The EU is now on the wrong side of history

DAVID Williamson was right when he argued in his column (WM, November 20) that the EU faces far bigger challenges than Brexit.

What is really at stake is how supposedly democratic societies should organise themselves. The Macrons and Merkels of this world – and presumably avid remainers in Britain – want to see an ever more centralised EU super-state, with its own armed forces to complement its current army of bureaucrats.

This is the old dinosaur argument that bigger is always better – and look what happened to them! Mankind has tried building empires in all their forms – militaristic, political, bureaucratic and capitalist – and they have all eventually failed.

They failed because they were controlled by and benefited just a small elite, leaving the rest of us trailing in their wake. None of them has had any real regard for individuals and local communities, nor for historical nations for that matter. All are sacrificed in the long run on the altar of centralised power.

More and more people and communities throughout the world are beginning to realise that centralisation does not work and are seeking new forms of real, participative democracy – rather than the superficial form of representative democracy we have at present – and new forms of co-operative economic enterprises that benefit all rather than the few.

This is the future. The EU in its present form is part of a dying breed, on the wrong side of history. We should learn from past mistakes and plan for a better future.

Emrys Roberts

Cardiff