Politics - Brexit and why I now regret voting leave.
With Brexit day almost upon us I feel I should explain why I voted to leave - and why I now regret doing so.
The first thing to say is that I did not vote to leave to escape the free movement of people, as required by the single market. I was not being racist in my outlook. I was happy that the UK, or Scotland if independent, paid for access to the single market and continued to work within the rules of free movement. I assumed we’d be joining EFTA or coming to a similar agreement with the EU as the other EFTA countries have done. I should have realised, given the attitudes being expressed south of the border, that the UK, on the whole, was going to aim for as complete a break from the EU as possible. This included getting out of both the single market and the customs union. I was happy to escape the customs union as I very much dislike the CAP and the CFP but I was also happy to pay for access to the single market and retain the free movement of people.
But the main reason I voted to leave was because I did not like the political direction that the EU has been heading in in recent years. The EU, and the EEC before it, was set up to help businesses make profit - and making this profit has, all too often, been at the expense of the ordinary EU citizen - and this has been especially the case since the EU started to admit countries, especially ex-soviet countries, whose economies were not sufficiently aligned with the economies of the major EU countries like Germany, France and the UK. This, of course, is why large numbers of people from those poorer countries moved in fairly large numbers to the more wealthy countries - giving rise to the racism expressed from already deprived areas of the wealthier countries. In addition to that, many businesses and companies, already established in the wealthier countries, moved factories to those poorer countries and then proceeded to close the factories in the countries they’d been operating in for many years. They did this in order to reduce wage costs - and, thereby, increase their profits. This at the expense of workers in the countries they’d left who were now left unemployed. The EU would argue, I suppose, that the free movement of people allowed those now unemployed to move to other countries where work was now available. That does not wash for me. It’s easy enough for a company to build a new factory in, say, Hungary, get it up and running and then close production in the country they’d left - but it’s not so easy for people to also relocate. Most people do not want to go and live in a different country with a different language and culture on what would appear to be a permanent basis - some might be quite happy doing so but most, I would suggest, want to stay in, or near, the town of their birth (and not even somewhere else in their own land). But business and profit, in the EU, comes before what it’s citizens want. That is just one example of why I dislike the policies of the EU. At this point I would accept that seeking an end to European wars was also a factor in the creation of the EEC but I’d also say that trade and profit was also a major factor in many of those wars starting in the first place.
It’s also my opinion that the EU has been, at least partially, responsible for the worsening relationship between Russia and the West. In it’s drive to become larger and more powerful, and gain more market share for it’s businesses, the EU actively courted the ex-soviet countries - and then allowed many to join before their economies were sufficiently developed. I am not surprised that Russia did not like this as their traditional markets were being stolen from right under their noses. As a supporter of Scottish independence I am all for countries seeking their own way forward but the EU’s active pursuit of those countries, before they were sufficiently developed economically, has only led to the rise of racism in the wealthier EU states and the worsening relationship with Russia.
Then we have, for example, what happened to Greece. This was a case of ‘come and join our wonderful community’ and ‘come and adopt our wonderful currency’ - and when this did not work out, as many said would be the case, Greece was sent to stand on the naughty step - and the citizens of Greece were left to suffer a level of austerity even worse than the Tory party imposed on the UK following the 2010 general election. Once again, business and profit, under EU policies, took precedence over the well being of it’s citizens. It’s my understanding that it was the IMF that stepped in to assist Greece, so it’s clear, that when the chips are down, profit in the EU comes before how it’s citizens are treated.
Finally, I am concerned by how the EU is developing. The earlier EEC was business and profit biased but at least it developed several policies which protected and helped it’s citizens; workers rights, human rights, consumer protections etc., etc. I am not convinced that the current EU would have introduced most, or even any, of those policies. This for me is partly due to the joining of the ex-soviet states. Many of those countries went straight to communist rule from dictatorial monarchies - and democracy is foreign to many of them. Many, despite now being democracies on paper, are run in the same dictatorial way as they were under communism - and many have swung to the far right in domestic policies. I see, and fear, an EU heading in an even more right wing direction and becoming similar as regards citizens rights as Russia or China. I am not saying that will happen in the short term - but I see that as the direction the EU is heading in - and I don’t like it.
What would I like? An independent Scotland which becomes a member of EFTA and decides to stick at that rather than rejoin the EU as a full member. This would have allowed Scotland, at least, to escape from Westminster control and at the same time avoid the worst aspects of the EU - while still staying closely aligned to the EU and the international community.
So, I voted to leave the EU because, in my opinion, the EU is a capitalist club which only considers it’s citizens when business and profit will not be negatively affected - but I now regret doing so as I fear Johnson’s Brexit deal, under the Tories, will be even worse than staying within the EU. The struggle to escape from what I don’t like about the EU could have been left until after Scottish independence - but what’s done is done.
