Skip to main content

The logic of being part of Europe

Crime against mother nature, I bought The Daily Express today. Ok, now you can slap me, punch me or more of a democratic approach - criticise me. Personally I blame Superdrug. They surely must have better choice newspapers rather than the Express and The Sun. In Cardiff Queen Street one, they at least have The Times, but the one in Bangor High Street, less choice.

Anyway, before I get into a rant about what Superdrug sells and doesn't sell, The Express's front page headline caught my eye. It read "99% of you say: Get us out of Europe" and the image is of a woman in Birmingham lifting a previous issue of the paper.

It's striking. I mean, let's use our common sense here. The United Kingdom is geographically in Europe, it's giving us easy access to Europe without paying any visas (excluding the likes of Russia of course). Europe gives us resources which we heavily rely on and we have a solid political relationships with European country leaders such as France, Germany and Italy. So what's The Express's problem?

They have put their "Get us out of Europe" as a pledge. They advertise loads on cheap holidays to go to Spain. If we were out of Europe, we would be stuck here. Maybe their logic is that they are following their right-wing priorities and listen to David Cameron's "holidays in Britain" pledge.

David Cameron has never liked Europe. He said during his election campaign that he wished not to be part of the European Union because they wanted to keep the British Pound. Well, if you were a more powerful politician, maybe you could convince yourself that being part of the EU may not be too bad. Ok, being part of the Euro maybe a problem as we take pride in having the Queen's head at the back of every coin (or the front, whichever was you look at it).

But being part of the EU won't be too catastrophic, surely? They're a nice bunch I'm sure. Sitting next to Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Silvio Berlusconi won't be bad. Could rave it on a Saturday night at one of Silvio's party. But if 99% of the UK public don't want to see the Prime Minister having a laugh, then that's fine.

Also, The Daily Express didn't state how many people had taken part in this poll. I rest my case.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The death of British middle-class sit-coms

After 120 episodes spanning 11 years, BBC One hit situation comedy My Family reaches its final hurdle this Friday evening. BBC One Programme Controller, Danny Cohen said the channel are searching for a new generation of comedies which will created a similar impact. "Now that all the Harper children have fled the nest we feel it's time to make room for new comedies on BBC One. I can confirm that the eleventh series, coming to BBC One later this year, will be the last," Danny Cohen, March 2011 Ben and Susan Harper, along with their children, Michael, Janey and up until series five, Nick are the well-known faces we are going to miss seeing on the occasional Friday nights. Robert Lindsay and Zoe Wanamaker have made their impact on the small screen as well as theatre appearances which made them the big stars they are today and I'm sure Daniela Denby-Ashe (Janey), Gabriel Thomson (Michael) and even Tayler Marshall (who played Janey's son Kenzo) have a big futu...

Done right, digital IDs can save lives

Sir Keir Starmer has a challenge to convince people over digital ID plans (Image: The Guardian) If we're to treat survey results as gospel, I find myself in the minority on a big debate. It appears I am one of the very few in support of a 'digital ID' . It had taken me a while to come to this conclusion as, since the idea was explored under Tony Blair's government in 2005, I really wasn't sure what the point of the concept was. But 18 years later, I feel that an identification of some digital kind is necessary, and potentially lifesaving, as I'll explain here. The digital ID has been brought into the British political limelight again thanks to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. He wants to bring them in on a mandatory basis, as a way of proving we have a right to work in the UK. It forms part of his cunning plan to halt illegal migration and illegal labour - similar schemes are already in place abroad and are said to be doing well. According to a government pres...

We've got the whole world, in Trump's hands

Donald Trump is cornering a willing Keir Starmer (Image: Getty Images) I yearn to visit the United States one day. I have it all planned out - seven cities across seven states, at least three nights in each. And each seven locations have meaning, influenced by my interest in TV, film, music and politics - plus a bit of sunshine and beach in the middle. In my mind, it will be the ultimate adventure, perfect for me, someone who isn't big on travel beyond European cities. However, I face two obstacles to this US trip - one, finances. I totted up how much it would cost me, and if you consider flights, hotels, food and other spending money, it will cost around £5,000, five grand I do not have and probably won't have for a good while. And secondly, the politics, which keeps reaching new levels of volatility. So much so, if its President, Donald Trump, carries on, we'll be comparing the US to North Korea and Iran.  I may sound extreme, but when you consider incidents like the deat...