Time for Britain to abandon the European Union
THE European fanaticsare utterly shameless.They told us their treasured project of monetary union would lead toan era of prosperity, growth and stability.
But now we can see that the single currency has achieved the opposite of its objectives. The economies of its member states have been gripped by recession. Debts have spiralled out of control.
As Ireland joins Greece on the slide towards bankruptcy the very existence of the euro is under threat.
Yet in response to this crisis, the zealots have stepped up their campaign for European unity. Far from learning any lessons from the catastrophe, they argue that even tighter control from Brussels is the answer.
FOLLOW THE EXPRESS ON TWITTER!
Europe’s solutions, according to their twisted logic, lie in handing over more power to the EU. It is like an unhinged
doctor demanding sickly patients be given ever greater doses of the very medicine that is killing them.
The EU’s President HermanVan Rompuy has claimed it must be strengthened to save Europe’s economies. That
hysterical demand has now been echoed by the Left-wing French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the
International Monetary Fund.
He has declared that what Europe needs is “greater integration” and less independence for member states. Using
sinister language that displayed contempt for democracy and national sovereignty, Strauss-Kahn said that “the centre must seize the initiative in all areas key to reaching the common destiny of the union”.
Moreover, he also called for more immigration to Europe, which he maintained would “boost” long-term growth.
Strauss-Kahn is a classic of the political type that now predominates in Europe. Just as the current President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, was a follower of Chairman Mao in his youth, so Strauss-Kahn was a leading communist activist in his student days, going on to a career in French socialist politics before finding a comfortable berth at the IMF in 2007.
As his speech shows, revolution still lies at the heart of the EU agenda, built on the destruction of national identities, transformation of the demography of Europe and governance by a self-appointed, unaccountable cadre of ideologues. The real purpose of the single currency has always been political rather than economic, its endgame being the creation of a centralised superstate.
But the results of this radical programme, for which no one in Europe has ever voted, have been disastrous. As borders are removed, social cohesion and solidarity collapse in the face of uncontrolled immigration. Bloated welfare systems and the remorseless expansion of bureaucracy mean ruination for public finances. While unemployment has soared, governments are no longer able to adopt economic policies that suit their national needs.
That is precisely what has happened in Ireland. Trapped in the straitjacket of the euro, the Irish couldn’t raise interest rates to prevent their economy overheating. The consequence has been meltdown and humiliation, as the Irish government is forced to accept a bail-out from the IMF and EU.
The Irish move only further reveals the arrogance of the EU elite. There were alternatives available to Ireland, such as withdrawal from the euro and consequent devaluation, but the EU’s bosses are so desperate to maintain their project of integration that they would not contemplate any other option.
In their dogmatic mindset, the euro has to be propped up at any cost. Yet such an approach defies economic reality. Given the scale of the indebtedness right across Europe, endless bail-outs and borrowing are unsustainable. In fact they only add fuel to the flames of crisis.
British eurosceptics have been proved right about the euro. For years they were mocked as bigots for refusing to embrace the EU’s dream. But it turns out that they had the interests of the European peoples far closer to heart than the evangelists for change did.
As William Hague predicted at the launch of the euro in 1999: “One could find oneself in the economic equivalent of a burning building with no exits.”
That is vivid description of Ireland’s dire predicament. Britain should take the initiative now. The Greek and Irish
crises show how weak the European Union really is, behind all the high-blown rhetoric from Brussels. The EU needs Britain far more than we need the EU.
Over the past four decades our membership has brought us nothing but misery. We have lost control of our economy, our laws and our frontiers. We waste £12billion a year on our contribution to Brussels for the privilege of being bossed around by autocrats who despise us. It is the modern equivalent of Danegeld, the payment Britons oncemade to Viking conquerors.
