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Showing posts from February, 2020

The EU has become the scapegoat for Britain's problems - but we will miss the unity it produced

 There are certain days that feel significant. That you know in years to come will remain in your mind. What you were doing, where you were, how you felt. When it's a day that sees the first phase of separation of an albeit fractured 47-year relationship between the UK and EU, it feels especially important. Perhaps that's because it is.  It was never meant to be like this. When Edward Heath finally took the UK into the European Economic Community in late 1972, it came with a promise of economic stability, characterised by closer relations with our European neighbours. It was unquestionably Heath's most noteworthy achievement. When ratified by a public vote in 1975, it appeared to mark the start of a strong and effective relationship that would further unite European politics after the implosions of the early 20th century. Underneath this legal and economic agreement promising so much, for many politicians and people, British Eurosceptism still lingered. There was no