Unpacking the mess that is THE EUROPEAN UNION

I must start by admitting to knowing very little about politics (I have never been political) and perhaps even less about the EU. However, when you listen to the thoughts of the impressive German leader, Angela Merkel about her motivation and expectations of Europe, with free movement within EU member states at its core, it is clear that those who truly believe in the European Project that is the EU, and noble thinkers such as Merkel, do indeed mean well, BUT the execution of their project is what has let them down so badly

I am not a Brexiteer but it is very clear that the EU went from being a noble idea to a control-freak, mindless arrangement that the founders can no longer control effectively and focus has gone from the founding principles to triviality and needless interference and control. Unless you form a United States, and noting that even in the United States of America, each state has enough autonomy and the principle of self-determination still exist to an extent, many where reminded of that principle very recently when the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) promptly ruled against the case brought by Texas and a handful of states in challenge of the 2020 presidential election result (and methodology applied by some other states). The excellent principles behind the formation of the EU later fell into the hands of bureaucrats, which has led to the calamity that is Brexit.

Yes, for any union to work, there must be commitment and there will always have to be rules, BUT to go from a needs-based scenario, to a situation where some mindless bureaucrats sit about in offices in Brussels and start churning out endless rules that gravely affect million’s needlessly and to no tangible benefit whatsoever other than to feed the mindless thirst for control, made a mockery of the EU project and it was only a matter of time for countries that pride themselves on self-determination, to want out! What has gone on, in the years since the UK voted to exit the UK has been a total indictment of the EU! Yes, the UK should not be leaving, BUT their people have voted to leave and that should have been respected! Early efforts should have been made by both the EU and past UK governments to address some of the blatant issues that riled some sections of the British people, to preempt the referendum, but majority assumed the ‘stay’ vote would exceed the Brexiteer vote. We were wrong, the ‘leave’ vote won and there should not have been any unpleasantness. We are in a democracy. Both sides should have shaken hands and got on with it. It is not the result many of us wanted, but it is nevertheless the result and the attitude of the French in particular (although not surprisingly) has been absolutely pathetic and I am not sure how such an approach is helping the unity of the remaining members of the EU? Ok, it shows an initial forcefulness and a determination to make Britain pay for her decision to quit the EU, but surely, if the EU was such a wonderful thing to be a part of, they should have just waved good riddance to the UK and got on with their wonderful lives? What is the need for the all the backbiting? A nation has had a referendum and majority of its people have forced a decision; surely it is undemocratically dangerous to attempt to circumvent that decision, even if some think it is a grave error. The democratic thing to do is to work together to get it done and afterwards, if the UK struggle and come begging to be readmitted, THEN, is when France and others can object or do whatever it is they wish to.

The EU project should have been limited to trade plus a few additional fringe principles and NOT. the ridiculous attempt to centralise power and begin dictating how each country is run and what type of light bulb people are allowed to use etc. SOME PEOPLE CLEARLY GOT CARRIED AWAY! What began as a truly noble project and in the minds of well-meaning individuals such as Angela Merkel, was hijacked by unelected bureaucrats and paper-pushers, leading to what the EU is today; a ballooning organisation attempting bizarre and needless control that has led to animosity feeding Brexiteers and ultimately led to that slim majority in the UK successfully forcing our exit

Nothing wrong with a United Europe, BUT a single, mindless Europe is what the British majority wanted no part of. Truly unfortunate and totally avoidable if both sides (EU and past British leaders) had listened.