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The debate has alas been devalued by our rabidly nationalistic tabloid press, with the resullt that too many Britons just don't understand the issues. It's NOT about who's picture will appear on coins, it's about who controls interest rates, money supply and (as a result) our economy. We've already got problems in that what best suits the prosperous SE of England (where the banks and financial institutions are based) is doing daily damage to the north (where what little manufacturing remains) is based. No single set of interest rates - to speed up or slow down the economy - is going to be appropriate for all of Europe: Currently Germany needs an interest rates CUT to boost demand, and Ireland needs an interest rates RISE to help cut demand and slow inflation. But it's the European Central Bank which makes the decisions.
I've lived in France and Germany - I speak German well enough to pass for a native of Lower Saxony. So, I'm not exactly Xenophobic. But anyone who's familiar with European life can surely comprehend that we don't even THINK alike? In France, they have a word: "Pistonage". It means that the state builds two "grades" of subsidised housing - one for the poor, and another (rather better!) that's given away as rewards for political favours. Scratch a French politician's back, and you could wind up with a nice appartment overlooking the Bois du Boulogne, at a heavily subsidized rent. In the UK... that would put both you AND the politician involved in gaol. (I used to belong to a debating society that periodically debated against the local "open" prison. T. Dan Smith was their star speaker - doing ten years for swapping holidays for planning permission.) In Hannover, germany, the burghers traditionally promenade through the Herrenhauser Gardens (big park) on Sundays. A road cuts across it, and on Sundays you can watch the Germans queue patiently as they wait for the "green man" to appear at the crossing before they step out - despite the fact that the road sees maybe one car every couple of hours. Two totally DIFFERENT attitudes to law. The Brits have the worst reputation in Europe for "being awkward" about new Euro-laws, while the French will seemingly sign up for ANYTHING that has "European" at the top of the page. But the UK also has the BEST track record in Europe for translating those laws into national legislation - and then enforcing it... and France has one of the worst. It's a matter of "national attitude". Until we reach some kind of consensus on what law (not THE law - just the CONCEPT of law) IS, then turning the EU's membership into a "superstate" is a truly stupid idea. Laws underlie what makes a nation.
Twenty odd years back, I campaigned actively for UK entry into the EEC. Removing trade barriers, and closer economic ties made sense. "Harmonisation" - by which a British-made sausage doesn't get peddled in Germany as a rival to their more expensive (and 100% meat!) Bratwurst may make stupid headlines in The Sun, but it also makes some kind of sense. A European ECONOMIC community still seems a good idea - one way to form a block large enough to deter bullying by US economic interests. But a "Single nation"? Composed of dozens of peoples who don't even share the same idea of what "nationhood" means? Absurd.
I've lived in France and Germany - I speak German well enough to pass for a native of Lower Saxony. So, I'm not exactly Xenophobic. But anyone who's familiar with European life can surely comprehend that we don't even THINK alike? In France, they have a word: "Pistonage". It means that the state builds two "grades" of subsidised housing - one for the poor, and another (rather better!) that's given away as rewards for political favours. Scratch a French politician's back, and you could wind up with a nice appartment overlooking the Bois du Boulogne, at a heavily subsidized rent. In the UK... that would put both you AND the politician involved in gaol. (I used to belong to a debating society that periodically debated against the local "open" prison. T. Dan Smith was their star speaker - doing ten years for swapping holidays for planning permission.) In Hannover, germany, the burghers traditionally promenade through the Herrenhauser Gardens (big park) on Sundays. A road cuts across it, and on Sundays you can watch the Germans queue patiently as they wait for the "green man" to appear at the crossing before they step out - despite the fact that the road sees maybe one car every couple of hours. Two totally DIFFERENT attitudes to law. The Brits have the worst reputation in Europe for "being awkward" about new Euro-laws, while the French will seemingly sign up for ANYTHING that has "European" at the top of the page. But the UK also has the BEST track record in Europe for translating those laws into national legislation - and then enforcing it... and France has one of the worst. It's a matter of "national attitude". Until we reach some kind of consensus on what law (not THE law - just the CONCEPT of law) IS, then turning the EU's membership into a "superstate" is a truly stupid idea. Laws underlie what makes a nation.
Twenty odd years back, I campaigned actively for UK entry into the EEC. Removing trade barriers, and closer economic ties made sense. "Harmonisation" - by which a British-made sausage doesn't get peddled in Germany as a rival to their more expensive (and 100% meat!) Bratwurst may make stupid headlines in The Sun, but it also makes some kind of sense. A European ECONOMIC community still seems a good idea - one way to form a block large enough to deter bullying by US economic interests. But a "Single nation"? Composed of dozens of peoples who don't even share the same idea of what "nationhood" means? Absurd.
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