WGPlus (Archive)

Editorial Commentary:  Brexit would ‘lead to armed conflict’?

Having read / listened to an onslaught of comments from the IMF, POTUS, etc. over the past few weeks and now being told by our own PM that Brexit would ‘probably lead to collapse of the EU’ and ‘increase the risk of Europe descending into war’, one has to wonder why all these people/organisations didn’t try harder to meet Mr Cameron’s original fairly minor requests for treaty change last year. 

This latest Project Fear’ assault was accompanied by a one-sided announcement on potential whiskey tariffs (Defra:  Leaving the EU could put scotch whisky exports on the rocks).   No mention about EU countries potentially losing one off their biggest export markets for wine as, due to UK tariffs, we would all switch to New World, etc. wines that would be cheaper (Could be a ‘driver’ for a quick tariff deal there one suspects!)

If the UK is so essential to the ‘peace & ongoing harmony’ of a successful ‘growing ever closer’ union why did they not try to meet our wishes for change even halfway?  One is inclined to the view that; ‘Perhaps the PM and his Remainers doth protest too much’ (with apologies to the Bard).

While there are many ‘unknowns’ with Brexit, we can anticipate what our future will be in an EU moving to full political & monetary union (Roadmap to a ‘Fiscally’ United Europe and PC&PE:  Completion of Economic and Monetary Union 'unlikely' by 2025), with the UK outvoted & sitting on the margins with little influence as millions of recent immigrants (now full EU residents) legally seek work in the UK. 

In some respects ‘Leavers’ are like the 18th & 19th century emigrants who sailed to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.  They cannot be totally SURE of the future that awaits us on leaving our ‘known world’, but they are pretty sure that (in the long-term), it will be better than what the future will hold if we remain in the EU.

One final point; During the Scottish referendum, the ‘full might’ of two separate Government press organisations/budgets was utilised to put the opposing claims of the Scottish Government (Project Wishful Thinking) on one hand and the UK government (Project Fear) on the other. 

However, during the current EU referendum there is only one viewpoint being put with the full resources of a government press organisation (Project Fear).  Voters might like to reflect that the greater volume of announcements on behalf of the ‘Remain’ camp may not, therefore, be due to a number of irrefutable facts supporting that point of view, but rather a greater capacity to make assertions – often unsupported by detailed information for voters to analyse.

Researched Links:

10DS:  PM speech on the UK's strength & security in the EU: 9 May 2016

Editorial Commentary: Examining the ‘sacrificial entrails’ of past promises & current announcements to anticipate the 2030+ future

Ensuring the safety of the UK

Does anyone know the size of the problem over the next 5 years?

Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story