Posted November 22, 2012
I thought you had to be in something before you left it? *rawr* Anyway, this got real long, real quick - I apologise. If it is contradictory or poorly expressed in places, I'm not going to argue semantics with anyone. Just wanted to through out my opinion on the matter, no need for us to fight.
I believe the UK would be a very different place without the EU. I'm British (from Scotland, but I'll get there in a while), but for a variety of reasons the average British citizen doesn't feel many of the benefits from EU membership.
Why is this? I think it is simple - our relationship with Europe is mostly about the freedom of trade with a strong skew towards the penetration of our goods into the single market. On this economic argument, I think the anti-EU lobby in the UK are being absolute swines with the general public. A common line trotted out is that, if we were to leave, Germany would still want to sell us BMWs. That's besides the point - the issue is whether Germany would still want to buy our... erm... whatever it is that we still manufacture. Without free trade borders, our products will be more expensive as import taxes will be imposed. Part of the brilliance of the single market is that it allows us to complete with emerging economies like China and India while still protecting our quality of life (the biggest advantage that newly industrialised economies have is low staffing costs, both in wages and legal responsibility). Sure, it might be a little protectionist and inwards looking, but try telling the average European that the alternative is Chinese living standards. What would the reaction be? Taking the UK as a yardstick, people are only interested as far as their own nose, so, philosophical reasoning aside, it makes me sick when they're told to act against their interest. It's just above most people's head and some horrible little xenophobes are exploiting this (I'm not calling EU-Exit supporters xenophobes).
The UK is also very good at ignoring most of the rules of the game, and even manages to negotiate countless opt-outs and special rules for itself. Ever tried to bring fags back from the Netherlands or booze back from France? We are supposed to have open, free trade borders, yet the UK exchequer has numerous clandestine agreements with individual member states that circumvent EU law. The UK's position is clear - we want to sell our stuff easily, but protect our own tax revenues from European competition. In fact, 2.5 times more people work for the UK taxman and customs than are employed by the entire EC! The UK is very good at fooling its citizens that Europe has nothing to offer - we're protectionists of the sort much derided in the French. This is a warning to the rest of Europe, too - the UK is only economically liberal on the surface, don't mistake us for a balancing force.
And then, again on the average joe's shoulders, is the different way we experience travel within the EU. The UK has special rules that start at its borders, except in the transit of people these borders are often in 'foreign' countries. We're not part of Schengen, so while a European travelling to Sweden from Italy can do so with the minimal of fuss, anyone travelling to and from the UK (which is what most British people do) has to go through rigorous security checks. A few weeks ago in the Netherlands I had to stand in a queue for 40 minutes to go through x-ray security, which was recently outlawed in the EU on health grounds, take some clothes off and have someone rifle through my belongings. Why? Because it represented a border with the UK. The next gate along, which was going to Germany, had no security checks. For the average Brit who travels to and from Majorca once a year, this is European travel.
I don't want to spit out reams on the issue of the British public's perception of Europe, but broadly speaking the British public doesn't see any direct benefit. They're not wrong, they're simply misled from the top. Unfortunately for our institutions, who I believe understand the importance of us remaining in the EU, their nannying of the British people is building a critical mass approaching tipping point - a massive own goal, in other words.
Then there is the issue of British small mindedness. I'm going to make some sweeping generalisations here and will probably offend quite a few people. They're quite right to be offended, I'm simplifying lots to make the British condition easier for outsiders to understand.
In the UK there will soon be a referendum asking the population of one member country - Scotland - if they would like to leave the UK. It's a very interesting possibility because it offers the rest of the UK a chance to observe themselves from the outside. A lot of people will disagree with the previous sentence, and that is the best way I can describe British small-mindedness - an inability to recognise oneself in another. I'm Scottish and I absolutely sympathise with independence supporters. There are many reasons for an independent Scotland, most of them deep cultural and historical reasons based around pride. Not the blind, nationalistic pride that is the hallmark of so many dangerous populations, but a pride born of being defeated, trampled and disregarded. I understand this pride and have no truck with it, but I'm not blinded by it. There is another group of people in the UK, middle-Englanders (many may have heard the term), and it is from this group that anti-European feeling is believed to be most prominent. These are a inward-looking and comfortable class who are confident, in that awkwardly British way, of their place in the world. Think of Hobbits or Radiohead's "No Surprises".
These two groups of people, who represent the same position in their respective communities, don't always see eye to eye. Much of the vitriol between pro-independence Scots and the rest of the UK involves middle-England. While some of parts of the UK are warmly supportive of the Scots over their referendum, accepting Scottish right to self-determination, middle-Englanders tend to be dismissive and patronising of the 'moaning Jocks'. Or, in other words, they take much the same position as the rest of the EU takes with the UK. Even more boggling is that the pro-independence Scot is more likely to be pro-European.
