EU Referendum 23rd June – Let’s Stay Together – Top 10 reasons to Remain

by adamboyden on 10 June, 2016

UK EU flagsTwo weeks ago I wrote to the Frome Standard (and Somerset Guardian, printed 9 June 2016) explaining why I am voting to remain with a long list of Remain supporters, and a few reasons…

“What do financial expert Martin Lewis, Barack Obama, Stephen Hawking, Benedict Cumberbatch, Delia Smith, Emily (and Michael) Eavis, Yanis Varoufakis, Wyke Farms’ Richard Clothier, Richard Branson, Eddie Izzard, Martin Johnson (Boris’ father), Hilary Mantel, as well as the NFU, Greenpeace, the RSPB and WWF, the IMF, the Bank of England, Unite, Unison and other major unions, economists, midwives, Paddy Ashdown, Caroline Lucas, Jeremy Corbyn, David Cameron and me, have in common? We all want to Remain in the EU.

Why? because it will be better for Britain. Because leaving risks damaging our economy, reducing investment, losing jobs, harming opportunities for young people to work and learn, reducing tax revenues, threatening environmental standards and workers rights, and would mean the end to close cooperation with our nearest allies. I understand some people want to leave due to a mix of a fear of immigration (although we would have to retain free movement for EU citizens to stay in the single market) a distrust of the EU and politicians generally, and a desire to ‘take back control’ (although we get our own way in Europe nearly all the time and would have no control of laws affecting the single market, if we left).

But there is a real danger here. I am concerned when our elected politicians spread fear of a democratic Germany to bolster their leave arguments. I am grateful for the peace and prosperity that the EU has helped create, in our lifetimes, through cooperation between independent democracies after two catastrophic world wars. Leaving the EU would boost right wing nationalists everywhere – Putin, Trump and France’s National Front all want us to Leave as well as Farage. Please don’t make them happy on June 23rd. It’s in your hands, everyone. Please, please, use your vote wisely.

Adam Boyden, Mendip district councillor, Frome College ward (Lib Dem).”

To the above list I can now add: the late Jo Cox MP, the Secretary General of NATO, World War 2 veterans, former England footballers David Beckham (and Victoria), Gary Lineker and John Barnes, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Jeremy Clarkson and James May, Ricken Patel of Avaaz, Rick Astley, Bill Oddie, leaders of 103 Universities, respected former GP Sarah Woolaston MP, Tim Farron and the Liberal Democrats, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Hilary Benn and most of the Labour Party, the Green Party, former Prime Ministers John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, left wing journalist Paul Mason, writer and environmental activist George Monbiot, the leaders of Somerset County and South Somerset District Councils, and 22 Conservative Cabinet Ministers including Chancellor George Osborne and Home Secretary Theresa May), and US film director Michael Moore. This is some coalition!

But why do they want us to remain? So many reasons, all in the links above. To sum up, these are the reasons why I will be voting to ‘remain’ in the EU on June 23rd:

1. Peace: What have the Romans ever done for us?er sorry the, EU – “Peace”! The EU has helped make war in Europe unthinkable. It has helped turn former fascist regimes in southern Europe and former communist states in eastern Europe (who used to train nuclear weapons on us) into democracies who co-operate and resolve differences around the table. We now have a 1,000 mile zone of security in every direction. The Secretary General of NATO today warns us that Britain’s role at the heart of Europe is crucial in combatting terrorism and illegal mass migration, and that leaving would exacerbate “instability and unpredictability”. RAF veteran and NHS campaigner Harry Leslie Smith said: “Britain is stronger in Europe because it reflects the values my generation fought for in Europe during the Second World War.”

2. Power: In the EU Britain leads Europe, and we win the vast majority of votes and decisions made by the European Parliament (we have 73 MEPs, 10% of the total) and Council of Ministers (with our PM) who control and nominate the Commission. We have more influence on Europe-wide negotiations, including climate change, trade deals and refugees, than we ever would if we left. US President Barack Obama believes being in the EU makes Britain even Greater, and that it is in the UK’s best interests to remain, as a vote to Leave would put the UK “at the back of queue” for US trade talks -his video can be seen here. .  Donald Trump isn’t so keen on the EU (or NATO), which is a good reason to vote Remain in itself.

3. Prosperity: millions of British jobs. A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, released in October 2015, suggested 3.1 million British jobs were linked to the UK’s exports to the EU. Around 250,000 jobs in the South West are also linked to our trade with the EU. The EU’s single market, which we helped create, is the world’s biggest trade zone with a market of 500 million people. The best is yet to come as we are in the middle of a project to extend the single market to the digital economy, services and capital markets. There are big risks in cutting ourselves off from the market that takes 44% of British exports. Some 90% of leading economists, the Bank of England and the IMF have warned us that leaving the EU is likely to cause an ‘economic shock’ that would cost jobs and damage living standards for years, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that Brexit could lead to two years of austerity. Today 1200 business leaders warned that leaving would damage the economy, especially small businesses. George Soros warns of a Black Friday, and serious consequences for ordinary people.

4. Our finances: ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis confirms he will vote to remain in the EU, as “On balance of probability, it is more likely we’ll have less money in our pockets if we vote to leave”. See here for Martin’s spin-free blog on his reasons.

