Brexit

One of the most talked about topics on the news at the moment is surrounding the up and coming referendum here in the UK known as Brexit. In another month the UK public will decide if they wish to be part of Europe or take power back. Current polling shows a pretty even split so its hard to call what will happen. Rather than commentate on the issues of Brexit I have decided to focus on if the UK was to leave would there in fact be any change. Also a number of left wing commentators who were once anti EU have now become pro EU and I want to discuss the delusions they have, specifically they believe we can reform it and create a left wing movement (despite most people in Britain would not want such a thing).

First thing to ask is will the vote have any impact? Well if we decide to stay in then things will just be the same as now with the UK subservient to many EU directives and laws. People think we can change Europe moving forward but I will explain later why I think this is naive. So to enact change then a vote to leave is the only option to say to the EU that Britain wants its own Sovereignty back. However even if there was a majority vote to leave I can see this being watered down. The UK is such a major part of the EU that I'm sure officials will try and push the UK back into membership or with a looser affiliation. This may be subtle to begin with so people don't make too much of a fuss but over time the bonds will grow back once more. Or I can see the UK claiming to have left but then the EU deciding to penalise the UK in other areas. This would potentially draw the UK back towards the EU once more as the remainer's argue that we should return. In short even a vote to leave may not result in the UK truly leaving the EU over the long term.

There are some people on the left, most notably Jeremy Corbyn the Labour leader, who are now arguing to remain as part of the EU who were once anti-EU. These people are big on democracy and once said regarding the EU that it removes democracy from the people. They are quite right on this, the EU gives its citizens virtually no power of what laws are passed and who stands there. They are all unelected and give statists ultimate power, indeed this is a politicians dream to have the reigns to power without being voted in by the people. Many on the left have now taken a U-turn on this, claiming that they can reform the EU. I am slightly sceptical as we have been a member of the EU for decades now and have done next to nothing to "reform" it. David Cameron recently tried to negotiate terms for British interests and literally got no where. Now if a mainstream-middle-of-the-road-ex-etonian politician couldn't get any meaningful change then what chance does someone on the more left of the political spectrum have?

Even if (a big if) they could obtain reform how would they determine what the right reform was?They may want more rigid employment laws, more nationalisation, workers rights and so on but that doesn't mean the British people want it. Then if they were to be able to obtain such a reform how easy would it be to reverse for the British people if they wanted to do away with them at a later date?

The idea that we can reform Europe for everyone's wants - 500 million people - is absurd. Even when we examine politics at a national level it is absurd. For example if I illustrate the way I and many others currently vote. Every 5 years I get a chance to vote. Any dissatisfaction between that time period then there is nothing I can do. Then when I get to vote I have one vote out of thousands in my current parliamentary seat where I live. Realistically many of us know that only Labour or the Conservative will get power so only bother voting for these parties. My seat is currently a safe Conservative one. It is so safe that it has never not been Conservative in its history; my single vote is not going to change that especially considering the majority it currently has. Then all these seats are added up, many of us live in safe seats that never change and have no say in the political process. Even for people that live in swing seats who vote for either of the two major parties make a single decision when in reality each party contains a host of issues. You may agree with points from Labour and points from Conservative but you can only vote for one, meaning you don't really get what you want. Regardless of who we vote for, only around 25% of eligible voters actually voted for the current Government, many of which probably disagreed with them on many issues but thought they were better than the other options. We then all have five years of disappointment as inevitably nothing really changes then we go through the whole process again.

Contrast this with buying a phone. I can read other consumer reviews. I can buy one whenever I want. I can sell my old one whenever I want. I can return my newly bought one if I'm not happy. I can do this as frequently as I wish. My decision will directly affect me therefore it is far more rational that people spend more time researching a phone then bothering listening to politics because in reality democracy gives you no say. The way to empower the masses is to give them consumer sovereignty, whereby people can make decisions that directly affect them. Democracy is nothing more than initiating force on others so long as there is a majority. 25% voted for the current Government and of the 25% I bet many are upset at stuff they have done.

So where do I stand on the issue of Brexit? For a change I'm planning to vote and will vote out. I don't believe in any centralised form of rule but the EU is a joke and even further removed than the UK parliament. I would like to give the consumer complete sovereignty and a step closer to the UK is a start. The left have fallen into their classic authoritarian nature and are saying that people do not matter, only the will of some super state somewhere. How these people parade themselves as liberators or voices of the people is beyond me, they are quite simply tyrants. They don't want you to have a say in your affairs instead they patronise the masses at every turn. They say they support democracy but are quite happy pushing it further towards the EU so they can remove the voter away for their own personal desires.

We need to leave the EU. We need to put power closer to the people. If you want to follow the establishment then go ahead vote to stay. But if you want to say I've had enough and want accountable power then vote leave. Send a message to those in power that people; not unelected politicians should decide what matters. British people can trade with anyone in the world. We have a common sense, decent, polite manner that is the envy of the world, hence why we have such huge net migrant levels; 300,000 people wanted to live here last year rather then leave. They wanted to live here not because we are a member of the EU but because of our values. We have thriving tech, finance, and pharmaceutical sectors to name a few. Economically we easily stand on our own. The EU needs us more than we need them.