THE LONG GOODBYE, PERHAPS.

Prime Minister David Cameron has eventually 'come off the fence', or has he? A promise of a referendum regarding the British membership of the 'goddam' awful European Union has been promised five years hence, 2018. This is his response to the loss of support from his Tory Party, which is migrating to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). No doubt Cameron will hope that in the interim period, the whole idea will find its way into the long grass. At seventy seven, the author could well be at some other unholy union in the sky; but nothing could be worse than the amateurish EU, run by a bunch of total incompetents in Brussels.

Whenever the media questions the public on the subject of the EU, it, under the guise of even handedness, seeks differing views; naturally, from this, we cannot surmise the true mood of the public, but what is obvious is, that too many people think politicians know best. This aspect is the biggest danger of all. Why can't they understand that we are gradually being drawn into a giant web, where we shall be given little or no chance to vote on major concerns. We'll be overrun by other member states, who easily identify Britain as a 'nice little earner' by just turning up. What the EU is to most politicians is a big 'gravy train'.

One wonders whether or not the real arguments will get enough airing; the BBC will have to change its spots to incorporate democracy into the schedules, don't hold your breath. The BBC wouldn't ever mention the imbalance in our trade relations with the rest of Europe; how much we subscribe annually to the EU coffers, which is far more than we get in return. The latter is never mentioned. Keeping the whole subject in the hands of what in Britain is called the 'chattering class', the elite; which in fact is the dim, blinkered, academic, political class. Which, as ever, is far removed from reality. They adore the plethora of rules spewing out from this very big government. They are comfortable with the endless bureaucracy, giving hundreds of thousands of folk employment, shuffling paper around, at hard pressed taxpayers' expense.

THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WILL APPEAR TO BE THE LONGEST IN HISTORY.