The World Cup showed we can co-exist in the European Union - Yorkshire Post Letters

From: James Bovington, Church Grove Horsforth, Leeds.

Every time an international football competition comes around, I enjoy it. I was thrilled to watch Spain win and delighted that three European teams competed in the semi-finals.

The histories of England, France and Spain are different but there are common themes. All three have been colonial powers. All three face similar problems. Items on the French news I watch daily can be identical to those on our own news channels except that the issues are in Lille rather than Leeds.

All three work together in NATO while following different policies in other areas. Hence the UK and France have remained supporters of Israel in its ongoing conflict whereas Spain has withdrawn its ambassador from Tel Aviv.

I’d encourage those who question whether the UK would lose freedoms if it rejoined the EU to ask themselves if France and Spain have lost the ability to govern themselves through sharing sovereignty in European institutions? Or have they lost identity?

No one at the World Cup was lamenting the absence of a pan-EU team which would be a 21st century reincarnation of the former Soviet Union national football team now represented by 15 national teams. Supporters were instead supporting their national teams. Most other European countries do this comfortably within the context of EU membership.

What defines national identity isn’t the notes and coins we use or clinging to an outdated system of weights and measures or the necessity to be bothered by avoidable controls at national borders. It’s the languages we speak, the games we play, the food we eat, the literature and poetry we read, the films we produce and the traditions we enjoy, and the opportunities we provide for younger people to move freely across this continent developing the linguistic, social, cultural and sporting links which can bring economic benefits too.

I hope that the new administration in London will shortly conclude negotiations leading to a youth mobility scheme to allow my grandson enthusiastic about German at GCSE to enjoy the same freedom of movement that his Australian cousin retains courtesy of the Irish passport she has via her mother. That seems only fair.