With the majority Tory government we now have, it is clear there will be a referendum on whether or not Britain should stay in the European Union. We will need to have national debate on Europe and the UK’s position in it, and I can only pray that it is a sensible and mature debate.
Many people on the Left try to avoid having such discussion by simply portraying anyone who asks questions about the EU as a xenophobe or some kind of ultra-right fool. In a classic attempt to discredit your opponents rather than having to confront them in a rational exchange of opinions, these people are the main reason why unsavoury, hard core anti-Europe parties are on the rise throughout Europe. With UKIP, the Front National, the Finns’ Party, Podemos, the Danish People’s Party, you need mainstream parties to be critical of the EU when appropriate. Pretending it’s all roses is intellectually lazy and disingenuous, and people just don’t buy it.
I was born in Europe, and my family still live there. I can afford to study at Oxford only thanks to money I get because I’m an EU citizen. I’ve worked for several EU-related organisations. In fact, I ran for the European Parliament with the Czech Conservative Party last year. And, believe it or not, I’m a Eurosceptic.
Being a Eurosceptic is not about having some kind of irrational, superstitious contempt for the Continent. It’s about recognising that there are some things that the EU does wrong, and admitting that perhaps in some areas we went too far in transferring national powers to Brussels. It’s about talking openly about the fact that over the past decade or so, people have started to feel very alienated by the EU and that the EU elite has often pushed for things on which there was no consensus across Europe.
Almost half of the entire EU budget is spent on subsidising French farmers, who then go on to spill their milk outside the Élysée Palace when en grève. Over £130 million a year is spent on the travelling circus that once a month sees the European Parliament decamp from Belgium to France. More and more laws and regulations are passed in Brussels which Westminster gets no say over, despite the fact that they affect British people and businesses. Is Cameron really that crazy for wanting to have a conversation with EU leaders about whether it’s perhaps not the right time to change some of these things?
It’s like when you’re in a relationship (not that I would know): pretending there are no problems at all if it’s clear there are some will help no one. Studies and public opinion polls show us that more and more people all over Europe are raising their eyebrows, and to pretend that nothing is happening is quite frankly arrogant. Let’s have a sensible debate about facts in the run up to the 2017 referendum. A debate in which there is no room for prejudice and belittling of our political opponents. I believe the British people, being the sensible bunch they are, will make the right decision when it comes to it.
