Sunday, December 11, 2011

Europe and the Liberal Democrats: we're at our best when we believe in something

Having just watched young Clegg on 'The Andrew Marr Show', I am much reassured. The initial reports of his response to the failure of the Brussels summit were, in the eyes of many Liberal Democrats, including this one, deeply regrettable, which only goes to show that you shouldn't necessarily believe what you read in the newspapers or see on the television news.

Featured on Liberal Democrat VoiceAnd I have to say, I thought that Nick did very well this morning. By admitting the truth, that the City of London is no safer now than it was before Cameron played the Conservative Party's joker, he said what most people who actually understand both the issues and the politics know, that a veto only works if it prevents something bad from happening, and that if you're not in the room when the big questions are discussed, you're not fighting for Britain's interest, you're watching as other decide your future for you. Not so much a veto as an abrogation of personal responsibility.

There are only really two options from here, one popular but wrong, one difficult but right.

If we want to protect the City of London, we need to be at the heart of the debate, or outside altogether. The Conservative Party would, I fear, given the chance, lead us out, leaving us dependent on the World Trade Organisation to protect our interests - not a happy scenario for anything smaller than a multinational. And Nick is clear, with three million jobs potentially at risk, with our influence in the world at stake, leaving Europe is not an option.

No, young Clegg did well today. It's about jobs and growth, not about machismo. It's about our long term future as a nation, not about pandering to the Daily Vile.

And perhaps, whilst we're at it, we can start talking about building the sort of democratic, accountable, transparent Europe that might prevent this sort of stupidity in future...

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