As Diccon Bewes puts it, neatly, in The Telegraph:
Take a look at a map of the European Union and you’ll see a Switzerland-shaped hole at its heart.
The Swiss have just had a referendum, well, they're always having referenda, they have this peculiar notion of actually asking the people what they want on certain issues. What is clear now is that by a miniscule majority, 50.3% of those who voted, the Swiss have decided they no longer want to abide by EU rules on freedom of immigration for all EU nationals. Mr. Bewes sums it up thus:
The only one of Switzerland’s many political parties in favour was the Right-wing Swiss People’s Party, which launched the initiative as part of its populist anti-immigration platform. Its previous triumphs included deporting foreign criminals and banning the building of new minarets.
The People’s Party argued that the annual 1 per cent increase in Switzerland’s population is unsustainable. This wave of immigrants, largely from the EU, is putting too much pressure on housing, transport, hospitals and the welfare system. Opponents countered that Switzerland’s healthy economy – a budget surplus and 4 per cent unemployment – depends on foreign workers and Swiss access to the European single market. It’s a debate that is echoed in many EU countries, especially Britain.
So, 'The People' have spoken but now the trouble starts. The Commissars in Brussels will be flexing their rubber truncheons - look, I've told you before, I do the jokes round here! - and it will not be too difficult to find a delicate and potentially very painful Swiss spot to wallop! The EU takes 63% of Swiss foreign trade, to say nothing of the fact that of Swiss imports, 79% come from the EU. The Swiss government is now faced with trying to square a particularly rigid circle. Needless to say, the Commissars are all too well aware of potential moves in this direction by Britain and they will be eager to demonstrate just how tough they can be - even if it is against a bunch of cuckoo-clock makers. Actually, of course, the Swiss are rather more than just that and perhaps they will consider using their 'nuclear' option. Their banks know where all the dirty money of Europe is buried and, more important, exactly who buried it!
