In the week that Boris
Johnson plunged the EU debate into the depths, with his offensive
comparison to Hitler's NAZI regime, I was reminded of the EU's birth.
Europe is a continent
that has a history of warfare, the most savage being WW2. Out of
those ashes the victorious allies established a cluster of
international alliances to prevent a repeat of such horrors. First
was the Council of Europe, the brain-child of Winston Churchill. Its
rules were simple, only Democracies could join, and they had to
guarantee their citizens Freedom. These include the right to marry,
free speech, and freedom from fear of persecution. In 1940 very few
nations were eligible, military juntas still ruled parts of the West,
and in the East the Iron Curtain fell. It was a beacon of hope that
helped other nations discover that freedom was better than
dictatorship; today it has 47 member states. At its heart is the
European Convention of Human Rights – a charter of individual
freedom and rights guaranteed not just by British Law but by all of
Europe. Only Belarus & Kazakhstan have refused to ratify these
basis freedoms – and it would be betrayal of those who fought for
our freedom for Britain to join that pitiful group.
NATO was established to
act as a mutual protection and defence force. Of its 28 members, 22
are in the EU. It intervened to stop civil war in the Balkans,
patrols against piracy around the Horn of Africa, and provides troops
to fulfil the EU's role as peace-keeper and nation builder.
The most significant
organisation arose from a series of trade pacts, that bonded Europe's
economies together in a such as way that a new European war would be
unthinkable. The European Coal & Steel Community (ECSC) merged
with other organisations to develop in to the European Union (EU). At
is core is the principle of free trade, and freedom of movement. The
EU is far more than a crude free trade area, all its citizens are
also granted new freedoms that our parents could not dream off.
Nearly 3 million Brits have used that freedom to live, work &
retire in the Algarve, Costa del Sol and elsewhere in Europe.
The EU plays a key role
in environmental and consumer protection. Almost all of the
so-called 'European Laws' are no more than basic regulations covering
food safety, the use of toxic chemicals, safe working practices and
common decency. You must have international agreement on
environmental protection, as dumping garbage into your neighbours
garden is not an acceptable option. These rules apply to all member
states of the European Economic Area (EEA), so leaving the EU to join
an as yet unknown free-trade area would not allow us to abandon these
regulations; it would however mean that we will cease to have any say
about their content.
A good example is the highly successful common fisheries policy,
which saved the North Sea from dying. I am unsure if Nigel Farage was
planning to issue cod with passports, and establish underwater border
posts – but fish swim about. So successful is the Common Fisheries
Policy the North Sea is now restocking with fish, and its operation
has been duplicated by Norway and the Northwest
Atlantic Fisheries Organization (USA, Canada, Greenland,
Iceland, Japan, and others).
Workers rights are key
element of EU rules, guaranteeing maternity rights and fair treatment
of people with disabilities. Enforced excessive working hours are no
longer allowed, and EU regulations underpin factory and machine
safety. You cannot have a genuine free market if some countries are
allowed to ignore the rules to undercut the prices of decent
employers who value their staff and invest in safe working practices.
Above all it is the
social, cultural and scientific collaborations that have been ignored
in the debate. The EU runs the only International Scientific funding
programme apart from the UN, now known as Horizon 2020. British
universities and businesses are the second largest recipient of these
funds, which are won by free and open competition. Thanks to these
actions we now have the Mobile Phone – the GSM standard was the
result of EU funding for the European Telecoms Standards Institute
(ETSI) which established a common set of rules for mobile phones, and
created overnight a multi-billion £ market. Thanks to the European
Stem Cell Centre we have successful treatments for blindness (Macular
Degeneration), and work continues on other debilitating diseases. The
ERASMUS programme enables 1000's of young people to travel to the EU
to gain skills and training, as well as supporting similar programmes
in the UK. British scientist will be locked out of Horizon 2020 the
day that we BREXIT.
No organisation is
perfect, but the EU has developed from a desire to bring the people
of Europe together without destroying our national character. It has
given us freedom, prosperity, 50 years of peace, scientific and
technical advances, environmental protection, consumer safety and
workers rights. Do not take us back down the road of Nationalism and
isolation.
Over the next few weeks
Berwick Labour Party is hoping to leaflet and reach out to you all.
If you would like to help our campaign to promote the EU from the
viewpoint of personal freedom, consumer and environmental protection
please help us get the message out. We are also pleased to be hosting
the Berwick EU Debate at the Swan Centre on the 10th June.
We have guests from both sides of the debate. Come and listen, and
most important of all make sure that you are all registered to vote.
Thanks for this excellent blog post! FWIW, my brief take on the situation is here.
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