10 Reasons I won't be voting for Brexit

10 good reasons why I’m not voting for Brexit

Since the July 23rd EU referendum date was called I’ve had a fair few debates and discussions with family and friends. What’s clear is that there are many benefits from the EU that are simply not being heard. Sadly, the level of debate in the UK press and media is appalling.

So what has the EU done for us and what has it done for Europe? Well I cannot pretend that everything the EU garden is rosy. But neither, for that matter, is my local council nor the UK government.

There are lots of web sites with useful information on the benefits of the EU. But here is a personal list of why I will be voting to stay.

1. We’ve stopped fighting each other

The Common Market was, in part, created by former World War Two adversaries to avoid ever fighting each other again. The EU has become a magnet for countries in Europe who want to join the club. During the 1990s and 2000s the desire to join the EU (for economic reasons) helped hasten the development of and secure democracy in the former Soviet satellites. This process is continuing with the likes of Croatia now joining the EU. Have there been any armed conflicts between any members of the EU? The answer is no. The UK being a member adds to the allure of the EU and helps this, at times awkward, club remain attractive. Leaving the EU would send a very bad message to countries on the margin. To my mind this is one of the key achievements of the EU that most young people probably take for granted. Let’s not jeopardise it just at a time the world needs as much stability as possible.

1. We are able to deal with crunchy environmental issues that cross country borders

If you care for the environment at all you should definitely want to stay in the EU. Common standards across the EU means businesses cannot move their operations to parts of Europe where pollution standards are lower (although clearly we cannot stop them moving to China).

Probably more importantly, a collective EU approach is needed to deal with many environmental conservation and protection issues. One country’s coal burning power station is another’s acid rain. One country’s unchecked development concreting habitats for migratory birds is another’s loss of species and habitats. This list could go on.

1. We’ve stopped overfishing in the North Sea

The anti-EU lobby have bizarrely often used the common fisheries policy as an example of the problems caused by the EU. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is probably only because of EU fisheries quotas that there are any fish stocks left at all in the North Sea. Funnily enough, fish don’t recognise national fishery zone boundaries. Without a mechanism for sharing and dealing collectively with fisheries stock they have would all be gone by now.

1. The EU has championed consumers for instance against the might of mobile phone operators

National governments tend to be pretty ineffective in dealing with multi-nationals and international business issues. The mobile roaming charges that phone operators were piling on overseas travellers in Europe were a disgrace. It took hard work by the European Commission to, eventually, force mobile operators to deliver a fairer deal to consumers. More recently, the EU has voted to require standardisation of phone chargers for all new mobile phones sold in the EU; a common sense measure which eliminates waste. Of course some businesses complained (as did UKIP incidentally), but that’s the point: it’s not anti-business but pro consumer.

1. The EU can and does stand up to US multi-nationals

Let’s face it, we may like using the products and services of firms like Apple, Google and Amazon, but in many respects the business practices of these US corporations suck. The EU competition commissioner can and does take up the cudgels against these firms. No government on their own would dare or hope to succeed. Indeed, national governments are tempted into sweetheart deals that provide unfair tax treatment and let firms off the hook. We need a collective approach here or each country gets picked off and taken to the cleaners.

1. The EU drove the liberalisation of the air enabling the development of low cost airlines

The creation of a single market for air travel within the EU is just one examples of the benefits that have come from the EU. The single market enables goods and services that are traded and moved across borders to be developed for the benefit of consumers.

1. Being in the EU helps tackle international crime and terrorism

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU. No more fraudsters and other criminals sunning themselves merrily on the Costa del Sol. Even Theresa May was persuaded of the benefit of this one!

1. The EU can and does improve safety and save lives

If you hear the words “packing directive” you might be forgiven if your eyes start glazing over. The European Toy Safety Directive ensures that all products manufactured or imported into the EU meet certain minimum safety standards. Without a common approach and standards it would be much harder to police and ensure that our children don’t start eating lead in toys or swallowing buttons etc. Yes the UK could go it alone, but it would be much harder and more costly to police.

1. The EU can make China (or the US) listen in trade discussions

The idea that the UK would be better placed to negotiate trade deals with the rest of the world if we were outside the EU is risible. Our economy is roughly just 16% of the whole of the EU’s. If we left the EU it would make the EU’s negotiating hand slightly weaker in dealing with the US or China, but it would make our hand a whole lot weaker, actually roughly six times weaker.

1. The EU helps safeguards workers’ rights

For me this is really important. The EU helps avoid a fight to the bottom in terms of employers’ ability to treat workers (that’s you and me) badly. Four weeks paid holiday a year, the 48 hour working week, anti-discrimination law, guaranteed rights for agency workers, guaranteed worker consultation — all of these protections exist because of the EU. Yes we could keep them if we leave the EU. But we could not guarantee they would not be chipped away elsewhere in the EU eroding this important minimum level playing field.

Finally, two other geopolitical reasons to stay in. First, Brexit might just lead to “Scotexit”. Second, do our friends and allies outside Europe really want us outside the EU club with therefore practically zero leverage on decisions in the world’s largest economic grouping