OK since the silence on Europe following Jo Cox’s tragic murder, has ended, here are my thoughts on Europe.
I don’t know what the financial implications are whether we leave or remain. Neither does anyone else.
I don’t know what trading agreements we may or may not have: neither does anyone else.
I don’t know whether we will be better or worse off monetarily in either case. Neither does anyone else.
There are too many imponderables in this debate; too many grey areas and far, far too many outlandish claims on both sides of the debate.
But I will say this:
- It’s my belief that if we are outside Europe we will be open to far greater influence from the US. And with Trump looming in the wings, that would be a nightmare.
- The Brexit side have fought very dirty; stirring up the worst fears and inciting xenophobia. Farage’s poster was the last straw for many, including Baroness Warsi: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36572894
- On balance – and it is a balance – I believe that workers’ rights and human rights in general will be better protected if we remain.
- There has been a great deal of misinformation on both sides but probably more on the Brexit side. They have persistently referred to the EU as ‘unelected’, forgetting that we elect Euro-MPs every few years. Maybe they don’t bother to vote in those elections.
- the idea of ‘going it alone’ is a fantasy. Much of the Brexit campaign seems to hark back to a nostalgia for colonial times when Britain was a power in the world. That time has gone. We are now a small outpost of Europe. We belong to Europe geographically and culturally; it makes sense to belong politically and economically.
- er
- that’s it. Get out and vote. But vote remain.
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 