Christmas 2011 is looking to be a doom and gloom event, a Scrooge Festival, with dire financial misery predictions leaving little to celebrate. Yet is it all real or just a fairy story?
One gets the impression that we are talking ourselves into another recession and the Euro fiasco does not help, with the Euro position not advancing one jot. Central Bank intervention would pacify the markets but Germany is opposed, either through dithering or design. Neither bodes well for Europe’s future and Britain stays on the sidelines, perhaps the best place to be.
A single currency requires true democratic Political Union, which is unlikely to occur this Century whilst self interest dominates the scene, the alternative is a Dictatorship, which works well in a crisis, but outdated in this modern age. Yet that is what seems to be occurring.
After the week’s events, Britain appears to be isolated, divorced from the rest of Europe, of course this is not the first time this has happened and the historical similarities are too close for comfort.
This time it is on the Commercial battlefield, Industrious Germany has good commercial strength, with a positive balance of payments, the rest are weak and riddled with debt including Britain, which again is the only strong political opponent. The European Commission has been steadily chipping at Sovereignty.
The new Treaty will remove the final barriers, approval of Financial Budgets will be needed before individual States can consider them, completing the Central control and the Federal States of Europe will be born. The imposition of fines on offenders is like stealing money from a beggar’s cap.
However Public opinion in Europe will be ignored, as any referendum would be lost and such a step must be taken in peril in this modern communication age. Meanwhile the major problem of the Financial system’s excess and the indulgence in Political activity will not be curbed.
As in previous times, Britain needs to stand back and assess its own position with self interest at the front; the only sensible part of European Union the Common market will continue. We depend on 40% of our exports, but what of our imports and balance of Trade with Europe, which is larger.
We import £4bn per month more goods from Europe than we export, the same as the rest of the world who take 60% of our exports. The total deficiency of £8bn pm is halved by the export of services, now under attack.
However can we afford a rift with Europe, w e are too dependent and need to exert a stabilising influence against excesses, on the other hand can they? We need to return to the basic trading treaty and forget the Political Union we have never been asked to agree to. Increasingly every day we are being controlled by faceless bureaucrats from Europe, told what to do and fined if we don’t obey, with idealistic, petty and pointless rules and regulations, which cost us dear and are not democratic.
Can we afford our world role and do we need it, Germany spends virtually nothing on world affairs and is the stronger for it; we need to temper idealism with realism and to separate internal and external economics. We spend a quarter of our GDP abroad and build up international debts of £45bn per year which needs to be curbed; there is no need to break trade agreements, just to make the population aware of the true cost of French apples, Dutch flowers, German trains, American arms and Far East toys on a £4 to £1 basis.
We need to earn what we spend, as a Nation, a Government and as individuals; self sufficiency is a good ideal and needs to be practised more in our homes and Society. We downgrade ourselves perpetually, yet as a Nation we have many strengths, often hidden and have much to be proud of in tradition, lifestyle and expertise, which needs to be developed and built on.
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