5. Our NHS and public services: Former GP Sarah Woolaston MP has joined the campaign to Remain, because she could no longer support the Vote Leave campaign who “have knowingly placed a financial lie at the heart of their campaign”. She now believes that to leave would harm the NHS as “the clear consensus is that the effects [of Brexit] would be significant and negative”.- read her personal statement here. The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies also predicts we will have less to spend on the NHS and other public services in future if we leave. Nigel Farage and others in the Leave campaigns have said they want to privatise the NHS, so I do not trust them with it if we leave.

6. I do not believe the other myths being put about by the Leave campaign – that most of our laws are imposed upon us by an unelected foreign bureaucracy, and that it costs billions of pounds per day. The costs of membership are much lower than we think: We contribute under 1% of UK Government spending to EU membership. Vote Leave’s claim that Britain sends £350m a week to Brussels is a lie: After deducting the ‘rebate’ (our discount, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher) and the EU’s direct spending in the UK, it is more like £136m a week, less than 40% of the amount splashed on Boris’ battlebus, as explained here and by the Financial Times here. Sarah Wollaston, the IFS, the UK Statistics Authority, Nicola Sturgeon, Amber Rudd and Angela Eagle are right: Vote Leave’s claim is a lie. Only 13% of our laws come from the EU, according to the House of Commons Library, not the 60% stated by Andrea Leadsom at the BBC Big Debate last night. The EU has almost no influence on UK tax policy, except VAT – in terms of how our taxes are spent, more than 98% of our spending is decided by our Chancellor of the Exchequer.  See Mythbusters here.

More here on the EU, how it is funded, what is its budget spent on, and what does it do?

7. Leaving threatens the breakup of the UK (if Scotland is taken out of the EU against its will), peace in Northern Ireland, and big problems ahead for Gibraltar. We have to care about these implications.

8. The environmental and social benefits are clear – the UK is much greener and cleaner, and fairer, due to the EU. Strong EU environmental laws have led to cleaner beaches (the Bathing Waters Directive pushed the UK to stop polluting beaches with raw sewage), cleaner rivers (Urban Waste Water Directive), better protected British wildlife (Habitats and Species Directive, which was mainly written by Martin Johnson (Boris’ father), and a better chance of tackling climate change. Our EU membership “underpins many crucial environmental protections in the UK, while amplifying our voice in the world on vital issues like cutting global emissions” says David Cameron. Surfers Against Sewage, the Lib Dems, Green Party, Labour Party, Greenpeace, the RSPB, WWF, and Friends of the Earth all agree the EU has been good for our environment. Many of the UK’s environmental regulations for fracking could be removed if the UK votes to leave the EU.

9. The EU helps guarantee workers’ rights, which is why all the major unions are campaigning for Remain, and our universal human rights, which we all benefit from. The Working Time Directive provides legal standards to ensure the health and safety of employees in Europe, including a working week of a maximum 48 hours, including overtime, a daily rest period of 11 hours in every 24, a break if a person works for six hours or more, and one day off in every seven. It also includes provisions for paid annual leave of at least four weeks every year.

10. I cannot stand Farage’s Nazi-style scaremongering on immigration. Migration benefits our country, economically (as migrants from the EU pay in taxes much more than they receive in benefits, and use the NHS half as much as native Brits), socially and culturally, and do many essential jobs we all depend on. Many EU migrants are our friends, neighbours and colleagues. A vote to leave could be interpreted as a vote to cut our country off from the world.

11. We have to be in it to improve it: ‘Lead not Leave’: The EU is by no means perfect, but if we want to be able to tackle Europe-wide issues of refugees and migration, environmental degradation, climate change, improving democracy, we have to be involved in the negotiations.  If we leave but want access to the Single Market like Norway, we would have to pay but have no say. I agree with Hilary Benn – “Britain is at the heart of a union of 28 democracies working together; a union that has proved what human beings can achieve when we replace conflict with cooperation and enmity with dialogue. This achievement is something worth fighting for – and the way to make sure it is protected is to vote remain on Thursday.”.

Ok, that’s 11 sorry. Michael and Emily Eavis  have another 5 reasons to remain. The Independent asks ‘What has the EU ever done for us?’ and finds 7 reasons to remain: 1. It gives you freedom to live, work and retire anywhere in Europe. 2. It sustains millions of jobs. 3. Your holiday is much easier – and safer. 4. It means you’re less likely to get ripped off. 5. It offers greater protection from terrorists, paedophiles, people traffickers and cyber-crime. 6. Our businesses depend on it. 7. We have greater influence.

More info:

Not sure yet? Are you ready for the Brexit quiz? click here.

Facts and analysis:

The House of Commons Report on the implications for leaving the EU in a number of policy areas, and a handy summary, can be found here.

InFacts, the fact-based case to remain, can be found here. The latest articles are: Voting Leave does not mean taking control, We do not send £350million a week to the EU, and Free movement doesn’t mean we don’t control our borders.

Britain Stronger In’s campaign website.

The Financial Times dissects the Remain and Leave claims including ‘The EU forces Britain to put VAT on necessities such as food’, ‘Freedom of movement allows criminals to enter Britain’, ‘Britons voted only to join a common market’, and ‘The EU has taken all our fish’.

 

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  1. […] that just over half of UK voters chose to cut the ties with the rest of Europe which give us peace, power and prosperity. Younger voters overwhelmingly voted to stay in the EU for their futures, and are also “decent […]

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