One question I can’t find an answer to through Google right now, is why the right-wing media in the UK as so fervently anti-Europe?

Pitifully, 80% of the British media is owned by billionaires who do not pay any UK taxes, with the Barclay Brothers (Telegraph) The Rothermere’s (The Mail) and Murdoch (The Sun, The Times and Sky) all living outside the UK.

I am not sure where Richard Desmond (The Express, Asian Babes, Television X) lives, but one expects his payment of UK taxes is also a tad suspect.

Living outside the UK and not paying UK taxes is hardly patriotic, yet they claim to be patriotic with a capital P, saying things like ‘Forward with Britain’ and ‘Putting Britain First.’ It’s all a little odd.

These are my genuine questions. Is this just to sell newspapers? Is it an agenda to keep the masses ignorant of megalomaniac shenanigans? Is it a fervent Christian ideology? Or is it that they live in fear of an EU ruling that will force them to cough up their fair share of taxes, rather than firing it all off to the Cayman Islands?

One thing is certain, and that is they care not one jot about Britain, they prove it by funnelling all their money out of the place at any given opportunity. They are robbing the country dry from afar.

There is a nasty claim that the British masses are thick and that they can easily be swayed by the media into believing a Brexit is a way forward and that Britain is better equipped as an independent Isle, but I am not so sure that insulting intelligence is particularly practicable and it is certainly not a good method of persuasion.

Personally, I don’t believe that people are stupid; it is just that they do not have the time to study the pros and cons of a European Union. If you work 9-5 and you have kids to feed and all their hobbies to support, how can you expect to digest such complex information other than a brief glance at a tabloid in your lunch break or sat on the lavatory?

This where allowing a democracy to have a right-wing media dominated by megalomaniacs is a disaster, because people with no time on their hands are preyed on and offered scaremongering sound bites through incendiary Tabloid headlines (note that I am calling The telegraph and the Times tabloids, which is a sad but true indictment of the industry).

Why can’t this be a fair and balanced argument with democratic media?

There is a sinister reason behind this jingoistic approach by the media and it could lead to the masses making an ill-conceived judgement in a referendum that may have a detrimental effect on the lives of our children and grandchildren with regards to employment opportunities, freedom of movement, education, peace and health; all fundamentals of having a decent life.

Up until now I have assessed the In/Out referendum by going with a feeling from my gut along with looking at MP’s from both sides of the argument. When you see Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron (men with completely opposite ideologies) agreeing, a conclusion has to be made that they are both hugely concerned with a Brexit; that in itself is surely worth noting.

Then you look at key figures in the Brexit camp…Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage, an example, if there ever was one, of lunatics taking over the asylum.

Are the lunatics set to take over the asylum? Johnson, Gove and Farage are all voting for a Brexit

Then, a friend of mine, Trevor, sent me this, written by Simon Sweeney, Lecturer of International Political Economy at York University.

The EU has overseen implementation the following:

57% of our trade 
structural funding to areas hit by industrial decline;
clean beaches and rivers;
cleaner air;
lead free petrol;
restrictions on landfill dumping;
a recycling culture;
cheaper mobile charges;
cheaper air travel;
improved consumer protection and food labelling;
a ban on growth hormones and other harmful food additives;
better product safety;
single market competition bringing quality improvements and better industrial performance;
break up of monopolies;
Europe-wide patent and copyright protection;
no paperwork or customs for exports throughout the single market;
price transparency and removal of commission on currency exchanges across the eurozone;
freedom to travel, live and work across Europe;
funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements abroad;
access to European health services;
labour protection and enhanced social welfare;
smoke-free workplaces;
equal pay legislation;
holiday entitlement;
the right not to work more than a 48-hour week without overtime;
strongest wildlife protection in the world;
improved animal welfare in food production;
EU-funded research and industrial collaboration;
EU representation in international forums;
bloc EEA negotiation at the WTO;
EU diplomatic efforts to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty;
European arrest warrant;
cross border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling; counter terrorism intelligence;
European civil and military co-operation in post-conflict zones in Europe and Africa;
support for democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond;
investment across Europe contributing to better living standards and educational, social and cultural capital.
All of this is nothing compared with its greatest achievements: the EU has for 60 years been the foundation of peace between European neighbours after centuries of bloodshed.

It’s up to everyone to make up their own minds, but in my opinion, the 1% (£7 billion out of £695 billion) EU membership costs us (despite its recent flaws) is value for money, especially if it is carries the avoidance of pious little Englanders whose only ambition is to take Britain back to golden age of Christian decency that never even existed in the first place.

I long for a Britain that looks to a better future for my kids and future grand kids, not one that is sat in rose tinted glasses, suffering from perpetual deluded nostalgia, longing for a return to The Black and White Minstrels , hot summers, and when their children could be freely buggered in churches, schools, TV studios and Government establishments.

Still, at least we had Spangles and bedsheets from Brentford Nylons.