...Today is very important; more important, in fact, than some people realise. We are deciding the future of our country and could be taking it down a path we may regret choosing later on.
I am, of course, talking about the EU Referendum, and it may come as no surprise to many of you that I am for Remain (or Bremain, if you will; by the way I coined the term "Brexiteer" and I want to know which cheeky wotsit stole it from me!). I whole heartedly believe that we are better off financially, safer, more secure and better served by remaining in the biggest union and single market the world has ever seen.
There are, however, certain points that need reiterating as I have done time and time again in streets in the South-East over the last few weeks, points that burst a few Brexit bubbles which are common concerns amongst people in the streets of South-East England, and I mean genuine concerns, not the ramblings of the 5 or 6 loons who give Brexit a bad name by yelling the most obscene things at me in a very public place (including my desire to bring in Sharia Law across Britain... previously unknown to even myself, so I'm glad that individual clarified MY opinion for me... I digress). No, I'm talking real concerns about immigration, public services and democracy. First I will burst each Brexit bubble and then say why I'm voting Remain vis-à-vis each of the three issues.
1. Immigration: People want control(s), plain and simple, I get that, even if I disagree with the reasons some people say control is needed, I get that control is important. However, would leaving the EU really give us the plethora of controls the commanders of the HMS Brexit (especially Commodore Farage) claim? Fact: more than half of our immigration numbers are from non-EU countries, i.e. the rest of the world WITH WHOM WE ARE NOT IN POLITICAL UNION. So if we are not in political union with the rest of the world and cannot control our borders for non-EU nationals then why would leaving the EU change our EU immigration numbers? It kind of follows that the reason control is lacking is due to the poor management of our borders by successive governments and underfunding by said nitwits. They are entitled to; after all, we are not in the Schengen no-border zone! If anything, Brexit would increase numbers for 6 months as we enjoyed our grace period of free-movement of people. Hashtag, just saying...
The reason, then, that I am voting Remain re: immigration is for exactly the reason Tim Farron has stated time and again these last few months: "Immigration is much more a blessing to this country than it is ever a curse!" Three of my great-grandparents were immigrants and that even shows in my appearance (so everyone tells me) and we should be proud of how our country has existed as a melting pot and become a kind of 'Liquorice Allsorts' [other confectionary is available] of a country where we are all similar, sharing similar traits, yet all importantly different in all the right ways.
2. Public Service strain: This kind of comes off of the back of immigration, whereby the troubles in our NHS, the extra demands on our police and the greater demand on school places are the result of higher demand from foreigners. This infuriates me as it is fuelled by our irresponsible press industry and the right-leaning parties in this country, which also leads to the rise of elements like "Britain First", the least British organisation you could possibly hope to find (did they learn nothing from the BUF?... Politicians in uniform is plain weird and it doesn't go down well with our tea and biscuits!) No, the main cause of our struggling public services is due to the fact that for the last 30 years it has been woefully underfunded due to the glorious example set by one administration during the 1980s (guess who). Too much was being spent before in the 1970s and then when you show how a body can do with less, you enjoy the savings and continue to penny-pinch until, 30 years later, your spending 80% of what you should be to fund a vital part of your country's infrastructure. Example - The NHS. Simon Stevens (NHS England Chief Exec) said the NHS needed £8bn NOW at the last election... the Conservatives promised (and I believe them) the £8bn, but drip fed over five years... not NOW as it is needed, but steadily teased in in such a way that makes it more palatable to the Exchequer, but not to the masses who need that medical attention.
So why vote Remain when we could spend the £250m per week on the NHS? [Note I did not say £350m as that figure has continuously adorned Vote Leave literature despite being told by the UK Statistics Authority {Not some nasty EU killjoy} that the figure was potentially misleading and should not be used.] Well first, if you think, Boris, Gove and Farage want to spend that cash on the NHS then I'm sure you'll find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Secondly, the economics kick in here. If 90% of economists predict recession if we leave, they are probably right; if 90% of people tell you something, it is probably right, full stop. In terms of our GDP, it only requires a 0.6% decrease to wipe out the money we would save from leaving the EU and we are predicted as decreasing by more than 1% if we leave, so there goes that saving and some more to boot! It only stands to reason, therefore, that by remaining, we keep our economy as strong as it could be, which therefore leaves more money to spend on the NHS.
3. Democracy: Here I have less of a case, undeniably. The EU is far from perfect, I'm the first to say that. It is undemocratic in the way the Commission works at the top as a quasi-executive and I think it should change (more on that in a bit). If you think, however, that handing more power to British institutions is more democratic, think again. Our civil service is less accountable than Brussels', MEPs are voted in on a far more democratic system than Westminster MPs (the only reason we put no stock in our MEPs is because there are vast numbers of UKIP MEPs who have no constructive contribution to make and just poo-poo everything because their raison d'etre is making sure the EU looks as bad as possible; MEPs can do good, look at what Catherine Bearder has achieved re: human trafficking and environmental issues) and finally we have a second chamber in Parliament filled with 800+ unelected Lords who cost us £300 per day, each. Frankly, I'd also not want to hand yet more power to the current administration who seem intent on stripping the fabric of this country bare, but that's another story for another time.
The benefit of voting Remain on democracy is that, actually, we do achieve in Europe, sometimes even on bad things, such as asking the EU to lower the benchmark for clean air so that we can meet it... Nice going... lets keep our slightly filthier air...
And, most importantly, and this is the thing for me, how in the name of sanity do you make something better by running away from it? What doctor ever cured a patient by throwing their hands in the air and running out of the Hospital? What footballer ever scored a goal by running into the changing rooms when a corner was being taken at the other end? [Not even Raheem Sterling is THAT unlucky] Which war did we ever win by not doing anything at all? This country has always been at its finest over the last 1000 years by rolling its sleeves up and getting stuck in to something in an effort to make things better than before. Fundamentally, we should be Leading Europe, not Leaving it. Domesday Book, Agincourt, the Glorious Revolution, Trafalgar, the Second World War; any supposedly insurmountable challenge this country has ever faced has always been conquered, always achieved, but by taking an almighty deep breath and saying "Come on, lets sort this out!"
That is why I will be voting Remain today, because I believe in Great Britain and its ability to sort out even the most almighty mess, using nothing but elbow grease, sang-froid and a cup of tea and some biscuits!
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