Who will speak for England? asks the Daily Mail.
The front page plays the melodrama card very effectively. Replete with reference to the stand against the Nazi evil in WW2, followed by a steadfast denial that of course the EU is nothing like the Nazis, the populist rag clearly aspires to be the latter day Thunderer.
Today's Mail front page.
I don't want to suggest the subject of Britain's EU membership and the referendum to determine that is not important and should not be high on the nations agenda. But let's have rational sensible discussion rather than melodrama.
Look at other headlines in the printed edition
- "Cameron to double aid spending on refugees fleeing Syria." p2
- "Labour too unpatriotic to be elected." p2
- "What a farce. PM's EU deal unraveling as it emerges migrants from some countries will get higher child benefits than UK families. " p5
- A Migrant City the size of Bath." p12-13
- "Gang of thugs in train can't be deported." , p13
- "The street of shopkeepers from 28 d!fferent nations." p18
Immigration, refugees, the war in Syria and Iraq, extremist Islam, and the benefits debate during a season of austerity, they all collide with the EU debate and create an explosive mix.
I am deeply concerned who speaks for England. Will it be people infused with the values that lie at the heart of our nation's culture, values that came from our Christian heritage BUT which also are to be found at the heart of Islam and other faiths. Values like generosity, graciousness, mercy, love, patience, kindness, justice for all. If it is not the future of our nation will not be redefined by "hoards of immigrants taking over" but by our own people who chose to make mean spirited self interest and bigotry central to our nation.