Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Fighting back on Europe
For those of us who are Euro pragmatists and who have despaired at the way that Tory sceptices and UKIP have been allowed to corner the debate on our future, I am pleased to discover a new website/campaign designed to respond to misinformation and to correct this imbalance.
British Influence say that it is wrong that one extreme of the debate think they own the Union Jack in their belief that the only future is out. They add that it is also wrong that the other extreme think that they own the European flag in their belief that the only future is full on in. They continue:
This leaves a space for hard-headed EU pragmatists - a key audience for our project towards earning the consent of a sometimes euroskeptic media and public to the common sense position of keeping Britain in Europe.
Many British people think their country is powerless in Europe. This is fundamentally wrong and unpatriotic.
It is fundamentally defeatist to contend that Britain is forever isolated and without a vision in Europe.
Britain helped create the modern Europe, our allies want us in and it is time we finished the job.
And we will do this without any financial support from the EU or the UK government. We support the principle that we must be as independent and transparent as possible to win the debate.
So we need your support to do this. And that is why after this evening we will start raising funds from the public to fight our cause.
The opposition – those like UKIP that want the UK to leave Europe and sit in isolation in the world – are well-funded (they have taken millions of pounds from reclusive backers and, ironically, from the EU) and will not shy away from using dark tactics to fight their cause, where arguments and facts fail.
Help us to fight back with common sense and honesty.
The website contains quite a lot of useful information to make the case for a pragmatic approach to European Union membership as well as a newsdesk feature and the opportunity to sign up to the campaign. Well worth a look.
British Influence say that it is wrong that one extreme of the debate think they own the Union Jack in their belief that the only future is out. They add that it is also wrong that the other extreme think that they own the European flag in their belief that the only future is full on in. They continue:
This leaves a space for hard-headed EU pragmatists - a key audience for our project towards earning the consent of a sometimes euroskeptic media and public to the common sense position of keeping Britain in Europe.
Many British people think their country is powerless in Europe. This is fundamentally wrong and unpatriotic.
It is fundamentally defeatist to contend that Britain is forever isolated and without a vision in Europe.
Britain helped create the modern Europe, our allies want us in and it is time we finished the job.
And we will do this without any financial support from the EU or the UK government. We support the principle that we must be as independent and transparent as possible to win the debate.
So we need your support to do this. And that is why after this evening we will start raising funds from the public to fight our cause.
The opposition – those like UKIP that want the UK to leave Europe and sit in isolation in the world – are well-funded (they have taken millions of pounds from reclusive backers and, ironically, from the EU) and will not shy away from using dark tactics to fight their cause, where arguments and facts fail.
Help us to fight back with common sense and honesty.
The website contains quite a lot of useful information to make the case for a pragmatic approach to European Union membership as well as a newsdesk feature and the opportunity to sign up to the campaign. Well worth a look.
