You cannot have the benefits without the membership
fee. You cannot shape the EU without the
membership card to get you in. You
cannot have the SM and CU without embracing the four freedoms. You cannot have the exact same benefits of EU
membership, SM or CU without being members.
The other option, No-Deal, contrary to public opinion does not mean we
remain as we are just not in the EU, it means we literally fall out of every
single treaty and framework agreement with no arrangements going forward. All the systems and regulatory and business-related
apparatus that we rely on to manage our complex economy and public services and
way of life will have to be rebuilt or remade in some form. Either way, May’s deal of the blind future or
no-deal of complete chaos, it will not be the end of Brexit. Either option will lead to many years of
arguing and negotiating and distraction when we could just be getting on with growing
our economy and shaping our futures at the top table with our friends.
It is time for us all to accept that the problem with Brexit
is Brexit. After 40 years of membership,
our systems of trade, of movement and, in our private lives, our mix of cross EU
relationships and families which have
grown and developed are all inextricably linked. Is that a bad thing given the enormous
benefit we have seen to peace and the improvements in the protections of
citizens in many areas and the fantastic opportunities that Freedom of Movement
has given us and of course genuine frictionless trade with access to FTA
agreements across the world beyond the EU?
Leaving is like trying to take the ice out of the ice cream so in the end
it just leaves a melted lukewarm mess in your bowl. It will leave our bank balances lower, our
futures more uncertain, our public services desperately damaged especially the
NHS which will become extremely vulnerable to becoming a two-tier system of
more health insurance vs a public
service struggling to make the budgets work and find enough staff. The NHS is already struggling in these areas. Brexit will make it worse.
I agree with Chris Matheson, in his thoughtful column on the
issue of Brexit recently and the dangers of no-deal and I am very glad he is
not prepared to compromise by agreeing to Mrs. May's bad solution. There is another way. We can choose to change our minds and remain. There is only one way we can legitimately and fairly
break this impasse. We need to have a referendum
and test the May proposition properly, a proposition which Parliament by the
looks of it cannot agree on and examine the costs and the consequences and the so-called benefits
to our lives. Then we need to re-examine
our EU membership by the same standard.
Then we need to decide whether May’s deal is what we really and truly
want.
@redalphababe
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