I know this is a bit late, but last weekend was a magnificent time for European golf. ‘Our boys’ pulled together and scored a wonderful victory over the US team. And there is the difference in just a few words. ‘Pulled together’ and ‘team’. The European team were made up of members from all over Europe, and the Americans were, supposedly, just one country. So what went wrong for them, and so right for us? The idea that putting the team before the individual, and the right sort of leader. Individuals matter, but the team comes first. And not just in golf.
My last blog was about armchair politicians. In a way this is about the same thing, and I am the one in the armchair! The European Ryder Cup anthem was the one for the European Union, Ode to Joy. I seem to remember a long time ago they played the national anthems of each country who was represented. It took forever! An umbrella anthem is so much less tedious! But this set me thinking. My views on the merits and demerits of the EU have tended to be a bit wavering. Some things are good, some not so. I worry about the UK not having control of its borders. I worry about the Human Rights Act. (How can you have a Human Rights Bill without a corresponding Human Responsibilities Bill?) I worry about some of the supposedly daft legislation coming out of Strasbourg. I am so glad we resisted entry into the Euro zone. But, but…? There has to be safety in numbers. The last two major wars we fought were against a fellow member of the EU, surely that must be progress. Economically the EU is a huge market. If we opted out would we be able to easily replace it? I know the Commonwealth has been mooted as such, but that seems to be breaking down at the moment. How long would that last? What I find so difficult is deciding where the compromises (and whatever happens there will have to be compromises) will have to come. And nobody seems able to tell me convincingly. UKIP for example concentrate on the scaremongering, headed by the tediously jolly Mr Farrage. The Lib Dems, so blindingly devoted to the idea, if not the reality of the EU, fantasise. Ed Miliband is just a joke. And our Prime Minister stumbles along promising ‘change’ without any concrete details. What I am looking for is a leader in the mould of Paul McGinley, clear goals, brilliant man management, and more than a smidgen of common sense. Is that too much to ask for?
