Some days it can be hard to be a geopolitical optimist. It is even harder to be one in favour of change.
But I could not resist a feeling of schadenfreude (in itself a useful European import) watching David Cameron squirm as this week, his eurosceptic grandstanding finally faced the arguments of economic uncertainty.
The reason for the glee is simple. If pushed, I would describe myself as a Scottish Nationalist, not because I want to paint myself in woad and mount the heads of the English on Spikes at Hadrien's wall. (That last part would be terrible for my relationship) Rather because I am a Scottish Optimist. I believe we could do it. I also suspect that without the Eurosceptic deadweight of our English cousins, we could happily become a Denmark or a Belgium.
Quietly going about our business, improving the lives of our citizens within a strong Europe and barely bothering the international stage save for the occasional innovation in science and syndicating Rab C Nesbit in the Far East. For as long as I can recall, I have watched UK politicians, the mainstream broadcast media and the press savage the idea of Independence. Everybody remembers Douglas Alexander's 'Divorce' adverts. The lists of terrible things that would happen if we tried it including, destitution, the sale of national assets, and the fear of businesses leaving Scotland in droves. Fear, fear, fear.
Don't rock the boat.
Now, those same arguments are being used by our international friends. 'Britain is sleepwalking out of Europe'. 'Businesses will think twice before investing if a referendum is called.'
So Dave, maybe a call to Alex Salmond is in order. He'd probably tell you that just when faced with similar from you and your cronies who can barely win a seat in Scotland, such arguments are nigh on impossible to counter with fact. Fear sells papers where fact does not.
So now, we face the farcical idea of Dave leading the charge against leaving Europe. Against the will of the electorate, Joe Public, they who did not put you in power in the first place. This is a seventy ton chicken coming home to roost. Why? Because Joe public hates Europe and in part, it's Dave's fault.
His party has fanned the flames of a quarter of a century of bile against the EU. Always the easy target, and yes at times they have made it easier with straight bananas, CAP and fishing regs but never in recent years has the case been made to the public of 'What Europe actually does'. Far easier to wallow in the negative, faintly xenophobic bureaucratisation, alienation and venom where every regulation is received like someone kicking the Queen in the head.
I have often wondered why Britain is so afraid of the thing it helped to create. A space alien coming down to earth would be forgiven for looking at the USA and China and Russia, not to mention the rise of India and Brazil and thinking, wow, those guys should really join together to take on these bigger boys. The EU is the strongest and largest trading block in the world.
Yes, in theory, Britain could survive or even prosper outside Europe. But we won't for this simple reason. The 25 years of bile have not gone unnoticed across the channel. Diplomatically, we are in a weaker state than I can ever remember. Our failure to engage with Europeans to improve the EU and the constant belly-aching and sabre-rattling have left us isolated with no friends we can count on to grant us the reforms Cameron might want in his renegotiation, and for sure if political ineptitude brought about an exit at the hands of referendum by a public conditioned to know nothing about Europe other than that they hate it, Europe would ensure that our parting would be as painful, protracted and expensive as possible. They would delight in reimposing tax hikes on British goods and with this week's intervention from across the channel, our friends in the USA would mock our political naivety and ignore our 51st state entreaties as they reorientate their political engagement toward the Pacific.
So why then does Britain fear Europe? For me there are two answers. The first answer I keep returning to is that the British establishment does not like politics. It does not like the hard work of democracy. Our first-past-the-post system and slavish reverence to the monarchy does not allow for much compromise in how we govern ourselves. Britain is the only nation in Europe for whom coalition was deemed unthinkable to the point that an attempt was made to unify by rote two completely contrasting parties to avoid the political hard work of true multi-party politics. As such, we fear and mistrust being a mere part of a democratic whole.
The second reason is much simpler. In Europe, we are in a position of weakness and this story is why.
I am a freelance writer by trade. I have had a variety of jobs and for the last three years, one of those has been based in Paris where I mentor Higher Education students and help them with content in English. In Paris, therefore, I am one of the comparatively few dirty foreigners coming over from Britain and stealing French jobs. This is possible because I am conversant in French, but although a long way from fluent, I speak better French than 97% of the UK population. In France I probably sound like a ten year old child.
Contrast this then with Europe, where just about every continental European I've ever met in Britain speaks better English than I speak any other language. This is the losing battle we fight. Of course they're coming over and stealing our jobs, because they can, and most of us are powerless to go over and steal there's. Surveys suggest that less than one in ten of us can count to twenty in any other language. That is beyond uncompetitive. That, in a global employment market is completely f**^&d and is also impossible to fix in less than a generation. We have a populace geared to fear and mistrust Europe whilst everybody else is busy seeing the possibilities and taking advantage of them, and by dint of our uncompetitiveness, taking advantage of us.
So, as this conversation heats up, one thing becomes evident. You don't have to be a Europhile to understand the value of this elephant trading block on our doorstep, an elephant that is actively seeking to strengthen itself as an entity. We need to get in there and start battling in a meaningful way for our interests, not by way of vetos and exemptions but by building the alliances and moulding Europe in the creation of new policies that will benefit us as part of the greater whole. We shouldn't leave Europe. that is a geographical impossibility. Instead we should look to address our weaknesses and do what we can for the next generation to truly lead it.
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