The EU - to be or not to be!

Very well argued article by Peter Sutherland on Social Europe. However, Cameron's speech reflects the realities of Britain's long standing unease with the EU Project, not least the fact that it is and has been imposed on all the people of Europe by stealth rather than the instruments of true democracy. One suspects that the British are more sensitive to this than perhaps some other nations. Some of the newer members are not long freed from the chains of Russian enslavement in the old USSR and to them anything may appear to be an improvement on that, even a less than transparent politically engineered union.

The British people are by nature a fiercely independent island people who do not take kindly to having their freedom and sovereignty stolen from under their noses, by a self appointed calculating band of faceless, elitist bureaucrats and rightly so.

Since when was political union a pre-requisite for free and open trade? This is the lie we are being sold and whilst this may be acceptable, even desirable, to a minority group of self interested businessmen doing very nicely thank you, it is wholly unacceptable to many. Let us get one thing clear right here and now. These businessmen represent a tiny fraction of the UK population. Since when did the interests of a small group of self-interested businessmen override that of the majority in a democracy? Could that be since Brussels decided to redefine the rules of democracy for their own benefit? You answer the question.

The right to decide the fate of this nation is the right of every citizen not just that of the few who are beniffitng and thus more than happy to sign up to anything that puts more euros into their already bulging pockets. What is more, it would be undemocratic of them not to acknowledge that but we should not hold our breath. The will of the majority must prevail or democracy means nothing and that suits Brussels down to the ground. We know it and they know we know it and that is why they may well be happy to be rid of us and we happy to leave.

Britain has one other very important thing going for it which no other European country has and that is our membership of the wonderfully diverse Commonwealth; whose potential for increased trade and co-operation remains largely untapped. Imagine what might be done within this organisation if we applied some radical new thinking to our trading relations with them. We could jointly create a whole new way of conducting business within this community which would shine like a beacon of light by comparison to the dimly lit candle of introverted EU protectionism, control freakery and misguided and ill-perceived perceptions of self interest.

We could create a model of free trade based on level playing fields and mutually beneficial joint ventures in which consuming and producing nations freely invest in each other's economies and reap the benefits mutually. We could catalyse economic growth in a way that has never been done before and make a real impact on the inequities of poverty, hunger and lack of accessibility to education at the same time. There would be no more need for costly ineffective aid programs that create dependence in recipient countries and patronage in donor countries. This is iniquitous.

We could all grow up and flourish together. This is the vision the British people should flock to embrace. This is the path of light. The EU is a convoluted web of introversion controlled by the few for the few. Britains should find the courage to venture out to new exciting frontiers that encompass a whole new world and be there at the forefront. That is a vision worth striving for.