BREXIT JUNE 2016

A number of people have asked me for my perception of events and so I thought that maybe you would like to better understand how events unfolded and why I voted the way I did.

I must admit that even though I voted to get out of the EU, I was surprised by the final outcome.  We went to bed on Thursday night thinking that Remain would win and were taken completely by surprise at 07:30 Friday morning when we heard the results on BBC Radio 4.

I am delighted the nation voted to leave the EU and for Democracy which is lacking in EU but now the hard work begins to create a new way forward.  This will take time and patience as we define not just what we want but more importantly what we must achieve to guarantee a successful future within a global context including the EU.   Then we must plan a strategy to achieve our goals.

The UK is a small island nation with limited usable land and resources and so for me it was a matter of common sense that we should take back control of our borders, legislation, finances and ultimately, our own destiny. 

The EU has strayed significantly from the Common Market agreement we had originally voted for and was becoming increasingly undemocratic and intrusive as greater national integration and harmonization became essential for the Eurozone to succeed.  We never knowingly agreed to this and the referendum has been the one and only opportunity to make our wishes clear.

We have tried for at least 40 years to reform the EU and have watched our influence and representation dwindle from a 1/6^th to a 1/28^th of any EU Parliamentary vote as more nations joined up.  Moreover, we never signed up to the Schengen Agreement or the Eurozone and consequently, became increasingly marginalised.

The prospect of a further 5 countries, including Turkey, joining the EU by 2019 was the last straw.  The EU has become too large and consequently, difficult if not impossible to reform with lengthy negotiations and agreement having to be made by all 28 member nations.

There was a great deal of rhetoric to plough through on both sides of the argument for Remain and Leave but I suppose the following influenced me the most:

1.    EU Youth Unemployment figures.

These are scary and could take root here if we remain in EU. The outlook for our grandchildren looks pretty grim. No wonder all EU young unemployed want to come here to work. As Yanis Varoufakis (former Greek Finance Minister) said in a recent TV show; the only compelling reason for us to stay in EU is to stop it falling apart more quickly than it otherwise would, which says a lot about the state of the union and rising discord over unemployment..

2.    Net Migration figures

Net migration to UK rises to 333,000 - second highest on record.

This is the equivalent of building 12.70 towns the size of Frome every year in UK which already has one of the highest population densities of Europe. This is not sustainable. No wonder we have a housing crisis and our public services including the NHS, education, transport and the police are stretched to breaking point. Where are the funds to service this population explosion to come from while we are the second most indebted country in the world?

3.    EU referendum: Brexit 'would spark year-long recession' - Treasury

What Osborne would like us to believe is countered here.

4.    EU makes UK Ungovernable 

5.    BREXIT the movie

With the EU Referendum just a few days away I have been looking for a compelling reason why we should stay in the EU. This film has convinced me that we should leave in order to regain control over our sovereignty, democracy, finances and ultimately, our destiny...

I hope these links work for you as a number of them are BBC articles and I am not sure you can access them from outside UK.

This momentous event has been a reality check for our politicians as they now begin to understand the scale and scope of the electorate’s dissatisfaction with and distrust of both the political and financial élite who have brought us to the verge of bankruptcy and disunity.

There is now not only a greater risk of EU collapse but also disintegration of the United Kingdom as Scotland and Northern Ireland reconsider their positions.  The question now is will Scotland and Northern Ireland ditch UK in favour of an EU Republic and so become even “smaller fish in a very large pond” or continue to support UK and help develop our common futures within the Common Wealth and Her Majesty’s realms?

Meanwhile, our leading political parties are in complete disarray as they struggle to come to terms with the new reality of Brexit. 

We live in rapidly changing and interesting times…