Mercifully, this bitter campaign is almost over. I see no problems with the E.U. that would be helped by us leaving as opposed to staying in and at least trying to fix them, just as we don't scrap Parliament when it does something wrong.
Mind you, we could all do ourselves a massive favour and actually vote at the next European Parliament elections. That way we might get people in charge who would try and get something done and make things better, rather than our current bunch of UKIP MEPs who think the E.U. is fundamentally flawed and decide to make personal insults to its members instead of trying to make the system work. Of course the system is flawed if you vote in MEPs who hate the system !
And I have a confession to make... I didn't vote at the last EP election. I really wish I had, because the demonstrably xenophobic and racist (http://astrorhysy.blogspot.cz/2015/03/yes-ukip-you-are-being-racist.html) policies of UKIP are an anathema to everything I believe in. The problem is that Europe, most of the time, just ticks along quietly not doing anything that I ever notice. Its benefits - like freedom of movement, which has allowed me to have the job I have now - go by quietly unsung, while its flaws are loudly trumpeted as the sign of the apocalypse.
I have yet to see a single credible argument in favour of Brexit. Those who want us out routinely champion the benefits of the E.U. but think we'd get the same benefits outside. Well, perhaps we would. But at the absolute least we'd have to re-negotiate all of them, and that would take years. What's the point ? Why not just stay in and enjoy the benefits we've worked for ?
I always vote (even for PCCs!) on principle but I always vote more in European elections. Because under PR that vote actually counts for something, rather than my basically worthless vote in GEs (I live in a very safe Tory seat).
ReplyDeleteWe needed a few tub thumping, fist waving, knee jerking bigots on our side, spreading fear and paranoia - people'd have listened to that. Our insistence on reason and facts (well, mostly) is the cause of this monstrous fiasco. Reason and facts?! I mean, honestly, you couldn't make it up.
ReplyDeleteRuth Mckay You've really got me thinking about that. Since reason and logic don't work, and anything negative is dismissed as fearmongering, what would appeal to a stereotypical Brexiteer ? I may have to try that. It's probably going to involve how much money we're able to swipe from the Europeans because they're dumb enough to come over here and pay us taxes, how all the best doctors and nurses are flocking to us because they're own countries are piles of shite, and how our divide and rule policies have given us more special exemptions than any other country in the EU and made us far more sovereign and more influential than any other country.... hmmm, this could be fun.... :)
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor, I like your style!
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