The 51st state

About twenty five years ago, I used to listen to a band called New Model Army. They had a song titled "51st State", wherein they explained to the masses how deeply in thrall to the US Britain was. While reading the paper today, I was reminded of that song, and it set me to musing about a possible future where Britain left the EU and joined the US instead.

What would be so terrible? The US economy is twice as big as the next two largest economies combined (Japan and China). Who wouldn't want to merge with that? Trade between US states is completely free from tariffs and legislative restraints. The British economy would have completely unfettered access to the US market, and the US economy would have 60 million extra consumers- consumers who are amongst the freest-spending and credit-happy in world. The British economy is the sixth largest in the world, so it would provide a huge extra component of productivity to the US one. British taxes, which are extremely high in comparison to the US would fall massively. The NHS would cease to exist, and set free from the manifold inefficiencies and constraints of socialism, British hospitals could once more become world-beating centres of excellence. The British army would very easily combine with US forces (they do it all the time right now) and especially the infantry would bring tremendous experience and effectiveness. The Royal Navy is a highly effective, if small force, and given that the US navy's ethos and traditions spring virtually wholesale from the former, would be a very good fit.

In many many respects, Britain and America are more similar than most other nations on the planet. I would love to have the benefits of being a US citizen- something I have never felt about being an EU citizen. Old Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Holland and Belgium are all to a greater or lesser extent still polluted with socialist, statist and corporatist thinking. Ireland and Britain have both broken free of much of the socialist crap, and therefore would fit much better into a United States of America than a United States of Europe. I'd vote for it!