Cliveden and Other Pagodas

I was going through some family papers today and I came across this text written by my father. I do not know whether he ever did anything with it so I thought I could at least publish it here to give it a brief electronic life. It was printed on his old dot-matrix printer so is not easy to read. Someday I might transcribe it.

Brexit and my MP - Part 9

The Rt Hon Anne Milton MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

26 March 2017

Dear Ms Milton

With Mrs May promising to trigger Article 50 this week amid increasing talk of “no deal being better than a bad deal” I simply have to write again to plea for some sanity to prevail.

This hard Brexit that the country now appears to be facing seems to me to be nothing short of a monumental case of national hara-kiri. We appear to be hurtling towards a “solution” with no special single market access, no bespoke customs union, no free trade deal with the 27 – just crashing into trying to cope with WTO rules? For what? Simply to reject freedom of movement? Certainly 16.2M “Remain” voters do not want this. I doubt that many of the 17.4M “Leave” voters thought that this is what they were going to get.

This weekend 27 nations celebrated 60 years of unparalleled peace, security and prosperity in Europe to which the UK is sticking a metaphorical two fingers in the air. Why? What is to be gained?

Mrs May has promised a Britain that works for all. In reality she is presiding over a government that is dividing the nation further. She may even be bringing about the complete sundering of the Union.

This Brexit is nothing but a disaster in the making.

Already we have carmakers demanding special protection because they fear the increased tariffs they will face.

Other industries are following suit.

The NHS and social services face losing irreplaceable staff.

Banks and other financial institutions are considering relocation for passporting rights.

Airlines fearing the loss of open skies agreements are considering similar moves.

We have suggestions that drug trials protection might be watered down.

There are influential members of Parliament suggesting that environmental protection should be relaxed.

Funds of academic research look to be in jeopardy.

Every householder in the country faces higher food and fuel prices.

They also face the prospect of continuing stagnation in wages.

And, dare I say it, increased, regressive taxation is clearly flavour of the month.

Over the years your activities as MP for Guildford have suggested to me that you are firmly of the “one-nation” tradition of conservatism. Are you not appalled at the Little Englander, hard-Brexiter hijacking of your party?

Once again, I plead for you to use to influence to inject sanity into this disastrous process.

Yours sincerely

To Teresa May 25th March 2017

Dear Mrs May

On this anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome I wish you to know that although, unfortunately, I will not be counted in the number attending the pro-EU march in London I shall be there in spirit.

Please also be aware that I view the forthcoming triggering of Article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon as an utter betrayal of the British people.

You say you are simply enacting "the will of the people". You are not! You are enacting the will of 17.4M people, just over a quarter of the population. You are certainly not enacting the will of 16.2M people and you have no idea of the will of the remaining 31.8M people who either did not, or could not, vote in the advisory referendum but who will, none-the-less, have to suffer the consequences of your actions.

Yours sincerely

Richard Bawden

New Pumped Storage Project

Interesting to see a new pumped storage project in the offing. It's not huge at 99.9 MW but a welcome addition to generation kit at a time when intermittent sources are still increasing.

In the good old days when I was a corporate planner for National Power the received wisdom was that all viable large or medium scale hydro projects were played out. How times change. It would be interesting to know what other opportunities of this scale actually exist.

Brexit and my MP - Part 8

OK, here it is. Something of a scattergun approach and certainly not the best piece of argument I've produced but I needed to get something to my MP quickish - otherwise she'll think I've given up.

(Plenty more in this series elsewhere in my blog)

The Rt Hon Anne Milton MP

House of Commons

London

SW1A 0AA

3 March 2017

Dear Anne

Thank you for your letter of 31 January 2017 and particularly for taking the time to pen your post script describing your decision making process with respect to the triggering of Article 50. While I acknowledge that, at this stage, no argument about the conduct of the advisory referendum is going to change your decision nor deflect the Government from its chosen course I do wish to make one comment on your letter.

