I want us to trade with the continent, be friends with them, have plenty of student exchanges, free tourist travel, plenty of joint ventures and commercial agreements. We wish to enjoy the varied cultures of the European peoples, to share food and fellowship, and to ally together in common causes. None of this will cease if we leave the EU.
I also want us to be good Europeans. Many European people and most EU governments want to move more quickly and purposefully towards a governmental union. The UK does not wish to tread that path. That is why we should leave now. We are getting in their way, we are an obstacle to the completion of their single currency driven border free state they wish to create. It is not fair of us to slow them down and to complain of the cost, and not fair of the EU to imply the UK can keep her freedom and democracy whilst going along with the grand European project.
Some say the rest of the EU will not want to trade with us if we leave. This is absurd. All the senior contacts I have made over the years on the continent have no wish to impose new barriers against their lucrative exports to us, and understand that has to be a two way process. What need have either side of any new barriers when we leave? How would they be imposed under international law and WTO rules anyway?
Some say we could no longer travel freely and enjoy each other’s countries. That never stopped us before we joined the EU and I see no reason why it would when we leave. I see plenty of US and Japanese tourists on the continent though neither state is a member of the EU. Universities on both sides of the Channel will still be free to attract cross border students, and to undertake collaborative research, as we do with US universities today.
Some say the world will be a more dangerous place if we leave the EU. That is offensive to our partners. Germany will be no more likely to invade France or vice versa if we leave the EU than they are likely to with us in it. They are both peace loving democracies with post war habits of working together and avoiding new conflict. The worry is the EU’s wish to be a force in foreign policy with an ambition to build some kind of military presence could reduce stability. The EU’s record in eastern Europe is not encouraging.
Our balance of payments will improve on exit, as we cease the contributions we pay away. Our economy will be boosted by spending the net contributions we surrender on jobs and priorities here at home.
Above all we will become a free people with an independent democracy again.
June 22, 2016
One day to go to convince the doubters (but I need no convincing and anyway voted three weeks ago).
Whichever way the overall vote goes, I believe we have been well represented on the LEAVE side by a number of proponents, not least by John Redwood. JR has my gratitude for advocating most effectively for us all – well-researched facts and cogent arguments presented each day here in the blog and in speeches and writings elsewhere. Thank you.
June 22, 2016
“Whichever way the overall vote goes, I believe we have been well represented on the LEAVE side by a number of proponents, not least by John Redwood. JR has my gratitude for advocating most effectively for us all – well-researched facts and cogent arguments presented each day here in the blog and in speeches and writings elsewhere. Thank you.”
Hear, hear! I would like to second your comment and also add thanks to all the footsoldiers of the Leave campaign.
The Leave debaters performed very well last night – I’m optimistic that Mr Redwood will soon have a prominent role in Brexit negotiations to add to his workload.
June 22, 2016
My prediction: 65% turnout, Leave 56%, Remain 44%. Britain owes a great vote of thanks to Mr Redwood, a statesman of historic stature, to the incomparable and irrepressible Mr Farage, leading living example of the noble tribe of Agitator, and to Sir Bill Cash, who kept the flame of freedom alive when all others were on their knees to the Euro-Monster.
Tomorrow is Independence Day. “Gentlemen in England now abed will think themselves accursed they were not here …” etc etc.
Vote early. Vote often. Vote Freedom..
June 22, 2016
Well said.
June 22, 2016
I couldnt agree more with your comments , John. I want exactly what you (and I suspect most other people) want. I have no animosity against Europe and Europeans at all. They are our friends as far as I am concerned.
However, I feel we cannot continue to be told what to do in so many aspects, by the EU. Therefore I shall vote OUT on Thursday. I shall do so with a heavy heart, as I wish it was something I didn’t have to do, but I see no alternative if we are to get any kind of control of our own country, and try and protect at least some of our heritage for future generations.
June 22, 2016
Sorry Mr Redwood I don’t want to be a good European I want to be a Great British citizen, I have nothing against Europe in fact I love it after spending a lot of my holidays in Europe, I just want to be in there gang.
I watched the tv debate last night and was that the best the inners could come up with, they reaily don’t understand the mood of the people outside of London, I’m a northerner and proud of my country the inners are not, they don’t mind giving our once Great country away to Brussels, the inners need to get out more and passed the Watford gap and not to a collection of selected inner voters, the gang of three inners lost the battle with the gang of three outers last night especially when the inners resorted to call the outers liars, hopefully the Great British public will see pass all the lies and scare stories the inners have spouted and vote for Independence Day on June 23rd this is going to be our greatest day and hopefully a bank holiday every June 23rd
VOTE OUT
June 22, 2016
Good morning.
I mentioned sometime ago that there was another side to this debate concerning our membership which was never acknowledged let a lone discussed. The UK’s membership by some on the continent is seen, quite rightly I feel, to be a barrier to further integration. This, in my opinion, was used by Germany as a way to forestall them having to make financial transfers to other parts of the Eurozone, something that they did not want to allow as part of their adoption of the Euro, which is why the Euro is such a complete disaster and, if gone unfixed, will lead to further hardship.
