Above: Members of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
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I have never believed that leaving the European Union is a serious option. Anti-EU crusaders want big public support at next month’s referendum so that the UK’s terms of membership could be renegotiated from a position of more strength.
Meanwhile, voters are being led by the nose to believe that our exit from EU is an absolute possibility, and exit would mean an end to immigration (it wouldn’t) and alternative markets would welcome us with open arms and no strings (unproven).
Meanwhile, voters are being led by the nose to believe that our exit from EU is an absolute possibility, and exit would mean an end to immigration (it wouldn’t) and alternative markets would welcome us with open arms and no strings (unproven).
In next month’s referendum a majority of voters are not likely to favour leaving EU, but even if they did it would not mean automatic exit. An ‘exit’ Bill would go before Members of Parliament whose job is to do what is best for the UK regardless of referenda.
My guess is that the Bill would be debated, defeated and kicked into the long grass while the Government continued to renegotiate.
The Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund have warned of a shock to the UK economy if Britain were actually to leave EU. Jobs and wages, investments and savings, private pensions and mortgages could be affected adversely, directly or indirectly.
There is no guarantee that we would be any better off for leaving, so it makes no sense to take the risk. The economy of Wales in particular is not robust enough to withstand a lot of turbulence.
We are Europeans. We need to come to terms with who and where we are in wider sense, and put the ‘Little Britain’ brigade back into their box for another thirty years.
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