IT’S a curious thing. Our friends want us to remain in the EU. Our foes want us to leave as they know it will sow division in Europe.
Ex-foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind says leaving “would delight our enemies and be nothing short of monumental folly”.
The US, our closest ally outside Europe, wants us to remain. The geo-political dimension is compelling. The US knows that disunity risks the fragmentation of the Western response to shared threats. Brexit campaigners argue that our security is guaranteed by Nato, not the EU. The US disagrees.
Our collective safety is better protected by layers of security that overlap and bind us closer together. The EU is not a military organisation but it packs a political and economic punch. Our foes know that discord will have a disruptive impact on Nato and our collective resolve. Barack Obama knows this, Vladimir Putin knows this. Is it possible that Brexit supporters such as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak do not know? Halt, who goes there, friend or foe?
Martin Crowson, Leyburn
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