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Is it time we withdrew from the Treaty of Rome (The European Union). When we were originally asked to vote in a referendum the question was whether we wished to remain, not to join as is wrongly thought. The actual wording was: Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (The Common Market)?
Now you can see by this that no mention was ever made of a Federal Europe, of laws superseding our own, of a common currency, of a Central European Bank, of taking our fishing rights, of applying Federal rules and regulations to our home markets.
I voted against it then because from my perspective it could do nothing but harm. The analogy I used in my own mind was a simple one, but I feel the simplicity of it holds more weight today than in '75.
Imagine that you are a market stall owner; you buy your produce from many countries because of solid associations you have built up all over the world. You pay nothing for the privilege of setting your stall up everyday and your customers are many and varied. You also sell much of your produce to the market in the next town at a fair price.
One day, a representative of the market in the next town calls on you.
“Look here,” he says. “If you join our market, you’ll be part of a pool with greater buying power, sure you’ll need to abide by the rules and we will tell you what you can or cannot buy and sell, you will need to abide by our metric systems and rules and regulations. You’ll also need to give us access to your
suppliers but we won’t give you access to ours. And the best thing is, you’ll pay us very handsomely for the privilege of joining.”
“What if I don’t join?” Asked the market trader.
The representative hints of a dark future where all his trade will dry up, so the trader, a Mr. Edward Heath, agrees to join.
He forsakes his former suppliers that he has used for many years and this causes then terrible hardships and he joins the new markets traders in the next town.
Ring any bells?
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