The first thing to say is that I did not vote to leave to escape the free movement of people, as required by the single market. I was not being racist in my outlook. I was happy that the UK, or Scotland if independent, paid for access to the single market and continued to work within the rules of free movement. I assumed we’d be joining EFTA or coming to a similar agreement with the EU as the other EFTA countries have done. I should have realised, given the attitudes being expressed south of the border, that the UK, on the whole, was going to aim for as complete a break from the EU as possible. This included getting out of both the single market and the customs union. I was happy to escape the customs union as I very much dislike the CAP and the CFP but I was also happy to pay for access to the single market and retain the free movement of people.
But the main reason I voted to leave was because I did not like the political direction that the EU has been heading in in recent years. The EU, and the EEC before it, was set up to help businesses make profit - and making this profit has, all too often, been at the expense of the ordinary EU citizen - and this has been especially the case since the EU started to admit countries, especially ex-soviet countries, whose economies were not sufficiently aligned with the economies of the major EU countries like Germany, France and the UK. This, of course, is why large numbers of people from those poorer countries moved in fairly large numbers to the more wealthy countries - giving rise to the racism expressed from already deprived areas of the wealthier countries. In addition to that, many businesses and companies, already established in the wealthier countries, moved factories to those poorer countries and then proceeded to close the factories in the countries they’d been operating in for many years. They did this in order to reduce wage costs - and, thereby, increase their profits. This at the expense of workers in the countries they’d left who were now left unemployed. The EU would argue, I suppose, that the free movement of people allowed those now unemployed to move to other countries where work was now available. That does not wash for me. It’s easy enough for a company to build a new factory in, say, Hungary, get it up and running and then close production in the country they’d left - but it’s not so easy for people to also relocate. Most people do not want to go and live in a different country with a different language and culture on what would appear to be a permanent basis - some might be quite happy doing so but most, I would suggest, want to stay in, or near, the town of their birth (and not even somewhere else in their own land). But business and profit, in the EU, comes before what it’s citizens want. That is just one example of why I dislike the policies of the EU. At this point I would accept that seeking an end to European wars was also a factor in the creation of the EEC but I’d also say that trade and profit was also a major factor in many of those wars starting in the first place.
It’s also my opinion that the EU has been, at least partially, responsible for the worsening relationship between Russia and the West. In it’s drive to become larger and more powerful, and gain more market share for it’s businesses, the EU actively courted the ex-soviet countries - and then allowed many to join before their economies were sufficiently developed. I am not surprised that Russia did not like this as their traditional markets were being stolen from right under their noses. As a supporter of Scottish independence I am all for countries seeking their own way forward but the EU’s active pursuit of those countries, before they were sufficiently developed economically, has only led to the rise of racism in the wealthier EU states and the worsening relationship with Russia.
Then we have, for example, what happened to Greece. This was a case of ‘come and join our wonderful community’ and ‘come and adopt our wonderful currency’ - and when this did not work out, as many said would be the case, Greece was sent to stand on the naughty step - and the citizens of Greece were left to suffer a level of austerity even worse than the Tory party imposed on the UK following the 2010 general election. Once again, business and profit, under EU policies, took precedence over the well being of it’s citizens. It’s my understanding that it was the IMF that stepped in to assist Greece, so it’s clear, that when the chips are down, profit in the EU comes before how it’s citizens are treated.
Finally, I am concerned by how the EU is developing. The earlier EEC was business and profit biased but at least it developed several policies which protected and helped it’s citizens; workers rights, human rights, consumer protections etc., etc. I am not convinced that the current EU would have introduced most, or even any, of those policies. This for me is partly due to the joining of the ex-soviet states. Many of those countries went straight to communist rule from dictatorial monarchies - and democracy is foreign to many of them. Many, despite now being democracies on paper, are run in the same dictatorial way as they were under communism - and many have swung to the far right in domestic policies. I see, and fear, an EU heading in an even more right wing direction and becoming similar as regards citizens rights as Russia or China. I am not saying that will happen in the short term - but I see that as the direction the EU is heading in - and I don’t like it.
What would I like? An independent Scotland which becomes a member of EFTA and decides to stick at that rather than rejoin the EU as a full member. This would have allowed Scotland, at least, to escape from Westminster control and at the same time avoid the worst aspects of the EU - while still staying closely aligned to the EU and the international community.
So, I voted to leave the EU because, in my opinion, the EU is a capitalist club which only considers it’s citizens when business and profit will not be negatively affected - but I now regret doing so as I fear Johnson’s Brexit deal, under the Tories, will be even worse than staying within the EU. The struggle to escape from what I don’t like about the EU could have been left until after Scottish independence - but what’s done is done.
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