Carlos Glover, of Rattery, South Brent, writes:
I took my young son to the beach and we went for a paddle. The sun was bright, the sky blue, the water not too cold.
We delighted in jumping the wavelets that rolled towards us. Then I noticed what was in the water with us – raw sewage.
This was around 1990. Britain was known as ‘the dirty man of Europe’, not only for its ‘brown tides’, but for its air pollution and consistent opposition to efforts to protect the environment. I became a campaigner for Friends of the Earth and found our representatives at Westminster were largely unaware of the environmental crisis. It was the EU that made us clean up.
So, as someone who cares about nature, it is pretty obvious I’m going to vote to stay.
The leaders of the out campaign want to ditch EU regulations. They are looking forward to dancing round a bonfire of ‘red tape’. That may sound like fun, but not if you want EU support for clean beaches, unpolluted rivers, healthy air, renewable energy, wildlife conservation, biodiversity, pesticide and chemical control, acid-free rain, clean vehicles, recycling and so on.
It would be dodgy to leave even if our government took environmental issues seriously, but it doesn’t.
And the people likely to take over in the event of leaving don’t either. Environmental issues don’t respect borders, so we need international cooperation on them.
Yes, the EU badly needs reform. The Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy have been disastrous. The coming Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade deal is dangerous. But we can reform these by staying in and also electing reformers to both Westminster and Brussels.
Reform would mean more transparency. Corporate lobbying would be out in the open. More meetings – at Westminster and Brussels – would be streamed live.
Reform would mean the UK and EU would recommit to social justice, human rights and promoting peace. Reform would mean regenerating the economy by putting ecology first and protecting land and sea, plants and animals.
If we vote to leave, but join the European Economic Area, it is possible that some EU environmental legislation would still apply. But not all of it, and not, apparently, the bathing water directive.
So, apart from anything else, I am for remaining because I will know that when I take my grandchildren swimming, the water will be clean.