Daily Globe British Values, Global Perspective
Dave, you are to be commended. You fought the good fight over Jean-Claude Juncker’s appointment. As Fraser Nelson so articulately points out, the UK now has a Europe strategy, one based on principle and against the toxic reincarnation of Versailles that is Euro politics in the 21st century. But Dave, I’m afraid your goal to reform the EU isn’t going to happen. Despite your efforts, the old gang (besides Hungary) united against you to support an arch-federalist possible alcoholic from little Luxemburg who will impose regulations on the whole of Europe at the head of the European Commission. And they arrogantly imposed him despite the anti-Brussels earthquake of the most recent EU elections. It was a valiant effort Dave, but it’s time for a change of tactic. The UK should turn to the Commonwealth if it wants feelings of unity and fair free trade. The time for European Union is over, polls show Britons favour leaving and the 2017 referendum can not come soon enough.
The European Union has transformed, in only a short time, from an organisation made for the noble purpose of free trade, to a play thing of Europe’s elite- sort of like a stronger and more powerful Holy Roman Empire. Its model for governance, of elite plutocrats making decisions from on high and then imposing them on democratic nation states is maddening and medieval. At this very moment, it is estimated (from non-UKIP sources) that the majority of regulations (not laws though) in the United Kingdom come from Brussels. The British people did not vote for the majority of their regulations to come from EU aristocracy in 1975, yet that is how it somehow became. And Great Britain “has it good” compared to many European nations, as it was able to not participate in the EU bailouts and the Euro currency- in those nations, like say Greece, national sovereignty has all but been stripped away.
Prime Minister, I know you want the UK to stay part of Europe because you think it would be better for the UK’s economy. After all, the EU is the world’s largest bloc. But if one looks at the evidence, I have seen nothing to suggest that Britain being in Europe adds to its ability to negotiate trade worldwide, in fact in a recent study from the cross-party think tank Civitas, it was revealed there is no evidence that the EU brought or brings the UK foreign investment that it did not or could not get on its own. Furthermore, why would European markets cut off trade with the world’s 5th largest economy and, fastest growing economy in the G7, simply because it won’t accept ever closer political union? Europe trades with Norway, Switzerland, and Russia in abundance, and those nations are not in the European Political Union. Frankly, as an American I find it absolutely absurd that any Briton could be a full fledge supporter of the EU (unlike my President). To me, the UK submitting to undemocratic EU regulations ruled by a dictatorial Luxembourger political hack would be like America taking orders from the Organisation of American States ruled by a former President of the Bahamas. It’s utter silliness that could as easily be a Monty Python skit as much as it is a reality.
Proponents of the EU, such as DPM Nick Clegg, will argue that wanting to leave the EU is “pulling up the draw bridge” and being little Englanders. On the contrary, it is staying in the EU, and chaining yourself to a declining continent, that is being little Europeans and anti-global. There is a big world out there, and the Commonwealth of Nations is the perfect organisation to help make the transition out of the EU as seamless as possible.
The Commonwealth of Nations is the natural home of the United Kingdom if it is to remain an international and vibrant nation. And unlike the European Union, its economies are growing exponentially. Of the 12 largest economies in the world, excluding Great Britain, there are three from the European Union- Germany, France and Italy, and three from the Commonwealth- Canada, India and Australia. Australia and India have both recently elected conservative Prime Ministers- Tony Abbott and Narenda Modi and Canada’s Conservative Stephen Harper has led an economic boom in Canada. Contrast Harper, Abbott and Modi with the Christian Democrat Europhile Merkel, the Socialist Hollande and the youthful Socialist Renzi, and who Prime Minister, would you rather be making deals over dinner with?
Furthermore, besides Canada, Australia, and India, the Commonwealth is home to some of the world’s biggest financial centres in Singapore, the biggest emerging Islamic financial hub in Kuala Lumpur, and is home to the two biggest economies in Africa- Nigeria and South Africa. It also is home to New Zealand and many of the fastest growing economies in the world. Why would Great Britain want to be chained to an organisation in one continent that is bent on rule by plutocrats when they are already part of an organisation that spans the globe and shares in much of Great Britain’s values, history, and culture that Europe does not, such as Common Law and cricket? With Commonwealth nations rising, this is the perfect opportunity to make deals to benefit Great Britain. But, if not an EU model, how should a Commonwealth Common Market look and function?
I humbly propose Mr. Cameron that at your next meeting with Commonwealth leaders you draw plans for “C5” and “C9” agreements to prepare Britain for a post-EU global future. “C9” would be a free trade pact between the nine big powers of the Commonwealth- the UK, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria and South Africa. This would be as big or bigger than the 9 member EEC of the 1970s Britain joined but with a bigger future upside. Secondly, the UK should push for free movement of people where it makes sense- not from Eastern Europe in the EU, but with natural allies who would fit in well in the UK. Like Boris Johnson, I see strong advantages from freedom of movement with allies such as Australia, and thus I propose making freedom of movement in a “C5” of the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore. The C5 and the C9 would be a big step towards establishing the UK as a world leader, not a nation arguing with self-important Eurocrats; begging them not to impose more rules.
Lastly, Mr. Cameron you are doing a fantastic job. The choices your government has made that has led to an economical miracle of turning around the British economy to leading the G7 in growth, having record employment and cutting the deficit have been remarkable- especially compared with the dismal economic and employment situation here in the US. The recent trade deals with China too, are also exactly what Great Britain should be doing, i.e. speaking for itself. The United Kingdom does not need European political rule. Free trade with Europe would be nice and is beneficial, but the current political union is unacceptable. Turn your foreign policy attention to your natural allies and more important matters, such as the situation in the Middle East. As for Europe, to use the colourful language some Polish autocrats recently used to describe you: they “f***ed it up.”
