Empires have gone and most
people in the world now live in Nation-States said Lord Shore
*
Separate Ways
by
Peter Shore
-
PART 1
Duckworth. Price £18.99
www.junepress.com
The
following is an extract from the above publication written by Lord Shore
who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1964 to 1997, when he became a Life
Peer until his death in 2001. He served as Secretary of State for Economic
Affairs 1967 – 69 and then fir Trade 1974-79. He has also published Entitled
to Know and Leading the Left.
* *
Alternative futures
There
is no inevitability about British membership of the euro and ever-closer union
though it is certainly an effective argument put about by Europhiles. Polls
show that nevertheless a growing majority of the British people is hostile to
abandoning the pound sterling, even though at the same time it believes that we
are bound to join (2001).
This
defeatism needs to be challenged by beginning with the assumptions that
underlie the reasons advanced for European Union. The most important of these
is the prevention of wars that have ravaged the Continent in the first half of
the twentieth century. But German military power, together with that of most
European states, has been absorbed in the American-led NATO alliance, which
is what has really ensured the peace. It is alliances put together in this
way that have traditionally been the means of co-operation between states, not
supernational commitments of the kind involved in European Union.
These have not delivered since 1973 the economic growth,
which formed the argument for membership at the time. The abusive assertions of
isolationism and xenophobia that have since appeared just cannot be taken
seriously.
There is also the deeper issue of globalisation that is now
advanced as the case for integration. World trade has increased immensely;
capital is free to move all over the globe in the service of giant,
multinational corporations, while the Internet is a free zone for the exchange of information. It is
said that in the face of this assault on everything traditional about National
Government there is simply no point in trying to retain a national economic
policy.
Of course things have changed enormously, including the
power of governments to control exchange rates but the argument is much overstated. The
basic need in this field is to have floating rates and these are open to the
influence of nation-state governments, which can continue to navigate their own
macro-economic policies.
In some quarters there has also been a deep emotional
hostility to the very idea of the nation-state, buttressed in the past by the
attraction of Marxist doctrines that advocate the repudiation of capitalism.
Within the present government the hostility has survived the complete
abandonment of the doctrines. It is paradoxical for this to have
occurred at the time when the creation of nation-states is a striking and
welcome development, one for which there is evidently an imperative demand.
Empires
have gone and most people in the world now live in nation-states and show no
inclination, outside Western Europe, to give them up. Self
–government has an unequalled legitimacy and it is helping to bring about the
growth of democracy within states, which in turn is helping to reduce the risk
of war.
At the same time
agreements and treaties between states are endlessly negotiated, the great
majority of them concerned with forging trade links, certainly not with
building embryo states. It is necessary only to look at North America, Latin
America, Asia or Africa to see this.
The continuing impetus to ram together the separate nations
and states of Europe springs from the long struggle between France and Germany
and the memory of their wars. It does not have the same force for other
countries and the Europhile argument that the United Kingdom is a weak
and exhausted nation that has no choice but to associate itself with this
movement is patently false and absurd.
End of PART 1
Click Here for PART 2
*
* *
[Font Altered-Bolding & Underlining
Used-Comments in Brackets]
MAY/07
*
|
THE PEOPLE
HAVE SPOKEN-IS THE EU COMMISSION LISTENING?
*
Ditch the EU TREATY after
IRISH REJECTION
SAY
VOTERS
by
Daniel
Martin
Political
Reporter
[Daily Mail-Wednesday, June
18,2008]
MORE THAN HALF of voters believe Britain
should drop the controversial European Treaty in the wake of
its rejection in last week's
IRISH REFERENDUM'
The poll comes as the Tories launch a
last-ditch bid in the
HOUSE of LORDS
today to delay the
RATIFICATION
OF THE TREATY.
And
10,000 people
have signed a
PETITION
on the
DOWNING
STREET- WEBSITE
within the past few days
JUNE16-2008
, calling on the
GOVERNMENT
NOT TO RATIFY THE BILL
[WHY DON'T
YOU?]
Downing Street
website is
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Abandon-Lisbon/
*
JUNE 18-2008
|
*
*
13th October,2007
So You Want Out Of The EU
THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE
RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout
Details from petition creator
With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty the
people of Britain were given
DUAL CITIZENSHIP
-both
EUROPEAN and BRITISH
The extra tier of citizenship was thrust upon
the people without their consent -and in many cases knowledge.
The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be allowed
the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so wish. The
GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted out with
BRITISH DOCUMENTATION
-only such as British (not EU) passports,
driving licences and other national documents.
EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who
HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP
[PETITION OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER
08]
*
Let the people speak!
www.makeitanissue.org.uk
*
www.noliberties.com
[Latest Addition - June07]
*
www.eutruth.org.uk
*
www.thewestminsternews.co.uk
*
www.speakout.co.uk
*
Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION to the EU
www.telegraph.co.uk.blogs
*
GORDON BROWN WANTS TRUST-BUT WHY
WON'T HE TRUST YOU?
HELL ON EARTH
IN IRAQ
*
67%
want powers back from EU-ICM poll-June 21-2007-95%
of British people want a REFERENDUM
*
PETITION
FOR A
REFERENDUM
SIGN TODAY ON LINE
telegraph.co.uk/eureferendum
*
July 18-2007
VOTE
-2007
TO
LEAVE
THE
EUROPEAN
UNION
WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE
TO SET YOU
FREE
THE
UK
INDEPENDENCE PARTY
www.ukip.org
THE QUESTION THAT THE VOTER MUST
ANSWER
‘DO
YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAW AND CUSTOM OR BY THE CORRUPT
,EXPENSIVE UNACCOUNTABLE AND CORRUPT ALIEN BUSYBODY BRUSSELS’
-SIMPLE IS IT NOT?
TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T VOTE FOR THE
TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER
BUT
SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR MINDS
WITHOUT SPIN AND LIES.
*
ONLY
PRO-PORTIONAL
REPRESENTATION
WILL
BRING
DEMOCRACY
BACK
TO
THE
ENGLISH
PEOPLE
*
SCOTLAND -ITS
PARLIAMENT -WALES-ITS
ASSEMBLY-ENGLAND-STILL
AWAITS ITS PARLIAMENT-WHY?
*
Home
Rule
for
Scotland
WHY
NOT
HOME
RULE
for
ENGLAND
*
[All underlined words have a separate
bulletin]