Yugoslavia was a country formed after WWI under the name “Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes”. Later, it became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Parts of it had previously been territories within the Austro- Hungarian empire and the independent Kingdom of Serbia. All of this was done by those with the power to make it happen, without any regard to the wishes of the people of that area. It proved to be an unhappy merger and it eventually broke up into its constituent parts after the fall of the USSR.

Ireland was claimed by Henry VIII as his. He declared himself the King of Great Britain and Ireland and, most importantly, he had the power to make the claim stick! Permission of the people of Ireland was, at that time, not required for such a claim to be recognised in other parts of the world. It took a long time for the will of the people to be taken into account but, when Ireland finally succeeded in becoming an independent country, it was done in a way that resulted in continued strife.

Historically, countries (monarchs) have made deals (pacts) with other countries (monarchs) for mutual protection or trade advantages. This has carried on into more democratic times where we have international protection (e.g. NATO), international courts as well as worldwide organisations such as the UN and the WHO. In Europe, the European Economic Community (EEC) was formed to bring about the economic integration of its six member countries enabling the free movement of goods, services, capital and people between member countries. It also had the objective of making war between European nations less likely. The EEC added more countries to the group and through various treaties, added a political element often referred to as “sharing sovereignty”. This was when the difficulties began to surface. Democracy is not now an ideal - it is regarded as a fundamental right of citizens that • they retain some form of control over those who rule them • any changes to the laws by which they are governed have their consent • their national identity is not lost • any changes to their culture are slow enough to be digestible. A large proportion of Scots, feeling that these are not being met by the UK, called for a referendum on the subject. Many UK citizens felt the same about the EU, so another referendum was held. Unfortunately, politicians failed to understand what the population is asking for, and why they are demanding it. Their half-hearted attempts to develop answers to the issues highlighted in the referenda, only seem to make matters worse. Australia and The United States of America are good examples of how a union can be made successful. The US continues to grow with Alaska and Hawaii both achieving statehood in 1959 and now Puerto Rico (a Caribbean island) is hoping to join. Of course, Australia and the USA are special cases in that their indigenous populations were overwhelmed by immigrants. The modern culture and political structures of those countries were developed by the immigrants regardless of the wishes of the original inhabitants. The pages on the UK/EU button show what I think is wrong with the UK that make many want to leave it (and what we might do about it). On the question of the UK leaving the EU, I can only offer my explanation of why the UK voted to leave. Judging by the Remain/Leave campaigns’ arguments before the referendum, and the political machinations afterwards, I don’t believe the politicians on either side really understand what the voters want. Or is it just that they hope they can persuade the electorate that they have achieved what was asked for so that they can keep their jobs and remain in power? Cynical? Yes, but that just makes me a typical voter - something that politicians still haven’t grasped! My admiration goes to the patience of the indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA who are slowly winning a greater influence on the way their homelands are governed, without resorting to campaigns of violence.