Monday 11 January 2016

What is #BRExit going to look like? - Part 1 - Leave.EU/Flexit

There is disquiet among many anti-EU campaigners - especially UKIP supporters.

The Leave.EU campaign (initially launched by UKIP financial backer Aaron Banks) has appointed Dr Richard North as a consultant on what UK's exit from the EU should look like.

Dr North has long promoted an idea of his own devising referred to as Felxcit (or Flexit) and he has acquired a bit of a following over the years as he had promoted the idea - details are available on-line, but broadly it is the 'Norway' option.

Unfortunately he and his supporters have a long track record of criticising and attacking UKIP, its supporters and Nigel Farage.

The contentious issues really boil down to three points:-
1) Payment of EU membership fees
2) Free-movement/Open-borders
3) The supremacy of EU law over UK law.

Flexit/Norway pay the EU fees (approx half of what full membership would entail), they have free-movement/open-borders, and they apply a lot of EU law (about 25% of it).

Looking at Leave.EU's own website they have a poll that lists these as the top issues for supporters of Leave! So the Flexit/Norway option fails to meet the top three aims of the people who want to leave(!)

- Half fees is an improvement
Assuming the EU don't just double the fees before applying the discount!

- Continued free-movement is a complete failure
Especially after the attacks in Germany over New Year - many of the perpetrators will get German passports and be free to move to the UK

- Cutting out 75% of EU law looks significant
Until you consider that just 100 EU Laws cost the UK economy £33bn a year, its not about %ages its about which laws!

So overall Flexit/Norway doesn't address the concerns of the majority of people who have said they want to leave the EU!

Flexit just doesn't look like 'out' at all - is this really support to Leave the EU ?

(first published at http://free-english-people.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/what-is-brexit-going-to-look-like-part.html)