Following the announcement that June 23rd will be referendum day, I dug out a lengthy paper I wrote on 27th March 1992 that I sent to Lord Tebbit (then an MP). In that paper I wrote about the democratic deficit of the EU, the loss of sovereignty, the failures of our membership of the ERM and what a Single Currency (at that time merely proposed and not in existence) would mean; a straitjacket to any economy as power over interest rates, taxation and fiscal policy would be taken at a distance, by the unelected. I also railed on at the flaws in the Common Fishing Policy and the Common Agricultural Policy. Upon reading that document now, some 24 years on, it remains remarkably fresh.
The EEC that we thought we joined, as a flexible association for free trade and friendship has long gone, replaced by increasing supra-national power exercised in Brussels, diktat replacing reason, loss of national vetoes and the ratchet effect of a succession of European Court judgements. Numerous additional treaties has made what we joined unrecognisable to what we have today.
This referendum is long overdue, and it is a credit to the Prime Minister that we are now able to have the national debate, not confined to the corridors of Westminster, but across the country where your vote is as meaningful as mine.
We have nothing to fear from a British Exit from the European Union. Now the Prime Minister has concluded his negotiations, you will be subjected to a campaign of fear and myth as those wedded to the failing European project seek to scare you into a vote for remain, starting just last week with the laughable suggestion that “Jungle” style immigrant camps would start pitching up along the south coast should we vote to leave.
It is widely accepted that joining the Euro would have been an economic disaster for this country given the recent issues in the Eurozone, yet the same people who said our economy could not survive if we didn't join the Euro are now saying a vote for exit would be a disaster. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.
Look at the arguments the pro-side are using, for instance that the EU has kept peace in Europe. This is of course a nonsense as it is NATO that has kept the peace and beyond. The US, as the linchpin of it, spends more on defence than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UK, France, India and Germany combined. To suggest it is the EU that maintains peace is disingenuous in the extreme. We have unique intelligence sharing arrangements with the US, and have by far the most professional and advanced intelligence service in Europe; data sharing with friendly nations will continue and increase come what may. This is what keeps us safe.
The second scare argument is around the issue of trade and the single market. There are two striking facts, firstly the UK is the 5th largest economy in the world. Secondly we buy far more from the EU than they buy from us to the tune of £60 bn each year, we are one of their biggest export markets.
In simple terms, if we withdraw from the EU, is it credible for the remaining members who make a net £60 billion from the UK to refuse to trade or that they would wish to impose taxes and tariffs. BMW, Audi, VW and Mercedes sold over 600,000 cars in the UK in 2014. Are these companies going to stand for the EU restricting their trade with the world's 5th biggest economy? Of course not, especially when you consider the current precarious economic situation in the EU. When you hear the argument that 3 million British jobs are dependent on EU trade, also bear in mind that 5.5 million European jobs are dependent on selling goods to the UK. Free from the EU, we will be able to negotiate a free trade deal with it as it is patently mutually beneficial and would be able to negotiate new ones with our natural international partners in the US, India, Australia, and growth areas in Asia and South America. International trade deals are negotiated by the EU for us, currently by a Swedish Commissioner who used to be a Sociology lecturer. I’m sure she is charming, but I’d rather we were in control.
In recent years, the UK has enjoyed the highest economic growth rate in the G7 and outstrips the developed economies in Europe. One of the reasons for this is because we have not been shackled to the dead weight that is the Euro. As a market, the EU is barely growing, the real growth opportunities are in the emerging economies in Asia and South America, not in Europe.
Then there is the issue of the organisation itself, something you will find the pro Europeans are loath to mention. Auditors have now refused to sign off the EU's Accounts for over 20 years. Galling when you consider we contribute £19 billion a year (£350 million each week) to the EU budget with mere crumbs returned. An independent Britain would be able to maintain financial support to farmers but in ways that are right for us; maintain the level of or increase funding for science, research and regional aid. Perhaps reduce the budget deficit or implement tax cuts, or perhaps spend more on our NHS and local services, again ours to decide. It is a fundamentally undemocratic and corrupt organisation, and have no doubt that its ultimate aim is to create a United States of Europe which will override sovereign Parliaments. We are concurrently kidding ourselves and being unfair to our EU partners in permanently being one of the “awkward squad”, perpetually seeking a different, looser EU that our partners clearly do not want.
So my message is: do not be taken in by the arguments of scare and fear. A British exit will not result in war, millions of job losses, recession or isolation. The European project is doomed to failure with the migrant crisis proving how divided its countries are, and the dominance of Germany. The Euro has brought the EU to its knees, the Schengen free movement area is in tatters and has arguably made an international humanitarian disaster worse. More razor wire now criss-crosses European borders than at the height of the Cold War. I haven’t touched upon the issue of EU migration, but it is patently absurd that our immigration policy is not based upon skills, need and numbers but is based upon a geographical free for all. The re-negotiation has descended to a farcical debate about remittances of child benefits to be adjusted to a country’s local rates, but not until 2020!
We have one chance to unshackle ourselves from the ball and chain which is EU membership and I will be doing all I can to make the argument for Brexit which I believe is in the UK's and its citizens best interest. Outside the EU, we will be safer, wealthier and able to take our role on the world stage as a decent, normal democratic nation. I forecast that our relationship with our friends in Europe would improve. I urge all those who agree to contact me to join the campaign.