When the Germans talk about austerity as the only measure to cure the dire financial problems of the Eurozone, what in truth they mean is; “You pay for it, we won’t !” What if England did that to other parts of the UK ? How would they feel about being part of something that they clearly are not benefiting from ? I would argue that that would be a cause of the breakup of the UK, as so to will it be of the EU.
So leaving the EU might actually save it in the long run. Germany will, of course, no longer have the UK as a shield to hide behind. She will be out numbered and out gunned. The French and all the others will demand and accelerate FULL UNION. In the long term, the EU will recover and jobs and business will grow. Immigrants in the UK may return and pressure on our services etc will ease. If only people would be sensible about it and see leaving as a positive thing for EVERYONE.
It is such a shame that the official and unofficial Leave groups could not put this small, but important fact before the people of this country sooner.
An opportunity now well lost I fear.
June 22, 2016
Your last sentence sums it all up for me John. No longer shackled to the dictatorship of the EU will be the biggest bonus for us all.
June 22, 2016
I have just enjoyed a long conversation with my old school friend in Sonning . We reviewed the referendum campaigns’ happenings of the past week and the leadership of this country . We were both agreed that , no matter what the outcome , Cameron has to go . He has deceived us in so many ways and will continue to do so if he remains in office ; Article 50 will be utilised to the benefit of the EU and will be manipulated by Cameron to prevent a straightforward exit were “Leave” to succeed . In any event the Conservative Party now faces a major task in re-building itself in good time before the General Election during which time a credible Leader has to be found and prove himself/herself .
We both regretted the lack of co-ordination throughout the campaign of the “Leavers”; Farage should have been included ; some of his utterances would have more effective if he had been in the inner sanctum and his negatives controlled .Certainly Daniel Hannan ought to have been featured more in the public debates . Another severe criticism has been the bias of the BBC – they did not maintain a required neutrality.
Overall we concluded that the campaign has destroyed whatever credibility Cameron had featuring him as the object of disgust .
June 22, 2016
I agree very much about the lack of inclusion of, Dan Hannan. Not always my favourite politician but a first class speaker.
As for the BBC, I have just given up. Just vote with your wallet / remote. It is the only solution.
June 22, 2016
Sky has been even worse than the BBC. Both have suppressed all serious discussion of and information on the EU question, and also suppressed all news connected with it, i.e. all bad news from the Continent and particularly the movements of African and Asian migrants which they had been happy to show before.
Most shameful of all has been the PM’s singlehanded destruction of Anglo-Turkish relations. Does he think we are stupid and the Turks are deaf? These good relations were vital to both countries’ interests and had taken generations to build up. Both countries are better off out of the EU and stronger together in NATO. I hope you Mr Redwood or others will do something to repair the damage. The ambassador in Ankara must be tearing out his hair. After all, the Turks, unlike Mrs Merkel, have rather a good-sized army. Perhaps that is why she wants them in the EU.
June 23, 2016
Clearly Cameron does indeed think the voters are stupid enough to be conned by the BBC, threats from IHT ratter Osborne and professional liars, the fake “experts”, Obama, the Universities and all the various tentacles of the establishment. Looking at the betting odds now he seems to have been quite right.
The legacy of Jo Cox’s tragic death (and the remains sickening milking of this) seems to be the end of UK democracy. It seems that Britains not only will be slaves they will vote for it if the BBC and some professional liars tell them to.
Or at least the end until we get back to a proper Tory+UKIP party that will take us out.
Are the voting public really so daft as not to see that they will now be walked over by the EU. So daft as not to see that at the very least a better deal would have ensured from a leave vote? It seem they are, I am rather surprised.
Without the MPs death, the BBC propaganda and with a sensible leave leader as PM the vote for leave would have overwhelming. The country is still essentially for out on a level playing field anyway. That will not change it will now become even more so.
June 22, 2016
Where has Dan Hannan been for the last month ?
He should have been with Boris on the stage at Wembley – I would have rested the excellent Andrea in favour of Dan as he would have made mincemeat of that Scottish Tory creature.
As for the useless woman from the TUC, she was a huge embarrassment for the Remain side.
June 22, 2016
Bert,
I think it is worse than that. I think Mr Cameron has acted like a school bully along with his sidekick Mr Osbourne.
Government’s role is to implement the wishes of the electorate, not to threaten them and bully them into accepting a PM’s agenda.
As I have posted elsewhere here on My MP’s blog, if Mr Cameron and Mr Osbourne thinks my generation will be intimidated into accepting effectively foreign rule, for the sake of two hundred pounds winter fuel payment and a free bus pass, they are even more out of touch than I thought they were in the first place.
It is BECAUSE we’re thinking of our children and grandchildren’s future that we will be voting leave. What Mr Cameron forgets is that we can all remember what life was like in the UK pre 1972. We all want to trade with others but, we don’t want to be ruled by them.
