So first of all I originally wrote this blog while flying across the Atlantic four weeks ago but for some reason best known to itself the Blogger iOS app decided it didn't want to save it off line. So I have had to wait until now to recreate it. Just to meander off topic for a moment, in the competition between the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A380, it pains me to say it but the Boeing wins. It's just so much more comfortable.
Anyway, back on topic. I have made no secret of the fact that I'll be voting to stay in the EU in the upcoming referendum and I'd like to explain why. My brother helped me crystallise my thoughts on this while in the pub (where else would you crystallise something?) a few days before I went on holiday.
There are all sorts of good, serious arguments for staying in. Things like it being better for the country economically, it helping us keep the country safe from crime, it giving the country a louder voice on the world stage, the oft-disputed but inescapable advantages of immigration and so many more, but none of them are the reason I want to stay in. My reasons are much more ideological than that. I want to stay part of the EU because I love the idea of twenty-eight different countries, many former war-time enemies, working together for the common good. I love the fact that I can travel across the sea and move around from country to country without being stopped by border guards. Stop for a moment and think about how amazing that is. In a continent famous for massive, bloody wars, we can travel around, see places and meet people and there are no obstacles. That's great!
I love the fact it can have the effect of fostering a feeling of brother and sisterhood (siblinghood?) between people of different nationalities. It helps us realise that the petty differences between us Europeans are just that, petty. We have so much more in common. I always think back to a fun evening I had with two of us Brits, two Germans, a Dane and a Swede in a pub in Denmark. We all just met there and got along brilliantly. It couldn't have been more obvious that no matter where they're from people are just people. Could that sort of thing happen without the EU? Of course it could. But is it more likely to happen with the EU? Yes it is.
I also love that all the countries are helping each other. A common argument has been that we pay too much into the EU and and the money is spent in places like Romania. The argument back has been that we get more back in business and investment. I say bollocks. They're both pathetically weak arguments. What's wrong with helping my fellow man in Romania? Remember the orphans in the 90's? I don't mind some of my tax pounds going to help them. Of course I'm sure some people will come back with some form of "charity begins at home." Again I say bollocks. If that's true then none of us should give any money to charities that work abroad. Also, none of my tax pounds should ever be spent outside of County Durham. Actually no, I don't want to help those outsiders in Peterlee, none of my tax pounds should be spent outside of Chester-le-Street, actually no, I hate those wasters in the Avenues. Nothing outside of Great Lumley. It's a stupid argument because it's obvious from history that having prosperous people to trade with makes everyone more prosperous and makes all of our lives better. We're all looking after each other. How can that be a bad thing? It's just a shame none of us ever hear about the good things that our tax pounds have been spent on and how it has improved people's lives.
So in conclusion I want us to stay in the EU because we'll lose being part of something that is an overall good if we leave.
PS - Where are the farmers going to get their subsidies from if we leave? They're already fighting to stay afloat as it is.
PPS - How are we ever going to get to the stage of the United Federation of Planets if we can't even get one small continent to work together? #startreknerd #notevensorry
