Why are Nationalists and Unionists on opposite sides in relation to Europe? What’s going on there?
Why do the most dyed- in -the -wool conservatives want to get away from the institutions of the European Union and why do they appear to be all of a unionist or “Little Englander” persuasion? That’s a question worth asking ,I think. Why is it that in households all across Norneverland there are people divided along political party persuasions and their parties are literally voting pro and anti EU as they would vote for flag-flying or not.
Can it be possible that every unionist out there is anti -European Union and is it evidence of some visceral hatred of the EU seated deep -down in their DNA that harks back to a distrust of the Hun and the Frog of yore. Is it that they are actually too insular to have the open-mindedness required to stay in such a broad- shared vision? i hope not, but it certainly could be interpreted in that way.
It would seem that virtually all the nationalist parties are happy to remain as part of the European experience and actually feel “European” in their bones now, but the unionist parties are not happy with this relationship at all.Why is that? are unionists fearful of membership of the EU because they see yet another dilution of their “identity”?
Well let’s see what life would be like now …. or what would it have been like without membership of the EU these past years ? We used to be in a vastly different kind of place before we joined and not in anything like a good way….
Norneverland would be a vastly different place without it ; that’s a surety.The beaches and rivers would be a lot dirtier and more polluted as would the air quality. What would it be like if we had not adopted many of the EU directives? Would we have embraced the idea of recycling our factory and home waste ,or would we have fudged all that old tosh about Global Warming and carried on throwing everything away into mountains of indestructible mire.Would we have thought of charging for or banning plastic bags which already pollute our countryside and oceans … without the influence of Europe? Would we have saved glass bottles and plastic melt them down an finally re-constitute them as new products? Would we have been able to afford to even think about doing any of those things without grants and allowances being made?
What would we have done about the proper labelling of food and the restrictions of additives to our foodstuffs? Would we have bothered about that kind of protection without Europe? Would farming be the same? What about the issues of universal safeguards and regulations for various products that have been fixed across Europe? Then there’s the fact that there is no extra paperwork at customs when goods are being exported throughout a single -open marketplace .One passport across all those countries is all you need to move away and work in any country without restriction. You can travel cheaply for sport , pleasure or work and you can choose to live anywhere as a European citizen. It has meant that you can experience new cultures abroad or in the street beside you .It has become a two-way street for everyone and in most cases it has added enrichment to our lives and our own gene-pool.
There are funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements across Europe and there access to European health services for yourself or your children if they want to broaden their horizons.As well as that , within a generation there has been labour protection and enhanced social welfare. Work-places have become smoke-free zones. Equal pay legislation has been introduced along with guaranteed specific holiday entitlement with the right to work no more than a forty eight hour week without having to do overtime.
Since we joined the EU there have been improved animal welfare programmes introduced into the production of our food and wildlife protection across the EU is the strongest anywhere on the planet. That’s only the tip of the iceberg , of course.When you get into the benefits we have gained here from the support for democratic rights and human rights across Europe and beyond, the input is much more apparent .Being a member of the EU offers a blanket protection for each individual , especially in relation to socially divided places like Norneverland and countries coming out of conflict where that kind of help is needed most. With that kind of protection it is harder to misuse or bend the rule of law. Let’s face it , the rule of law has been bent out of shape in Norneverland and really needs some outside help to fix many of those mistakes and misuses.
So what is there to fear from any of these very real benefits and why are the unionists and the Little Englanders the ones with most of the fears about them? Is it all about borders and the free movement of people or is more evidence to add to that we know already of a fear of the “other”. We’ve already experienced the gay- bashing and Muslim -bashing diatribes from various individuals with strong unionist credentials,h after all ?
You really have to ask yourself these questions a couple of times.
Unionist politicians miss the hated border checkpoints, the sense of `frontier` as that old road rager Ken Maginnis would put it, they want to feel as if they are part of the UK, not the coconut colony (minus the coconuts) they really are. They must realise however that leaving the EU will mean the end of their beloved UK, Scotland will be independent. A union jack minus the blue. weird but still nice to think about.
