Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

You may have noticed that we have a pretty important election coming up on this tiny island just off the coast of Europe. In June (23rd I think) we get to decide if the UK stays in the EU or leaves to find its own place in the world. Those who know me well will know that I’ve already made my mind up on the issue. From what I’ve seen of the propaganda so far – surprisingly little considering the importance of the question – I have the feeling that people will vote to come out, because when you get right down to it people generally are pretty stupid.

From what I’ve seen/heard so far the OUT voters are focused on immigration, that great bugbear of modern politics. If we’re outside of the EU, they believe, we’ll have far more control over who comes into the country and it’ll be all carrots and apples from then on. Apparently leaving the EU will have no, or only minor, negative effects which can be compensated for elsewhere in the world. Of course what they’re missing is the mainland Europe is by far our largest trading partner. After we leave any agreements will either become null & void and will eventually lapse. The problem will be when the agreements are renegotiated – are they going to be identical in nature or worse? I hardly expect them to be better than before. Then there’s laws that have been written into UK law on the insistence of the EU as part of our membership agreement. Will they become null & void, simply ignored or actively repealed? You know, small things like the Working Time Directive which limits the number of hours someone can work and other things like, for instance, our signing up to the European Human Rights legislation. Will all that now be swept away? No doubt some out there couldn’t agree more. Why do we need to force companies not to employ people for ridiculous periods and who needs Human Rights anyway. After all they only get in the way of what we want to do so why not get rid of the whole lot of them. What could possibly go wrong?

I know at least two people in my team who will be voting OUT so I can at least cancel out on of their votes. If you’re a UK resident I’d definitely advise you to vote in this one. I missed the last one because I was too young and the decision in June is going to have huge consequences whatever the outcome. Don’t assume that one side or the other has already won (OK I did that at the start but I’m still casting my vote!). The media always pull shit like that and are then surprised by the real outcome. I don’t know what the rules are yet but I do hope that it’s not a simple majority. I think the bar should be at 66% or above to make it valid. Wasn’t the Scottish Referendum 75%?

Oh, and speaking of Scotland, it’ll be interesting to see if the overwhelming majority of English vote to leave and the majority of Scot’s vote to stay in. That, some have said, would prompt an automatic revote on Independence and I honestly don’t think that they’ll say No this time! I guess I might be retiring to Scotland in a few years…..