This is the British condition.
I believe the UK would be a very different place without the EU. I'm British (from Scotland, but I'll get there in a while), but for a variety of reasons the average British citizen doesn't feel many of the benefits from EU membership.
Why is this? I think it is simple - our relationship with Europe is mostly about the freedom of trade with a strong skew towards the penetration of our goods into the single market. On this economic argument, I think the anti-EU lobby in the UK are being absolute swines with the general public. A common line trotted out is that, if we were to leave, Germany would still want to sell us BMWs. That's besides the point - the issue is whether Germany would still want to buy our... erm... whatever it is that we still manufacture. Without free trade borders, our products will be more expensive as import taxes will be imposed. Part of the brilliance of the single market is that it allows us to complete with emerging economies like China and India while still protecting our quality of life (the biggest advantage that newly industrialised economies have is low staffing costs, both in wages and legal responsibility). Sure, it might be a little protectionist and inwards looking, but try telling the average European that the alternative is Chinese living standards. What would the reaction be? Taking the UK as a yardstick, people are only interested as far as their own nose, so, philosophical reasoning aside, it makes me sick when they're told to act against their interest. It's just above most people's head and some horrible little xenophobes are exploiting this (I'm not calling EU-Exit supporters xenophobes).
The UK is also very good at ignoring most of the rules of the game, and even manages to negotiate countless opt-outs and special rules for itself. Ever tried to bring fags back from the Netherlands or booze back from France? We are supposed to have open, free trade borders, yet the UK exchequer has numerous clandestine agreements with individual member states that circumvent EU law. The UK's position is clear - we want to sell our stuff easily, but protect our own tax revenues from European competition. In fact, 2.5 times more people work for the UK taxman and customs than are employed by the entire EC! The UK is very good at fooling its citizens that Europe has nothing to offer - we're protectionists of the sort much derided in the French. This is a warning to the rest of Europe, too - the UK is only economically liberal on the surface, don't mistake us for a balancing force.
And then, again on the average joe's shoulders, is the different way we experience travel within the EU. The UK has special rules that start at its borders, except in the transit of people these borders are often in 'foreign' countries. We're not part of Schengen, so while a European travelling to Sweden from Italy can do so with the minimal of fuss, anyone travelling to and from the UK (which is what most British people do) has to go through rigorous security checks. A few weeks ago in the Netherlands I had to stand in a queue for 40 minutes to go through x-ray security, which was recently outlawed in the EU on health grounds, take some clothes off and have someone rifle through my belongings. Why? Because it represented a border with the UK. The next gate along, which was going to Germany, had no security checks. For the average Brit who travels to and from Majorca once a year, this is European travel.
I don't want to spit out reams on the issue of the British public's perception of Europe, but broadly speaking the British public doesn't see any direct benefit. They're not wrong, they're simply misled from the top. Unfortunately for our institutions, who I believe understand the importance of us remaining in the EU, their nannying of the British people is building a critical mass approaching tipping point - a massive own goal, in other words.
Then there is the issue of British small mindedness. I'm going to make some sweeping generalisations here and will probably offend quite a few people. They're quite right to be offended, I'm simplifying lots to make the British condition easier for outsiders to understand.
In the UK there will soon be a referendum asking the population of one member country - Scotland - if they would like to leave the UK. It's a very interesting possibility because it offers the rest of the UK a chance to observe themselves from the outside. A lot of people will disagree with the previous sentence, and that is the best way I can describe British small-mindedness - an inability to recognise oneself in another. I'm Scottish and I absolutely sympathise with independence supporters. There are many reasons for an independent Scotland, most of them deep cultural and historical reasons based around pride. Not the blind, nationalistic pride that is the hallmark of so many dangerous populations, but a pride born of being defeated, trampled and disregarded. I understand this pride and have no truck with it, but I'm not blinded by it. There is another group of people in the UK, middle-Englanders (many may have heard the term), and it is from this group that anti-European feeling is believed to be most prominent. These are a inward-looking and comfortable class who are confident, in that awkwardly British way, of their place in the world. Think of Hobbits or Radiohead's "No Surprises".
These two groups of people, who represent the same position in their respective communities, don't always see eye to eye. Much of the vitriol between pro-independence Scots and the rest of the UK involves middle-England. While some of parts of the UK are warmly supportive of the Scots over their referendum, accepting Scottish right to self-determination, middle-Englanders tend to be dismissive and patronising of the 'moaning Jocks'. Or, in other words, they take much the same position as the rest of the EU takes with the UK. Even more boggling is that the pro-independence Scot is more likely to be pro-European.
This is the British condition.
Post edited November 22, 2012 by obscurelyric
