I instinctively dislike the usually self-serving comment, "Better a good divorce than a bad marriage." and yet in the context of Europe I can see the point.
It is almost exactly 50 years since Charles de Gaulle vetoed British entry into the European Community and every passing year makes him seem more prescient.
Being part-French I am easily accused of bias but I do believe the general understood the British better than most of their own post-war leaders.
He knew they could not engage in the kind of partnership he forged with Germany and that they would never want a part of a new European political entity. After he left the scene Britain managed to scrape in but both the entry and referendum were only won after the people were comprehensively lied to about what was involved.
"O what a tangled web we weave," wrote Sir Walter Scott, "when first we practice to deceive." Perhaps it would be best to admit it has been a mistake and take our leave.
Dr John Cameron,
10 Howard Place,
St Andrews,
Fife.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article