The EU Referendum
Feb. 25th, 2016 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smokingbootMy thoughts on this aren't as cut and dried as my initial knee-jerk reaction, which is to agree with staying in the EU.
That reaction is born from a response to racism. My family had to deal with a lot of it when I first returned to Britain and it bores me to death. The ridiculous reasons I have heard for getting out include: Having tough soldiers, having a great literary tradition and straight bananas. As I understand it, unless we intend to occupy Brussels and beat them into surrender with Shakespeare recitals, these have no relevance. The straight banana story remains the archetypal Euromyth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromyth .
Shrieks about sovereignty are often the hallmark of those nations who consider the unfettered ability to treat their citizenship badly as some kind of right. I mistrust such indignation. The social chapter is one of the things I like about the EU. When the EU put a moratorium on the use of bee-killing neonicotinoids on crops, Britain's Environment Secretary Owen Paterson protested against it vociferously. That's a lot of dead bees, down to British Sovereignty. Paterson's involvement with pesticide giants Monsanto and Syngenta are highly questionable,http://www.desmog.uk/2015/02/24/is-owen-paterson-funded-by-monsanto
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban
Britain's sovereignty being influenced by Brussels is a matter of flag-waving heresy,Britain's sovereignty being hi-jacked by corporate interests seems to be perfectly acceptable.
I want live bees, and when my government officials want to kill them, unduly influenced by private corporations, I want someone to be able to step in.
So far I am for staying.
But there are things I don't like; TTIP for one, a big, nasty,obscure piece of legislation to which we should not agree. And of course, 'Ever Closer Union' sounds a bit tentacular, a bit Smersh.
Putting on my wee trader hat, ignoring preference in order think about the money. I want to be able to trade in the market, and be part of the decision making processes regarding that market. I am influenced by the city traders, the FTSE analysis, the Financial Times who all see leaving as a bad move. I note that Boris' declaration sent the pound down to its lowest level in years. And I think hard; this isn't fear, this is about working in markets that like stability and while I am very ready to pay taxes to protect our society in all its needs, I don't much fancy my hard-earned greenies being put on the line for some idiot rolling around in a union jack pretending to be a sausage roll. Show me guarantees, not hopes. 'Outers' claim we can make new deals, well of course we can. But we will have to, and that is never a great position to start from;nothing worse than bargaining with someone who knows you have to make the sale.
There is more, but I think I will stop here. I think my decision is made, heart and head agreeing.
Agreeing also with Cameron. Who'd a thought it?
That reaction is born from a response to racism. My family had to deal with a lot of it when I first returned to Britain and it bores me to death. The ridiculous reasons I have heard for getting out include: Having tough soldiers, having a great literary tradition and straight bananas. As I understand it, unless we intend to occupy Brussels and beat them into surrender with Shakespeare recitals, these have no relevance. The straight banana story remains the archetypal Euromyth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromyth .
Shrieks about sovereignty are often the hallmark of those nations who consider the unfettered ability to treat their citizenship badly as some kind of right. I mistrust such indignation. The social chapter is one of the things I like about the EU. When the EU put a moratorium on the use of bee-killing neonicotinoids on crops, Britain's Environment Secretary Owen Paterson protested against it vociferously. That's a lot of dead bees, down to British Sovereignty. Paterson's involvement with pesticide giants Monsanto and Syngenta are highly questionable,http://www.desmog.uk/2015/02/24/is-owen-paterson-funded-by-monsanto
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2013/apr/29/environment-secretary-letter-syngenta-insecticide-ban
Britain's sovereignty being influenced by Brussels is a matter of flag-waving heresy,Britain's sovereignty being hi-jacked by corporate interests seems to be perfectly acceptable.
I want live bees, and when my government officials want to kill them, unduly influenced by private corporations, I want someone to be able to step in.
So far I am for staying.
But there are things I don't like; TTIP for one, a big, nasty,obscure piece of legislation to which we should not agree. And of course, 'Ever Closer Union' sounds a bit tentacular, a bit Smersh.
Putting on my wee trader hat, ignoring preference in order think about the money. I want to be able to trade in the market, and be part of the decision making processes regarding that market. I am influenced by the city traders, the FTSE analysis, the Financial Times who all see leaving as a bad move. I note that Boris' declaration sent the pound down to its lowest level in years. And I think hard; this isn't fear, this is about working in markets that like stability and while I am very ready to pay taxes to protect our society in all its needs, I don't much fancy my hard-earned greenies being put on the line for some idiot rolling around in a union jack pretending to be a sausage roll. Show me guarantees, not hopes. 'Outers' claim we can make new deals, well of course we can. But we will have to, and that is never a great position to start from;nothing worse than bargaining with someone who knows you have to make the sale.
There is more, but I think I will stop here. I think my decision is made, heart and head agreeing.
Agreeing also with Cameron. Who'd a thought it?
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Date: 2016-02-25 03:42 pm (UTC)Your latter comment is an excellent example of precise expression. Had I thought of this phrasing myself,I would definitely be using it! :-)