Politicians are trusted less than
Estate Agents, in fact in a recent Ipsos-Mori Poll just 21% of Britons trust
politicians to tell the truth.
People see politicians as
self-serving people who are more interested in their own well-being, or that of
their party, rather than the well-being of the constituents they are elected to
serve. Yet whatever the inherent character flaws of those who seek elected
office and while sometimes they lack common sense and a grasp of the reality
facing their constituents, their overall level of education and intelligence is
undoubtedly good.
Given that why is there such a
divide amongst politicians over whether the UK should remain in or leave the
EU?
The answer must be that the
difference between remaining or leaving is a fine one.
After all if there were a really
strong argument for one or the other the vast majority of Conservative
Politicians (the Labour Party has yet to truly show its splits!) would be
firmly in the one camp. Yet we have heard tales of Cabinet members
soul-searching in deciding which side of the line to support, something that
would be unnecessary if there were a truly clear argument for in or out.
If the benefits of being in or out
of the EU is such a fine line then the debate needs to reflect the reality of
that fine difference, the people of the UK need to be informed accurately and
given real facts.
However, politicians have quickly
reverted to type, pumping out spin and scare-mongering.
For example, the IN camp, “If we
leave the EU we will be heading into the unknown” not quite true, we know how
the EFTA countries operate with the EU, we know how countries outside the
Economic Free Trade Area operate with the EU, studies have been conducted to
see how the UK can operate outside the EU. It is no more a leap into the
unknown than staying within the EU where changes by other members can impact on
the UK. “UK security will be threatened” again scare-mongering, all Nations
benefit from cooperating whether or not they are members of the EU, as a nation
we cooperate with others outside the EU and even if the people choose to leave
the EU we will still be members of NATO where much of the security cooperation
takes place.
On the other hand the OUT camp
will tell us “leaving the EU will help us control our borders”, the problem
there is that any free trade agreement with the EU will inevitably include a
requirement to accept the free movement of people and it does not address the
issue of illegal immigration. The “jungle” outside Calais will not disappear
because Britain has left the EU. Or “Britain will save “£55 million a day by
leaving the EU” now while that may be the amount of the UK’s contribution claiming
that would be the saving is pure bunkum, firstly there would need to be an army
of bureaucrats employed to negotiate/re-negotiate and maintain the number of
global trade agreements that the UK would need to operate outside the EU, then
there are the subsidies by the EU which Britain will need to continue
independently in order to ensure the competitiveness of British businesses.
As a nation we need to make an
informed decision which means we need those campaigning on both sides to drop
the spin, the scare-mongering and the self-serving desire to be on the winning
side. The choice between IN or OUT is a fine one and it is those fine details
that need to be debated, openly and honestly, those elected to serve us need to
start winning back our trust and that can only be achieved by making this
debate one which truly informs the electorate who will be making this decision.
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