So What has the EU ever done for us?

Posted on by Opher

So What has the EU ever done for us?

 

Absolutely nothing.  

A bureaucratic nightmare overseen by a bunch of unelected plutocrats!

A bunch of foreigners taking away our sovereignty.

 

Well it has kept the peace in Europe for the last seventy years – the longest period in European history without a major conflict (putting aside Bosnia and the Ukraine).

 

It has provided greater cooperation in fighting crime, terrorism, cybercrime, and trafficking.

 

It has provided Britons with the right to live, work, retire and study anywhere in Europe without hindrance.

 

It has provided laws and enforcement to conserve nature, prevent pollution and protect wildlife.

 

It has produced legislation to protect workers’ rights.

 

It has produced legislation to protect our human rights.

 

It enables us to go abroad safely on holiday without visas, passports and other expensive constraints, making holidays a lot safer and cheaper.

 

It has given us a bigger voice on the world stage when dealing with trade, war, threats, terrorism …..

 

It has made us prosperous, increased trade and business and provided millions of jobs.

 

It has put money into conservation projects, regeneration of deprived areas and inner cities, and business projects that have had enormous impact on regenerating run-down areas and providing work as well, as subsidizing people in areas that otherwise would not be economically viable.

 

It has protected our consumer rights. All goods bought and sold have to comply with standards of safety and quality.

 

It is good for business and has brought huge benefits to this country. Many companies, banks and trading partners work through Britain as an entry point into Europe. We gain all that extra wealth.

 

It has produced millions of jobs and made us wealthier.

 

But we could do all that ourselves!

 

No we couldn’t.

 

We want our sovereignty back!

 

So that our corrupt bunch of politicians can have more power for themselves? What makes them better than the other politicians in Europe?

 

We want to make our own laws!

 

In truth much of the legislation in the Human Rights and Employment etc. was put together by Britain. We have a big say in what goes on in Europe. We play a major role in directing it.

 

We want to control our borders. We have too much immigration and don’t want terrorists coming here!

 

Then why didn’t we sign up to the European legislation to prevent people coming here for longer than three months if they don’t have work?

We will defeat terrorism through our intelligence work, through cooperation rather than building walls.

 

What has Europe done for us? Well you don’t miss your water until your well runs dry.

 

https://www.last.fm/music/Monty+Python/_/What+Have+The+Romans+Ever+Done+For+Us%253F

So what has the EU ever done for us?

Posted on by Opher

So what has the EU ever done from us – apart from a bureaucratic system, mass immigration and costing us money?

Well –

  • It has brought peace for the longest period of time in European history – that was why it was set up in the first place
  • It has created a forum for dialogue between European countries that cannot be underestimated
  • It has provided international legislation and enforcement of environmental issues that has stopped pollution and produced countless conservation schemes
  • It has created a multinational Human Rights that protects the rights of all people living in the EU and sets an example to the rest of the world
  • It has brought in legislation to protect the rights of workers and their health and safety
  • It has enabled free trade that has improved the British economy. It enables trade without restraint, tariffs or visas.
  • It has brought in regeneration programmes that have transformed inner city areas such as Liverpool, Newcastle and countless others
  • It subsidises areas with great poverty or who are in need – Scotland receives a lot of money as does Wales, Ireland and parts of England
  • It has financed scientific research and enabled projects (such as CERN) that no one nation could have managed – space projects, University research, international cooperation
  • It has instituted conservation projects and protected nature in large projects throughout Europe
  • It subsidises agriculture and practices that protect nature
  • It has enabled Britain to operate as a gateway into Europe. Many firms, such as the car industry, Siemens alternative energy, Banking and Finance and many manufacturing companies set up production and headquarters in London and Britain to service the continent. This has greatly contributed to our wealth.
  • It has provided a source of labour and brains that has kept our science at the top, brought in consultants and specialists, doctors, nurses, teachers, skilled individuals, builders, field workers, care home workers etc. who have provided services and kept our economy going.
  • It has financed joint ventures that would be too risky or expensive for any one nation to attempt (eg. aviation)
  • It has enabled our students to go to any EU country to study and broaden their horizons and students to study here and set up crucial links. We are attracting brains.
  • It enables me to travel to Europe with needing visas or passport control.
  • It enables cooperation between EU countries to coordinate intelligence, operations against terrorism and crime.
  • It provides a powerful bloc for negotiating deals with the resat of the world.
  • It provides a stronger, unified voice in the world that carries the weight of the combined population and economies.

I would not underestimate the huge contribution the EU has made. Of course, you can believe all the lies, exaggerations and fabricated stories put out in our incredibly biased media. The picture they paint is simply not true.

Do we get value for money? I think so. I reckon the benefit to the economy far outstrips what we put in.

Are there problems? Too true – the bureaucracy, costs and corruption, unelected bodies, negative effects of mass migration, freedom of movement of criminals and terrorists, and the difference between the members with weaker economies and those with stronger are all problems.

Could they have been addressed without Brexit? A resounding yes.

It is not beyond wit to modify the system to deal with corruption, bureaucracy and unelected people. (Not that our politics doesn’t suffer from all of these problems).

There needs to be checks put on migration.

In time the weaker countries will come up to the level of the stronger.

Imagine the United States with borders between States, visas, tariffs, and restrictions. What a nightmare. That is what we will be doing.

But we are out. That is it.

The challenge now is to ensure the government keeps the cooperation, the outward looking stance, the environmental, science and conservation work, the human and workers rights, the free trade without tariffs and the skilled workers we so desperately need – to maintain public services with a poorer economy.

If we are not a gateway to Europe and all those firms and headquarters creep away to Berlin, Paris and the rest, we will be screwed. We have to keep them here. That means a free trade agreement and that means free movement. If we close our borders our economy will dive.

That is the battle.

Do we want a soft or hard Brexit? Who is making the decision?  – An unelected right-wing government.

The pressure from Big Business is to exploit people for more profits. The pressure from little Englanders is to go all patriotic and nationalistic.

The people who will inevitably suffer will be the poor, the disabled, elderly and public servants. I guarantee that the ones at the top will still get their bonuses!