That’s in anticipation! The Euro was introduced on 1 January 1999. Much of the media has already written its demise - others keep resuscitating it to keep it alive. Will it survive? I will need to revisit this post in a year’s time, and who knows. It will be interesting to read the news articles of today at a later date to see if the gurus were right.
What we do see is how British we are and how different from us is the rest of the EU. It is galling to us who are British to have unelected Brussels in so much control and for Britain to go cap in hand to ask, please can we have some of our laws back! We want complete control to be handed back to our democratic elected Parliament - even if it is a coalition government!
When I wonder how we have got as far as we have along the road of integrating with the rest of the EU I am reminded of my reading Bryson ‘At Home’.
“In the same month that the Church of England conducted its attendance survey, Britain also had its ten-yearly national census, which put the national population at a confidently precise 20, 959, 477. This was 1.6 per cent of the world total, but it is safe to say that nowhere was there a more rich and productive fraction. The 1.6 per cent of people who were British produced half of the world’s coal and iron, controlled nearly two-thirds of its shipping and engaged in one-third of all trade. Virtually all the finished cotton in the world was produced in British mills on machines invented and built in Britain. London’s banks had more money on deposit than all the other financial centres of the world combined. London was at the heart of a huge and growing empire that would at its peak cover 11.5 million square miles and make ‘god save the queen’ the national anthem for a quarter of the world’s people. Britain led the world in every measurable category. It was the richest, the most innovative, most accomplished nation of the age - where even gardeners rose to greatness.”
Our poor UK. When I think about that I think of Gordon’s ‘no more boom and bust’!
Well, there’s a lot more in those 700 pages by Bryson, that’s just a glimpse; but relevant I thought to the current debate on the UK and Europe.
So here’s some of the debate I’ve been reading which I must look at again some time future to see what will have materialised over the Eurozone:
“Apocalypse Not” Nothing to fear over the demise of the Euro for Dominic Sandbrook
Germany Woes Britain Over Eurozone Crisis
“Now for a referendum, say sceptics: It’s time to redraw the rules on Europe, say Redwood and Co”
For Melanie Phillips the December EU Summit was the Battle just Begun!
To affim, The Fighting has already begun
But nothing to worry about - The Euro is already in a tailspin!
For Douglas Carswell, “Never, in the history of this island, has the fact that Belgium is 30 miles away mattered less”
And it seems that business bosses want the UK to Loosen Ties With The EU
For Patrick O’Flynn “Britain’s Future Lies Out Of The EU And Into The World”
But in case it is thought Cameron is winning with the EU syndicate the more critical Peter Hitchens warns: “Don’t Forget They Cheered Chamberlain’s Victory Too”
Cautions Hitchens: “How Long Before The Grey Dictators March On London?”
But, “Never has Cameron been in such a strong position” according to Simon Heffer
Says Heffer,
“What was wrong with the eurozone before yesterday still remains wrong: too many countries unable to pay their debts, too many continuing to live beyond their means, and the European Central Bank still refusing to become a lender of last resort to help keep members of the eurozone solvent.
“The fact is that so immense would be the consequences of fiscal union that some European national electorates may refuse to agree to them. For the citizens of the 26 nations will soon realise they will have to make huge sacrifices in terms of economic and political sovereignty.”
That’s what it’s down to. A breakup of the Eurozone or control by Brussels over the budgets of 27 sovereign states - which then would be no longer sovereign!
“Thus, with the Germans underwriting a federal economy, we shall witness the sacrificing of European democracies”
Will it happen and what will happen? we all ask. For now, let’s come out of the trenches and wish each other a Happy Christmas, if not a prosperous New Year!
