Writing in the Guardian today, Vince Cable begins an opinion piece by arguing that Britain should stay in Europe because "for centuries" it has "developed economically through being an open, outward-looking country."
What a strange view of history. Outward looking, Britain may have been, but only in the context of identifying which areas of the planet to plunder.
But it was the next paragraph of Cable's article which really rang the alarm bells:
While I am more worried than Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, about the risks of becoming over-reliant on financial services for growth, I do acknowledge that 60% of City-based firms are in London because of the single market, and that is important to defend because of Britain's ability to influence its rules.
Britain's "ability to influence the rules"?!
If anyone needs any more evidence that the City of London is at the very least notionally a sovereign state, they need look no further.
Any business operating in the UK is required to operate under the law - whatever that law may be. Government regulates every other industry sector, but in the case of the City, it "influences" the City's rules?
Vince Cable demonstrates in a single sentence where British sovereignty and his loyalty lie.
