There has been lots of comment and speculation about an EU rescue of Greece and in particular whether the UK will or will not (or morally should or should not) contribute.
Whilst there are arguments on all sides (we shouldn't, we're not part of the Euro; we should, we're part of the EU; we won't get a choice, Gordon Brown signed the Lisbon Treaty; how can we afford it, we're broke?), there is another issue I'd like to raise.
England has been bailing out the rest of the UK for centuries. It's now officially enshrined as the Barnett formula. Free prescriptions, tuition and care for the elderly, unheard of in England, are the standard in other parts of the UK.
Eurosceptics often point out that noone under 52 has ever voted on our membership of the EU. I would point out that noone has EVER voted on England's participation in the UK. How about that for a referendum?
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Why 2010 is so important... (part 2)
A thought experiment, if you will indulge me.
Forgive me, Iain Dale, for asking my readers to imagine your prediction is wrong. Imagine the SNP do better than you've predicted, or UKIP squeeze the Conservatives in a few key marginals. Imagine, in short, that the Conservatives fall a few seats short of an overall majority.
The clear choice of the English people would be a Conservative government, denied by the choices of voters in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Forgive me, Iain Dale, for asking my readers to imagine your prediction is wrong. Imagine the SNP do better than you've predicted, or UKIP squeeze the Conservatives in a few key marginals. Imagine, in short, that the Conservatives fall a few seats short of an overall majority.
The clear choice of the English people would be a Conservative government, denied by the choices of voters in the rest of the United Kingdom.
What's true of the EU, is true of the UK, only more so...
Douglas Carswell, Conservative MP for Harwich and Clacton and one of the most thoughtful politicans of our age, is submitting a Private Members Bill on an 'in or out' referendum regarding the UK's membership of the EU. It is an important bill, that deserves to be widely publicised and I urge you to go to his page and send it on to your friends or on facebook, twitter, blogs etc.
I'm afraid, however, that Douglas isn't really taking things to their logical conclusion. Every argument that can be made against the UK being a member of the EU (loss of sovereignty, financial cost, loss of an independent voice in the world, a lack of democracy) is equally true of England's membership of the UK.
I'm afraid, however, that Douglas isn't really taking things to their logical conclusion. Every argument that can be made against the UK being a member of the EU (loss of sovereignty, financial cost, loss of an independent voice in the world, a lack of democracy) is equally true of England's membership of the UK.
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