumph.
Inflation is low but wage rises are even lower – in the case of
thousands of public servants – non-existent. Due to ridiculously low interest rates, thousands
of life savings, mine included, are steadily losing their value in Bank or Building Society savings
accounts.
Only
the very wealthy have benefited from that recovery and there has, so far, been
no sign of that wealth ‘trickling down’ to the rest of us. I have no doubt that somehow some kind of an
agreement will be reached in connection with the EU’s wealth
redistribution. I wish I felt equally
sure that the anomaly that working people on low wages pay a much bigger
proportion of their income to the government in taxes, VAT and customs duties than the bankers with their telephone number salaries and bonuses, the big
property owners, financial fiddlers and tax evaders, will also be put right.
Blog readers
Only last week I wrote that I would not, in the future, be able to write so long a blog, nor would I be able to publish it every Monday - yet here I am, with a blog that is every bit as long as usual, and is published on Monday morning!
I did say though that I would write and publish it 'as and when' the situation might demand. Last week there were two news items in quick succession that seemed to me to demand immediate comment; the two pro-EU opinion polls, and the demand from the EU that the UK should pay up £1.7 billion pounds - so I duly commented. I could have published my comments on Saturday 25th October, but decided to wait to see if there were any new developments over the weekend.
Next week? Who knows?
I did say though that I would write and publish it 'as and when' the situation might demand. Last week there were two news items in quick succession that seemed to me to demand immediate comment; the two pro-EU opinion polls, and the demand from the EU that the UK should pay up £1.7 billion pounds - so I duly commented. I could have published my comments on Saturday 25th October, but decided to wait to see if there were any new developments over the weekend.
Next week? Who knows?
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