What has Europe ever done for us??

What has Europe ever done for us??

This week as some of you will know I visited the European Parliament  to make a short presentation  on innovative Welsh research collaborations and how such collaborations might be used to tackle some of the most important issues that Wales is facing in the 21^st Century. My visit and presentation unfortunately coincided with the delayed speech by David Cameron on the UK’s future in Europe where he postured to UK Euro sceptics in what I am sure will be a vain attempt to boost his election chances.  However, this empty little Englander posturing is detrimental not just to the interests of the UK but also to ordinary people throughout Europe.  Being in Brussels and in the European parliament on the very day our Prime Minister made that speech I was in a good position to gauge European reaction and I can promise you that far from quaking in their boots the rest of Europe are looking toward the UK  and laughing at a delusional post-colonial country which thinks just because they are called “Great Britain” that somehow they are better than the other countries in the EU and can make a go of it in an increasingly cut throat global economy while cutting its ties to the rest of Europe.  I promise you the attitude of the rest of Europe is “if UK think they can do let them get on with it, no skin off our nose if they crash and burn”.