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This from Nick Stuart, Leader of the Isle of Wight Liberal Democrats. Ed
The United Kingdom is safer and richer in Europe. While Europe is better with British values and expertise.
Britain had an Empire than spanned the globe. And now those peoples have their own proud independence. We have a successful Commonwealth family with close links to the UK providing a critical component of our global reach. And in the last 50 years we have learnt how to work with the rich diversity in Great Britain delivering a mix of cultures, a flowering of artistic enterprise and a leading place in scientific excellence and innovative industry servicing the world. All of these require us to maintain the relationship with our closest neighbours.
Our Brexit spasms have made us a laughingstock
Great Britain has been a leading trading nation of the world for over 200 years out of necessity. We have been importing the food and resources we need for all those years and more than ever we need access to all our overseas markets.
We need the rest of the world to believe that Britain can offer services, ideas and goods that are world beating. To believe in our reliability and to know that we will trade freely. Our Brexit spasms have made us a laughingstock and damaged our reputation for fairness, professional capabilities and openness.
While a No deal Brexit threatens our livelihood’s our NHS, and our Government income. Which also means all forms of social security and pensions.
A dream of empire
BUT we are busy tearing ourselves up for some dream of empire, for some dislike of the controlling dictates of a European state, in communities damaged by a Conservative ideological austerity.
As if we are not a major part of the European family of democratic states, as if our liberal democratic ideals our enterprising culture and our different approaches to democracy and public administration are threatened by cooperation with other nations.
We depend on Europe for many things
Nearly half our trade is with the EU, only about 10% of theirs is with us.
We depend on Europe for medicines, for food, for machinery, for parts, for our major aerospace and space industries for the developing environmental industries; to sell our services in finance and business expertise.
Our NHS depends on Europe
We depend on Europe for people in the NHS, for the best academics who help propel our Universities to world beating excellence and staff our innovative enterprises.
Without Europe we would have no NHS dentists on the Island there is not a single UK dentist; in our leading island technology companies we rely on expertise from overseas.
Overseas investment has collapsed
We utterly depend on overseas Investment into the UK that supports jobs and industry, and that has collapsed by more than half.
All this while we have been arguing over what Brexit means and listening to the right-wing populist in Farage or the ruthlessly ambitious unreliable fantasist we have as PM.
Populist politicians building castles
So who is hurt by this spasm of concern over a supposed loss of sovereignty? Who gains from this trouncing of the EU family?
- I give you populist politicians building castles on some real concerns.
- I give you the rich financiers such as Rees-Mogg, industrialists and populist many of who have moved their money offshore, who are hurt by the EU clampdown on dodgy money.
- I give you hostile foreign powers who dislike a united prosperous and peaceful Europe.
There are problems in Europe, but we should not let those worries lead to the surgical amputation of our global legs or damage the security of the continent and the integrity of the UK, when direct engagement and fair policies can manage those issues.
The activities of our recent democratically elected MEPs show how to put the UK case. Although I hope they turn up rather more often than Nigel Farage!
Look at the facts
I have family and friends who think we should leave Europe; I have met other genuine people who are fed up of this continuing nonsense and even despair enough to want to leave. And I would like them to look at the facts.
The pound has crashed growth has now turned negative and our Universities, the NHS, our companies, our institutions, our security people all point out the damage of leaving Europe and the disaster of a no deal nonsense.
While I know personally that the dream of replacing our European trade with new partners is a fantasy. Shown up by the failure to replace all our current trade deals, let alone new ones.
Think again and vote to stop Brexit
If Boris Johnson follows Theresa May’s and breaks his firm promise not to have an election the most important decision for the Island is to think again and vote to stop Brexit.
