EARLY ONE MORNING.........................
Cllr Alan Dean
Liberal Democrat Councillor for Stansted North on Uttlesford District Council and former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Learn more
A DISHONEST COUNCIL IN DECLINE, A CHINK OF COMPASSION TINGED WITH AUTHORITARIAN RULE (PART I OF III)
AIRPORT PLANNING DEBACLE CONTINUED - WITH £££££ STILL TO PAY
EARLY ONE MORNING.........................
A DISHONEST COUNCIL IN DECLINE, A CHINK OF COMPASSION TINGED WITH AUTHORITARIAN RULE (PART I OF III)
AIRPORT PLANNING DEBACLE CONTINUED - WITH £££££ STILL TO PAY
Independence to “jump off the deck of an ocean liner, without a lifebelt, in a force nine storm”? #INtogether
by Alan Dean on 20 February, 2016
Who wants the freedom to jump off the deck of an ocean liner, without a lifebelt, in a force nine storm? (*)
It seems to me that’s what Brexit supporters are content to risk for the United Kingdom. Worst still, they are prepared to put the very existence of the United Kingdom on the line in their wish to break our partnership with our Continental neighbours. Britain would likely be no more as Scotland demands to stay in the EU. The Northern Ireland settlement could break down as barriers go up with the rest of Ireland that stays firmly anchored in the EU.
Well done to David Cameron for having achieved some changes to EU rules, however small or significant they may turn out to be. Well done to our Continental
neighbours for showing a willingness to change, despite the enormous challenges many of them face (far more than we do) from the Middle Eastern and North African refugee crisis.
I have long believed that the UK’s future depends on much more than haggling over the myth of sovereignty and so-called independence. We live in a massively interdependent world. It is a delusion that we can isolate ourselves from the rest of Europe’s problems by turning our backs on our neighbours.
Every one of us will have the freedom to vote for a “force nine storm” in the forthcoming EU referendum. For the sake of my children and grandchildren, I will vote for the relative security of a European Union that yesterday showed that it can adapt and change. Steady as she goes, but stay on board!
IF YOU AGREE, CLICK HERE.
(*) I took this quotation, which perfectly reflect my own views, from an article by Timothy Garton Ash.
8 Comments
I disagree with the principle of referenda, in any event.
Politicians are elected (and paid) to make these decisions, and have access to expert analysis. The general public have small chance of making sense of the complex arguments at issue.
As Josh Widdicombe succinctly put it on The Last Leg, you might as well get a bomb disposal expert to run a public vote on whether to cut the blue wire or the red wire.
For the first time in my adult life I am considering not voting.
Your are right. This referendum is political abdication by the Tories in a vain attempt to avoid a party civil war – for which we all may suffer badly. Too much is at stake to not do their job for them.
There is too much at stake….to allow the issue to be decided by people susceptible to being influenced by newspaper barons & personality politicians.
When the liner in question is the Titanic, it is sensible to consider disembarking, indeed questioning why one boarded in the first instance.
The EEC that Heath took us into in the 1970s was NEVER intended as a federal state, it was a trade arrangement that sprang largely from an understanding between France and Germany that three major conflicts in the space of a hundred years or so called for a rethink.
The bloated monstrosity that has since developed fails on every point. The single currency has wrecked economies (Greece for a start) while the open border nonsense simply allows terrorist freedom to roam. The EU budget has not been signed off by auditors for over 20 years yet nothing is done.
The merchants of doom shutter about a leap into the dark, the truth is that if we left we would return to the position we had in 1974 but with a stronger economy.
Returning to the liner analogy, I would rather take my chances in a lifeboat, regardless of storms, than hang about on the Titanic till it hits the iceberg. Captain Cameron and his gormless crew do not impress me and his pathetic attempts to frighten me into accepting his analysis ain’t going to work.
I have just been watching David Cameron in Parliament. He was impressive and pragmatic. Impressive in that he was on top his brief. Pragmatic in supporting EU reform from inside rather than having no say on the outside about the world’s largest trading organisation.
The British like an external bogey to attack and a scapegoat on which to blame our problems. Hitler was seen off. The Soviet Union was demolished. For decades it has been a national sport to attack the EU and to complain about loss of national sovereignty.
It is a delusion to pretend that the UK will be able to do what it wants (act as an isolated “sovereign” state), unaffected by European events.
About 15% of UK legislation is passported from the EU. The EU has an elected parliament. If we leave the EU, we will still have to adopt many of their laws but have no say over them if we want to remain in the Single Market.
I have heard many people say that the EU is undemocratic. I’m not sure what they mean. Last week Exit supporters complained when it was said that some of Cameron’s deal would require EU Parliament approval. Do they want democracy, or will they whinge however decisions are made that involve out Continental partners?
The uncertainty will be damaging. The £ fell to its lowest level against the $ for the past seven years and Moody’s say Brexit is a loser.
And the US won’t sign an independent trade deal with UK; we’d suffer major tariffs on exports: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11962277/Major-blow-for-Brexit-campaign-as-US-rules-out-UK-only-trade-deal.html
It’s time to stop carping and to stay stuck in.
I don’t know where you get the 15% figure from, my understanding is that the true figure is considerably higher.
As to Cameron being pragmatic and statesmanlike, if so, then why did he not concede that his vaunted ‘negotiation’ was merely a propaganda exercise. The man is a spiv, an empty suit, no principles or integrity just gesture politics.
It is obvious the debate on the EU will descend rapidly to the sewers and stay there, each side trying to out-monster the other.
I say we would NOT be clamouring to join the EU as it is so where is the logic in remaining.
On the subject of democracy, local events clearly demonstrate the shortcomings of allowing the public to make choices.
I have seen various figures quoted. I believe 15% is one worked out by the Westminster Parliament. I think it depends on how you count what is a law.
I agree that this whole exercise is a bit of a charade. But at least Cameron has demonstrated he can negotiate something, whatever level of significance is out in it, and that EU members will adopt change.
The main motivation for Cameron was an attempt to keep his troops happy. On that I think he will fail as the Tory Party is doing a rerun of the Corn Laws that brought down PM Sir Robert Peel in 1846. Of course, history never repeats itself totally. But that event had a major impact on the Tory Party of the time.
Historian A.J.P. Taylor said: “Peel was in the first rank of 19th century statesman. He carried Catholic Emancipation; he repealed the Corn Laws; he created the modern Conservative Party on the ruins of the old Toryism.”
Time will tell!
Cameron is an unprincipled opportunist who didn’t expect to win last May and consequently promised a referendum he never expected to have to deliver.
His snide and irrelevant attack on Boris yesterday was revealing of his true character, peevish and ungenerous.
I see his pet, Heywood, has issued a diktat that ministers opposed to the EU will be denied access to government papers, so much for fair debate,
As to the business leaders who signed up to a government penned support letter, many of these are party donors and also thought that the euro was a good idea. Naturally Cameron didn’t mention the swathe of companies that declined the opportunity to be involved in his propaganda.
If Cameron had genuinely tried to negotiate real changes I might have had some respect for him: he did nothing of the sort and the sooner we are rid of this spiv the better.