Last month I said that we will spend a few moments mulling over the EU referendum, and in that connection there has been lot of rhetorical argument on the media. In 1977 I voted with Harold Wilson to stay in the Common Market. I did so despite the total loss of our deep sea fishing industry which was given away by Ted Heath as a good-will gesture to the French and Spanish. He did this as the then, towering figure of French politics General De Gaulle, had already vetoed our application three times. However since then, the ‘common market’ has somehow become the ‘union’ by means of which were not stated at the time.
I take my hat off to Mr Cameron for allowing a referendum, but put in on again at other things he does. But for those readers who like ‘facts’ the following websites appear to offer something. They show that every day we give Brussels £33 million more than they give us and that annually they buy £90 billion less than they sell us. This means that our annual net contribution to Brussels adds up to £102,045,000,000.
https://fullfact.org/economy/cost_eu_membership_gross_net_contribution-30887
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-389305
The debate must also however take into account that, although about 40% of our exports go to the EU, we take only 10% of theirs. So if all trade stopped (most unlikely) we would be affected more than them!
An Out vote will not mean we lose our culture or history, nor will we lose trade with the rest of the world because it is Britain, not the EU, which is a member of the World Trade Organisation. (WTO) As for the worry that, in a fit of pique, Brussels may ‘cut off its nose to spite its face; a precedent from the year 1537 suggests otherwise. At a time when the rest of the continent was gearing up to invade us, Brussels took an order to manufacture huge tapestries for Henry VIII. Costing £2000 they still hang in the Great Hall at the Hampton Court Palace as a testimony to the attractions of trade over spite and malice.
However, an Out vote today could irritate folks in Brussels and some may be nasty. But, should that happen, because the Brussels people are politicians and bureaucrats, their weapons will be paper documents not guns. Nonetheless our government had best make sure it picks a negotiating team up to the task of advancing Britain’s interests.
Because some key data (such as the management accounts of the EU) have not been presented for over eighteen years, I guess that, like many others, I shall vote according to a belief rather than a list of pros and cons. I am however still open-minded on the issue and so every evening I ask the question, ‘If the vote were tomorrow what would I do?
Whichever way the vote goes, things will not be the same again, but we do now have an opportunity to choose between the status quo or doing what our ancestors did. Some might say that. “They walked in the Light of their hopes, not in the Shadow of their fears.”
For myself, I trust the essential wisdom of the British people to choose the pragmatic and industrious ways predominantly pursued by our forefathers and, as a man of hope, I am confident that Britain will be able to make its way in the world whichever way the vote goes.
As this is my final word on the referendum, I recall the final act of a dying old northern farmer who, whilst drifting in and out of consciousness, sniffed the air to smell the alluring aroma of freshly baked scones. Rising slowly from his bed, he felt his way down-stairs wondering if he was already in heaven or if this was the final gesture of love from Nora his Yorkshire wife.
As he pushed open the kitchen door he saw hundreds of warm scones and tentatively reached to touch one. Suddenly a wooden spoon smashed down and he heard his wife saying,
“… geroff yar thieving git, these are for the funeral”.
View from the Pew 