By: Freddie Saunders, Student Voices writer
Credit: Vote Leave/ Facebook |
The EU Referendum is upon us, with there being less than two
weeks remaining before the electorate will attend their local ballots boxes and
state whether or not the EU should 'Remain' or 'Leave' the European Union.
This article is my final pledge to ALL - if you are voting 'Leave' to continue to do so and reinforce those beliefs, and if you are voting
'Remain' to try and persuade you, or at least provide insight to the reasons for
why the Brexit and Vote Leave campaign has been underestimated, and the
released result on June 24th is going to be a close call.
The arguments for me, especially as a young centre-right
political enthusiast focus around the economic argument, and the fundamentals
of democracy and sovereignty. However, the final argument, I have listed, are a
few points which relate to how our global influence will not fade if we decide
to leave the EU.
The Economic Argument for Brexit
Throughout the entire of the campaigns on both sides, the
debating for the economy and what it will look like if we decide to leave on
June 23rd has been at the forefront for many weeks, across a range of debates,
especially regarding the single market. However, what I am about to state are
concrete facts, and are the reasons for why you should vote Leave and Brexit
come June 23rd.
The Eurozone bloc is as stagnant as Antarctica, which has
minimal population and economic activity in comparison to a continent which
hosts over 500 million people and 28 countries. How on earth is that possible?
I'll tell you, bureaucracy and bad management by the EU.
Only 5% of British businesses export to the EU, but 100% of British businesses must deal with the economic red tape and bureaucracy put in place by the EU
Great Britain is the fifth largest economy in the world and
one of the fastest growing in the world, as the Great British Pound is strong
and has recovered significantly since the economic downturn earlier in this
decade.
Many 'Remain' voters will say the reason for why Great Britain
is doing so well on a global level is because of the EU, and its single market
and what it offers, but this is simply not true. Only 5% of British businesses
export to the EU, but 100% of British businesses must deal with the economic
red tape and bureaucracy put in place by the EU, something which acts as an
inconvenience and a barrier to small and medium enterprises because they do not
have the resources to tackle that red tape like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and
many others do.
Two of the fundamental principles of the Western world is
liberty and freedom, but with these regulations which blocks so many small and
medium enterprises from growing and prospering, how are we supporting and
up-keeping these Western world principles? We are simply not, we are being
hypocrites and are killing the dreams of many everyday people, who want to
setup their own organisation and grow it to be something that will have an
impact on their local communities, cities, nations and be strong on the global
stage.
Another argument which 'Remain' are throwing out at every
corner, is that they have a consortium of economic experts who are qualified to
"advise" the leaders of the Western world and conduct economic
forecasts, who all state that Brexit and Vote Leave would do great damage.
Their consortium includes the IMF (International Monetary Fund); the IFS
(Institute for Fiscal Studies) as well as many others.
But answer me this,
when have they ever been right?
Back in 2004, they said the United Kingdom should join the
Euro because it will lead to greater economic integration and stability across
the continent, if we did not, the growth of the UK would stagnate, jobs would
be lost and the prosperity of everyday people would fall. How very wrong they
were in 2004, the Euro as previously mentioned is now one of the slowest and
stagnating currencies in the world, which has created an unimaginable level of
youth unemployment throughout the continent, with figures being almost as high
as 50%in some EU member states.
Back in 2007 / 2008 when the banking crash begun they did
not forecast that occurring or the economic and financial downturn to follow
afterwards. Again, surely something that these great institutions would
forecast, to inform the leaders of the Western world, no?
The IMF also stated a few years ago that the austerity
measures Britain put in place to recover the economy will not work, and another
small recession will occur as a result of the measures they are taking. Guess
what? They were wrong again. Britain is the 5th strongest economy in the world,
and one of the fastest growing in the world through using these measures,
despite the warnings by the IMF to stop these measures!
Organisations, especially multi-nationals are not going to
leave the UK if we vote to Leave. We have already seen organisations such as
Airbus, General Electric and Unilever say that no matter what they will be
remaining in the United Kingdom. Do you want to know why? The reason why is
because these multi-nationals only find it a small inconvenience if the UK
decide to leave not a detrimental move, it just means that organisations would
need to spend a year or two re-juggling certain businesses and their plans, but
overall would have no effect on the investment and growth they provide to our
nation. The same argument was used in 2004, Britain must join the Euro
otherwise organisations will move onto our neighbours, the Republic of Ireland,
France or Germany. It didn't happen then, and it is not going to happen now!
We are going to have the United Kingdom and Great Britain deal! A deal which is created on the basis we are the fifth largest economy and one of the fastest growing in the world, and the strongest in Europe.
You have massive car manufacturers, such as Mercedes,
Volkswagen and BMW who sell extremely high numbers to the United Kingdom, you
only need to take a walk down your local street and see the vast amount of
German engineering you see around. Do you honestly think that the companies are
going to say to Angela Merkel, it is fine, we will take the hit, and cut off
our nose to spite our face because the UK have democratically exercised their
right to leave the EU? Of course not, stakeholders in them organisations will
go mad, the CEOs will not accept losing millions and millions of pounds each
year because the EU bureaucracy wants to make life hard for the UK economy.
They will force trade to commence again on the same terms on which they are now
economically.
Everyone continues to say what deal are we going to have?
How is our economy going to be structured? What is next? Are we going to be
like Switzerland? Are we going to be like Iceland? The true answer to that
question, is we are going to be like neither. We are going to have the United
Kingdom and Great Britain deal! A deal which is created on the basis we are the
fifth largest economy and one of the fastest growing in the world, and the
strongest in Europe.
