Letters: British Exit from EU Would Be Big Mistake; Fellow Church Member Praises Don Lakin

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British Exit from EU Would Be Big Mistake

On June 23, the voters of the United Kingdom will determine whether there should be a British exit, or “Brexit,” from the European Union. Such a move could be substantially injurious to the UK and the EU, and, less directly, to NATO and the United States. 

What originally was called the European Economic Community, or, simply, the Common Market, was founded by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg with the adoption of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. By lowering trade barriers and enabling vastly expanded economies of scale among manufacturers, the EU in this period helped to create unprecedented prosperity for its member nations. 

Indeed, what was once a bloc of only six countries since has grown to 28 with several more eagerly waiting in line. Also, by encouraging economic interdependency among its member states, the EU has tempered the extreme nationalism and xenophobia that caused two catastrophic world wars.

Britain joined the EU in 1973 under Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath. This decision was ratified in 1975 by the first nationwide referendum in British history. With the encouragement of Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, the British voted by a nearly two-to-one margin to remain in Europe. 

In more recent years, however, the EU bureaucracy, centered in Brussels, Belgium, has overstepped its mission. What initially was a free trade zone has become increasingly arrogant and centralist.

Also, the introduction of the common European currency, or euro, in 2002 was somewhat overdone. Such nations as Greece and Spain obviously lacked the fiscal discipline for this venture. Britain was wise to retain the pound sterling. 

Still, the EU for the most part has been a great boon to its members. It needs reform, not abandonment. After Germany, Britain has the second largest economy in the EU, and the island nation would greatly weaken its influence in Europe and the world by, in effect, pushing itself out to sea. 

According to public opinion polls, moreover, the EU is substantially more popular in Scotland than in England. Were the Scots to vote to remain in Europe while the UK as a whole voted to leave, there likely would be another referendum on Scottish independence, notwithstanding that a similar effort in 2014 failed by the ample but not overwhelming margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. 

In fact, the separatist Scottish National Party currently dominates the parliament in Edinburgh, and its leader, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has warned that a Brexit “almost certainly” would trigger another independence referendum. 

The SNP favors unilateral nuclear disarmament, furthermore, and the British nuclear deterrent, consisting essentially of four Royal Navy Trident submarines based at a Scottish port, might scuttled if Scotland broke away. 

At a time of rising tension in the Middle East and with Russia and China, the dissolution of the United Kingdom would profoundly embarrass and diminish NATO and endanger the United States. 

Opinion surveys indicate that the June 23 referendum will be extremely close, impossible to predict with precision. Hopefully, Britain will vote to remain, as a Brexit would be a big mistake. 



 

Joseph Tipler 

Centralia

 

Fellow Church Member Praises Don Lakin

Our church family has been blessed by the faithfulness of Don and Rita Lakin.

Don was my Bible teacher every Sunday for years at 8 a.m. I asked Don about the judgment. He said, “One thing I can tell you is that we have a public defender who doesn’t lose a case — Jesus.”

I believe that Jesus greeted Don with, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

 

Mary Lynne Hawk

Centralia