A voice in the wilderness

I spent an hour wracked by indecision as I squirmed through Nicky Campbell's Five Live phone-in this morning. I guessed the subject would be Europe and sure enough it was. And as usual the airwaves were dominated by ridiculous people ranting on and on about "Europe" and how those foreigners are ripping us off and how much better it would be if we could break away and stand alone "as we did for thousands of years" (one caller said that, honestly).
Whenever there is a European phone-in I agonise over whether I should join in. Yesterday was even worse. By 9.15 Nicky Campbell was saying that while they always tried to achieve a balance between the sides in any debate, no supporters of the EU wanted to speak.
This was marginally improved when brave John from Swansea called to be duly howled down, showing why pro-Europeans are loathe to put their heads above the parapet. It was, as Nicky Campell said, like being held up against a wall and having spittle hurled in your face, but that is the level of debate the anti-Europeans operate at.
The balance improved when Geoff Meades, the Press Association's Brussels correspondent, came on to be followed by an articulate, intelligent young former researcher to an MEP who explained the case calmly and rationally.
There will be more, much more, about Europe on this blog. When David Cameron and William Hague have actually begun to see sense, it is time the British people were given the real facts.