Europe
I wrote ‘EU Cannot be Serious’ in 1997 when there was a possibility that the UK might be about to join the Euro. My arguments against the EU and against joining the Euro are still valid today. More importantly now that Lisbon Treaty has been signed, the unelected Eurocrats in Brussels have succeeded in hijacking our constitution and our law-making process without the British people having a vote.
Many people believe that if we leave the EU we would be worse off because they argue we would lose a lot of our trade. This is absolute nonsense. The UK has a substantial trade deficit in goods and services with the EU. For example, in July 2009 it was £2.6bn and in August 2009 it was £2.3bn (source: Office of National Statistics). If we left the EU, the member countries would do everything possible to preserve trading arrangements with their biggest customer.
Our net contribution for being a member of the EU has been about £3bn per annum. This is due to rise this year to over £6bn as the special arrangement negotiated by Margaret Thatcher comes to an end. I cannot see what we get in exchange for this massive sum by being a member of the EU other than interference in our domestic affairs, our law and our way of life.
The Tories and Liberal Democrats seem to be in favour of staying in the EU arguing that David Cameron will stand up for our interests to help change Europe. He is no Margaret Thatcher and I believe he will be hopelessly outgunned by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Jim Slater