Thursday, 13 October 2016

One valid argument for Brexit



No, you’re not imagining things. I am saying there is one argument that works for me. I’ll get to this shortly. First of all, though, there are many that don’t. 

I’ve constantly asked Brexit supporters to give me an argument that stands up to scrutiny and so far have not heard one.  The arguments fall into a few broad categories.  Here goes:

 

Empty rhetoric

Along the lines of “We want a better future for our children and grandchildren.” How does that one work? We are set to lose some laws that have kept us safe. The pound continues to suffer and we are about to face price rise of 10% - the same 10% we’re losing in our overseas assets.  (Marmite up 10% today!)
What about the extra taxes we’re going to have to pay? They said yesterday that they would amount to 2/3 of the running costs of the NHS. 

And by the way, most of our children and grandchildren wanted to stay.

Sovereignty

Really? You want that? 

Well, we’ve had Eton-mess followed by May-hem.  Ms May thought it a grand idea not to share her plans with other MPs. In which universe is that democracy? 

Oh, and she is happy to be unconstitutional.   

The Labour party remains in disarray so there is still no viable opposition. 

Tony Blair might be on his way back. 

Frankly, we’re better off with Brussels.

Curb on immigration

If we take fewer EU immigrants, we’ll have more room for Commonwealth. If you’re xenophobic, I have some bad news: other EU citizens look more like us than most Commonwealth ones. And if you want to take this one further, there may well be a skills gap. The brain drain has already started in higher education. The NHS will have a serious shortage of staff if this is taken to its conclusion.

Money for the NHS

We all know now that that was not just lying with statistics or clever political rhetoric, but a damned lie. Seriously, if you thought the NHS would be better off to the tune of £350,000,000 a week and that was your reason for voting Leave, contact your MP as a matter of urgency.    

Free to trade with the world

No. They’re not actually all that interested in this little off-shore island. Yes, if we can influence a deal with Europe – or if they think they can take us over. The latter is extremely frightening. Do we really want our utilities controlled by Russia or China?

Strategic voters?

If you wanted to scare our mates Dave and Boris and you didn’t really mean it, for goodness sake contact your MP.  

The valid reason for Brexit

In my books, the EU doesn’t actually go far enough. This was brought home to me as my husband and I contemplated changing nationality so that we could remain citizens of the EU. The rules are different as one goes from state to state. Ironically my husband has quite a claim on Germany.  His mother was thrown out for being racially Jewish.  If it had been his father it would have been easy. Only Greeks can be Greeks. In other states, there are tests and numbers of years you have to have been living there. Some allow dual nationality. Others do not.  And have you seen the amount of paperwork you have to do in order to become British? The Netherlands looks like a good bet. We might investigate that further. 

How does the EU compare to the United States of America? There, different states have different laws as well- for example about the age one is allowed to drive. Yet there is a more united feel with the president being a prominent figure.  (Though heaven help them at the moment.)  Within Europe, we hold on to our nationality. 

Interestingly, on 26 June 2916, days after the referendum, the Sunday Times produced some result of polls that showed that France and Germany, but not Spain and Italy would also vote to leave the EU.
The EU probably needs a good overhaul. Might Brexit also trigger Frexit, Gerexit, Netherexit and then eventually Italexit and Spexit? And the rest.

Better than Brexit, nevertheless

This hope for a massive exit is based on the same arrogance that makes us think the rest of  the world is just waiting for us, and that we will have that much say in whether we have a “hard” or a “soft”  Brexit. So to trust that others will follow us is risky.  

I would prefer to stay and negotiate a more efficient and effective EU, so that it can take its rightful place in the world, balancing out the other super powers.     
    
I remain Remain.            

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