If we vote to leave we will have the ability to strike trade
deals with whoever we like including the up and coming commonwealth nations,
and fast growing Asian economies, such as India and China. It takes the EU an
exorbitant amount of time to strike deals because all 28 members have to agree
on every tiny detail unanimously. The way I like to think about it, imagine if
you are at car dealers with 28 other individuals, some friends and some
acquaintances, the acquaintances being much harder to hustle with, and you all
have to decide on a new car, but you can only choose a car which is agreed by
all 28 individuals, how on earth are you ever going to come to a decision? The
fact is the chances are you will not, and if you do it will take close to a
decade, like it does with most trade deals being struck by the EU. However, if
it was the United Kingdom, remember the fifth largest and one of the fastest
growing economies in the world striking a deal with another nation, with only
them two nations best interests at heart, not 28 and the nation, the EU is
attempting to trade with, we could within a pessimistic point of view strike a
trade deal within 3 - 4 years, if you are more optimistic less than 2 years.
Either way, the point still stands that we can do it more efficiently and
effectively than the EU currently does for us, and this brings greater economic
benefits to our nation. Countries such as Switzerland and Iceland have struck
more trade deals than the EU, and they are small nations, imagine what the
United Kingdom can do with our own economic freedom to make our own deals?
Now to finish on the economic argument for why we should
vote leave and Brexit is because there is clear evidence in UK industries
of the damage the EU has caused or at least contributed to. Let’s first look at
the fishing industries throughout the UK, the majority of them have closed or
are still operating but with very low financial growth, the reason being
because the EU dictated to the United Kingdom a fishing policy which sets
regulations on how the United Kingdom may fish in her own waters! The fishing
industry was once a prosperous industry which has in fact collapsed due to EU
economic bureaucracy and regulation. A more recent example being the Steel
industry, as we know the Chinese are dumping cheap steel which has led to a
massive downfall in steel prices across the world and has caused the UK steel
industry to collapse, however EU economic regulation and procedures prevent the
UK from being able to intervene and save the industry, and have enforced that
the UK must let the nature of the free market decide the fate of people's
communities, job security and livelihoods. The US and Canada put high tariffs
on Chinese steel to protect their own nations' steel industries, but the United
Kingdom are not allowed to do that because it defies the EU.
The Democratic & Sovereignty Argument for Brexit
As a young person, who loves his country which has moulded
him into the person I am today, and will continue to do so, this is the
argument I am most passionate about for voting leave!
Back in the 1600s, England faced a civil war, a war between
Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers")
over how laws should be created in our country. After nine years of bloodshed
and many lives lost by both sides, it was decided that laws would be created by
democratically elected individuals in Parliament, and not the King or the royal
family. The period when the constitutional monarchy formed, and it was decided
that the people would be the lawmakers through their representatives. However
the EU undermines and threatens the foundations of our democracy - the
law-making by the people, and being able to hold lawmakers to account,
something which people fought and died for!
Any EU legislation and law which is introduced by the EU
commission takes precedence over all other EU members' states law. This means
that if our judge was to rule a particular judgement on a case, but an EU court
disagreed and declared that as "unlawful" in their eyes, then the
domestic judge's judgement would be overruled.
To add to this frustration, individuals within the EU who
have a large amount of law-making and legislative power are unelected
bureaucrats who have often been rejected by their national electorate. For
example, Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot and the current President of the EU
commision Jean-Claude Juncker were all rejected by their national electorate,
but do or have held roles in the EU which creates law which takes precedence
over national law. The EU has too much legislative power and impact for the
democratic eligibility and legitimacy they have, which is close to zero!
62% of the United Kingdom's statutory laws are created in
Brussels, when you take into account the impact the EU regulation directly has
on UK law. This is the principle that people in the English Civil War died for
in order to prevent, but since the 1970s when the UK agreed only to a European
Economic Market, we have seen our democratic fundamentals be encroached
continuously, and they will continue to be. Whenever, the UK has challenged an
introduction of a statutory law or regulation, the UK has always been out voted
against and lost that challenge, that pretty much defines just how much impact
we have in this undemocratic, old and stale organisation.
If we take a look at direct democracy, where member states
of the EU have conducted a referendum in relation to a certain EU initiative,
regulation, treaty or law, if the referendum did not favour the EU it was often
ignored or forced to be conducted again. For example:
Denmark, 1992, Maastricht Treaty, No Vote (51.7%) - made to
vote again!
Republic of Ireland, 2001, Nice Treaty, No Vote (53.9%) -
made to vote again!
France, 2005, EU Constitution, No Vote (54.9%) - result
ignored!
Netherlands, 2005, EU Constitution, No Vote (61.5%) - result
ignored!
Republic of Ireland, 2008, Lisbon Treaty, No Vote (53.2%) -
made to vote again!
The United Kingdom is supposed to be a pillar of democracy,
liberty, freedom and meritocracy, but we are part of an organisation which
denies and defies the very principles which our ancestors died for.
The Global Influence argument for Brexit
There are a few key points I would like to make in relation
to if we vote leave, we will still maintain our global influence:
- We are the fourth largest military power in the world.
- We are one of five permanent members of the United Nations Council.
- We are a leading member and nation of NATO.
- Our security and intelligence services are the most renowned.
Conclusion
I believe that everyone come June 23rd should Vote Leave and
instruct our government to initiate a Brexit. A vote for Vote Leave or Brexit
is NOT a vote in support of Xenophobia,
Racism, Anti-Collaboration or Anti-Immigration but a vote for Great Britain, a
vote for our great nation and country to return to the beacon of democracy, freedom
and liberty which our ancestors died to create. To stand on our two feet, not
as an isolated nation, but a nation which can ensure that its people are the
only lawmakers, not unelected bureaucrats, and a nation which will continue to
be global player in security, global warming and helping to solve some of the
world's most difficult challenges without being dictated by an old, outdated
and stagnant organisation.
My Final Pledge for Brexit
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