[hume]

Originally Posted by Osem

Yes, we did. Why would it need to be scary? Why would it need to be dire chaos? Why is it that parting with the EU can't be better than what we had within, albeit different? Only those who refuse to contemplate the reality of the EU paint that picture. Leaving the EU means nothing unless those we're trying to negotiate it want to make it harder than it needs to be and create problems for both sides. The Eurocrats would want to do that to send messages to other nations who might be tempted to leave. Let's face it we've never heard the EU talk about anything other than more of the same, expansion, single European state etc etc. There is no status quo option, just an inexorable march towards the final goal. It's their way or the highway so in what way can the UK be blamed for that particular brand of intransigence and in what way would the UK's future be better/more secure/less scary within a political union which is clearly heading, by its own admission, in only one direction? Frankly I'm sick and tired of hearing one Eurocrat or another telling the UK that they won't do this, won't have that, won't accept the other and blaming us for the lack of progress. It's laughable. They're the ones who're reusing to negotiate at every turn and whatever people think about the ineptitude or otherwise of the UK's approach to this. It's perfectly obvious to anyone who isn't in denial that the EU's own dogma is the reason for any lack of progress.

For those who really believe the UK would be better off in the EU just have a think about where it's headed and how it's gone about it so far. Do you seriously think that if we were to remain and at some future point decide we don't like it, that leaving would be somehow easier that it's proving now? Well if you don't think it'd be easier and you're already of the opinion that the current situation is untenable how on Earth would we ever be able to get out of the club at some future point years down the line? The EU's raison d'etre isn't to allow members to freely come and go, it's to force them to stay together by hook or by crook. It's that intransigence and utter contempt for the nation state which is going to be the EU's ultimate downfall and it isn't going to be pretty.

I couldn't agree more.