Poultry

At the battle of Hastings in 1066 Harold Godwinson's troops had a commanding position over the battlefield. From the top of the hill that they occupied, they could repel the attacking Norman army to great effect. Indeed it looked for a time like in the space of two weeks Harold Godwinson would have repelled two invasions at the opposite ends of his country with a 500 mile march in between. 

Then the Normans retreated; this was not a rout, but a ruse, a tactical move by William of Normandy to draw the Saxons off the hill. Harold's tired troops, believing the battle to be won, ignored the orders of their commanders and pursued the retreating Normans; their ranks were broken and they were slaughtered by a counterattack. This is one of the only times in history that retreat has been a good idea, and even then it was a sneaky French good idea. The victors of that battle went on to form the rump of the elite that still govern our country today, many of whom have decided that once again retreat is a good idea. Of course for them it is: they have seen their power eroded and dissipated across the continent of Europe by a partially elected political body over which they can have limited influence. Obviously, they don't like that very much, so they have designed a process to take back control: convince the people of Great Britain that they would be better off giving power back to the English elite. Of course it's an easy message to sell: finding and highlighting inefficiencies in an imperfect political institution, or simply making up stories about the current situation and how that could change if only we would walk away. When you own much of the popular press, it is easier to spread an unquestioned version of your made up stories. I have spoken before about how much we are willing to accept made-up realities when they are repeated to us by the media and our superiors over and over again. Just to be clear, these people do consider themselves our superiors and they do think they can fool us into doing their bidding because, despite what they are trying to tell you, they have utter contempt for the people and for democracy. So next time someone tries to justify their proposed retreat from Europe by talking about "taking back control", think about who is going to get that control and why they are so keen to get it. Please don't be deluded enough to think it will be you. 

In the 'debate' around the referendum both sides have evoked the Second World War, and I can't help thinking of that war's most famous retreat - the evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk - when I think of our current situation. That event marked the symbolic low point in the war for Britain, but it defined us as a people, we got the Dunkirk spirit and muddled through, we regrouped with our allies and went back to the continent. In Europe's darkest hour we planned a way to free it from the spectre of extreme nationalism. We increasingly find ourselves in a comparable situation: this is not a war, but make no mistake, it is a battle for the soul of Europe. We have retreated as far as we should and it's got us nowhere. It's time to regroup and return to the beaches. We have to fight for the Europe that we want and we can't do that if we walk away.