July 6, 2013

Britain's Split Personality Over EU Ties

For whom, it suddenly occurred to him to wonder, was he writing this diary? For the future, for the unborn. His mind hovered for a moment round the doubtful date on the page, and then fetched up with a bump against the Newspeak word doublethink. For the first time the magnitude of what he had undertaken came home to him. How could you communicate with the future? It was of its nature impossible. Either the future would resemble the present in which case it would not listen to him, or it would be different from it, and his predicament would be meaningless.

LONDON----Some British businesses see the U.K.'s membership in the European Union as a profitable gateway to the world. Others complain it leads to cumbersome regulation that restrains growth.

For some time he sat gazing stupidly at the paper. The telescreen had changed over to strident military music. It was curious that he seemed not merely to have lost the power of expressing himself, but even to have forgotten what it was that he had originally intended to say. For weeks past he had been making ready for this moment, and it had never crossed his mind that anything would be needed except courage. The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running inside his head, literally for years. At this moment, however, even the monologue had dried up. Moreover, his varicose ulcer had begun itching unbearably. He dared not scratch it, because if he did so it always became inflamed. The seconds were ticking by. He was conscious of nothing except the blankness of the page in front of him, the itching of the skin above his ankle, that blaring of the music, and a slight booziness caused by the gin.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has staked his political future on charting a risky path between the two views. On Friday, proposed legislation that would enshrine in law Mr. Cameron's promise to hold a referendum on whether to remain in the 28-member EU passed an early but symbolically important parliamentary hurdle.

Suddenly he began writing in sheer panic, only imperfectly aware of what he was setting down. His small but childish handwriting straggled up and down the page, shedding first its capital letters and finally even its full stops:

The heated debate taking place here about whether the U.K. should end its 40-year-long ties with Europe is placing the spotlight on how much Britain gains or loses from belonging to the EU.