I saw an advert on the television last night. It must have been the very first paid for television commercial of 2012 on ITV1 here in the UK, and it was paid for by the Sun. The advert said simply come on Britain, let’s make Britain great.
2012 is a year of golden opportunity. It is a time when if we are proactive, cleaver and decisive, we can forge out a new place for this Nation in our future. It is a year that opens a multitude of doors to us that can give us strength, stability and independence from the rope of austerity throttling at our necks.
I am one of many people that are not British that call the UK my home. I may not be born or bread, but as a person that has lived, worked, loved and lost in this land for over a decade of my life, I do feel passionate about the future and success of my home country. I desperately want the UK to succeed, almost as much if maybe not a little more than British people themselves.
2011 was a hard year, and while I do not imagine that someone is going to wave a magic wand and make everything perfect in 2012, I do feel that 2012 is for Britain the dawn of a new era of British potential. We have taken a battering through 2011, now it is time to pull together, rediscover that British pride and re-establish ourselves as one of the leading nations of our global economy.
For much of last year I watched and listened as the people of Britain, the press and even our government talked doom and gloom. We became our own worst enemies in 2011, and in many ways I feel that Britain has lost that indomitable attitude of survival against every odd that makes this nation stand out from the crowd. We fell out of touch with that ability to dig deep and find a solution, work out a plan and fight for our lives, homes, communities and nationality.
100 years ago Britain would never have stood for the French talking down at us. We fought two world wars against German oppression, and won! We built trade routes and developed relationships. We made mistakes, learned and adapted, built from ashes and rose up better, stronger and proud of being British? So where is that spirit today?
In 2012, the world comes to Britain. We are the focus of world attention. This is for us an opportunity to open our doors to new opportunities. It is a chance to build bridges, forge new alliances and bring renewal and opportunity to British shores. Do we really need Europe as much as we are lead to believe?
There was a time when much of Europe were either at war or opposed to the British Nation, yet as a nation the British people forged on, and at one time were the world power to recon with. While I do not condone Imperialism, quite the opposite, however I do believe strongly that far too much credit is given to our reliance on the European Economy. At a time in our past when we hardly ever traded with our European enemies we were still able to rise up as a World Leading Power.
2012 is a time to look further afield from a Europe that wants to bully and isolate us. What the European Leaders fail to consider is that there is a whole world out there. It would be stupid to ignore the fact that emerging economies are no longer here in the heart of Europe. Africa is rapidly becoming a new powerhouse for production, potential and opportunity. South America is a developing continent that presents unthinkable opportunities to those willing to go and get them.
To the German and French, I would say that sabre rattling is pointless when the very Europe that you have worked so hard to build is literally on the brink of collapse. Yes agreeably the economies of European countries have become intrinsically entwined over the last fifty years, and we have been at fault in committing ourselves to the European cause too whole heartedly.
However, I would consider that the reality of the situation is that Europe in actual fact needs the UK a little more than it is willing to admit. The German and French governments may well think that they are immune to the UK withdrawing from the EU as a preferential trade partner, but consider for one moment that the major buyers of German and French technology today are us the UK? So we loose BMW, Audi, Mercedes and VW, but there is Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Chrysler, Dodge and oh so many other potential suitors to fill the gap. Can German manufacturing really stand to loose the UK market? Can French Brands really afford to loose revenue from the 66 Million people that live in the UK? I some how doubt that either could afford to loose us any more than they can afford to loose each other.
The British people have put considerable finances towards propping up ailing EU Nations. What would happen if we were to turn around and demand repayment of these loans now? I’m sure that it is not quite as simple as this, and that we would probably only hurt ourselves in the short term by taking any such action, but I do wonder what the effect to the European dream would be if we did. Anyone can play hard ball. The Germans and French would do well to remember this.
