a proper democracy again.
In terms of trade, Norway gets a better deal than Britain currently does and Switzerland a better deal
than Norway. A post-EU Britain, with 65 million people compared to Norway’s five million and
Switzerland’s eight can expect something better yet. Pro-EU supporters claim this will mean the UK
will still have to conform to vast swathes of EU rules even if we are outside, just as the others do? Yet
that issue has proven to be more of a problem in theory than in practice. Between 2000 and 2013, the
EU generated 52,183 legal instruments, of which Norway and Iceland adopted fewer than 10% (and the
Swiss none at all). In that same period, Britain, by contrast, had to apply 100% of EU regulations to its
economy. So even if we had to settle for a Norway or Iceland-style agreement – which we won’t – we
would be far better off out.
Let’s take back the £8.5bn (net) we currently give the EU each year and invest it in things like the NHS,
education, scientific research, policing and local councils. This will improve the quality of life for
families across Britain and provide more opportunities and a brighter future for our children. Surely, by
its very logic, taking back control of our own affairs is less of a risk than staying in an unstable eurozone
which is marching towards federalism with little recognition of the diverse member states it currently
encapsulates?
15. Brexit is truly cross-party
The campaign to leave the
European Union is proudly
demonstrating that, on matters of
huge national significance,
political differences can largely be
put to one side. Whether it’s the
Scottish nationalists, trade
unionists or Labour activists on
the left or the UKIP and
Conservative backers on the right,
Brexit is truly cross-party.
Former foreign secretary David Owen, once fiercely pro-European, recently came out in support of
leaving the “dysfunctional bloc” and said it would “re-energise” the country. Left-leaning Lord Owen
added: “There are many positive aspects to leaving the EU. To remain in the EU is in my judgement a
more dangerous option for British security in its deepest sense – economic, political, military and social
– than is being admitted or even discussed in the wake of Cameron’s failed negotiations.” Former Liberal
Democrat MP Paul Keetch waded into the debate saying: “I am a liberal, a democrat and an
internationalist... the EU is none of these things.” And Baroness Jenny Jones, a prominent member of
the Green Party, joined in the condemnation of the EU when she said: “The EU is becoming a dictatorial
imposer of austerity, uncaring about its impacts on the wellbeing of people and planet, and determined
to derail any elected Government that dares dissent from its neoliberal ideology.”
While on the right, Boris Johnson states: “I am a European. I lived many years in Brussels. I rather love
the old place. And so I resent the way we continually confuse Europe – the home of the greatest and
richest culture in the world, to which Britain is and will be an eternal contributor – with the political
project of the European Union. It is, therefore, vital to stress that there is nothing necessarily
27 cross-party reasons to Leave the EU | @DavidSeadon