Saturday 27 February 2016

EU Membership. In Out In Out. IT's A CON!

Hold tight everyone. We are in for months of turgid debating around our membership of the EU which will leave none of us any wiser when it comes to the vote.

I don't know about you, but this kind of thing is why I elect politicians to government. I want them to make these kinds of decisions for me. How should I know whether we'll be better off in or out? The best brains are arguing with each other about it.

So why are we doing it at all? Here's why: David Cameron put it into his election manifesto as a sop to the euro sceptics and the potential Ukip voters. "Come to me and I will give you vote." He probably thought that Europe would be so alarmed by our having a referendum that its politicians would vote us a bumper package of goodies when he went in for the re-negotiation, thus ensuring a stroll to victory in the referendum. He was wrong. He got a package that is not criticism proof at all, and now he sees his party's strong men coming out against him. He is in for a tough, angst laden few months, and I for one do not feel at all sorry for him. He brought this on himself.

The issues?
For what they are worth, are sovereignty, defence, trade and commerce, control of borders. And by "for what they are worth" I do not mean to disparage any of them for one moment. What I disparage are the verdicts and conclusions which both sides of the debate will foist upon us over the coming months. So how will I approach this fiasco? I will choose one issue about which I care deeply under each of the topics. Let's take for example the issue of sovereignty. I will then decide what I want more: our nation's ability to make and dispense its own justice, OR, the fact that there exists somewhere a group which can hold even our laws accountable to the demands of human rights. And then I will try and avoid Question Time like the plague and read escapist novels and watch escapist films until it is all over. Keep it simple, right?