Gurdiana teeters on the balance

Following up on the Staggers piece (below), the Guardian has added its twopenn'eth ( never sure where the apostrophe goes). It has allowed the Blessed Larry Elliott to write a piece on the difficulties in the way of reforming the EU, should we accept the proposals of now desperate Remainers to stay and negotiate reform ( funny--the EU was perfect before). Elliott addresses some myths of the EU:

There is the EU as it exists in the minds of its most avid supporters: fast-growing, a defender of progressive values, fighting the good fight against Thatcherism, and marching steadfastly towards greater integration.
Then there is the EU as it really is: struggling economically; wedded to an aggressive form of neoliberal economics; insistent that there is no alternative to a top-down, ever-closer union; and spawning anti-elite parties across the continent.

The EU does need reform:

The EU is saddled with a single currency that doesn’t work but unable to admit it. It has forced its weaker members to suffer the consequences of the euro’s design weaknesses with austerity policies; it has told those who complain about low growth and high unemployment to sort out their own problems through structural reforms (wage cuts and privatisation); and it has failed to comprehend the anger felt at mass immigration, which has increased the pool of readily available cheap labour.

 Some lefties predicted this ( including Corbyn supporters), but their argument now is to stay and reform. However:

[that] 'the best way to help those who voted for Brexit is a reformed UK in a reformed EU glides over the fact that they rarely come up with any ideas for what these reforms might look like or how they might come about. That, of course, is because they have no plan other than to return Britain to its blissful prelapsarian state before the referendum.'One exception is G.Brown's plea to address the causes of Brexit (how does he know?): 'low wages, the sense of being cast adrift, the pressures from migration, the loss of sovereignty and concerns about the NHS'.

Elliott then reviews some options for reform,including those popular in France and Italy, but 'all would meet with strong opposition from Angela Merkel.'. In what must be a piss-take, Elliott recommends instead that 'By far the best option would be for Germany to take the initiative and announce that it was leaving the single currency, taking a small group of northern European countries with it.'. He admits that 'As things stand, this is just as big a fantasy' as the other options.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that this piece was placed in my print edition opposite a pro-EU picee by J Freeland rebuking Labour for not lining up behind the proposal to join the European Economic Area after Brexit ( ie stay in the Customs Union) recently carried as an amendment in the Lords. The usual Freeland stuff ensued: 

single market membership is crucial to Britain’s economic health, and is surely the only way to deliver the “jobs-first Brexit” that Jeremy Corbyn has promised. Also, given that the referendum two years ago was so close, the EEA position would seem a fair reflection of the will of the people.

It's all down to those closet racists that voted Brexit:

[Labour MPs] worry that EEA membership would entail free movement of people, and several worry that their constituents, in leave-voting seats such as Darlington or Don Valley, won’t stomach that. Indeed a briefing note to MPs explaining the decision explicitly mentions freedom of movement as a problem with the EEA...It would be interesting to hear Corbyn explain to some of his younger supporters – who are both pro-remain and relatively relaxed about migration – that he passed up the chance to soften Brexit because Labour wants to keep out immigrants.

Citing G Brown's proposals, Freeland says  reforming immigration cold be addressed:

by a series of measures – from ensuring local people have a chance to apply for every job to registering migrants on arrival in the UK – that are all permitted under EU rules. Indeed, they include steps already implemented by that most European of EU members, Belgium.

My point here is to offer faint praise to El Garundino by running both pieces side by side, in a literal demonstration of presenting both sides of an argument. Other Remain pieces remain unanswered, but this is a good start at last. Have they got a new member of staff with GCSE Journalism?