Don’t be a Lemming and fall over the Brexit cliff

Paul Atkinson Shutterstock

European Union British Passport

IT IS a handy title, even though, those who have done their research will remember that the technicians on the Disney wild life film White Wilderness actually pushed the lemmings into a river using a rotating platform but the analogy about potential mass disaster is quite fitting in this context.

As time passes and we get ever closer to the date of the referendum on British membership of the European Union, so the statements from each side become somewhat more hysterical as former friends become future enemies in their passionate and often ignorant call for one side or the other.

What is however clear is that those who want to see Britain out, have opinions on what might happen and pin their hopes of those opinions being correct. It doesn’t help that they are led by a triumvirate of some of the least popular Tory politicians, the bitter failed former leader who is Iain Duncan Smith, demoted and smarmy Michael Gove and intelligent yet accident prone Boris Johnson.

Admittedly on the other side are the Eton boys supported in small measure by the Labour party and avidly on this one matter by the SNP but they do seem to have two things in their favour. Almost everyone of note in international politics and economics has spoken in favour of Britain remaining with the Union and at least some of what they say is true rather than sheer hypothesis.

Euro Weekly News as its name suggests rather likes Europe but there has been no censorship of any type in our newspaper so that writers, columnists and readers can express their opinions freely regardless of which side of the vote they fall, even if they are ineligible to actually vote because of the 15 year qualification period.

Despite all of the rhetoric and the expectations of hope that every EU member will be gentle in the event that Britain rejects their club, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that this will be the case.

Much as we like to think of a world in which everyone helps each other, when it comes to it, it will turn into every man for himself and to use an old cliché, is it better to be inside the tent looking out or inside the tent looking in?

People dream of the good old days when Britain led the world and the map was coloured red, but forget that the wealth of the Country was built on the back of slave labour, invasion and the cheap raw materials taken from the colonies.

The picture that accompanies this article depicts a red, (not good old blue) British Passport and if you look closely at the top, it says European Union in gold letters. If we leave when does that passport become invalid and is Britain capable of printing and issuing 50 million new passports in order to allow our people to travel? Perhaps the cost to each individual will be enough to clear the National Debt!

Everyone who does travel within Europe at the moment has the right to carry a free EHIC card which does guarantee an element of immediate emergency treatment within any member state. At least the insurance companies can enjoy the extra funds they will earn when that is no longer valid.

In the interim period before all of the treaties are signed between the other 27 members of the Union, plus many other countries in the world will we need visas to remain in Spain or nip over to France? Who knows and also, will we need work permits and will we be allowed to continue to own businesses in Spain?

The list of imponderable and unanswered questions is enormous yet the decision to remain or leave the Union is being entrusted to the average man in the street whose main knowledge of voting is for a contestant in Britain’s Got Talent.

In 1997, the D:Ream song ‘Things can only get better’ was used by the victorious Labour Party to usher in the Tony Blair decade and many pro Brexit campaigners believe this to be case but we did end up invading Iraq and being left with an empty Treasury from which Britain continues to suffer.

Those who can vote need to really think about what is actually known rather than what is fervently hoped for before casting their vote.

Written by

John Smith

Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica. Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene. Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development. Share your story with us by emailing newsdesk@euroweeklynews.com, by calling +34 951 38 61 61 or by messaging our Facebook page www.facebook.com/EuroWeeklyNews

Comments


    • Harry Dowling

      14 May 2016 • 09:57

      World crisis expert Chicken D Little has given a drastic warning that the sky will fall if the UK opts to leave the EU.

      Show me please the guesses and predictions of those who have a record for predicting events, such as the 2008 crash!

      The agenda of the doomsayers is crystal clear: don’t take the powers levers out of our hands, you’ll get it all wrong without our expert guidance. Just when (for us) everything was going along so well. Go back to sleep.

      I hope that enough of us will be wide awake 23 June to begin the reestablishment of democratic control in the UK.

      As for the economy the future always has appeared to us as full of imponderable questions. In fact that applies to both IN and OUT. But if we have the UK levers of power in UK hands at least we will have a chance to work in our own interests. The EU is not a static entity: it is speeding along an antidemocratic trajectory and it is an economic backwater on the world stage. It is time to leave the Titanic despite the assurances of its unsinkability and the fragility of our lifeboat.

    • Harry Paine

      15 May 2016 • 07:27

      Some very prominent”Remainers” have quoted “Treasury Figures” alleging that if UK exits EU,every household will be “loads of cash” worse off. Upon examination,it turns out that these are figures based for the year 2030,and contain a few “best guess” estimates in the calculations.The guesses have no account of possibles such as Greece,Portugal,Italy going bankrupt,no provision for unseeables such as being overwhelmed by huge increases in dependant immigrant populations : indeed,the calculations take no heed of immigrant figures. As such,the forecast of every household losing out by thousands is baseless fear tactics by the “Remainers”. I feel so angry that the spokesmen for Brexit have not challenged these figures. Do they feel incapable of going up against the likes of the gov. of the Bank of England,pus George Osb.,plus the disgraced (but still in favour)John Major?Plus the distinguished MEP Neil Kinnock? Time is running out to expose the lies…………….

    • peter fieldman

      15 May 2016 • 14:49

      There is too much hype. Before expat brits start packing their bags or getting ready to queue at the Ayuntamiento for resident’s permits, just think the so far nobody knows what will or might happen. The chances are given Britain’s political and economical importance, a special deal would be set out like Norway and Switzerland. Either way the EU needs major reforms to end the corruption, the waste and gravy train in Strasbourg, Luxembourg and Brussels where the Commission and parliament have forgotten they are supposed to represent the majority of Europeans.

    • pottsy189

      15 May 2016 • 17:48

      When Trump wins on the other side of the pond he will trade with the UK his spokesman said, so NO problem there !

    • Bob

      16 June 2016 • 04:18

      The EU has MEPs that the British population have had ZERO say in them being elected. That is not democratic. I do not believe all cultures are equal; look at being gay being illegal in Uganda and females not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia etc. Rich politicians and figures want more people to come into the UK to ensure their portfolios remain high, they can afford to live, buy, rent, work etc. far away from all the riffraff coming in to beg, work for peanuts, etc. For cultural and traditional reasons I am voting out. Plus the fact of Turkey and Serbia etc. joining!? Hell no. Out Out Out

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