We are getting ever closer to 29 March 2019, the date on which we are due to leave the EU, and minds are beginning to focus on what that might actually mean for this country, especially if there is no agreement with the EU in place by then.

After 40 years of hate against anything European in the Daily Mail, the Sun and like-minded sections of our press, we should not, perhaps, been surprised by the No vote in 2016.There are still millions of UK citizens who do not recognise any benefits emanating from the EU, and believe that British is always best in any circumstances. They are the believers in Little Britain. For them, all the talk about consequences for this country if it leaves the UK are all part of Project Fear, designed to overturn the verdict of the 2016 referendum.

However, the Remain camp seems to be growing in strength the closer we get to cutting ourselves off from Europe. The petition by the Independent calling for a second referendum has already reached 700,000 and is growing strongly. There is clearly a growing body of opinion that understands the potential effects of leaving the EU and a changing demographic that is seeing an older generation (majority Leave voters) dying out and being replaced by young teenagers (most of whom support Remain).

As ever, the only major UK party that has been consistently pro-Europe are the Lib Dems, but we are still stuck at around 10% in the opinion polls. The other two main parties are totally split on Europe, The Tories are led by a Remainer who leads a party whose members seem resolutely Leave supporters. Labour, on the other hand is led by a Leaver but whose parliamentary party is overwhelmingly Remain supporters.

Theresa May will do anything to avoid a general election (and possibly resulting loss of power) and but has failed to find a sensible way forward that suits the remainers in her party.

Jeremy Corbyn (if he ever escapes the anti-Semitism row) has been steadfastly against a second referendum but there are significant voices now urging him to think again on this.
It is not inconceivable that the government may be defeated on a vote on Europe in the Commons and would be faced with a choice of calling a general election before the end of March or agreeing to hold a second referendum to decide on our future in or out of Europe. This might also be followed by a general election in which Labour would hope to gain power without having taken a definitive stand on Europe which might divide their party.

Either way, neither of the two main parties has provided any real leadership on Europe and the one party that is absolutely solid on Europe (apart from UKIP) is being ignored. The Lib Dems have a fight on our hands if we are ever to make our voices heard on Europe before it is too late.

EU figures show that in 2014 Europe received 626,00 asylum applications including:
Germany 203,000
Sweden 81,000
Italy 65,000
France 64,000
Hungary 43,000
United Kingdom 32,000
Austria 28,000
Netherlands 25,000
Belgium 23,000

These figures include refugees from Ukraine and the Balkans as well as Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.

In absolute numbers, a total of almost 104,000 persons were granted refugee status in the EU-28 in 2014 (first instance and final decisions), nearly 60,000 subsidiary protection status, and just over 20,000 authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons. So around 25-30% of applicants were allowed to stay legally in the EU.

It is worth noting that the total population of the EU is 500,000,000.

UN figures indicate that around 100,000 migrants made it to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea in the first half of 2015.

The press are having a field day and pumping up the rhetoric about swarms of migrants crossing the channel but has anyone bothered to look at the actual numbers involved and how many asylum seekers actually find refuge in the UK?

Given the level of asylum requests over the whole of Europe (and yes the numbers will have increased in the current year) we need to ask the question why do we make such a big deal over 3,000 – 5,000 refugees in Calais? Should we not ask why we are only taking in half the number of refugees that France or Italy take in? Are we that worried by a few thousand more? Are we, as a nation, so broke or xenophobic that we cannot extend a hand of welcome to a few thousand more refugees? Are we losing our humanity?

Like many people I have sat through both Euro debates and my gut feeling is that they did more to cement pre-existing views than sway anybody to vote one way or another.

What was hugely disappointing was the non-appearance of the other two major party leaders. If this is the leadership of David Cameron and Ed Milliband, then it is difficult to be positive about the future of Britain. They say they are both convinced Europeans but neither had the guts to defend their positions in a public debate. Neither was prepared to face down the populist groundswell behind UKIP that blames all our country’s ills on immigration and Europe.

The conclusion is simple. If you believe in Great Britain rather than Little England, if you want a strong Britain within Europe rather than a Billy-no-mates Britain with no jobs and no influence, if you want to see a future vision of Britain taking its rightful place in Europe rather than hoping to return Britain to the isolation of the fifties and sixties, then you need to vote for the Lib Dems, the party of IN, on May 22nd.