It is my opinion that, a nation should be run for it’s people, not for businesses. The big companies who have backed remain have done so for self interest namely, cheaper labour and to keep their influence over the bureaucrats in Brussels. These people do not have to worry about school places or seeing a doctor or affording homes, they’re doing very well thank you very much.
Now to clarify, business and jobs are important but, people are more important.
We need to get a real Conservative in Number Ten and hopefully, that will happen this weekend once we’ve voted leave in bigger numbers than the polling companies and the media can ever imagine.
June 23, 2016
You say “Government’s role is to implement the wishes of the electorate, not to threaten them and bully them into accepting a PM’s agenda.”
Not alas with Cameron and Osborne. They clearly see their rolls as ones of serial liars, serial ratters, conning them, threatening them and tricking them. Using their taxes to pump them with propaganda and lies even milking an MP’s tragic death to that end. It seems they have probably succeeded.
June 22, 2016
another shortcoming of the Leave campaign was the failure to take control of the subject of the environment. The EU has inflicted diesel on us, and huge great lorries, OTT packaging, especially environmental oestrogen inducing plastic, and noise pollution; but most of all it has compelled us to conrete over our countryside. There isn’t a town or village in Southern England which isn’t under siege from the developers. Our green belt has had it. These islands can sustainably support a population of about 30-35 million, which we could have arrive at naturally had it not been for mass immigration. The EU extremist Caroline Lucas masquerades as an ecologist but never mentions population. It is no good her and Jeremy Corbyn saying pollution doesn’t know boundaries and that we have to work with other countries: the cleanest countries in Europe are Norway and Switzerland. First clean up your own act and then try to rule the world.
June 22, 2016
It should be asked why instead of making the case, one way or another, for being a Good European,we are not making a parallel case for we being “Good English Speaking Worlders”.
Despite US involvement in World War Two as our main ally, throughout my childhood in a rock solid Labour Industrial area but indeed through the wider media, I was bombarded by anti-American sentiment. They were to referred to as “Them Yanks” ” Big Heads” ; “Oversexed, overpaid and over here.” and other things even more blatantly in utter violation of our present laws relating to racial abuse. “American Financiers”, “American Business men” were used in Labour and Trades Union circles in rants and chants against capitilism where if one changed the words to ( other groups or minorities or religions ed) then the wrath and invective and filthy accusations based on Hate would become more clear. Indeed, euphemisms such as “Bankers” and “International Financiers” are still used predominantly in labour circles almost always accompanied with a nasty wicked sneers . Well we should know which nationality they are in the majority hitting with their hate.
We British have much more in common with Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders than any other people on Earth. Lots of us live there too.
So, it is remarkable we are having a debate at all about whether we wish to stay or leave the EU where none of these peoples and nations are represented a all. Weird, rather than remarkable, in fact.
Weird we have not joined say, if in existence, a Common Market or English-speaking Union ( ESU ) of UK,USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Our politics are bent, weird, strange, odd. Bizarre.
June 22, 2016
Most people in say Malaysia or Japan would not thank you for calling them a Good Asian or even a Bad Asian.
Most people living in The Republic of South Africa or Nigeria would not shine to you calling them a Good African or a Bad African
Most people living in Mexico or Peru would not take kindly to you calling them a Good or Bad South American.
I am neither a Good or a Bad European.
I do not aspire to be a Good or a Bad European.
I am British, good or bad, that is my business,but British for all that.
June 22, 2016
I don’t often think of myself as being “European”. “British” and “English” jockey for the top position, with “European” a long way behind. I have nothing against Austrians, but I still feel that in general I have more in common with Australians even though they are on the other side of the world. I can see that where geographical proximity is the deciding factor then we should concentrate more on our nearest neighbours and I have no problem with doing that when it is appropriate, but the fact is that nine out of ten people live outside the EU and I think eurocentric attitudes can become unhealthy. Back when there was debate over whether we should scrap the pound and use the euro Michael Heseltine once came out with a statement which I saw as absurd then and see as absurd now – that nobody still thought of the French and the Germans as “foreigners”. Well, I do, and a lot of other people do as well; that doesn’t mean that there is any antagonism, just a sense of difference which is legally reflected in citizenship and with that allegiance. We have had a proto-federal “citizenship of the Union” thrust upon us without so much as a by your leave, having been denied a referendum on the Maastricht Treaty, and I earnestly hope that tomorrow’s vote will see the beginning of the end of that travesty.
June 22, 2016
I have just finished watching the terrible ITV programme compèred by Jeremy Paxman. What a total waste of my time; I would have been better engaged going out to the pub.
I regret to say that I feel that the Remainers have won, the tide has turned in the last few days, and I think that there are three main reasons: (a) the unfortunate £361m per week claim, despite the fact that it was derived from the Treasury website, (b) the dreadfully sad death of the MP, Jo Cox,which really has been used for political purposes and (c) the UKIP poster.
What shall we all talk about next week?