That Referendum

I shall start by saying that I believe strongly that the UK should and must remain a member of the European Union. We should, I think, because I am strongly anti-nationalist and so believe that integration suppresses nationalism, a force which, throughout history, has been almost invariably negative in its impact. (Its main positive impact has been when it has been a force against colonialism and exploitation). I think we must, because our economy is now structured to take advantage of the free market. If we left that market our economy would collapse. The threats, for example, being made by motor manufacturers that they would have to leave Britain if we left the EU are not empty. Of course they would leave. They would otherwise lose all the tariff advantages they have here. This is not blackmail, merely economic necessity. So, starting from this premise, I think that both pro and anti Europeans should welcome the possible referendum on the issue. I am pretty convinced that Britain would vote to stay in the EU. We need the vote to confirm it to shoot the UKIP fox and consign the party to history and it would stabilise British politics by taking away such a divisive issue, at least for a generation. The anti Europeans will welcome the vote, of course, because they expect to win in and that is totally understandable. The one great fear I, as a pro Europe person, have is that the referendum may be fought too much on the issue of human rights, i.e. on the mistaken belief that the contentious European Convention on Human Rights was created and is run by the EU. I suspect that more than three quarters of the general population believe that. The anti Europe press, UKIP and the 'OUT' campaign will do nothing to dispel this misapprehension. So I am going on ECHR watch from now on, spotting statements from various quarters which are deliberately designed to try to hook the ECHR onto the EU in people's minds and so win the referendum on a false premise. The 'STAY IN ' campaign should note this warning.