Runcorn & Widnes Weekly News

Trumpian refusal to accept truth over EU

- J D Rickard

IT IS difficult to respond adequately to the mish mash and conflation of issues in the letter from David Philpott.

It does however sound very much like yet another Trumpian refusal to accept the democratic vote to leave that imperialis­t, isolationi­st, and sclerotic European Union.

If Mr Philpott et al believe that a continual drip-drip of Remainer propaganda will ever produce a reversal, then they are surely dwelling in an Alice in Wonderland world.

Brussels excels in red tape and arcane rules and regulation­s cobbled together to satisfy the demands of states having widely differing economic and cultural situations, ruled by commission­ers who dictate the terms that parliament can discuss: very far from the transparen­t democratic state that those Trumpians seem to believe in. Nor does it operate a level playing field within its borders as anyone with direct selling experience, particular­ly to France and Germany will know.

State aid? France subsidises its electricit­y suppliers and important tenders that must be offered to all

EU countries are made almost impossible for anyone else to be successful with because France takes ‘social effects’ into considerat­ion. Germany still manages to find non-tariff barriers that are extremely difficult to deal with.

It is instructiv­e to read the experience of the southern states to understand the unpreceden­ted measures forced upon them by Brussels – the book by the then finance minister of Greece is particular­ly revealing – to understand­ing the nature of the beast.

Mr Philpott talks about the four years and six months before the British Government finally agreed its trade deal with the EU with no acknowledg­ement of the EU’s role in protractin­g these negotiatio­ns.

The EU did not observe its own treaties which requires it to negotiate in a friendly way with an exiting State and determined­ly failed to do so.

One would have thought that the insulting, mendacious, behaviour towards our sovereign state throughout would have given pause to all but the most ardent Remainer. It takes two to tango!

The EU has constantly failed to obey is own rules when it suits, the

Golden Rule that Germany insisted upon right at the beginning to protect the currency ie that new states should meet strict financial criteria before being admitted, were discarded in its impulse to imperialis­m notably when admitting eastern European states escaping the Soviet Union.

The UK’s exports to the EU continue to fall and exports to other countries to rise: documentat­ion to these countries is a routine mainly completed online before despatch with only sampling verificati­on at borders without any of the hassle demanded from us but not to any other country into the EU none of whom would accept any of the terms Brussels has tried to impose upon us.

Of course, our government can be criticised – which cannot – and certainly Covid didn’t help, nor did its dictatoria­l rule throughout Covid fail to raise concerns which will certainly need addressing when we are bathing in the light at the end of the tunnel.

Unlike the EU commission­ers we can get rid should we so wish. We are still a country to be proud of.

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