Brexit get over yourself

Most of the “out” reasons are based on a deluded sense of hurt national pride, the notion that our greatness is being tarnished by outside meddling. The leave campaign, when it’s not just being racist or xenophobic, makes great positive claims of how our assumed greatness will ensure that we prosper even without the safety net of the European Union. No need to prove it, just make a claim to greatness and offer offence at the suggestion that we might need support, as that is the voice of the dissenters who are talking down Britain. Great Britain.

 

Some Tories believe this in all earnest; why should we be shackled and guided by our inferiors. At times it’s an extension of the selfish sentiment behind the cry “why should I pay for someone else’s benefits”, only this time “someone else” isn’t even a “lazy feckless British benefit scrounger”. Other Tories, all Tories, really, as there’s a big overlap with the previous more xenophobic group here, simply want to break free of socialism through the back door. Well, since it’s the only door it’s ever likely to come through, I’m happy to keep that portal open for the sake of employment rights and social justice.

 

The right-wing (for the most part, although, in truth, anti-EU feeling is a depressing cross-party prejudice) peddle the notion of Britain as the Sun attracting the moths from all the dark corners of Europe. Soft Touch Britain: our largess being taken advantage of by non-tax payers. No one in other European countries could love their country, or have as good a lifestyle at home. They all want in to our little island. This other Eden.

 

The fact is it’s not one way traffic, many who can rightly call this sceptred isle home, have successfully taken advantage of the freedom of movement within the union and moved off somewhere else.

 

The sad truth is that we never asked for this referendum, or, to be more precise, our political classes never campaigned for it on our behalf. It’s just that Cameron promised it to his party in a futile attempt to smooth over the massive EU fault line that runs through his party. Trouble is, he colluded with the anti-Europeans when he hid the results of the government’s report on immigration; as that report stated clearly that benefit tourism was a myth and that UK benefits greatly from immigration. This wasn’t what the Tories wanted the report to say, so they sat on it. They wanted to get the (exaggerated) UKip vote back and they wanted to appease their own euro-sceptics. Now, Cameron needs to tell the positive truth about Europe and has one hand tied behind his back, as he can’t make a convincing case on immigration without contradicting his party and himself.

 

Of course, there are problems with the EU. Is it democratic enough and is it overly wasteful, bureaucratic and corrupt. These are things that need reform and we should be making the case to be a huge actor in making those reforms. Instead, we piously shout about corruption because we like to imagine ourselves above it, and talk about how corrupt these individual democracies are, apparently, even within their own borders. Yet, when the nasty UKip people manage to get voted in as MEPs they don’t use it as a platform to raise awareness against corruption, instead they take full advantage of any gravy going around.

 

Personally, I believe that all countries within the union are equally concerned about their traditions and culture, their own sense of sovereignty. That they have much to be justly proud of and to be admired for, and all nations have their sceptics who agitate against the European project. So, can’t we accept that none of these nations would sign-up to a plan that required them to surrender their individuality or lose their cultural identities? Why instead do we think the union is set to work against our self-determination?

 

Our laws are our laws; the laws that govern the EU to do not precedence over our own rules. We also have a veto, as do all member states, over any changes in EU rules. So, the rules we have now are ones that all governments have signed-up to, otherwise they couldn’t have happened. We should stop complaining about the rules of the club that we campaigned to join, stop thinking of ourselves as outsiders being taken advantage of and recognise that we are equal partners: we are Europeans.