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• Letters to the Editor – 17 June 2015

Identity Crisis

I very much hope Chris Deerin is right in his assessment that the EU referendum will come down to a question of identity. Most people in Scotland can say “I am a Scot” or “I am British” or “I am both” and genuinely feel it. There is a history, there is a demos, there is a people. We have chosen to be together, and achieved much together, but we both had a long history before that, and for much of that history we were enemies. I think that was what added much of the venom to the Scottish campaign.

Who in Britain will feel in their heart of hearts “I am a European”? What have we achieved together as Europeans? Peace in Europe has been achieved by NATO, not the EU. Fraternity between EU countries is a bit stretched right now.
In addition, our history before joining the EU was very much separate – an independent island nation with worldwide interests. Throughout much of our history we aimed to maintain the balance of power, so that no country could dominate Europe, as the EU does today. We had alliances and enmities, but we did not consider ourselves European.
There is no European demos – we can’t elect or throw out an EU government. Unlike in Britain, where the South East has subsidised the rest of the UK for generations, as the North and the Midlands once did. Though they may resent it at times, they feel that the rest of the UK is “us”. There is no such feeling between the people of the rich EU countries and those of the poor ones.
That’s why I don’t think Chris Deerin is right that the campaign will stir up the same level of hatred as the Scottish one did. Those who vote to stay In will do so largely from fear of the unknown, for economic reasons, or because of some lingering feeling that the EU is good because it is supposed to be about working together.
You might be ready to die for your country, but none of these reasons inspire that sort of loyalty. Those who vote Out are likely to feel more passionate about it, because they feel for their country and want it to be independent again. I passionately want to leave the EU, but I want to persuade the other side, not shout it down.

Ken Worthy, Esher, UK

Iain Martin, Editor, CapX

Thank you Ken. I certainly feel European, when I’m visiting other European countries, or sipping wine from Bordeaux or eating pizza (never together, as pizza would ruin decent wine). But it is a mistake, I think, to confuse Europe with the political construct that is the European Union. They are not the same thing. Incidentally, there is much that Europeans have achieved, surely? The Roman Empire? The Renaissance? The Enlightenment? The invention of capitalism? The Industrial Revolution which was not just a British story? Some people would also cite the Reformation, although others see that as a retrograde development.

I do not share Chris Deerin’s concern for a couple of reasons. What the polls in London say isn’t particularly relevant. The question is for individual Brits is: how do they see themselves? Indeed, it is an existential question: Who are they?

Consider the alternative: no referendum, and Great Britain stays in the EU. In the 18th century, our own John Jay expressed concern during the US ratification debates that were our Constitution accepted as it was written, the States would bear the same relationship to the central government that counties have to a State: just political subdivisions that exist solely to ease the carrying out of the State’s decisions. That’ll be the fate of Great Britain if there’s no referendum or if the referendum supports staying in the EU.

Finally, dissolution: the recent referendum on Scottish departure from the Union was most enthusiastically argued. There is considerable angst among those whose position was voted down. They’re recovering, and the Union remains sound.
So it will be with Great Britain following the larger referendum, regardless of its outcome.

Eric Hines, Texas, United States

House of Cards

Andrew Lilico is spot on, as 40% of mortgages in the UK are interest only and people are struggling to service these as the government well knows, hence the maintenance of low interest rates.

The average house price now relates not to what someone can afford to borrow but to what the lender is prepared to lend on the assumption of ever increasing house prices. Historically around 30% of the population have not been able to cover the full cost of housing themselves and 40% of households are sole occupiers. With an average of 2.5 rooms per person do we really have a housing crisis or is it a mis-allocation of resources?

Dorothea Bradley, Taunton Somerset, UK

Housebuilding doesn’t drive down house prices because house builders are not stupid. They build at a rate that gives them the best possible trade off between selling houses quickly and keeping the prices high. Why would you sell all your stock right away, depressing prices and depleting your stock, when you don’t know if you’ll ever get any more land because UK planning is a shambles?

Florence Bowles, London, UK

Andrew Lilico’s most recent article is nonsense. House prices would fall slightly if the development was large relative to the housing stock, but 300 homes is not large compared to a mid size town. You would need to include a decent catchment area where the impact would take place, and 300 homes is likely to be less than 1% extra supply.

Also any drop in house prices would happen in anticipation of the homes being completed, not at the time of actual completion, which makes the study more flawed. Look at Battersea today though, where there are lots of new homes, and house prices are finally falling.

Stuart Anson, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Don't bank on it

Almost everything Ian Birrell says  is correct, but he omits one business sector which dwarfs all the others. Nearly 7 years after the collapse of the banking system, next-to-nothing has been done to sort out the mess and, thanks to QE, the risk of another collapse is greater than ever.

Moreover, the UK economy is in some respects more dependent on the banks today than it was in 2008.

Professor Laurence Copeland, Kenilworth, UK

Bribes and Billionaires

The aim should be to grow incomes for as many as possible, not deciding who gets what (by the direction of a coercive nation). Crony capitalists are just an overtly criminal element of criminal big government. The problem isn’t the billionaires in those corrupt nations, they are a symptom of the problem of corrupt, too-powerful government.

As for the dislike of billionaires elsewhere, that is jealously and avarice for their wealth, and the arrogance of thinking you know better than the free economics. They used that system to create jobs (where the workers always make far more than the owners), products and services. Those billionaires offer those things in a free market where huge numbers of people freely chose to do commerce with them (or not). In other words, with freedom everyone became better off.

Thomas Sullivan, Florida, United States

TTIP Trouble

I disagree with Daniel Hannan. I don’t like much of what I understand to be the extreme elements of the TTIP, particularly the ISDS element which I see as a threat to democracy. However, that is not to say that I think we should leave the EU. If we wish to remain a force in global affairs we need to belong to a much larger trading group than just the UK. On our own we could not compete with USA, China, Brazil or India etc.

There is nothing unusual about objecting to that which is wrong whilst still supporting the overall aims of an organization. That is how such organizations are improved.

Terry McCann, Worthing, UK

It isn’t the Eurocrats that are pushing for TTIP, it is the member governments.
 Please remember it is the Council of Ministers, that oft ignored and under-reported organ of the EU that is the decision making authority. 
MEPs (bless them) are trying to amend/block all/the worst aspects of TTIP, but it is the Council of Ministers (including the Ministers of the UK government) that are pushing this through.
 Votes in the Council of Ministers are secret. 
If you are going to aim your fire, aim it in the right direction.

Anne Wareham, Monmouthshire, Wales

Too many tweets

On CapX d
o you really need to have “tweets” attached to your articles?  But if you really must have these pointless snippets that say nothing of weight, surely just at the end would be sufficient, not repeating them beginning and end.

William MacDougall, London, UK