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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