Brexit
Once again, yesterday, Donald Tusk, European Council President, reiterated his view that Britain must be made to pay for wanting to leave the E.U. He claims, rightly, that the E.U. will be considerably poorer after its second biggest net contributor leaves so there is no way the E.U. will allow Britain not to pay through the nose for its decision. Many Europeans agree with this view. After all, they say, Britain chose to leave the E.U. so why should we make it easy for them. What they and many other people fail to realize is that with its declared aim to convert the E.U. into a super state, it has changed from a simple trading group into an unelected, un-audited behemoth with rules that are very much not in Britain’s interest. For example, because of the way the U.K. funds the NHS and the way it is free at the point of access for all U.K. citizens as well as the many visitors who come to the U.K. specifically to make use of that free access, a form of health-care funding that is unique in Europe, we, as citizens, are penalized twice for the free-for-all the NHS has become; first because of its high cost we have to fund; and second because of the restricted access such high demand causes. We pay massively but we still have to wait for that live-saving operation.
I’m sure we can all remember David Cameron rushing to Europe to try to persuade the E.U. to modify some of its rules to limit the damaging effects they were having on Britain so that British citizens would not vote to leave. He was sent packing with nothing even though when he returned home he tried to pretend he had achieved his primary aim. The E.U. has consistently opposed any changes to its rules that would reduce the harm done to Britain. Even now, when it is clear that not only Britain will suffer by a strict adherence to those rules but the E.U. will as well, they still refused to make those changes.
I think it must be clear to any rational person by now that the idea some remainers put forward that it would be better to change the E.U. from within than to try to do it from outside, was whistling in the wind. The central clique within the E.U. is determined to make Britain suffer, even if it is to the detriment of the E.U.
If the last twenty months has shown anything, it has shown the E.U. in its true colours. If it was not clear to some twenty months and more ago what a mean-minded, mean-spirited bunch they are, it must be abundantly clear to everyone now, including many Europeans who must be watching the slow progress of Brexit with considerable interest, not to say incredulity.
Posted 8 March 2018