Having read a number of blogs setting out the case to remain in the EU, here is my contribution.

Thursday June 23rd is a date that will take its place in history.  It will demonstrate whether this nation

steeped in history can regain a semblance of the force of conviction that saw its offspring feature in

so many notable events of the past, to make sacrifice and to endure, so that despite self-loathing

and guilt from certain quarters, it remains a country to be reckoned with when it is secure in its

national character and its place in the world.  The insecurity of the post-WW2 world saw the

vanquished and impoverished nations propped up by financial input as the emergence of a

victorious Soviet Union pushed westward with opportunistic enthusiasm, seizing land and power.

This was addressed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) which proclaimed that an

attack on one was an attack on us all behind its shield.  But powerful political and financial

forces were actively seeking to create a European entity - its true political power ambitions

disguised - sold to us and accepted as a Common Market.  Stealthily, with no mention of its

predetermined political destination, it continued the deception through two more identities -

eventually to become the European Union...finally abandoning its disguise as a trading

set-up.  Its original limited number of member states (that word was soon in use, replacing

reference to "nations") has since been multiplied nearly four-fold, with huge disparities,

resulting in widespread unemployment and financial hardship that linger on, exacerbated by

the numbers of migrants and refugees from lands far beyond its borders in recent times. 

Here in the UK, we stand at a cross-roads, able to say "no more" to what we now recognise

to have happened in our name, OR to stay within the grip of those who lack honest

dealing and respect for any nation's wishes  - consider Southern Ireland, France, Denmark,

Holland, and Greece (the latter a financial basket-case, told what to do to survive) - and then

ask whether this nation has any future swimming against the one-way tide that holds back

any chance of change let alone reform in the EU Empire.  Wishful thinking is all very well but

no way of ensuring self-determination and the return to a wide world that watches and waits.

We survived virtually everything successive conflicts and their effects at home could throw at us

before we fell for the idea of joining a suggested trading alliance.  What's to stop us now?

Have we lost the self-belief and force of character of those who went before and defined our name -

reduced to grateful recipients of what others choose for us?  Or do we stand proud, as of old?

Consider this when you vote.