Loading ...By Jim Mellon 23 February 2016
Despite David Cameron’s embarrassing imitation of Oliver Twist in Brussels last week, his negotiations ended up mired in the minutiae of trivial amendments to the UK’s relationship with Europe. Small restrictions to child benefit and vague wording about exemption from a common currency and “ever closer union” are the thin gruel that our hapless Prime Minister is now presenting to the nation as evidence that he has achieved real reform.
It was not really his fault that he had to deal with such meaningless drivel. Since he had to get agreement from the 27 other member states on every single point, it was inevitable that his initial demands would be diluted. But will these issues really be at the forefront of people’s minds when they vote on 23 June? Certainly not.
In Brussels last week, I was presented with “facts” by an EU official (who presumably believes them) suggesting that Britain was bust, a lagging economy, and poorer than France. As an economist and a businessman with extensive interests in the EU, I know the opposite to be true. The UK is really the only dynamic large economy in Europe, enjoys superior growth, lower unemployment, and has a per capita GDP that is significantly higher than that of France and Italy.
Some might argue that the UK’s superior economic performance is because we are in the EU, but I contend the opposite. Without the net transfers of wealth that we make to the EU on an annual basis, without the red tape that comes with being a member, and without the inevitable compression of wages that occurs because we must take in all comers, the UK would grow even faster.
Powerful arguments have been made for leaving the EU by a wide range of people, and I don’t mean to repeat them here, but rather to emphasise three points that I believe to be highly potent in forming an opinion on the matter.