There appers to be little doubt that we are witnessing the birth of a new nation. We from Malta will surely wish it well, as we are indeed an integral part of it. The United States of Europe is not yet a fait accompli but it is well into its embryonic stage.
... time for Britain to get out of Europe...- Peter Apap Bologna, Sliema
The 17 members of the eurozone, representing 332 million people, have clearly indicated their willingness for closer fiscal and political union. It is going to happen for there is no practical alternative. The more pressure, the more crises, the more the countries involved will batten down the hatches to face the storm. While the British eurosceptics firmly believe that the eurozone is a “sinking economic ship” and should therefore change course to save itself, the eurozone leaders are doubling, and redoubling, their efforts to stay on course.
Euroscepticism has been the bain of the British Conservative Party for decades. It is true that Winston Churchill liked the idea of a United Europe but it is doubtful he thought Britain should form an integral part of it. The great man believed in Britain’s special position in the world and only reluctantly came to terms with the end of Empire.
Yet he would surely have been staunchly supportive of the concept of the United States of Europe, himself being a son of the United States of America as well as of the British Empire. He would, one imagines, have seen Britain and the Commonwealth as the link between the two United States, playing an important political, military, commercial, financial and cultural role, not necessarily in that order.
David Cameron, in applying the “veto” which left Britain “out in the cold” may have provided a useful catalyst. Britain has been “out in the cold” in Europe almost since joining. Now is the chance for Britain to work out a new role, perhaps on the Churchillian lines mentioned above.
Despite the influential Tory Eurosceptics, more open-minded and practical members of the British government are facing reality. Owen Paterson, Northern Ireland Secretary, for instance, warns that the EU17 would become “a new and very powerful country which can dominate us”. In an interview for The Spectator with James Forsyth he continues, “The eurozone bloc will be big enough to get its own way on all issues that are governed by qualified majority voting”.
It is no longer a question of Britain trying to change Europe. It is a time for Britain to get out of Europe and yet remain a part of it. It is a time for Britain to stop deriding Europe, and to become an independent friend and ally. Britain’s current relationship with Europe is shameful, and more damaging to Britain than to Europe.