Language

You state “the Country voted to leave the EU”. At the risk of going over old ground, the Country comprises approximately 65.4M people. Of these approximately 51.4M (78.5%) are of voting age and on June 23 last year some 46.5M of these (71% of the population) were registered to vote. In the end about 33.6M (54% of the population) actually voted; with 17.4M (26.6% of the population) voting “Leave”. It is indisputable that, of those who were able, and chose, to vote marginally more voted “Leave” than “Remain”. Never-the-less it has to be acknowledged that almost ¾ of the population either could not vote or did not vote “Leave”. To label 17.4M people as “the Country” is, I believe, a dangerous misuse of language. If taken at face value, without careful thought about its meaning, it may be read as a general agreement in the Nation to Brexit which is manifestly not the case. I urge you to avoid all phrases such as “the Country has voted” or “the people have decided” – they are insidious distortions of the truth.

Now, to look forward:

Respect

In his speech on 27 February Sir John Major stated inter alia “....in the afterglow of victory, their cheerleaders [i.e. of anti-Europeans] have shown a disregard that amounts to contempt for the 48% who believed our future was more secure within the European Union,.......They [the 48%] do not deserve to be told that....they must keep quiet and toe the line”. This captures much of my feeling at the moment.

The 2015 Conservative Party manifesto promised to “respect the outcome of the [advisory] referendum”. This surely should de minimis acknowledge the hopes and desires of the 16.1M who voted “Remain”? Recently, in response to a letter I sent to No 10 I received what appears to be a standard reply from DExEU which is so hectoring in its tone that it felt more like an edict from 1937 Germany than a communication from a 2017 UK Government department. Sadly, the advisory referendum exposed deep division in our society and unfortunately, the handling of the outcome is doing nothing to heal those rifts.

Less Haste More Speed

We appear to be racing at a somewhat unseemly pace to trigger Article 50 within the next few weeks. I am reminded of a recently heard anecdote from someone with a private pilot’s licence who tells of one of the psychological factors leading to poor piloting being what’s often called “press-on-itis”. This occurs when a pilot is flying into steadily worsening conditions and subconsciously wishes to get to his/her destination, land and be safe when the safer option would be to return to his/her starting point or land as soon as possible at a nearby landing site. All too often the outcome is “a controlled flight into terrain” – a crash in which the pilot does not lose control of the plane, just the situation. I do hope that the dash for triggering Article 50 is not an example of this problem.

EU Citizens’ Rights

Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU I am afforded citizenship of the Union. This confers upon me a number of rights, one of which is the right to move and reside freely within the EU. This right is clearly in jeopardy in the Brexit process although, as ministers have suggested, may be maintained through the negotiations by using the rights of citizens from the other EU states as a bargaining chip. This may be the logical approach from a gaming point of view but I find it utterly un-British and morally reprehensible. I am therefore very pleased with the amendment to the EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed by the Lords yesterday. I trust that you will not be party to, nor support, its reversal by the Commons.

The Final Deal

I was surprised to read one estimate of the UK’s exit costs being up to €60bn; that’s almost €1000 for every man, woman and child in the country. Given the source of this estimate I suspect that it is something of an exaggeration. However, there will be a cost and I suggest that many “Leave” voters will not have considered this when they cast their votes. Indeed, some may have regarded the process as costless or even, given the unfortunate promises to repatriate £350M per week and redirect it to the NHS, have thought that there would be a net cash benefit. Similarly others may have anticipated a “soft” Brexit with the UK retaining full access to the single market, or at least remaining in the customs union. How many expected the “hard” Brexit that the Government is now pursuing? (I doubt that very many people at all thought about other issues such as the UK’s position in Euratom). Will “the People” have any say in approving the final deal? At the very least Parliament should have frequent opportunity to scrutinise and criticise the Government’s progress; and to be the ultimate arbiter of the final deal with a guaranteed definitive vote. I do hope that you will press for this.

Yours sincerely