European elections

Today Britons are voting in European elections and the biggest shame in it all is that the one issue that hasn't been debated once is Europe.


The BBC's Question Time program is the best debate on issues that is really available through the media, certainly in terms of seeing a reaction from the public, and what was so disappointing was that on a broadcast specifically about the European elections the only matter to come up was MP's expenses.


Unfortunately this is entirely understandable. Voters feel completely separated from what happens in Europe. Most of them couldn't tell you what is debated in Brussels or what legislation has been passed down recently. Fewer still could tell you whether their Labour, Conservative, Lib Dem or other party candidate was in favour of this or not.


What's more, in Britain many parties are campaigning on the domestic problems as well. None of the big 3 parties have bothered to send me any kind of propoganda about the European vote, deciding instead that council elections are more important. Therefore all the information I have is from UKIP, The Jury Team and No 2 EU, Yes 2 Democracy. I didn't really need 3 parties telling me that the government is incompetent.


Europe does very important things for us and as such it is a huge shame that Britain is not able to have a good debate about it. In the rare debates there have been the pro-EU campaign has been very poor at getting its message across, therefore the scaremongering of the anti-EU brigade has been overwhelming. As such it is not surprising that so many people want nothing to do with Europe. But the benefits are massive.


Thanks to the EU we have labour migration that benefits all countries, despite what many would like you to believe. The EU is one of the few bodies seriously willing to try and tackle climate change that also has the ability to achieve something, especially with the Scandinavian countries pushing it forward. Much of the legislation brought in from Brussels is fairly small and adds little improvements to our lives, such as things about food labelling. By coordinating it through the EU the fiscal stimulus needed for Britain should even have had more effect.


The argument used to scare people that Westminster is losing all of its power is nothing more than a lie. The major legislation passed applying to Britain is almost solely still determined by our MPs, the EU does not impose privatised healthcare or determine our curriculum, it didn't introduce top up fees or force us to build a new runway at Heathrow. It certainly isn't making us privatise the Royal Mail.


If you're one of the minority that will vote in the European election today then please make it on the issues in Europe and not about scandalous MPs in Westminster. MEP's expenses do need reform as well, but there are many important issues. The Conservatives are becoming less pro-EU, though they do at least not have visions of withdrawing from it or any of this nonsense. Labour and the Lib Dems are flying the flag for Europe and just this once I have to agree with them.