Saturday 25 June 2016

EU IN or Out?

What follows may annoy some, infuriate others whilst some may just sigh and say thats John all over but it is my personal opinion on the last 7 weeks or so of EU debate, resulting as we all know in the people stating that they want to leave the EU.

OK, for starters let me state that in my opinion both the leave and remain campaigns have been next to useless, neither has managed to get over the real reasons for staying or leaving the EU. It is, to be plain, an indication of how much the electrorate is treated with contempt by the ruling elite. I've seen posters that echo a nasty past, I've heard statements from both sides that are completely and utterly untrue, lies, lies and even more lies all designed to confused and infuriate the voter which has sadly resulted in 37% of the population holding sway over the rest and voting to leave.

I was geniunely shocked early Friday morning (watching the coverage) to see that Leave was coming first in so many towns and cities all over England, with the notable exception of my own area, an island of Remain yellow in a sea of Leave blue, London, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

I was all at sea yesterday, moribund, depressed, questions running through my head "what will happen next?, can the business survive?, is it worth continuing, seeing as we've been given about €200,000 in EU funding since 2013!

Last Leg In, Last Leg Out and Glastonbury last night lifted my mood and I've realised that what I had been saying to our EU partners was essentially correct.

I had said that the vote would be close and probably be to leave, armed with this mandate from the people the PM would go to Brussels and demand radical and wholesale change to the mechanisms that make up the EU and then he would hold a referendum 2 based upon a package of measures designed to persaude the British people to remain, and to counter the rising far right parties across the EU complaining about creeping federalism, immigration etc.

Once Referendum 2 was complete and the people had spoken then and only then (if the vote was to leave) would article 50 be invoked.

So in essence this referendum has NO legal status, it is not yet passed, the decision to leave the EU will not happen (if ever) for some time and this is why...

Cameron has stood down, his successor is likely to be Johnson or May, they will wish to hold a General Election to obtain a mandate to rule, the manifesto for this election will be fought over by leavers and remainers in the Conservative Party, the conclusion that the party will fight for a leave vote within Parliament is NOT assured.
Labour, whilst remaining unelectable under its current leadership would do well to campaign actively to remain in those areas where the "leave" vote was strongest and it has to be said in traditionally labour strongholds.

The result of the General Election will depend on who commits to remaining or leaving the EU.

Both parties should up their game when it comes to campaigning and this should be overseen by an independent watchdog with more teeth to endure that false and misleading claims cannot be published.

The people of the UK, have voted based upon lies, falsehoods, bigotry and racism to leave, a sensible parliament would heed the obvious discontent within the country and take steps to eradicate the problems, first off the bankers that caused the 2009 crisis should have all their assets sequested by the state and they themselves should be jailed, people smugglers should be given life sentences and have all their assets returned to the state, people in postions of power who misuse the power for personal gain should have all their assets removed and jailed (expenses scandal anyone?). No one should be in any doubt that the law is the law and it will be upheld.

All companies, big or small, local or international will pay the taxes that are due, the HMRC will not provide "sweatheart" deals that are opaque and secret, everybody who pays will be required to publish the details.

These are just two areas we should seek for redress, we should understand that taxes pay for infrastructure, health, safety, education and all those things that make a society, a community worth living in.

And the EU for all its bluster, the UK needs to start the exit proceedings now etc, can bloody well wait, this is too important a decision to act hastily, too important a decision to base upon the campaign lies, they would do well to begin the process of reform themselves, so that when the UK does make a binding decision is to remain in a club that is worth belonging to.

These are the PERSONAL views of Carbon3IT's MD and not of the company.