Well said AJ, think we’re on the same page then
Jude unionists see only a solidifying of the border here. That’s all they want deep down in their narrow-minded souls, and they will sacrifice all those benefits you’ve listed to get it. The place apart siege mentality at play. But they’d better be careful what they wish………oh flower of Scotland la la la…..
This looks to be an instance where the electorate in the accursed north won’t be voting strictly along Green/Orange lines, which can only be a good thing.
Interesting that the DUP ‘out’ argument seems to be along the ‘UK contributes more than it receives’ lines. By taking that reasoning to its logical conclusion then surely they must also be in favour of Westminster jettisoning NI? Hmm…
The DUP are a simple God fearing people though. The main reason they want out of the EU is because they don’t like foreigners.
BRITS OUT!
Did you ever think you’d see the day when the DUP would be using this slogan?
Well maybe they are afraid to use those two words, but that is their message.
You couldn’t make it up!
Brexit is a Tory battle. You can see some explanations for the Brit mindset towards the Continent over here https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/the-british-question-faq/
With regards to the DUP and TUV – they can hardly believe their luck that their old-style Brit jackboot mentality might be getting a look in once again.
The UK and NI had better brace hard if Leave wins – it’s going to be no joke living in a hard-right Tory wonderland
Ben, I suppose it could all be put down to the notion that…..”Britains never, never, never shall be slaves”. There is is that tribal illusion from the long-ago days of empire that Britain would always be the slaver and never the slave ….even though every subject within the empire was a slave of the Establishment and usually lived in a comparative poverty anyway…no matter how “great” that empire was..
You might say that britons possibly saw themselves as “apart” and superior in some racial sort of way to…. say ….the French or the Germans. …again rooted in empire glories and great sea-faring battles of yore.There was that idea of “civilising the natives”. This kind of thing was most evident in the good old days of football hooliganism too. You might think that nowadays with the dolly-mixture of racial types in the UK that it might not be as evident now , but racism still very obviously exists in many forms throughout the UK and Europe.There is much racism in France too, but they don’t appear to want to leave the EU. The biggest bugbear for britain seems to be the idea that the freedoms that the EU offers are of more benefit to “foreigners” than to themselves. The “foreigners” arrive , usually well-educated and able to compete for every job.They are usually, if not just bi-lingual , sometimes capable of speaking several other languages and are not adverse to working hard in their new country .That makes them more adept at travelling and communicating. It’s possible that the average resident of the UK doesn’t conceive of learning another language or of travelling further afield to seek employment in the same way. They expect to remain in their origin country forever and see it as some kind of divine right.
Personally anything that puts a fiscal strain on Westminster running the six counties then I am all for it. If by bailing out of the EC does that then happy days. It mite even perhaps convince those in the north who need to be economically convinced about the benefits a United ireland?
On another footnote I can see why some folk want to leave the EU as it’s fast turning into a dictatorship masquerading as democracy. The bullying of Greece was a shameful episode where the EU ignored the democratic wishes of the Greek people and instilled financial terrorism on that country. In fact the shameful way they bullied Ireland to shoulder most of the debt accrued by rogue banks was shameful too.
Btw let’s not forget the EU’s ultimatum to the Ukraine govt created the strife with Russia in that country. The European army could find us all in future wars if we are not too careful.
Anyway hey ho win lose or draw the UK is rumbling with discontent and that can only be a good thing.
There’s a common world view, Jude I think amongst little englanders and unionists. It’s based upon selfishness. Only interested in self. Take for instance the aforesaid’s views on climate change. They are deniers because they don’t care about tomorrow and the children and children’s children that will inhabit the earth. It’s not really because they’re not convinced of the evidence, but because they are only concerned with their own time here.
In a similarly selfish way, they fear/dislike people who happen to be black skinned, or Islamic, or gay, or European Catholic, or disabled and in receipt of benefits, or Irish, or scientists ( especially geologists).
So, the unionists have found bedfellows in the extremists of the right, like Villiers and Gove. The joke about those same English extremists is that when it comes to extreme views, they are but apprentices compared to their unionist cousins.