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| Subject: It's mentality. | |
Author: Ed Harris (London) | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 14:38:57 01/27/05 Thu In reply to: Frank (US) 's message, "I'm surprised how politicians can push for the EU..." on 05:08:41 01/27/05 Thu I read a wonderful line about Britain's recovery of self-esteem following the Falklands, the Gulf War, and the economic miracle of the mid-1990s, which is still going strong ten years later. It was something like, "Modern Britons can no more see in themselves the craven, beaten people of the 1970s as they can in the triumphant, all-powerful people of the 1890s." While that made me smile, I think that it should be qualified. Many of our political attitudes have yet to catch up. The idea that Britain could not survive on its own through terminal decline, decolonisation, the ghastliness of Suez and the Cold War, has persisted. Many people feel that Britain, isolated from Europe, would be as irrelevant in world affairs as Venezuela, and just as powerless to defend its economic, political and military interests. It is, of course, nonsense. Britain is back in business, and the EU is holding us back. America has stopped sharing military and intelligence material with us because we are treaty-bound to share it all with Europe. The EU has announced that the leader of the opposition's immigration policy (making it the same as Australia's) would be illegal under European law. Our businesses lose billions a year in filling out EU forms and conforming to EU social and employment measures. Our environmental measures to increase fish stocks are made worthless by the trawling of our waters by Spanish and Polish fishing fleets. All this we put up with because of the prevailing feeling that it's better to cope with these problems than all the problems which we'd have outside of the 'protecting' embrace of European co-operation. It is not all bad news, though. The huge surge in Eurosceptic opinion in this country demonstrates glimmerings of recognition that it is now all a big con, since we are more than capable of surviving on our own. We are rich, fat, happy, sitting on vast nuclear stockpiles, our armies are in Afghanistan, Iraq, West Afica, the Balkans and Heaven-knows where else, and it has been demonstrated that the blessing of the UN and the EU is about as necessary to the maintenance of our friendship with the USA as would be the consent of Ulan Bator. I would, of course, prefer to see Britain out of the EU and integrating with the Crown Commonwealth, but as a second best I would have us standing loud and proud on our own. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: yelly bellied politicians | |
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Author: Owain (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:01:09 01/27/05 Thu "...as a second best I would have us standing loud and proud on our own." Amen to that. What we need is a tough leader, someone who isnt scared of upsetting some people and pissing off one or two foreign countries (not including ones we are requested to invade by our American allies). Sadly too many politicians in our country these days are so yellow bellied. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> Subject: oh and... | |
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Author: Owain (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:02:59 01/27/05 Thu Dont interpret the idea of a "tough leader" as facism. Bush is a tough leader and by no means a facist. Infact many of the tough leaders of Europe (they have quite a few, lucky buggers) are closer to facism. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> Subject: That should include standing up to the Americans instead of taking orders from them | |
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Author: Jim (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:50:29 01/27/05 Thu [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |