This is Devon --
I RECENTLY received a statement by the Prime Minister, under the mistaken impression that I am a member of the Conservative Party!
It stated that the Conservatives aim to have a referendum in 2017 to decide whether we opt to stay in the EU or to opt out of it. (Although which Party will be in power then is anybody's guess!).
I am not in favour of such a referendum, as I don't think it would be the right solution for our nation's relationship with Europe.
I replied in this vein to David Cameron, in the following words:
"Dear Mr Cameron
My view on Britain's relationship with Europe is that we should not be working towards a decision whether to opt right out of the European Union or to remain in it; much of our relationship is helpful to Britain, especially for instance the fact that Europe is a major recipient of our exports, just to mention one example.
What I, and probably many of my fellow countrymen also, have objected to for years is that we have tamely submitted ourselves to a succession of treaties, legislation, directives, etc., from Europe which have whittled away our national identity and the power of our Parliament to the detriment of our national life.
And the financial contributions which we have had to make to the bottomless pot of Europe over the years, has I'm sure, significantly contributed to the parlous financial and economic state we are in today.
For example, our powerlessness in the face of European Human Rights legislation and our adoption of it, makes us a laughing stock in the eyes of the rest of the (non-European) world – witness the years of fiasco trying to deport Abu Qatada, not to mention the fantastic cost of failing to do so for so long.
It seems that only by the recent treaty with Jordan was the deadlock finally broken.
What I want to see is not our total withdrawal from the EU, but a process to begin whereby we select those parts of the above-mentioned treaties, legislation and directives which are detrimental to our national identity and power and delete them from our own statute book or amend them to suit our requirements, so that we can regain our national sovereignty, our status in the world and the well-being of our society.
I do not believe that any amount of negotiation with the Eurocrats will ever bring about a solution which would really suit Britain, so we shall have to make these decisions on our own, and if they don't like it – tough!
IAN SANDEMAN
Higher Compton Reported by This is 22 hours ago.
I RECENTLY received a statement by the Prime Minister, under the mistaken impression that I am a member of the Conservative Party!
It stated that the Conservatives aim to have a referendum in 2017 to decide whether we opt to stay in the EU or to opt out of it. (Although which Party will be in power then is anybody's guess!).
I am not in favour of such a referendum, as I don't think it would be the right solution for our nation's relationship with Europe.
I replied in this vein to David Cameron, in the following words:
"Dear Mr Cameron
My view on Britain's relationship with Europe is that we should not be working towards a decision whether to opt right out of the European Union or to remain in it; much of our relationship is helpful to Britain, especially for instance the fact that Europe is a major recipient of our exports, just to mention one example.
What I, and probably many of my fellow countrymen also, have objected to for years is that we have tamely submitted ourselves to a succession of treaties, legislation, directives, etc., from Europe which have whittled away our national identity and the power of our Parliament to the detriment of our national life.
And the financial contributions which we have had to make to the bottomless pot of Europe over the years, has I'm sure, significantly contributed to the parlous financial and economic state we are in today.
For example, our powerlessness in the face of European Human Rights legislation and our adoption of it, makes us a laughing stock in the eyes of the rest of the (non-European) world – witness the years of fiasco trying to deport Abu Qatada, not to mention the fantastic cost of failing to do so for so long.
It seems that only by the recent treaty with Jordan was the deadlock finally broken.
What I want to see is not our total withdrawal from the EU, but a process to begin whereby we select those parts of the above-mentioned treaties, legislation and directives which are detrimental to our national identity and power and delete them from our own statute book or amend them to suit our requirements, so that we can regain our national sovereignty, our status in the world and the well-being of our society.
I do not believe that any amount of negotiation with the Eurocrats will ever bring about a solution which would really suit Britain, so we shall have to make these decisions on our own, and if they don't like it – tough!
IAN SANDEMAN
Higher Compton Reported by This is 22 hours ago.
