Cameron protects a dysfunctional model

David Cameron’s European hissy fit in the face of euro-saving reform is an interesting action to study when you delve a little below the surface. On the face of it, he has merely bowed to the rabidly Euro-skeptic element that has so long been a defining element of the British Conservative Party.

In fact, he cannot, being as he is the first Tory leader in over a decade to hold power in Britain, be such a shortsighted mule. There is something more than meets the eye in the prime minister’s newly acquired backbone, which warrants a little scrutiny. Moreover, it bears the kind of scrutiny that has to an extent been lost in the cacophony of headlines that followed the British prime minister’s ostentatious rejection of Europe last week.
To his backbenchers, the PM is standing up to the Europeans and teaching them a lesson about pugnacious Britain, with all the attendant proto-nationalist symbolism they attach to that sort of thing. I say proto-nationalist because Britain is an island comprised of three nations, which increasingly describe themselves in more isolationist terms. David Cameron is really the leader of a strange gang of cousins who are not entirely comfortable in each other’s company but are sticking together because breaking the family apart would cause so many problems, it would amount to more trouble than it’s worth. As an aside, nobody has explained this to the Scottish element. Either that or they are being deliberately antagonistic.
So if there is no great nationalist ideal to be defended, why is David Cameron snubbing Europe and isolating his subordinates to such a massive extent? He says it is to protect The City of London. Before examining exactly what this esoteric phrase refers to, it is important to note that Britain’s isolation and potential collapse, as well as their potential prosperity and flourishing, have an enormous bearing on Ireland given their role as our biggest trading partner.
This explains Ireland’s faltering attempts to stand behind Britain in its decision to unilaterally stick two fingers up to the concept of European unity. RTÉ quoted Enda Kenny as saying that, “Ireland is very interested in seeing that the prime minister retains a deep interest in expanding the single market.”
This is a case of understatement approaching the unbelievable. Ireland has absolutely no choice but to stand in unison with Britain in as much as it can, while still remaining as close as possible to the centre of Europe. Whatever your feelings on various EU treaties that have gone before and the bailout with all its crushing, humiliating consequences, it is clear that Ireland’s hope of escaping total ruin lies in its alignment with the continental union and the safety-in-numbers approach to post-apocalyptic self preservation.   
In deriding the concept of Europe as a close union adopting stringent measures to ensure the survival of all members, Britain and David Cameron is aiming to protect the old methodology of deregulation and culture of financial abandon that led to this crisis in the first place. As Reuters reports, “The UK is host to more branches of foreign banks than any other country worldwide, a third of those from the Euro area. Around half of European investment banking activity is conducted in the UK, according to the CityUK lobby group.”
In short, it is a haven for foreign banks who would not be installing themselves there unless the benefits to themselves were generous in the extreme. The lack of regulation, read the lack of forcing banks and financial entities to behave in a decent or vaguely ethical fashion, are virtually non-existent in the city. This scenario is hugely financially profitable for banks and detrimental to those they prey upon.
This is not emotive language. These banks prey upon societies. They exist to generate profit at whatever the cost. In standing in Europe to protect them, Cameron is standing to protect a proven model of dysfunction. Despite this dysfunction, the City of London stands proud and proclaims its uniqueness on its own website.
What Cameron is seeking to protect is, in its own words, an institution that is “committed to an extensive programme of activities designed to assist its neighbours to combat social deprivation so that they can benefit from the wealth the ‘Square Mile’ generates. Staff and members of the City of London have, through centuries of careful stewardship, ensured that the Square Mile has continued to thrive”. The “centuries of careful stewardship” have also yielded this anomaly, a level of influence far beyond its rightful place. This is the playground of the wealthy and a generator of consequences that reach far beyond the ‘square mile’ so idealised in its, and unfortunately our, mythology. The profit of the few is gained at the expense of the many.
This is what David Cameron is aiming to protect with his European crotch grab. He wants to continue to give safe harbour to a small, concentrated gang of businesses who have fled regulation in their own nations to find succour in the bossom of “The City”. Where once a Swiss bank account was a byword for fraudulent retention and storage of ill gotten gains, now that phrase has been supplanted. The money coursing through the City of London could in any cases be said not to exist at all. It is a repository for ideals. Very, very profitable ideals I grant you but ideals all the same. The attitude of the banks was well captured in a Bloomberg report from the December 13 “Bankers in London, home to Europe’s biggest stock exchange, derivatives market and asset-management business, have a message for European leaders looking for greater integration: We’re happy to go it alone. The city, which gained freedom from French invader William the Conqueror in 1067, is setting its sights on trading partners beyond Europe after UK Prime Minister David Cameron vetoed a European treaty last week.”
The public face of Ireland’s diplomacy has been suitably chaste but behind the scenes it is essential that Ireland is telling this elitist cabal in London that, despite having followed their corporation nurturing model for years, things have changed in Ireland and that we will not have our entire economy further ruined by David Cameron’s kowtowing to his former public school pals who, like him, are willing to sacrifice the lives of the many for the sake of their own profit.
As I finish writing this the latest Irish Times is reporting “Britain’s decision to veto a new EU treaty has created ‘two Europes’ and marks a major step towards integration within a smaller bloc.” This may well be true, but the consequences for Ireland of having to straddle the tiers could be very marked. A population of millions will suffer for the benefit of a very small group.