My thoughts post Brexit…

We have seen a pretty revolutionary moment in our history. This is the first time that a country has voted to leave the European Union… and I am quite pleased.

Let me make myself clear. Whether we left the EU or remained, the key issue is that we need to make the most of the situation that arose. If we had remained, we would have had to be proactive in assuring that we were in a position to enact reform. Now that we have left, we must be proactive in achieving the best terms that we can. In my opinion, we would have accepted the status quo had we remained and we would have been a part of a ‘sick’ organisation had we remained, not just because of EU bureaucracy, but also because of the nature of the relationship between the EU and the Eurozone.

Look, you cannot be a part of an organisation whose vested interests are in the currency union and NOT with the single market where it supposedly aims to uphold welfare laws, human rights laws and fair trade agreements. It simply cannot work. Take a look at the peripheral countries.

Let’s start with Italy.

Debt:GDP = 133%.
11.7% Unemployment
-0.3% Inflation (MoM)
36% Youth Unemployment

Spain:

Debt:GDP 99%
26% Unemployment
-1% Inflation (MoM)
45% Youth Unemployment

Greece:

Debt:GDP 177%
25% Unemployment
-0.9% Inflation
50% Youth Unemployment

To have a comparison, let’s fix for Germany and the Eurozone as whole:

Germany:

Debt:GDP 77%
4.2% Unemployment
0.1% Inflation
7% Youth Unemployment

Eurozone:

Debt:GDP 90%
10.1% Unemployment
-0.1% Inflation
21.1% Youth Unemployment.

Look at the data. The point I am trying to make here is how can you have so many varying economies within the Eurozone, firstly with the same monetary policy being attributed by the ECB, but secondly, invoking the same laws from Brussels (which also have a heavy impact on the economy; trade deals, free movement of labour etc)? It cannot work, and it has been proven to be ‘sick’.

What I find ironic is that Germany is the best performing country. They also have a massive trade surplus. I wonder why Merkel wants to keep the UK in the Eurozone, as well as all other states (800,000 cars are exported to the UK per year…). Contrast this with the Eurozone as a whole and you can see that Germany are way above the average, while the peripheral countries are well below it.

As a side note, immigration is not an issue for me. Immigrants since 2000-2011 have contributed a net surplus of £20bn to UK finances. Indigenous British people have a net deficit of £150bn to the welfare system.

What has really been made apparent as well, is the political fragility we have faced since 2008. We’ve had David Cameron resign, a huge split in the Tory Party with no real strong candidate for leadership being made apparent, 14 Labour Cabinet ministers resignations after Hilary Benn’s sacking and a call for Corbyn to step down, something which I feel he has to do firstly because he really didn’t argue his side during the campaign for remain and furthermore, was remain really his true feelings on the Brexit issue? I don’t think so, and this is why a vote of no confidence has been made. In terms of this, I feel that Brexit would allow for a new swathe of sovereign thinking to enter the House of Commons. We wouldn’t have Eurocentric opinion on trade and laws. What we would have is the independence to strike deals with China, India, South America, the US and Canada… which won’t take 7 years to complete…