Post #77 makes very eloquent case for voting 'Remain' but I said it lacks balance, so in an idle moment I wondered how it might look; it's not a personal view of course, just a bit of fun to lighten things up and spark some debate.
This is probably the best plagiarism you’ll see about the EU and Brexit. If it was a can of lager……….
"I have been listening to the various arguments about this much needed and long overdue Referendum for weeks now. All of them focus on personal advantage and disadvantage. Both camps allegedly want to appeal to the venal, the self-serving, "You will all be better/worse off in/out of the EU". Remain suggests leaving to be economic suicide, while Brexit rightly seem to be asking 'what did Europe Union ever do for us?'.
This debate is being conducted in the usual schoolyard manner we have come to expect of our ‘leaders’. And there is so little to be said for "Remain", a word as ugly and false as the barely disguised deceit it truly represents, that its supporters are reduced to yelling "It’s not patriotic to leave the EU” and “You're just distorting the truth!" every time some eminently respectable and sober individual or organisation (Business leaders, academics, politicians, bankers, leaders of the armed forces, former heads of the security services... the list goes on and on) remarks that in their considered opinion remaining in the EU carries significant risks; I have deliberately not named them as both sides have been accused of fabricating their lists of supporters, though there are unquestionably very many high profile Brexiteers.
The Remain camp desperately clings to any economic argument no matter how weak it may be; it’s all they have, as they have long since surrendered the moral highground in respect of immigration, heritage, culture and, most of all, sovereignty.
What the Remainers forget is that we are not merely a small island, we are (even though we enjoy denigrating our postwar, post imperial state) one of the richest, most powerful and influential nations on the planet. France and Germany depend on us to underpin European stability and they are terrified at the prospect of our departure. Our withdrawal from Europe and new independence would be deeply envied by every other state within the bloc, and they know that without Britain’s constant and ever growing handouts their own futures will be immeasurably weakened.
Following our exit, frightened folk in other member states would clamour for independence too, their protests rooted in the realisation that their unhappiness/lack of employment/poverty/woeful education/sexual frustration is probably the fault of self-serving politicians who abandon their manifestos on their first day in office, having also abandoned what little decency they once had in their quest for further personal gain.
Meanwhile, the Remainers make scandalous claims about this country’s lack of resilience and forecast third world levels of poverty if we go it alone. They forecast mass unemployment, as if EU membership not home-grown entrepreneurial spirit was responsible for our high levels of employment and robust economy. They seek to justify their doom-laden forecasts by comparing our prospects with countries that are half our economic size and which do not have anything like our capability or capacity for international trade.
Remainers bandy about accusations of comparisons to a Third Reich existence outside the EU, whilst David Cameron suggests that your holiday to the Costa del Sol might cost a few extra hundred quid if we leave; don’t be fooled, he just doesn’t want you to notice that yet again the pro-EU French are disrupting travel by striking through the holiday season whilst the political elite enjoy private jets and limos.
Call-me-Dave may say Gove is unforgivable (unforgovable?), and Boris may say that Call-me-Dave is exaggerating. But so what? What if we stay and your holiday still gets more expensive? (it probably should by the way). One can equally ask “What’s to stay for anyway, other than more pain and no gain?”
Comparisons are made with the progress of other countries in Europe, and it is emphasised how the EU now extends from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from Ireland to Greece. France and Germany are (allegedly) our close friends, no longer bitter enemies, and so it goes.
One school of thought argues that this is what the EU is for, this is why it’s the most forward thinking and civilised development in postwar history; a secular, democratic, tolerant, inclusive federation of mutually supportive states, and it concludes that “we are threatening to break it up? It’s a ******* disgrace."
That is all well and good, but it very conveniently misses a fundamental point: The forthcoming Referendum is not about what’s best for Europe, it is about what’s best for the United Kingdom. It is about our independence and our ability to forge our own destiny. It is about our retention of sovereignty. It is about our ability to manage our economy for the good of our nation, not for the good of other nations. But most of all it is about our kids’ futures and that of their kids, and they are currently at risk from stupid politicians who forecast economic disaster when they have no idea what a loaf of bread costs or the size of mortgage deposit required out in the provinces.
I’ve no doubt that such views will be seen as those of a ‘little Englander’ or xenophobe, but the Remainers have yet to explain how EU altruism can possibly work when it needs the consensus of 28 disparate nations with different agendas.
The originator of the article I’ve plagiarised made much of the break up of the Soviet Union, but with delicious irony then casts doubt on anyone who views EU federalism with suspicion. Furthermore, that federalism is being driven by a country which has financially profited more than anyone from the weakness of other member states, and that same country is now bidding for control of the UK stock exchange; I wonder why?
Thus far I’ve avoided touchy subjects, like the thousands of EU prisoners who can’t be repatriated from our prisons, and the wholly disproportionate use of the European Arrest Warrant for minor offences (a fact that was admitted by the European Commission). Then we have the EU’s own auditors condemning the accounts year on year. With a new EU Army is just around the corner all that’s need for a ‘full house’ is a Hammer and Sickle for a badge.
Still, if former ministers' progress is anything to go by, our senior politicians and their families will fare extremely well as good EU supporters, regardless of the outcome; how very Politburo.
I'm sure the Spitting Image team would have had a ball with the current debate, and Jim Hacker (on Sky these days) would have been in a tail spin.
2 years back. People were passionately involved in 2014, regardless of which side you are on, and lots of 'pseudo facts' were being pushed. Euro Ref seemed to start off the same, with the stay side being branded a scaremongers for pointing out what might happen, and the leave side failing to provide any evidence that the scaremongering isn't true. YESterday looked like it would lead to better political awareness and involvement from the Scottish people, and also lead to change, but I don't think it has, other than tearing Scotland in half, and ruining some friendships!
