How do politicians get themselves into such a mess?
Given the critical issues facing Europe at the moment, any one of which from money to migration, could result in an existential crisis for the European Community, with the Euro, the Schengen agreement, Grexit and Brexit, why decide that this is a good moment for a referendum?
Some commentators reckon, given that Osborne and Cameron had no real expectation of winning the last election, that they larded the manifesto with a variety of offers, none of which needed to be followed through, because failing to deliver on anything from welfare cuts, tax credits or a referendum on Europe could always be blamed on the Liberal Democrats in coalition.
Maybe so.
It is often said that we get the politicians that we deserve which raises the possibility that we must have been pretty bad in a previous life to deserve the politicians we have now.
Margaret Thatcher's legacy was the Poll Tax, accompanied by mass unemployment, de-industrialisation and the ascendency of financial sector together with its bonus culture.
Harold Wilson's legacy was the Open University.
Depending on the outcome of the forthcoming referendum what will David Cameron's legacy be?
An isolated and broken Britain, separated from Scotland and limping along with underinvestment, rising austerity and dependent for its energy supply on Chinese and French Companies with the profits generated recycled to China and France.
With the Brexit Campaign now led by Lord Lawson it is suggested by the media that the Tory Big Beasts will begin to snarl and roar in support of Britain exiting the European Union, big beasts they may be but they are also Little Englanders, resisting the powers of the European Parliament, to which we elect representatives, of deciding what can happen in the UK, legislation developed abroad and imposed is not, we are told repeatedly, acceptable and of all the anathemas the greatest is the dreaded social chapter.
But what is the story so far.
In 1986 I developed together with an Architect and craftsman, Rolf Rosner, himself a refugee from his native Germany who found a home and a welcome in the North East of England, a project that we called Benchmark, Benchmark recruited a group of young unemployed people and provided them, under Rolf's expert tuition, a grounding in Arts and Crafts, this led to an exhibition of work and helped the young people to develop their own practise or to move into employment following their exposure to Rolf's re-imagining of the European craft school environment from which he benefited as a young man.
This project was funded by the European Commission.
Other projects with which I became involved benefited equally from being associated with and part of the wider European Community.
I will be voting yes to remain part of Europe for four significant reasons:
The fact that the nations of Europe have co-existed peacefully since 1945. Prior to that date Europe had torn itself apart in two Great Wars and had all but bankrupted itself, its recovery enabled only by the effects of the Marshall Plan. Clearly there have been moments when nations have held their breath, the Balkan's post Tito and now the shifting tectonic plates of conflict in the Middle East and especially Syria, resulting in the displacement of generations caught in the crossfire and washed up on Europe's shores, but the agreement implied by the idea of a European identity transcending nationalism offers the hope that despite increasing right wing 'noises off', those who arrive will be welcomed and will enrich European society.
In retirement I have travelled in Europe and have benefited from the freedom offered by the Schengen Agreement, I have lived from time to time in both Italy and Spain, there is it seems to me a cultural freedom when travelling, whether by air, by train or by car. My wife is a wheelchair user and we have benefited from the support and assistance available across Europe, whether eating in a restaurant in Milan, wandering the streets of Genoa or Paris or Barcelona or sitting down to Paella in the Restaurante El Mirador in the El Chorro region of Andalusia in all of this there is a sense of becoming inculturated and experiencing the true benefit of being a European Citizen recognising yourself as the inheritor of a broader European sensibility.
One particular expression of the value of Europe and our membership of the European Union is the Diocese of Europe. Once known as the Diocese of Fulham and Gibraltar, the Diocese exists to serve the interests of what are sometimes known as ex pats. But whether it is framing and shaping a humane response to the tragedy of refugees from war, whether it is representing an open and inclusive sense of what at its best it means to be 'church' or whether it is celebrating the rich culture and way of life of different communities within Europe as a continent, the Diocese is at once a place where what it means to be part of a community of fellowship can be celebrated.
Fourthly, the economy. Britain is by definition on the periphery of Europe, we are an island nation. There is no doubt that in economic terms there are both centrifugal and centripetal forces at work. At the commercial and economic centre the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation is a key centre for manufacturing and those companies who wish to 'invest' in 'Europe' will seek to invest in that region, the economic effect of this will be on the one hand for money to flow into the centre and for the centre to become profitable but in order to ensure that markets remain viable it is politically essential that money and other benefits flow out. For Britain, a key peripheral market, it is essential that we remain active in both the political heart of Europe, Brussels and Strasbourg, that we continue to welcome those manufacturers who base themselves in Britain because of our access to European markets. But it is also essential that we become whole hearted in embracing our partners across Europe. America and Britain are sometimes described as two nations divided by a common language. Interestingly enough, despite the language differences across the nations of Europe it is becoming easier to communicate as English becomes the Lingua Franca of Europe.
As a nation we may be 'peripheral' geographically but increasingly if we choose to be we have the potential to be at the cultural centre of the emerging continent of new Europe. The Government has chosen to make our membership of Europe 'problematical' lets hope that the referendum situates us at the heart of the European project as it develops.
