Little Englanders

Little Englanders. That's what they call us. But who is it showing the real parochialism? Have you noticed that the Remain camp have made this entirely a domestic dispute? They speak of the necessity to be in the EU because of what it does for us. They do not, however, look beyond the confines of the UK debate to examine what the EU is and how that's working in practice. They speak of it as though this is a referendum on the continued adoption of a legal code. It isn't. It has very real and practical ramifications for all of Europe.

These are politically transformational measures designed to break governments of their powers to the ends of putting the power in the hands of the EU entity. And look at what that means in practice. Roadblocks going up, Poland turning inward, Greece on the brink of societal collapse, and influx of people without the first idea what to do with them, riots all over France (plus ca change) and a very pissed off Germany rapidly running out of patience.

There are very real political restraints preventing various policy reforms throughout, seriously damaging European agriculture and fisheries, meanwhile ripping at the social fabric of the entire continent, spawning "far right" movements in nearly every EU nation. Meanwhile there is a good chance Britain won't be the last to hold an in/our referendum. Europe is screaming for reform and it is howling for the EU to stop tinkering.

And what do the remain camp want to talk about? Whether you next holiday will be a bit more expensive or whether you have to pay roaming charges. Are these people actually on the same planet as the rest of us? Or is this something else? Is it that they think you are lamentably shallow that this is your only concern as one of the plebs? Yes, that's it isn't it? They think you are as shallow and bereft of depth as they are. It rather explains our media doesn't it?

So no, we are not little Englanders for wanting to leave. We are leavers precisely because we are not. If anyone is showing a dismal and shallow parochialism it is those who want us to remain. Those who would rather keep the debate framed in the narrow concerns of Britain's relationship with a legal framework.

And then we are told this is battle between young university educated progressives versus the uneducated elderly reactionaries. What we get from them are glib and shallow arguments based entirely on Izzardesque empty sentiments that bare no relation to the blood curdling reality of this political construct. The derelict relic from the post war years which refuses to reform. This entity with no self-awareness with no intention of heeding the warnings from the people of Europe. At what point do these people wake up from their parochial navel-gazing?

This is far more than about the cost of groceries or your next holiday. This is a question of whether all of Europe can survive and peacefully coexist under the dead hand of suprantionalism. To answer that question we must look beyond the shores of Britain and past the borders of Europe. The world is not the world imagined by Monnet and Schuman. There is no European Utopia. There is only ever one depressing inevitability when people are deprived of power over their government.

We have one chance only this month to show leadership and break this rotten stranglehold on Europe. One chance only to change direction before we reach a point of no return. I can't say for certain if leaving the EU will make your next holiday more expensive or not. What I can tell you is that roaming charges will be the last thing on you mind as we watch Europe once again descend into flames.

The short of it is, Remain voters need to wake up and grow up. This is not about your petty concerns or your dogmatic worship of this antidemocratic construct. This is very much a fight for the soul of Europe. Whether we wish to be a Europe of peaceful cooperation or a Europe held to ransom by a power cult in Brussels.

What I can tell you is you probably won't get another vote that matters as much as this one. We can vote for a negotiated exit, knowing what the risks are, or we can remain in and leave it to chance. But if you vote to remain, know this. You are voting for the termination of European democracy. Who's the little Englander now?