Future prosperity lies beyond EU borders
IN a newspaper interview yesterday morning, David Cameron declared categorically that he would never support a campaign for Britain to pull out of the European Union. By lunchtime – following howls of protest from Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers – Downing Street spin doctors were in full retreat. What the Prime Minister really meant, apparently, was that pulling out right now would be unwise. Of course, future events might change his mind.
This was just the latest example of the worryingly mixed messages emanating from the Tory leadership on EU membership. Just three weeks ago at the Brussels summit, Mr Cameron publicly rejected the idea of offering the British people a simple ‘in or out’ referendum on the EU.
Two days later, in a newspaper article he appeared to indicate that he would accept such a referendum but in very guarded terms, ending his piece with the almost mystically incomprehensible aperçu, ‘For me, the two words Europe and referendum can go together’.
This paper’s position is clear. We don’t believe we should pull out of Europe, but we passionately want to see our relationship with the EU renegotiated in such areas as human rights, immigration, and business regulation.
We also want to see radical reform of the unaccountable, unelected, corrupt, overweaning bureaucracy that is Brussels.
But the inexorable truth is that most of Europe wants a more statist, more regulated approach to running the union, deriding Britain’s desire for a more deregulated economy, which this country rightly believes is the best way to compete with nations such as China and India.
One thing is certain. Strategically, by saying so clearly he is against the ‘nuclear’ option of withdrawal, Mr Cameron is weakening his hand in negotiations with Brussels to repatriate powers.
With continuing turmoil in the eurozone and the very real possibility that the single currency could collapse, the immediate future of the EU is impossible to predict.
But for the first time in 40 years, this country is exporting more goods to countries outside the EU than inside it and our trade with non-EU countries is expected to rise by between 30 and 60 per cent over the next five years.
If Britain is to grow and prosper, we must look beyond the creaking, sclerotic economies of Europe and strengthen our commercial ties with the more dynamic nations of the wider world, especially those with which we connected through our imperial past. If the terms of our EU membership hinder this process, those terms must be changed. If that proves impossible the people must be allowed to decide whether continuing membership is truly in the national interest.
Minority rule
THE cynical strike by the union representing border staff at Heathrow brings back depressing memories of the 1970s, when the country was held to ransom by tiny cliques of ego- driven militants. The turnout for the strike vote was a pathetically small 20 per cent of the eligible membership, and just over half of those supported the walkout – set for the eve of the Olympic opening ceremony. This means the Games and summer holidays of thousands of people could be thrown into chaos by a strike that nine out of ten union members didn’t vote for.
Last November, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude backed calls for legislation making it unlawful for a union to strike on a ballot turnout of under 40 per cent.
This is an eminently sensible suggestion. What is he waiting for?