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How sad it is to see England out

by Ian Shires on 13 October, 2015

Despite the brilliant performance against Uruguay, England is out of the World Rugby Cup.

I watched the matches, I urged them on, I wished for victory. It did not help. England is out with the rest of the home counties in:

Ireland Scotland Wales IN Rugby Cup England OUT 7Oct15

How sad it is to see England out. How frustrated I was … and I started thinking about England and her position in the rugby world and her position in the world at large.

From which my mind jumped to what a map of British Isles map could look like after the EU referendum:

Ireland Scotland Wales in the EU England OUT 7Oct15

If the UK is going to leave the EU it will be predominantly due to the English votes. The Scots already declared an intention to stay IN. Wales is relying on EU development funds more than any other region in the UK, they will want to stay IN; Ireland will jump at the chance to unite under the EU flag. England will be OUT.

It was bad enough to see England out of World Rugby Cup. With England out of the EU and the rest vying to stay in the EU, the frustration, the sadness, the disappointment, the cost – all that would be immeasurably higher. (Just being out of World cup meant that a billion pounds was lost. Don’t ask me how they calculated it. But if you needed proof that being out bears cost this is it.)

To see England OUT of the UK is unbearable. The Kingdom will be disunited.

Surely we are better together? Surely better together was not just an empty slogan for Scottish referendum? Surely better together has a universal value?

Today (Monday 12 October 2015) the IN campaign kick off was reported by media as the official start of the EU referendum campaign. Let us not watch from the sidelines or from the TV sofa. Please sign in to the party EU Referendum campaign website and  sign the petition

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We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. We do not want to see England out. It would be a disaster.

* George Smid was the Liberal Democrat candidate in South Holland and the Deepings in 2015. He is a member of the East Midlands Regional Executive, the English Council Executive and is a former European candidate

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