Why do the EU hold all the aces? - because they are united and we are divided and much, much bigger than us seems the obvious answer :wink:
On trade - whilst its true that we import more from them than they export to us the value in % terms is the other way around - we export around 13.5% of our total economy's value to them but import only around 3-4% of theirs. The value to us is being part of a tariff free customs union, on our door step, that has a population of >500 million. Being a member of such a large trading block also allows us to be party to great trade deals that we simply wouldn't have the leverage to negotiate on our own. The UK has benefited massively from membership. I grew up in the 70's so was too young to really notice the economy but its clear from the historical record that we were on in decline before joining and have improved massively since.
On EU State - We don't have to join the Euro,we don't have to join an EU Army (if such a thing comes to pass), we don't have to be a member of the Schengen area. We do have to concede freedom of movement but that has been a huge benefit to our economy! Of course being a member of this huge trading agreement brings obligations to follow a common set of rules - you wouldn't expect anything else would you? These rules are designed to promote fair trade, workers rights, consumer and environmental protections etc. We would want and need them even if we were not part of the EU.
I honestly don't believe people voted to be worse off and I have yet to hear a single argument that can explain just exactly which EU law they would like to change or that is doing us any harm. To bring an element of realism in here, does anyone think we can just throw the rule book out AND get a free trade deal with the EU?
A lot of the debate quite rightly centres on the economy but lets not forget that some parts of our Union voted to remain and that leaving risks the break up of it - is that what we wanted?
We have been let down by politicians and the media who very convincingly sold us the lie that it would all be easy and that we could stroll into the sunlit uplands of empire past. Endless sloganising designed to stop us thinking - "Take back control", "Brexit means Brexit", "You lost get over it", "Project Fear", "No deal is better than a bad deal" etc etc. It seems to me politics is broken and its very unclear how it can be fixed. It seems sensible to stop now and think again rather than plough on to an uncertain future that satisfies no one.
On trade - whilst its true that we import more from them than they export to us the value in % terms is the other way around - we export around 13.5% of our total economy's value to them but import only around 3-4% of theirs. The value to us is being part of a tariff free customs union, on our door step, that has a population of >500 million. Being a member of such a large trading block also allows us to be party to great trade deals that we simply wouldn't have the leverage to negotiate on our own. The UK has benefited massively from membership. I grew up in the 70's so was too young to really notice the economy but its clear from the historical record that we were on in decline before joining and have improved massively since.
On EU State - We don't have to join the Euro,we don't have to join an EU Army (if such a thing comes to pass), we don't have to be a member of the Schengen area. We do have to concede freedom of movement but that has been a huge benefit to our economy! Of course being a member of this huge trading agreement brings obligations to follow a common set of rules - you wouldn't expect anything else would you? These rules are designed to promote fair trade, workers rights, consumer and environmental protections etc. We would want and need them even if we were not part of the EU.
I honestly don't believe people voted to be worse off and I have yet to hear a single argument that can explain just exactly which EU law they would like to change or that is doing us any harm. To bring an element of realism in here, does anyone think we can just throw the rule book out AND get a free trade deal with the EU?
A lot of the debate quite rightly centres on the economy but lets not forget that some parts of our Union voted to remain and that leaving risks the break up of it - is that what we wanted?
We have been let down by politicians and the media who very convincingly sold us the lie that it would all be easy and that we could stroll into the sunlit uplands of empire past. Endless sloganising designed to stop us thinking - "Take back control", "Brexit means Brexit", "You lost get over it", "Project Fear", "No deal is better than a bad deal" etc etc. It seems to me politics is broken and its very unclear how it can be fixed. It seems sensible to stop now and think again rather than plough on to an uncertain future that satisfies no one.
