Month: June 2016

It is my opinion that the leaders of the Brexit campaign have, like Trump in America, played a very deceitful game. They have played on people’s fears and offered simplistic solutions to complex problems. In the process they have consistently lied and misled. All warnings about the consequences of their actions are met with the ‘project fear’ response and ‘scaremongering’ jibes. Yet they have consistently failed to present coherent strategies for dealing with these huge and pressing issues.

Here is why I think their ideas are flawed.

1. Make Britain Great again – well we are already punching well above our weight as a member of the G7 with the seventh biggest economy in the world. Our previous ‘greatness’ was based upon having an empire from which we extracted great wealth. We no longer have an empire and will never rise higher without one. Becoming great again is a pipe-dream. We live in the world with the USA, Russia, China, India, Germany, France, Japan, Indonesia, Canada, Australia and a bunch of others. We are doing very well. Brexit would make us less powerful and influential. Far from making us great again it would reduce our power.
2. Sovereignty (we want our country back) – The notion of sovereignty is really about Kings and Queens though it has become associated with government and who makes the laws. At present, being part of the EU, some of our laws on workers rights, human rights, the environment and trade, are made by all the partners in the EU. They unify the situation through the EU countries. We, as a country, elect MEPS and have had a leading input into creating those EU laws. The bulk of our laws come from the British government. They do not seem to have had a great deal of trouble putting stringent laws into force that have decimated out public services and rained austerity down on the heads of the poor and public servants while giving tax cuts to the rich. I haven’t noticed Osborn and Cameron hampered too much in their endeavours. The British retain their identity and are free to make laws in most areas. Personally I would prefer to have international legislation on these issues with Britain having a say in them. The real people who hold the power are the shady establishment figures who control the politicians. Democracy is a bit of a sham. Claiming ‘sovereignty’ will merely put more power in the hands of an exceedingly vicious extreme right-wing government led by Boris and Gove. No thank you. Cameron and Osborn are bad enough. I’d prefer to be ruled by just about anyone other than that. Leaving the EU will not stop the establishment pulling the strings and will saddle us with the most extreme government we could imagine – goodbye NHS and Education – hello austerity, privatisation and more profit for the rich. What a farce.
3. Bureaucracy – There is too much bureaucracy and that needs dealing with but it will only get worse if we leave. We will still need to comply with the EU if we want to trade and instead of easy access there will be tariffs and barriers involving much more paperwork. On top of that we will have to sort out a minefield of paperwork to deal with in each and every other trading agreement. It will be a nightmare. Leaving the EU will make bureaucracy worse not better.
4. Migration – There are too many people coming into the country. It is putting too much of a strain on our infrastructure (housing, schools, NHS, roads etc.). That is true. We need border control. Brexit will not solve that. We presently have border control (except the government halved the number of people involved). We have absolute control of who comes in from outside the EU yet half of our immigration was from outside the EU. We need labour from the EU to maintain our economy. The trade negotiations negotiated following Brexit will inevitably enable that movement and it is what business and politicians want because of the economy. They pay lip-service to it but nothing will change. Contrary to the propaganda we can deport criminals. We already have the power. The benefits claiming has been tightened up. Brexit will not change immigration. Britain needs to be on the inside tightening the whole thing up further – not on the outside being subject to whatever the others decide. Leaving the EU will not solve immigration.
5. Terrorism – We live in the age of terrorism. At present it is ISIS. In the past we’ve had the IRA, Baader Meinhof and Red Brigade. Who knows what will be next? ISIS is a pernicious evil that needs eradicating. It has, along with a large influx of Muslim immigrants, led to a great deal of fear beyond the level of their barbarous activities. Each new atrocity receives maximum publicity. Islamophobia and hate crime has increased. The Brexit campaign has focussed on this. They cite border control as the solution. Except it isn’t. Nearly all the attacks have come from home-grown terrorists. The answer is not simple it involves education, integration, intelligence, monitoring, surveillance and military eradication of the fundamentalist groups around the world (Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haaram, Al Qaeda and the rest). This can only be achieved from greater cooperation and unified action. The phenomenon is international and requires an international response. And yes – there does need to be greater border controls. But isolationism, walls and border controls will not solve the problem. Brexit would make matters worse. Islamophobia will lead to more radicalisation. We would be more unsafe. We need to be on the inside creating better monitoring systems, surveillance, sharing intelligence and cooperating. We need our Muslims integrated and working with us against the evil Wahabi doctrine.
6. The Economy – According to the Brexiters we will have millions to spent on compensating farmers, the NHS and everything else. They’ve spent it twenty times over. Except that firstly they lie about the sum of money paid to the EU – it is about a third of what they claim – and they take no account of the detrimental effects on the markets and trade. We will have a period of six or seven years with a level of turmoil and uncertainty that is already undermining the pound. We will be back into a recession and the effects will be even worse because we have already cut things to the bone after years of austerity. Some businesses will undoubtedly leave. Our economy will shrink and that will make our contribution to the EU look paltry. Far from funding the NHS and everything else we will be cutting and privatising just to keep going. To maintain a position as seventh largest economy will be threatened. Leaving the EU could be disastrous and almost certainly will be very painful. If you have no money you cannot maintain a world standing and provide services. You cannot defend yourself against ISIS or other aggressors.

I am for staying in; not because I love the EU but because I think it is best for the country, will keep us safer, richer and protect our rights. I want a world of greater unity, cooperation and stability. I want to deal with the war, poverty, environmental damage, overpopulation and third world misery that is fuelling the mass migration and fundamentalism. I want to have greater tolerance, freedom, equality and justice. I would like to see greater integration and an end to the crippling superstition of religion that is holding so much of the world back.

Fragmentation will not be a step forward. I want a brighter future to look forward to – not a world shaking behind walls. I want terrorism defeated not hidden away from. I want the world’s problems addressed and put right and big multinationals held to account. I want an end to war, poverty, environmental damage and overpopulation. We can only do all that internationally.

In the EU we can tighten things up and deal with the gravy train, bureaucracy and inequalities. That is the best way forward.