Actually, Alan, europe is not necessarily the key to our prosperity. The world economic powerhouse for the foreseeable future is in the East, and with economic power will eventually come political clout. Ive been going to China regularly for years and the pace of growth there is breathtaking. The most astounding thing there is the sheer number of intelligent articulate highly educated graduates desperate to make something with their lives. Theyre better educated tahn us and hungry for success in a way you no longer see in Europe. We're still only at the beginning of this, but if you imagine that 25% of the world's population is there and a billion in India, before you start counting Indonesia, Pakistan etc etc, then the future is going to see some dramatic economic and power shifts. And theyre getting rich by exporting to Europe and America, who in turn are no longer making things. Our main economic activity is in retailing - ie buying and selling products to ourselves, and so is the rest of Europe. It's basically unhealthy in the long term. We don't seem to hear of anybody really sitting down and figuring out where we should be in 50 years time, or whom we should be allied to. It may well be Europe, but it may not. The EC has not even yet decided what it is, how big it is , or what it will be in future. I personally am by nature pro european, but I can equally see it unravelling. My personal bet in fact is that it WILL unravel, purely because its ever increasing size will make it unworkable in any meaningful way except as a free trade area. And a free trade area where nobody makes anything because theyve imported it all is basically pretty meaningless. Which is why I'm off to shanghai again in a couple of weeks...........rats and sinking ships as it were. there is a very real possibility that 22nd century britain will be a major theme park for Asian tourists

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