We’re about to choose how we want to live
our lives.
This is the single most important political
decision any of us will make in our lifetime.
It’s been more than 40 years since we were
last asked. It could be half a century
before we’re asked again, if we’re ever asked
at all.
I think this is the last chance that we’ll
be able to vote on EU membership when we still
have a recognizable identity as Britons, and
what makes it scary is that if we go the wrong way,
we’re in it for certainly my lifetime
and probably my kids’ lifetime.
I’m on my way to Brussels to better understand
the deal that’s on offer.
This is about our ability to say to ourselves
that we are a genuinely democratic and free
people. That’s how important this is.
In return for our democratic rights we’ve
been promised prosperity and security.
Are these promises convincing?  The choice before us is all about democracy,
and how highly we value it.
The word ‘democracy’ comes from the Ancient
Greek. The demos is the people. The people
are meant to be in charge, not politicians
or bureaucrats. They’re meant to serve us,
not rule us. We have given them some power,
but only temporarily, and we can take it away
from them if they displease us. That’s the
theory.
Merci.
Uh, the EU, s’il vous plait.
Straight off there’s a snag. On my quest
to understand the EU, my first challenge is
to find it.
There are over 90 EU buildings here in Brussels,
and a load more in Strasbourg and Luxembourg.
As impressive as the modernist buildings is
the number of directorates, councils, commissions
and ministries which occupy them.
But here, the EU slips its first cog. For
a democracy to function, there needs to be
transparency. We the people need to know how
the system works.
