I’m pro Europe, so we should leave…

I’ve always been pro Europe, confident that being part of something larger than our small islands just had to be good for Britain, and so I’ve watched with dismay over decades as our position in Europe has become increasingly marginalised. To the point where we had Cameron almost on his knees begging for scraps last week. A vote to stay in now will surely result in us losing what influence we might still have (and I don’t really think that’s much now anyway) and Europe will continue to make decisions that serve its interests but not necessarily Britain’s.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/11856408/British-government-defeated-as-EU-court-rules-travelling-to-work-is-work.html

Boris has suggested that an out vote will result in Europe finally paying attention and offering us better terms to stay in – citing the fact that “they” need us more than we need “them”. This may be clever politics, it may even be true, and surely it has nothing to do with any future party leadership plans?

If Boris is right, then perhaps I can remain a pro European, delighted that Britain actually has some influence again? But I remain sceptical. Germany appears to have succeeded in its ambitions to run Europe – perhaps with some help from the French to be fair. I found Merkel’s endorsement of Cameron’s “reasonable demands” quite chilling, and more than a little patronising.  Likewise Donald Tusk jumped in last night to prop up Cameron in the “legally binding” debate prompted by our own Justice Minister Gove’s remarks that anything outside a treaty could simply be reversed later by the European Court.  I’m with Gove on this, because we’ve seen that happen before. It’s what Tusk didn’t say that’s telling.

Surely it’s naive to believe that voting “in” will improve our lot in Europe. It will underline the fact that we can be out-manoeuvred at will by an increasingly Federalist Europe which is arguably already out of control.

To those who seek to frighten us with claims that Brexit is a leap in the dark, I say “bring it on”. To my mind it’s a leap out of the dark and back into the light, where there is more clarity, and greater self determination. Whether Boris’ tactical voting proves correct or not, that’s a win win. And if the present European experiment fails, other countries might well look for leadership and direction from a nation who acted first. Europe #2 could have the UK firmly at its heart…

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