A Letter from Ledbury… My five reasons for staying in…

John Grove is a seventy something, retired Brierley Hill (Worcestershire) headteacher, now living in Ledbury in Herefordshire. Here he replies to an open letter sent out to ‘friends’ by his nephew, a confirmed Brexiteer.

Dear Paul,

I thought at first that I would not respond as I am too out of touch with the detailed argument. But then I thought that I owe it to myself to say simply why

I will be voting  (by postal vote from Hungary)  to stay in the EU.

I also thought that you may enjoy a reply.

First a comment on your four main reasons for BREXIT. In principle, I AGREE  with them all, but still want to stay in…

• The EU ‘project’ is fundamentally flawed, and has been warped over the years since 1945 to suit political purposes.

Surely ALL large-scale human projects are fundamentally flawed and are warped by political purposes?  We call it human nature and politics.

I agree that ‘the vision of many’ is a Federal State, but Britain and the new countries are actively stopping this, and should continue to do so in necessary areas.

• It is fundamentally undemocratic and unaccountable.

I am sure there are many unsuitable careerists. Democracy is at best a frail plant, and we could all become interested in Europe and really activate our MEPs to properly represent our interests. Surely it is our fault that we have … remained at arm’s length and largely ignored most European news. Our own democratic processes are weak anyway. I remember Tony Blair setting up elaborate Policy Forums for ordinary people to have their say in New Labour, and he and the senior Labour politicians totally ignored them.

• It does nothing to improve our security

Agreed – it is interesting that you propose more regulations, British-style. As to migration, the real problem for me is not internal EU migration but Non EU ‘refugees’ and other economic migrants. It seems to me that there is no real political will to secure our borders and leaving the EU is unlikely to change this.

As to the EU not stopping all conflict – this is better than actively starting it, as Britain and America have done in Iraq and Libya.

• The UK needs to get its own house in order and faces massive internal issues that no politician has addressed.

YES… but can you see a Conservative government increasing taxes to solve ‘housing, good education, and free healthcare’ issues?  Is Jeremy Corbyn any more credible?  My guess is that these issues will be muddled through, whether in the EU or out.

Now my reasons for staying in:

• We subscribed to a EU vision in 1975. We must continue to try to make it work. To get out now because of problems will involve us in a loss of credibility as an untrustworthy small nation-state. It may lead us to be the cause of an EU collapse for which history will blame our selfishness;

• We need to participate in the ever-changing international and world order. Soon we will have 10 billion people – the massive changes brought about by new technology – the rise of multi cultural global thinking and travel – young people are on the move everywhere, all over the world;

• We need to participate in global solutions through the EU to life threatening problems like climate, water shortage, nuclear fusion needs, waste disposal, and world-wide migration;

• Britain has the financial clout / the international language / the cultural tradition / the educated population to make a real difference internationally and to play a greater part in improving EU performance;

• Should we retreat into an ‘island’ mentality – dealing with our own small-scale problems, and trying to find an isolated safe haven from the serious problems facing the Mediterranean countries? I don’t think so.

The trouble is that we are guessing the future, but I remain moderately optimistic that we can survive – inside the EU.