Eu Referendum: Final Word

EU Referendum: Playing The Game

One of the things that strikes me with respect to EU-UK relations is that we don't understand the game that is being played. And I am a football fan. I remember, as an 11-12 year-old, that the Hungarians came to Wembley to play England, who had never been beaten on home soil, and slaughtered us 6-3. They simply played in a different and much more effective way ( I won't go into details). So we had to learn (about how to play OUR game). I think UK-EU relations are directly analogous.

The EU issues directives which piss us off, in England and in France (and maybe many other countries). So what happens? In the UK we implement the directives and get pissed off. In France, they ignore the directives. So what happens then? France gets fined multi-million euros, which France is never going to pay. So what happens then? Nothing. Is the EU going to expel France for not paying the fine? Dream on; the fine is a fantasy. France does what it wants. So why doesn't the UK do the same? Because it doesn't understand the game that it is being played. The UK thinks the game is being played the UK way; and it is not. Most of the the reasons the UK is pissed off with Europe simply don't apply in other EU countries because they are playing a game that has different rules. Why shouldn't the UK understand the rules; they are not that difficult to understand? Because, presumably, someone gains by not doing so. Newspaper headlines (and sales), political power/axes to grind, personal gain; who knows?

Take Schengen (open borders) for example. The EU decrees that borders within the EU should be open. So, in the face of the current influx of large numbers of refugees, Hungary, Austria et al create long fences and implement border controls, all against EU rules. Buggar the EU rules. What will be the reprisals for them? Nothing. What does the UK do? It whinges and makes this a reason why the UK should leave the EU. It's no such thing; the UK can simply implement whatever controls it wants, if it wants. On the other hand it can complain that this is a reason for leaving the EU, if it wants.

So what is really going on here, what is the game and what are its rules? I think the real game in the UK is the contest for the leadership of the Conservative party; for the contestants, the future of the UK is a side issue. I don't think, for the Conservative party contestants, there are any rules; it's gloves off. Cameron versus Boris or who you will. That is why there is so little good information on the alternatives; the major contestants don't care about trustworthy information, they simply want personal power. What I find abhorrent, even obscene, is that anyone can trumpet future UK glory for reasons of purely personal power gain, knowing full well that in doing so they play dice with Britain's future and the future of all future British people. Playing the game, in my view, should mean so much more.

As very much a footnote, if you want to see what the economic powers think of the economic impact of the EU referendum result, look at what has happened to the value of the pound against other currencies as the Brexit vote has increased in polls over the last few weeks. It has sunk to multi-year lows. A new economically powerful Britain? Dream on.