QUOTES AND QUESTIONS

"Europe is not to be saved by any single man. England has saved herself by her exertions and will, as I trust, save Europe by her example." (William Pitt the Younger 1759-1806).

"Every step that tends to make Europe more prosperous and more peaceful is conducive to British interests ... but we have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked but not comprised. We are interested and associated but not absorbed.” (Winston Churchill -1965)

It has been suggested by some people in this country that I and my Government will be a 'soft touch' in the Community. In case such a rumour may have reached your ears, Mr Chancellor, it is only fair to advise you frankly to dismiss it, as my colleagues did long ago! I intend to be very discriminating in judging what are British interests and I shall be resolute in defending them. (Margaret Thatcher 1979)

"We'll negotiate withdrawal from the EEC which has drained our natural resources and destroyed jobs" (Tony Blair in personal manifesto in 1982)

“We weren't getting a fair deal on the budget and I wasn't going to have it. There's a great strand of equity and fairness in the British people - this is our characteristic. There's not a strand of equity and fairness in Europe - they're out to get as much as they can. That's one of those enormous differences. So I tackled it on that basis.” (Margaret Thatcher 1993)

• Looking at the history of the UK's membership in the European Union it is obvious that Great Britain has had a different opinion on European treaties to most member states. Is it because their country is geographically isolated from continental Europe? Since 1973 there have always been many who have said, and said continuously, that Britain would be better off without Europe - a attitude in the popular press based on the fact that Britain is becoming ever more likely to be ruled from Brussels and so will no longer have her own sovereignty. Is this a valid position or just an example of the fact that the British are still living in the past, when they were a world power, a fact that they cannot grasp is no longer true.

• Did Great Britain do the right thing? Should they focus only on the interests of their own community? Is the City of London actually so important to the majority in the UK or should it be treated as a source of the problems which Europe is now having to tackle? After all it was the irresponsibility of the banking system that has allowed so much debt to accumulate and in this sense the City is as involved as any - many in the UK indeed would say that there should be some regulation to stop banks collapsing in the future, which affects the average citizen and yet despite this the bankers continue to earn vast sums.

• British politicians like Nick Clegg and David Miliband described Cameron's actions as “a bitter disappointment" and “thanks" to the veto the United Kingdom will no longer be considered as a real member of the European Union. In your opinion, did David Cameron really made such a tremendous mistake? Will the UK be taken seriously by the rest of the EU? Can it justify having a say on other issues when it is at variance with the remainder of the community?

• Consider the differing views presented in the headlines - how is it possible to for there ever to be agreement?

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