THE CAMERON-BROWN ANSWER TO BRITAIN’S EXPLODING POPULATION

Speaking at Keele University in Staffordshire last June, shadow chancellor George Osborne joined the chorus of leading Tory voices urging the admission of Turkey to the European Union. Displaying just a tinkling of ignorance of geography and history, Osborne declared Turkey to be part of Europe. There is opposition to this policy from Germany, France, and Austria – precisely those countries which have experience of large-scale Turkish immigration. However, with the EU’s ongoing aim to expand their bureaucratic empire ever deeper into Asia, it is likely that Turkey’s admission will go ahead if Labour and Conservatives continue their cosy alternating Tweedledum and Tweedledee rule over this country.

One of the effects of the Lisbon Treaty has been to give the go-ahead to this project, although I don’t recall the Government’s drawing attention to this aspect when bulldozing the Treaty through with Cameron's subservient support, in violation of solemn pledges and against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the British people.

Objection to the planned expansion has only partially to do with the character of Turkey as a nation, and certainly not with the Turks as a people. A major objection, which at present shews no signs of abating, is the disproportionate influence of the Turkish army, which, in common with those of many Asiatic and African countries has shewn itself not over scrupulous in intervening in the country’s domestic affairs, toppling governments, and acting imperiously to frustrate the popular will.

Only a week ago the Turkish prime minister, Recep Erdogan, threatened to expel 100,000 Armenians from the country. Ethnic cleansing has indeed played a prominent role throughout Turkish history. During and immediately after the Great War, the Turks slaughtered an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, one of the greatest genocidal crimes in history, for which, so far from apologizing, they effectively deny ever occurred. What would be our attitude to Germany, were Angela Merkel to deny the slaughter of Jews under the Nazis, and threaten to expel those living there today?

However, the overwhelming danger to Britain, if Cameron-Brown gets his way, is that the EU will expand its population by some 75,000,000 Turks. Sooner or later they will obtain free access to this country, whose bursting schools, hospitals, and gaols, destruction of the countryside, etc., attest to the criminal folly of unrestricted immigration. Of course only a minority of Turks would seek to settle here, but a small proportion of 75,000,000 could prove a very large number indeed.

It must be remembered, too, that it is far beyond the capacity of the Turkish government to prevent their porous frontiers from facilitating the passage into Europe of a vast influx of people from other Asiatic and Islamic countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and so forth. Already the proportion of Muslims in the UK population has risen from 2.7% in 2001 to 4% in 2008. Can we really cope with another huge surge in the number of Muslims in this country without it having a major impact upon our culture, values and laws?

George Osborne announced: "We are passionate advocates of enlargement, we should continue with that agenda. One of the great successes of the EU was to bring countries into an alliance; it was a fantastic achievement”. For the singular puerility of this declaration, I refer readers to Chesterton’s sardonic comment cited in “The Joys of Union” in this blog.