MAKING BRITAIN GREAT AGAIN (BS)

One of the great things about living in Europe is being able to visit so many countries with so many different cultures: language, architecture, food and drink, scenery, places of interest, friends and family. The joy of wandering through cities with extraordinary histories that have had, in one way or another, a deep impact on our lives.

Five European countries account for over 300 million foreign visitors each year, with France and Spain accounting for over half that number. France has the largest number of tourists visiting yearly, very nearly 90 million.  More than any other country, although Spain is a close second. That’s more than twice as many as visit the UK (39 million).

For my own part I have many memories gathered over 70 years from my first arrival in Paris from New York, via Cherbourg to the Gare St Lazar in 1949. I still have vivid memories of travelling through Europe in days when border checks and passport controls were something one had to get used to. The time it took was variable to say the least. On occasion it was a simple look see at the car, a uniformed man taking passports into a kiosk or office, returning with them stamped and handing them back with a salute, a welcome to (name the country) and a ‘bon voyage, gute reise, buon viaggio etc.’ At other times, a lengthier inspection, having to get out of the vehicle, open bags and generally mess around until officials were satisfied that there was nothing suspicious of untoward about our entry into the country. Over the years one got used to green channels and red channels, duty free purchases, and questions about packing bags, number of cigarettes and bottles of wine and spirits.

There then came a day, so far as the United Kingdom was concerned, when most of that disappeared. The passport check remained in the UK, but once on the continent one was as free as the air. The paper work and the inspections were minimal, save on occasions when one had to submit to a short look see by customs at Dover or Folkstone, but on the whole it was pretty straightforward, despite being pissed off one was occasionally picked out as a vehicle to be looked over. But one got used to it and travel around the continent, whatever the weather, was fun and full of memories. One could drive from Sagres in Portugal along the Atlantic coast roads, through Spain, France Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, to Sweden and back south through middle Europe down to the boot of Italy without showing one’s ‘papers’ or even changing currency.  It created a very nice feeling of togetherness, of oneness with one’s fellow man. Not that the French were any the less ‘French’, waiters still shrugged their shoulders at your choices on the menu, or the German’s any the less ‘German’, very precise giving directions, or the Spanish being Spanish, or Italians Italian. But they were all human and apart from the odd unfortunate incident (which can happen all over the world) they were welcoming and helpful, ever ready to show off the nice things about their country, what made them special.

That was the point. Freedom of movement and communication and a joining together in peace. No more trenches or barriers. A free and easy exchange of ideas was the order of the day. Even though the commercial and political decisions were sometimes more difficult to arrive at and agree, that did not stop the countries from actually being Sovereign to themselves, holding close to one’s culture, way of life, and rules of law.

If you join a club you agree to abide by the club rules, but that doesn’t stop you from being you. In the last 40 years, ask yourselves: What is it I am not able to do by being a citizen in the European Union? You will find that there is precious little to prevent you from doing whatever you could do before being in the European Union, except it’s actually easier to do. Want to move about, a change of scenery, study a new language, see different stuff, work somewhere different, no problem, do it.

The nonsense of taking back control, was a pure fiction. "We want to make our own laws without European interference." "They can’t tell us what to do".  "We have to be able to make our own deals and more lucrative and better", and so on, bull shit. The utter nonsense is breath-taking, yet listened to.

As to the laws, they’re already part of UK law, and have been for years. The fact is that the European Court of Human Rights exists because of the United Kingdom’s common law and traditions. So, making one’s own laws has been done. As to health and safety regulations in respect of food and the workplace, why is that a problem? Regulations in the service industries, is equally necessary in all countries, to safeguard the citizens. Professions everywhere have codes of conduct. To safeguard the citizen, rules and regulations exist everywhere. They are not just made to piss you off, although sometimes they do; but you get over it and move on, you don’t move out.

When it comes to fishing, there is a problem with quotas and what is known as quota hopping. The number of fish pulled out of the sea has required regulation in order to preserve and protect stocks of fish. Therefore, quotas have been put in place. There has been a problem with foreign ownership of British quotas, a problem arising out of the sale of quotas to the highest bidder.

Deals were made, and now they appear to be unhappy about it. On top of that there is the problem of access to territorial waters and markets. Nonetheless, the problems arise out of the selling off of quotas to foreign owned vessels. A problem of our own making. This surely could and should have been sorted out long before now, and should not be a sticking point in trying to make a deal now.

Countries have, of necessity to survive, to make deals with one another. It’s the nature of the world. Deal making as a group, or deal making on one’s own is just as difficult, but compromises have to be reached. The idea is to make a deal that benefits everybody involved. It is never one sided, or shouldn’t be. By voting to leave the European Union the UK shot itself in the foot, and now has to make deals all over the place. Its own prognosis is a downturn of significant proportions.

So, in the event of failing to come to terms, the cost of living will be going up, as will the cost and time of travel and communications. The potential loss of free ‘mobile roaming’ will be a tragedy in more ways than one. The paperwork involved for anyone just traveling to France will expand (green cards, international licences, health insurance, different lanes for customs and customs quotas etc.) but no doubt we will all get used to that again. There are many other more significant changes that I believe the country will come to regret, and may find difficult to get used to.

On top of all that we have global climate change problems, on which we have to globally get together to sort out, and the pandemic, on which we have to globally get together and sort out.

  Kenneth Clarke

So just what have we taken back control of? As Kenneth Clarke (UK Conservative politician who may be known to foreign readers?) has pointed out the country has been set back 50 years.

He’s not wrong. Taking control of our destiny? Is it our destiny to become little Britain, a sad little isolationist island with little or no significance in world affairs? Is it Boris’s Britain First? Just aping America First and Make Britain Great Again? embegaaa doesn’t quite have the ring of maga, but how does that seem to be working out anyway? Look at the mess that man’s made. I guess it's happening here, all we can do is crack on.

Here’s a little ditty to crack on with: