The Future Of The European Union Update

Original post here.

 

The fault lines in British politics were exposed by the June 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union. Both the main political parties are deeply split by supporters of and opponents of the EU; it is not a straight left/right issue. I have mentioned before that I recall the 1983 general election when the Labour party went to the country with the express policy of withdrawal from the European Economic Community whilst the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher supported continued membership. Strange how things turn out; in the referendum, the most fervent Leavers came from the Thatcherite right, whether UKIP or Conservative.

The Future Of The European Union

Membership of the European Union is not and has never been a particularly vital issue for me. As I have lived outside the UK for more than a decade now I did not vote in the June 2016 Referendum; I did try to register to vote but the website was extremely poorly designed and I gave up. I was convinced that ‘Remain’ would emerge victorious and I was astonished by the result.

 

I have never considered the EU to be the road to utopia that some of the more Europhile politicians and journalists would have people believe. At the same time, I have never believed that the EU to be the anti-Christ so hated by some of the more intemperate voices on the right. If I had voted in the Referendum, I would have probably (and reluctantly) voted Remain. The EU is desperately in need of reform and it is likely that the people of the UK would have voted to stay in had David Cameron secured some meaningful concessions from Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker back in 2016.

 

Of all the changes needed, reform of the Euro is probably the most urgent.