European Union

Old Guestling has been away for a while, so I have been a little out of touch but I return to find that our Government has decided to hold a referendum whether we should stay in the European Union? Well at first I thought it was some kind of joke but upon further investigation I realised it was for real! As a retired diplomat who has served in a number of embassies around Europe, I think I am well qualified to have an opinion on this.
I read a lot of the rhetoric written and spoken by both sides of the argument, well all I can say is what a load of bollocks! Talk about your scare tactics. Jobs gone, money lost , immigration out of hand, laws re-written, trade damaged, people worse off, better off,everything gone too hell in a handbag whichever way you vote, it seems whoever is giving their message, it is more confusing than being told to stand in a dustbin and piss in the corner!!! Those who want to leave distort the facts to support their point of view and the those who say we should stay embellish the figures to support theirs. I suspect the truth won't be and is not known.
Now let me declare my position, I am firmly in the remain camp. Why Guestling you ask? My view is simple, I am and always have considered my self to be European. Its not a political stance or one of any commercial bent, I just consider that we are all Europeans because we live in, well Europe! If we remain we can effect and affect its future, if we are out, well naturally it would be more difficult.
I have no time for xenophobia, people are people, they should be allowed to go where they wish with as little restriction as is necessary, it cuts both ways, do we want our travel subject to controls and red tape, I seriously doubt it! In all countries there are native born and those of for one reason or another have immigrated and now live there. It is not a issue unique to Britain. And do we understand what an immigrant is? It is a person who leaves one place to live in another, nothing more, nothing less. An ex-pat is not exclusively a Britain living in Spain it is any person who leaves one place to live in another, in other words an immigrant. People have been re-locating from one place to another for thousands of years, it's nothing new. A refuge is a person who needs to re-locate to escape persecution or danger, they don't necessarily wish to leave they have little choice. Perhaps we should ask ourselves who in the main is the original architect of many of the conflicts that caused these people to leave?
So Europe a union worth belonging to? Yes it needs reform, yes it it has flaws, yes there is bios, yes in can be unfair and restrictive but it brings unity and rules that have improved our rights. Do you really want Britain to retreat into isolationism and to close it s borders to those who need our help? Do you want our international standing to diminish? I don't know if that will happen but I don't want to risk it either. So a Union worth belonging to I believe the answer is yes and you know Guestling is usually right!