Dear All
One of the most interesting aspects of the 2015 Parliament
will be the referendum on Britain ’s continued
European Union membership. Ted Heath, the Conservative Prime Minister in
1973 signed to take us into what was then called the Common Market. This was
the end of a process which had lasted about 10 years have been blocked by
General Charles de Gaulle of France .
Ted Heath signed on behalf of Britain and we started our
membership which so far has lasted 42 years, give or take. You could say in many
respects the European Union as it was to become has brought stability to Europe . That being said, there are also negative aspects
which centre round loss of sovereignty of the current 28 member countries which
lead people to call for EU reform.
I am in favour of EU, which is why I believe that the
continual growth of the EU has been detrimental to its security, both
economically and strategically. Some people believe in what is called a ‘United States of Europe ’,
this would lead to loss of sovereignty with member parliaments being
effectively rubber stamps for EU legislation.
David Cameron will press ahead with the referendum by
publishing the parliamentary bill, to satisfy is backbenchers who have been
pretty vocal on their displeasure about how the EU has interacted with Britain .
Although, the Conservatives did take Britain
into Europe and section of the Party has
always been anti EU right from the start; and that hasn’t died down.
The Bill will no doubt be the centre piece of the Queen’s
speech next week, David Cameron will be keeping his word to make sure that his
final term as Prime Minister is as trouble free as possible, although, he plans
controversial legislation on a range of issues. This Bill more or less
guarantees him getting his programme through; the vote when it finally comes is
scheduled to take place in 2017.
The Prime Minister will no doubt campaign for a majority to
stay in, but his backbenchers won’t be whipped. The EU provokes strong
emotions, so the opposition which will be Ukip, will face off against the
Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and the SNP.
Cameron is not alone when calling for EU reform, another group called Open
Europe think tank has been campaigning for major changes to the EU is backing
his bid. This group seem to feel that he stands a good chance of success on EU
negotiations. The EU has recently bent over backwards in the matter of Greece
and their issue of threatening default on their debt, so there maybe wiggle
round. However, that being said, David Cameron must produce a package of
extensive reforms to justify his position that might not be so easy.
Any agreements will have to be signed off by Angela Merkel,
the German Chancellor.
Some of the reforms being suggested are:
Restrictions on in-work benefits for EU migrants for four
years
Safeguards for non-eurozone members in the EU’s single
market – by allowing such countries to suspend “qualified majority voting” if a
proposal impinges on their rights
A “red card” to allow
national parliaments to club together to block new EU legislation
Amending the EU’s historic mission, enshrined in the treaty
of Rome , to foster an “ever closer union
among the peoples of Europe ”
I would like to come back to my idea, that what is needed in
the EU is an internal EU immigration policy, if reforms are to take place,
piecemeal won’t cut it, it is essential that the founding principles of the EU
are kept, but without a shift and change of focus, the EU will and has become
unmanageable, effectively growth of enlargement has paralysed the organisation.
Greece is a good example of
how it can all go terribly wrong for a country when an economy falls out of
sync with the rest of Europe . The Euro sounds
good in principle, however in application it is too inflexible because the
currency only works well when everything is booming, the downturn hit many
countries in the EU very badly.
There is a school of thought that Britain if it leaves the
EU would be much better off and able to trade easier and more successfully with
the rest of the world, and in particularly the Commonwealth. It would seem that
the cutting of ‘red tape’ should also figure rather highly on the list for
David Cameron to campaign on.
Raoul Ruparel, Open Europe’s head of economic research,
said:
“David Cameron will be squeezed between those who say no
substantial reforms in Europe are possible and those who seek to set the bar so
high that it is effectively code for exit before even trying to fundamentally
reform the EU. He should ignore both camps and instead seek to balance the priorities
of the UK public, businesses
and his own party along with the achievability of the reforms in Europe .”
The problem is which ever way he turns, someone isn’t going
to be happy, and there isn’t a middle ground. Unless David Cameron can get
control of Britain’s borders, and refuse entry unless conditions are met, he
stands a good chance of having a continual running sore through-out his last
term in Office as Prime Minister.
An internal EU immigration policy solves many problems.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
3 comments:
Yes and it could happen as early as 2016. Ms Sturgeon belevives she can use the issue to cause a constitutional crisis and gain independence. However there is no means for Scotland to stay in if there is a UK exit. The UK holds the 'licence' so to speak for EU entry so if the UK leaves, the whole lot leaves. Sturgeons plans would leave us out of the UK and out of the EU in one fell swoop. Up shit creek and no paddle. Scotland wont be given any fastrack back in, The EU doesnt want another Greece.
At the moment George the EU is the country's largest trading partner. It would take a great deal of work to replace that especially with commonwealth countries and the rest of the world. We could end up exporting some of the manufacturing jobs we have in the Uk as companies relocate to countries still in the internal market. The immigration thing is a problem especially with migrants from parts of Eastern Europe and it was a mistake to allow unfettered access to the country. Saying that i doubt the Germans and other Western European countries want the UK to leave as it means they shoulder even more of the burden of the new members.
I suppose some mechanism will be found to keep the UK in after all it's in most peoples best interest.
Having lived and been employed in various EU countries most of my working life, I feel I have "experienced" the EU more than most. The scope for comment here is so vast, it's almost impossible. We must sort out this present state of affairs. It's dire and about to get much worse. The open border policy was meant for skilled workers on some sort of contract, who were generally expected to return to their own country at a later stage. It was not meant for dross to boost their benefit income via low hourly waged employment top ups or lowlife trash from the EU toilet to filter in legally. Nor was it meant as a conduit for Moslem's to colonise the West. Eu law and UK immigration policy has allowed this self inflicted genocide to happen. UK must regain it's border and if that means voting to come out of the EU, then so be it. They will still trade with us. Mercedes, Porsche, BMW or Audi for example have massive trade links with UK. You think the Germans are going to restrict trade with UK because we are no longer in the EU ? Well of course they are not and neither are other countries if they want business. Competitive companies will thrive regardless. Probably improve without the millstone EU regs. We can't keep on compromising our grandchildren's future. Their economical and cultural wellbeing is at risk here. We must stop dancing to Brussels and grow a spine regarding Islam.
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