What Price The Remain Campaign's Guarantees?

Vote Remain have published a list of things that they will guarantee if we vote to stay in the EU. Let’s take a closer look.

Full access to the EU’s single market.

Our exports to the rest of the world now exceed those to the EU. While a large amount of our foreign trade is still with the EU the fact is that this sector is actually in decline. Part of the reason that our trade with the rest of the world has not grown even larger is that the EU actually represents a barrier to our expanding our trade relationships with countries like China, India, the Commonwealth countries and South America. The simple fact is that access to the EU’s single market costs us more that it gives back.

Workers’ rights protected.

Let’s have a look at The European Working Time Directive which is touted as a flagship policy protecting worker’s rights. The Working Time Directive represents an estimated cost to the UK economy of £4.1 billion a year and the benefits are unknown. In spite of this there is no policy avowed by the Brexit campaigns to repeal any of the existing labour laws. Any changes would be subject to our parliament. Leaving the EU does not represent any threat to any existing workers’ rights.

Keeping the European Arrest Warrant.

Are we sure we want to keep this fundamentally flawed piece of legislation? Under the terms of the European Arrest Warrant (EWA) a British subject could legitimately expect the same treatment at the hands of the courts if charged. The implications of the EWA fundamentally undermine that legitimate expectation. Now at the request of judges in other jurisdictions the UK is willing, indeed obliged, to export its citizens to face charges for offences that may not even be crimes in Britain and before judicial systems we would never endorse in our own country. It could be argued that whatever the technocratic arguments advanced by its advocates at its induction, and now parroted by its defenders, in operations it is fundamentally incompatible with the system of justice with which Britain has prided herself over generations.

A Special status in Europe.

What does this actually mean? David Cameron promised us that he would deliver a deal which would mean significant changes to our position in Europe. It is now widely agreed that the deal he came back with after is negotiations did not amount to anything at all. The so called handbrake to immigration is not ours to control as the hand on the brake is actually that of Brussels. He did not get the restrictions on benefits for EU economic migrants he promised and these paltry concessions, as well as everything else are not yet ratified by the EU and could be overturned after the referendum, even if we stay in. Brussels has already made it very clear that if we do vote to remain then our days of carping about legislation we don’t like are over. How long will it be after the 23^rd of June that treaties are changed to deny us our veto? Voting to remain will give us less of voice for reforms not a greater one.

Stability for our country.

Remaining within the EU is achieving the stability of tying yourself to a supporting column of a car park during a massive earthquake. To be stable any country needs to be able to rely on the firm bedrock of its constitution, its laws, its ability to create wealth, the ability to maintain its sovereignty, the security of its borders and its citizens. The EU is already suffering the sort of minor tremors which often are the heralds of a major earthquake or even a catastrophic seismic shift. The EU imposes regulations and laws which fundamentally change and erode our constitution. They pass into law edicts made by unelected bureaucrats which are forced upon us. The imposition and now protection and maintenance at all costs of the Euro have engendered devastation to the economies of Greece, Italy, Spain and now France. All of these countries are suffering record unemployment and massive civil unrest. Even though we are outside of the Eurozone we are not immune from damage from the aftershocks of its inevitable collapse which will cost us billions; not only in bailouts but also in lost trade. Our membership of the EU restricts our ability to trade with the rest of the world and keeps us poor. The free movement of people means that we can no longer secure our borders while the Schengen Agreement means that potential terrorists are free to sow fear and anarchy throughout the continent once they are past the porous southern frontiers.

In short these so called guarantees are either not guarantees at all, as the power to deliver them is not in our politician’s hands, or they are not things that we would actually want in the first place. Brexit does not come with any guarantees but its prospects are still brighter than the alternatives.