Vive l'Europe!

I voted against the UK joining the European Community in the referendum of - when was it? - 1973? 1974?

I had absolutely nothing against the rest of Europe. Au contraire, I'd lived in the EC happily for a year. I certainly didn't feel the shadow of the EC loomed over people's lives and could easily imagine myself going back to live there again. I remember crossing the border from France to Spain in 1969 and my French friends being annoyed at the passport formalities, which didn't really exist any more in the EC. I also remember trailing from one office to another in France in search of the right stamp for my residence permit, my work permit and my fiche d'état civil - no, I didn't know what that was either, just that I had to have one. I was an English assistant in a French school and all I knew was that the German assistant didn't have all that palaver. I learned the meaning of the expression: Il faut que je me patiente that year, believe me.

The problem was back then that I just didn't think the UK/GB/Britain would be happy members of the European club. The Brits are not good partners. We're too used to being top dog. Commonwealth: top dog. United Nations: one of a small group of top dogs, admittedly mainly due to a historical accident dating from 1939-45. World War 1: war between two emperors to see who would be - yep - top dog. These days, the UK is hardly a world power but we remain the best pal of the USA because the USA is - you've got it - top dog. Or will be until the Chinese call in their debts.

So I'm not really surprised so many Tory MPs want to leave the EU now. What I am surprised at is how badly the Tory leadership is handling the matter. And I am delighted that Labour and the LibDems are mainly keeping shtoom and just adding the odd word of common sense - a bit like lobbing a squib into a bonfire - to the debate. Not that I feel particularly sanguine about leaving the EU. Every so often, the words 'What the f....... is up with these people?' escape my mouth. They want to give up our membership of a huge captive market, which shows every sign of expanding? In favour of what, may we ask? The chance the City and its financial morons will see us right? Yeah, like they did in 2007.

And yes, since I'm voting for Scottish independence in 2014, I want membership of the EU to be part of our new nation's negotiations with the rest of the world.

In a way, as a European, I've grown into Europe. What a pity the Tories haven't. Or to put it another way: the Tory Party - forgot nothing and learned nothing for 40 years.