Remain

I shall be voting REMAIN on 23rd June because . . .

1) I am proud to be British, and I want to remain proud to be British. The Britain I am proud of is a place of tolerance, refuge, welcome, generosity and care for others, that played its part in encouraging and supporting, in our continent and our world, the highest standards of democracy, understanding, tolerance and peace. With very few exceptions, I have heard nothing from the Brexit side increasing and improving our positive contribution in the wider world; if I had I might consider it. Brexit seems to be about the nation I love becoming more insular, less tolerant, less prepared to give and to help; it seems to me it’s mostly about what we can get rather than what we can give. I am saddened and ashamed that our nation should be motivated by self interest and small-mindedness in this way. I hold my hand up as European as well as British - I don’t believe that’s an either/or. The EU is far from perfect, and reform is clearly needed, but as someone proud to be British I want our nation to be in there, rolling its sleeves up to contribute to an ongoing process to which we have a positive contribution to make, and within which we will find allies who share our vision.

2) Immigration is a real issue that deserves to be taken seriously, but it’s also a much more complex matter than some brexit supporters make out. Workers from overseas do benefit our economy, our health service, etc, and most people who come here do come to work and not to scrounge. We are not bound by the Schengen Agreement which does (or did until the recent crisis) allowed free travel across some internal European borders, so we have retained control of our borders within the EU. Outside the EU we may well have no more control than we do now, especially if we wish to retain access to the single market. Immigration from beyond the EU needs Europe-wide action; we might be less able to deal with this issue on our own than as part of the EU. And I am also mindful of the many British people who wish to live and work in the EU. These have included one of my children, which is why I now have a Polish son-in-law.
 
3) The UK retains a great deal of influence as a world power; we are in the G7, and have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, etc, etc. We presently punch above our weight as a nation, but it is at least arguable that an exit from the EU could reduce our influence on the world stage. While this isn’t in fact a big issue for me, and I would like my nation to get rid of some of its remaining imperialist trappings, the point is still worth making.

4) I am not convinced by brexit claims that the UK as a trading nation will do better unshackled from the EU. In the 1950’s and 60’s we still had an industry that we owned; now we are very dependant on multinationals. In the 1950’s and 60’s we still had (the remains of) an empire to provide a market for our goods (whatever their quality); now we don’t, and we were already struggling to sell what we make before we joined the then EEC. Case in point: look at what happened to our motor-cycle industry.

5) I find it hard to understand, as does most of the rest of the world, how we imagine we are going to negotiate free trade deals to replace those we have as part of the EU, at least without taking a great deal of time. And I wonder whether those multinationals whose investment in UK industry is so vital these days will be prepared to stay the course while we do all that?

6) There is virtually no doubt that our economy will dip if we brexit. Households will lose income, GDP will be reduced, imports will be more expensive, tax revenues will be squeezed. We are much more dependant than we used to be on our financial sector. While London will continue to be a good place to do international business, it will not be quite as good and as inviting as it is now, and Frankfurt and other financial centres will be more than ready to receive those who would rather be dealing within the EU. The simple point here is that there will be a cost, and everyone will share that cost. Some people will be happy to do that, they will feel it’s worth it in order to regain our sovereignty (whatever that means). They are entitled to that view, but I don’t share it.

7) There’s no doubt that the EU costs money, quite a lot of money, though in fact a very small amount of our national budget as a nation. Brexit campaigners have been very good at making the amount we pay (net) seem considerably larger than it really is, and they have also spent it on lots of different things, when in reality what we save by a brexit can be spent only once, if it all. It might need to be spent on replacing revenues hit by our leaving. It certainly can’t all be spent on, say education, or the NHS, or any other single cause.
 
8) Everyone, from Caesar to Charlemagne to Napoleon to Hitler who has tried to unite Europe has failed. And what does a united Europe do for us anyway? Well, thank you, Boris, for that one. Actually, some of those “united Europes”, in particular the Roman Empire, lasted quite some time and achieved a great deal that was on the whole good. But, leaving that aside, to compare the voluntary union of independent European states with the territorial ambitions of a Napoleon or Hitler was crass in the extreme.

In practice, the EU has helped ensure a European peace that we should be wary of taking for granted - and, while other international bodies have played their part in that, to belittle the contribution of the EU to peace in Europe would be wrong and dangerous. Recent years have witnessed the wholesale transition of the soviet bloc nations of Eastern Europe into thriving democracies; again, the result of changes and movements wider than the EU, but a process in which the EU has certainly played its part, and has significantly encouraged the development of these nations. If the cost of this has been partly borne by us, hasn’t it been a cost worth meeting, and a work worth doing? The EU has significantly improved human rights in ways that have directly impacted on us: the rights of working people have been developed and protected, along with positive impacts on personal and family rights and security.

9) Of course, one thing that is clearly true is that if we leave the EU, that will likely be the end of David Cameron’s political career, and there are many people who might be tempted to say “Hooray” to that. Frankly, though, for all the deficiencies of Mr Cameron, I’d rather him (for now, anyway) than Boris Johnson, his most likely successor.

10) To sum up: I am proud to be British, but I am also able to think of myself as European. I don’t think I have to make a choice between these two, and I think that I want the UK to continue to be involved in this experiment in working together that is the EU. Two things to add to that: (1) I would like the UK to stay united, and I feel increasingly sure it won’t if we brexit; and (2) I don’t buy into the “us versus them” argument peddled by the brexiters - every nation state in the EU remains a nation state, and all have their own concerns, hopes, agendas, which sometimes will be opposed to where we stand, and often will be close to our own views; only on a very few occasions have we not been “on the winning side” in Brussels or Strasbourg. So for me the positives about the EU outweigh the negatives, especially in a world that in many ways is becoming more chaotic, less ordered, less easy to read. A strong and united Europe can be a force for good in this world, and together can make strategic economic and political agreement and common cause with other powers, and provide ordered and principled criticism and opposition to others. I believe that being part of the EU provides a definite boost to our economy, a platform for negotiations that work to our good, and a financial market we can exploit; and that the EU supports a democratic consensus across the continent that we should be wary of taking for granted.

And one final and simple fact: once we’re out of the EU we’re out. There won’t be a way back in. If we remain in, the opportunity to leave in the future if the experiment really isn’t working is still there (whatever Mr Cameron might say about “once in a lifetime”). And that nice Mr Farage will still be there, to make sure we don’t forget it . . .