Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

EUROPEAN REFERENDUMS

Europe is back on the agenda – big time. In the next few months there are two massive decisions coming up, both of which will shape the future of our nation. First, whether Britain should sign up for the euro, swiftly followed by the verdict on a new constitution for the European Union.

Both of them involve a step in the dark. How much more sovereignty will we lose if we scrap the pound? Will a one-size-fits-all interest rate euro-zone work in the long term economically? What will happen if we become the only member state out of 25 (in a few years time) that stays outside? If more and more decisions are made by unelected boffins in Brussels (or Frankfurt), how will the British people change things when they can no longer vote the decision makers out of office? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. But at least you will have the final say.

Maybe even more troublesome is the new Constitution for Europe being drafted by a committee chaired by a former French President. We must not treat it as yet a final version, nor should we overreact, but it contains some proposals that cause me concern. Like extra powers for Brussels at the expense of the nation states, like the adoption of a separate legal identity for United Europe, like giving up more of our veto, like suggesting a common defence and foreign policy for the whole of Europe.

I don’t know about you, but if the recent bust up with France and Germany over Iraq taught us one thing, it surely was that we are not ready yet for a common defence and foreign policy!

I worry that the European policy wonks are getting more and more out of step with the ordinary people they are supposed to serve. They dream of a country called Europe, a power to rival that of the USA.

As the world’s fourth largest economy, with all of our heritage and global connections and influence, we can surely aspire to a greater destiny than to become a suburb of Brussels. Which is why the run up to these vital decisions must spark a national debate about the kind of country we want to hand on to our children. The stakes are high. Which is why ultimately, not just on the euro, but also on the new constitution, the people should decide. Let there be a referendum on both.

posted by Nigel on Thursday, May 29, 2003