Much of the UK Domestic labour force is made up of migrant workers, many of whom enjoy the freedom of movement under the EU Treaty on Freedom of Movement for EU Citizens. If it were true that the EU didn’t need the UK economy to prop it up, I would humbly point out that for a good few of the EU Economic regions, much of their infrastructure is made up of currency earned by their Diaspora community’s resident in the UK, working and living here, sending money back home. Due and careful consideration should be given to this fact by the Governments of Romania, Poland and Hungry. I’m sure they would hastily reconsider isolating Britain if hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were suddenly packed off back to their nations to find work and earn a living back home.
I appreciate that parting from Europe would be painful. I realise that there is much to replace and lots to do before we could effectively replace the dependence on Europe that we have been lulled into, but it is for our very survival as a nation that we must take these steps. The UK cannot be pushed into a corner and be told to stand to attention at the cost of our Sovereignty, identity and independence. We should never allow our neighbours and partners dictated to us how, when and what we shall do.
To those of you that shout and scream that we need Europe and without it we are but lost, I say this to you. There are several hundred nations in the world. Many of them survive without being a part of any great union. They thrive and develop without preferential trade agreements. They learn to adapt, overcome difficulty and become proud, independent nations, fully in control of their future, fully dictating their own destiny.
Instead of pouring billions of pounds into the infrastructure of greedy European economies, Britain would do well to refocus its attention abroad. So we need food. Zimbabwe needs agricultural infrastructure. Yes, there is history between Zimbabwe and the UK. Yes there would be very challenging political hurdles to cross, but the history is exactly that. Leave the hurt of yesterday in the past, and work with a nation that is hungry to develop.
Support the people to become better capable of producing the crops that would feed their own nation while providing enough of a surplus to plug a hole in the UK food supply chain. I’d rather see a deal worked out to support an emerging nation like Zimbabwe, than get back into bed with Germany that is unwilling itself to commit any of its own resources to a European Central Bank, yet is perfectly willing to expect us to contribute towards European Bail Out funds.
I would be far happier to see concerted efforts to get trade agreements established with nations like India, China, Brazil and so many other sources of economic potential. I believe we’d gain far more from putting attention on our own domestic identity, and worrying less about the tide of a failing EU. When things are going wrong, you have to eventually stand back and realise that no matter how much money you throw at it, it’s not going to fix the problem.
Europe was always destined to failure. It is a union made up of unequal partners, great egos and different national interests. A Europe built on trade agreements is a possibility yes, but a Union of European States is impossibility in itself. To have laws passed down to us dictating who can fish where and when from a power that has no local understand, no practical knowledge of the British Industry, from a body that has failed to undertake any form of dialogue with the people it affects in making its decisions, is completely ludicrous.
To be told how many hours we may work by a European parliament made up of nationalities who have built their nations on siesta’s with different agenda’s, when our nation has been built on hard work and dedication through generations of British families is madness.
To pay taxes to a Europe that can’t even agree on its own Central Bank, and who’s members cannot agree on who contributes what, is throwing hard earned money down the sewer. These are just a few examples of the hilarity and fundamentally flawed agenda of a Union of European States. There are endless multitudes of stupid errors, unrealistic laws and inflexibility by an institution that is so robustly arrogant it is little wonder that it never gets anything done.
This is not the Britain we learn about in history class. This is not the Britain that got us here today. This is not the Britain that is going to bring us prosperity and success in the future. It is high time that Britain got tough. We must for our own sakes take hold of our country from its very core and shake it thoroughly. It is now that we must call ourselves into full attention, rise up to the challenge, draw in our belts and buckle down to the hard work that lies ahead. Miss this opportunity Britain, and we are dead in the water.
2012 is the year we really need to think about the work of rebuilding a Bigger, Better, Britain.
Africa smiled a little when you left.
It’s lovely when you find a peice of art that moves you. The feelings we draw from a peice of art are wide and varied. I often sit and think about what exactly it is that draws us to art in such a powerful way as human beings.
We all sit down at the start of a New Year to ponder the last twelve months and propose changes to our lives for the next twelve.
It was nice to sit back this evening and enjoy a year in retrospect as much of the television programming looked back over the events of 2011. It was scary to consider that in almost the mere blink of an eye, a whole twelve months had slipped by and we were standing in the shadow of the dawn of a whole new year once more.
