It seems to me that Britain withdrawing from the EU - as advocated by Conservative groups such as Better off Out - would not be a particularly conservative thing to do.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that I think the EU is - by consequence of not supporting withdrawal - a good thing. Far from it in fact, I think the EU is screaming out for structural reform.
I guess the problem I have with campaigns like "Better off Out" is that they express (for me at least) unquantifiably radicalism. The impact of withdrawal will have hugely significant consequences for Britain, both good and bad, and actually knowing all the consequences seems to me to be an impossibility.
Groups advocating withdrawal do so based on upon abstracted theories about how it will all be better. To me that seem to be the anti-thesis of core conservative principles. In fact it scares the hell out of me.
5 comments:
And you call yourself a friend? :)
The problem as I see it is quite simply that the EU is by definition an attempt at central planning on a continental scale. It therefore threatens to completely destroy conservatism and personal freedom. I know withdrawl is radical but I can't see anyway in which the EU can be possibly reformed.
Its like trying to reform the Catholic Church into a secular society, theoretically possible but fundamentally at odds with why the institution exists in the first place. (They have already managed of course with the CofE)
I knew I could get you to bite!
I wouldn't necessarily be against "graudal withdrawal" where each step could have it's impact quantifiably measured. I'm just not up for hasty withdrawal, too many variables in my opinions.
The bad thing about gradual withdrawl is that it involves too many variables.
If you leave the CAP, the Commission will still make you pay the £25bn at least Europe tax. They are not stupid.
There are so many things wrong with the EU that it would be simpler to scrap everything and start over.
interesting points from both of you there I thin :) Now I go away for the weekend
Could anyone explain me how the EU is an attempt to central planning on a continental scale (dixit Serf), and therefore COMPLETELY destroys personal freedom? I strongly believe that due to the EU, citizens have received a lot of benefits such as the freedom to move and study abroad - not to mention a higher standard of living which is proven by many documents - , and actually the freedom to do whatever you want to do, as long as you do not destroy or harresser anyone.
What mostly is referred to - when you are complaining about the EU - is actually the loss of power and prestige of the UK as a world power. I know that the UK dominated world politics and economics for a very long time, but one should accept the fact that nowadays it is not like that anymore. Do not take my wrongly I respect the UK very much, but please do not use this as an argument that the EU is a "tiran". It is false and very populistic to say. Use real arguments, such as we pay too much to the EU, and receive too little. Politics are dominated by the French and German, or perhaps the Queen violated her oath as she was never allowed to give any soverignty to the EU (and she did so by ratifiying the EU accession treaties).
But why would you want to leave? The EU made the everyday lives of the common people so much better, there is a very strong Internal Market, and the UK mostly gets what it wants (such as opt-outs of the EMU and others). Why complain?
A normal guy who lives in the EU.
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