In or out? How about just shake it all about... instead..
I'm not interested in stopping people movement actually. Come refugees, come economic migrants, come people for love. And sharing the wealth? I'm not too worried about that either. Let's make sure that people can farm land, build roads, and get help when they are sick or unable to get a job or just have grown old. Let's protect the earth and recycle. Let's allow all that and more to happen if we can. None of those scare stories about being poor or having a few more neighbours will affect my vote.
When it comes to the referendum, I'm not voting for in OR out of the EU- I am crossing the only box that will instigate change. Because whether you are socialist or capitalist- there is a need, and a desire- for change. My vote is about our, and our neighbours laws, and I can be specific as having just come back from Denmark after a 10 year absence, it is clear that they have not benefitted socially from membership of EU and that is because one size does not fit all.
Think about it. I've just driven my right-hand-drive car up across Europe into Scandinavia. When I was in the UK, for a start, everything is imperial. Motorway speed limit 70mph. Most people topping out at 80 as that's what you can get away with. And I'm allowed to do 70mph from the age of 17 if I want. In England people wait behind invisible give way lines to let people out from behind real give way lines- it's a social phenomena that's useful to know if you are driving in the UK.
Moving on to Holland- driving off the ferry everything has gone metric, and on the other side of the road. There are limits- but no one seems sure that they apply to how fast you are driving, only to the colour of your car- which should mainly be one of 50 shades of grey or black. I have never seen an entire motorway occupied by slow moving black dusty cars until I reached Holland. The Dutch are trying to drive like the Germans but don't quite dare- mainly because they are much too polite.
The wake up call comes in Germany. It's apparent that there are two types of driving licence in distribution for German natives. One where you only drive up to 60ish mph- that's 100kmh and one where you drive no less than 90ish mph. The 'get-out-my-way' grill on the front of my BMW is completely numbed by the supersonic speeds at which the latter crowd drive. Even up against a Toyota Aygo with a German at the wheel, I don't stand a chance if he's decided he's coming through. The ability of my car is not in doubt- it's the speed at which my wallet empties which holds me back from winning the shotgun start when the national speed limit sign appears on the autobahn.
In restful Denmark it's all change again. No one thinks they are German, except the Germans who filter through southern Jutland but they appear to obey the law. And if you've forgotten what it is you'll be reminded a few 100 yards...I mean metres... down the road. The speed limit is different again here, 130 km per hour at its fastest. Which, with the invention of newer and better driving technology (by the Germans) seems an entirely reasonable move with the times. The price of a litre of diesel varies. Depending on which tax law applies. In Denmark 78p Germany 89p and of course current UK diesel stands at about 109p per litre. Petrol in Denmark follows the old myth- that actually diesel is a lot cheaper- so why does UK diesel cost the same as unleaded and why on earth is it 30p more a litre, if we negotiate favourable trade deals as part of the EU? The price of the tank that carries the diesel however in Denmark is 4 times as expensive. And don't even get me started on car insurance...
The list of different legal, taxable, social, environmental and just plain who thinks what is cool rules that apply to the area of driving alone- shows us that we are all different. And not just by a short chalk. We all do things differently. The fact that we all think that German fast roads are the best, and that car prices in England are great, and that fuel prices exceed our expectations in Denmark demonstrates that we can agree on paper but practically it just doesn't work out like that. I am not allowed to drive on British soil at a limitless speed as I am allowed to do in my German engineered, more than capable German car in Germany, because people in the UK drive differently from Germans. And that shouldn't change because it would create chaos and definitely fear on our roads. The camber on our bends- just doesn't stack up for 135mph.
Unless we all adopt the exact same laws that provide the mechanism to share the good stuff then we should not have to take into consideration things that don't apply to us. We don't have a law in the UK which applies to murder by béarnaise sauce because we don't eat it. And in terms of the movement of people and money, we need understanding contributors to society who want to tell us who they are and why they are here; it needs to be no surprise when people come to any of our countries that this information is important to their welfare In our country as we see it. By having controls in place to monitor that movement we are more able to demonstrate the financial burden that we take on by the figures we are then able to provide to the European partnership, in reality a bit like how money for schools is distributed per student.
It also allows us to teach those who move here be it for money, refuge or love how we live and why our country flourishes. That democracy, and adherence to our laws, is a prerequisite for entry, if you later want to rely upon it for your protection. But also that we are British, and that your status as a European does not come before your status as a British Citizen since it is our kingdom alone that distributes British passports. That a power higher than our local Westminster Government is not suddenly going to argue with what we see as British common sense.
In the UK we do not behead people in the street. In my mind we should be able to extract the protection afforded by European Law to any individual, who may commit a crime like this from British law. The individual who murdered 2 year old Jamie Bulger could live next door to you, yet you are not allowed to know. We do not have a choice about changing his access to protection. And it could be right or wrong to change this law but we do not currently have any choice. We are one of the larger populations that inhabit our part of the European geography. Therefore we have an intrinsic need for a better sense of control- and that that control apply to our style and way of life, just like our 70mph speed limit.
Finally, No one leaves their house keys on the door step or their car keys in the ignition, whilst they sleep- For a reason. Even though we later might tell people we trust where the keys are or lend them out, we know that we cannot trust everyone instantly- and that trust is built up mutually. "We" don't forget applies to everyone- Them, just as well as us. Not everyone is instantly our friend, whether we like it or not, human nature dictates that most people will choose the easiest way to do something- no one can argue with that- and whilst we want to allow people to take advantage of that- we also want to make sure we can afford it- and that an equal number of needy, versus contributors turn up for business on Monday.
Not everyone instantly understands the rules in my house. Take your shoes off? Keep them on? You can't know until you reach the front door. And of that reason we need to make sure we have the keys to each of our own European countries safely out of the way of thieves, or people we don't know, and most especially people who don't want to live a peaceful democratic life.
That doesn't translate to never letting anyone in and never making new friends, it alone emphasises the need for introductions, it also means that perhaps people who want to come into our house might work towards making friends with us first. If a total stranger unexpectedly walked in, and stood in my front room expecting to be fed, no, felt entitled to be fed- I would be, at the very least slightly apprehensive - if he was helping himself to food from my cupboards then I'd be angry. If he took it home with him without asking that would make him a thief. Yes this is simplification, but fundamentally- this is how it is.
Saying no, in my eyes- doesn't equal exit. Saying no means we can negotiate- on our own terms. Saying yes- drives us further down a path that we cannot control- and of which we do not know the outcome.