Standing under the Step Short, First World War memorial arch on The Leas in Folkestone, the decision we have to make as a country on 23rd June seems small. During the First World War there were ten million movements of soldiers through the town, to France and the trenches of the Western Front. For many, marching down the Road of Remembrance to the harbour, they were taking in their last glimpse of home.
However we vote on in the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union, the sun will still come up the following morning, despite what you might read from time to time. Although this is not a life of death decision, it is however still momentous, and probably the biggest the country has taken in nearly fifty years. The one thing I would urge all readers is that they use their vote, and don’t leave it to others to speak on their behalf. Democracy means that everyone has a vote, but the only ones that count, are the ones that are cast in the ballot.
The transformation of Britain and Europe has been in many ways miraculous since we joined the Common Market in 1973. Then Germany was divided and half of Europe lay behind the Iron Curtain under Communist dictatorship. Spain was still governed by Franco, Greece by the Colonels and Portugal remained in the grip of a fascist dictatorship, as it had since the Second World War. Now the whole of Europe is democratic and free. Not only have the states of Eastern Europe joined the family of democracies in the west, but countries like Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia regained their independence from Russia. For these states the mere existence of the European Union has give them the freedom to follow their own path, free from the domination of their powerful neighbour.
A time traveller from 1973, visiting Britain today might well ask how this country has fared in the transformation of Europe. They would see that rather than being the sick man of Europe with an economy declining and falling behind its competitors, Britain has been a great success. In the European Union, the United Kingdom is seen as the most dynamic and creative economy, and in the next decade people are even predicting that it could overhaul Germany and become the largest. The reason for this success is also clear. The European Single Market gives British businesses the freedom to trade without restriction right across the continent. Foreign investors from around the world can bring their business to the UK, and enjoy the lower taxes and lighter regulation, but know as well that they can also export their products right across the continent.
If the history of Europe has taught us anything over the 100 years since the First World War, it is that the peace of the continent is based on prosperity and opportunity for all. When the rise of one nation is built on the poverty and subjugation of another, sooner or later it leads to war.
Before you cast your vote in this referendum, I would like to ask if you would consider one thing; that imperfect though the European Union is, it has created the opportunity for peace and prosperity through the co-operation of nations, and Britain has played a leading role in it. Let’s not throw it all away.