Given the critical issues facing Europe at the moment, any one of which from money to migration, could result in an existential crisis for the European Community, with the Euro, the Schengen agreement, Grexit and Brexit, why decide that this is a good moment for a referendum?
Some commentators reckon, given that Osborne and Cameron had no real expectation of winning the last election, that they larded the manifesto with a variety of offers, none of which needed to be followed through, because failing to deliver on anything from welfare cuts, tax credits or a referendum on Europe could always be blamed on the Liberal Democrats in coalition.
Maybe so.
It is often said that we get the politicians that we deserve which raises the possibility that we must have been pretty bad in a previous life to deserve the politicians we have now.
Margaret Thatcher's legacy was the Poll Tax, accompanied by mass unemployment, de-industrialisation and the ascendency of financial sector together with its bonus culture.
Harold Wilson's legacy was the Open University.
Depending on the outcome of the forthcoming referendum what will David Cameron's legacy be?
An isolated and broken Britain, separated from Scotland and limping along with underinvestment, rising austerity and dependent for its energy supply on Chinese and French Companies with the profits generated recycled to China and France.
With the Brexit Campaign now led by Lord Lawson it is suggested by the media that the Tory Big Beasts will begin to snarl and roar in support of Britain exiting the European Union, big beasts they may be but they are also Little Englanders, resisting the powers of the European Parliament, to which we elect representatives, of deciding what can happen in the UK, legislation developed abroad and imposed is not, we are told repeatedly, acceptable and of all the anathemas the greatest is the dreaded social chapter.
But what is the story so far.
In 1986 I developed together with an Architect and craftsman, Rolf Rosner, himself a refugee from his native Germany who found a home and a welcome in the North East of England, a project that we called Benchmark, Benchmark recruited a group of young unemployed people and provided them, under Rolf's expert tuition, a grounding in Arts and Crafts, this led to an exhibition of work and helped the young people to develop their own practise or to move into employment following their exposure to Rolf's re-imagining of the European craft school environment from which he benefited as a young man.
This project was funded by the European Commission.
Other projects with which I became involved benefited equally from being associated with and part of the wider European Community.
I will be voting yes to remain part of Europe for four significant reasons:
The fact that the nations of Europe have co-existed peacefully since 1945. Prior to that date Europe had torn itself apart in two Great Wars and had all but bankrupted itself, its recovery enabled only by the effects of the Marshall Plan. Clearly there have been moments when nations have held their breath, the Balkan's post Tito and now the shifting tectonic plates of conflict in the Middle East and especially Syria, resulting in the displacement of generations caught in the crossfire and washed up on Europe's shores, but the agreement implied by the idea of a European identity transcending nationalism offers the hope that despite increasing right wing 'noises off', those who arrive will be welcomed and will enrich European society.
In retirement I have travelled in Europe and have benefited from the freedom offered by the Schengen Agreement, I have lived from time to time in both Italy and Spain, there is it seems to me a cultural freedom when travelling, whether by air, by train or by car. My wife is a wheelchair user and we have benefited from the support and assistance available across Europe, whether eating in a restaurant in Milan, wandering the streets of Genoa or Paris or Barcelona or sitting down to Paella in the Restaurante El Mirador in the El Chorro region of Andalusia in all of this there is a sense of becoming inculturated and experiencing the true benefit of being a European Citizen recognising yourself as the inheritor of a broader European sensibility.
One particular expression of the value of Europe and our membership of the European Union is the Diocese of Europe. Once known as the Diocese of Fulham and Gibraltar, the Diocese exists to serve the interests of what are sometimes known as ex pats. But whether it is framing and shaping a humane response to the tragedy of refugees from war, whether it is representing an open and inclusive sense of what at its best it means to be 'church' or whether it is celebrating the rich culture and way of life of different communities within Europe as a continent, the Diocese is at once a place where what it means to be part of a community of fellowship can be celebrated.
Fourthly, the economy. Britain is by definition on the periphery of Europe, we are an island nation. There is no doubt that in economic terms there are both centrifugal and centripetal forces at work. At the commercial and economic centre the Rhine-Ruhr conurbation is a key centre for manufacturing and those companies who wish to 'invest' in 'Europe' will seek to invest in that region, the economic effect of this will be on the one hand for money to flow into the centre and for the centre to become profitable but in order to ensure that markets remain viable it is politically essential that money and other benefits flow out. For Britain, a key peripheral market, it is essential that we remain active in both the political heart of Europe, Brussels and Strasbourg, that we continue to welcome those manufacturers who base themselves in Britain because of our access to European markets. But it is also essential that we become whole hearted in embracing our partners across Europe. America and Britain are sometimes described as two nations divided by a common language. Interestingly enough, despite the language differences across the nations of Europe it is becoming easier to communicate as English becomes the Lingua Franca of Europe.
As a nation we may be 'peripheral' geographically but increasingly if we choose to be we have the potential to be at the cultural centre of the emerging continent of new Europe. The Government has chosen to make our membership of Europe 'problematical' lets hope that the referendum situates us at the heart of the European project as it develops.
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