Letters: June 21, 2016

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See positives of the EU

ONCE again I see my name in a Brexit letter (Greg Heathcliffe, June 16); nice to be popular!

And once again the thrust of the letter is against the function of the Brussels Parliament. I wonder, has Greg heard of the Barnett Formula? It refers to relationships between Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England. It is part of our 200-year union of the United Kingdom. Perfect? Of course not! Workable, I think it has continued to evolve over the centuries quite well. It’s called change.

Greg touches on the HM Government document issued to all households in the land; note it is from the Government, not the Remain campaign.

I don’t know if he remembers the first EU referendum organised by Harold Wilson in 1975. I do. I think we may have to blame the Harold Wilson government for setting the precedent for information booklets. Edward Heath signed the European Treaty in 1973 without, I believe, much information. There was some discontent in the land and Harold ran the referendum.

In Greg’s opinion the ‘British contingent’ of 73 MEPs has little ‘influence’, that is why they work with other like-minded members within the parliament. Did you know that the 24 UKIP members and the 19 Tory members voted against the EU legislation to stop tax avoidance? Just a pointer.

There is a huge myth circulated by the Brexit camp that we can take back ‘control’. Nonsense! Even Nigel Farage admits he has ‘no idea’ what will happen after Brexit. In an early letter I wrote ‘Who in their right mind would jump into a black hole with Boris?’ I ask again, why has Boris bought water cannons?

Now look at some positives:

1. Our net contribution to EU is £136m a week; about 1p in every £1 of UK tax.

2. If we vote to leave, the UK’s membership of the EU ends; no second chance.

3. The UK reached an agreement in February 2016. This agreement allows the UK to opt out of aspects not in our interest; eg we will not join the Euro, we will keep our own borders, the UK will have tougher access to the welfare system. It’s called change.

4. The UK requires a strong economy, if we leave the EU market our public services would be cut, therefore the NHS and social services would be cut.

5. Contrary to Greg’s other comment, the UK has been in the winning votes 90 per cent of the time.

6. If we left the EU we’d lose our biggest market, which is 44 per cent of our exports. Also, 53 per cent of goods and services come from the EU.

The EU gives us a lot! And there is more if I had space for words.

But if we leave, even Nigel doesn’t know what Brexit will give you, just a black hole!

Look up EUReferendum.gov.uk.

MIKE SPRY

Mayfield Close

Nythe,Swindon

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Make-believe politics

THE Leave camp seem to be living in some parallel economic universe. Leading Brexit MPs have said they would make up the lost £550m in EU funding for Devon and Cornwall (www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Brexit-ministers-guarantee-550-milllion-EU/story-29396514-detail/story.html) if we left the EU and have brandished a so-called road map (www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36534802) for a new deal with the EU by 2020.

This is make-believe politics. Brexit MPs have no authority to make funding pledges as they may not be part of the Government decision-making process.

As to a new deal with the EU post Brexit, such a process is set out in article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This makes clear that any future relationship will be in the hands of the countries who remain part of the EU and the terms of this relationship must be determined within just two years.

Perhaps worse than false promises over funding is the bonfire of EU safeguards that could take place if we leave.

For example, we have the EU to thank for enshrining minimum standards on part-time work and fixed term contracts, which benefit many workers in the South West.

Our tourism industry also benefits from EU directives that protect our beaches, bathing waters and valuable habitats. With leading Leave campaigners keen to remove ‘red tape’ and barely mentioning the environment during the campaign, we have to wonder what will happen to these safeguards if we leave.

The EU offers us important safeguards and protections – voting to Leave is a false economy.

MOLLY SCOTT CATO MEP

Green MEP, South West England

European Parliament, Brussels

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Town is backing Remain

DESPITE the recent national polls, I was pleased to find thousands of people in Swindon are determined to vote Remain in the upcoming referendum.

As I talked about in the Swindon Advertiser article “Remain campaign going from strength to strength with a week to go” (June 15), The upsurge in support for Remain has been massive as more and more people in Swindon have discovered how much the EU has done for us in our local area and have realised the huge risks to local jobs if we vote to Leave.

With about 10,000 jobs in Swindon linked to our trade with the EU, I have yet to hear from Vote Leave on how they can guarantee that any of these jobs won’t be lost due to Brexit.

My only concern is to make sure Swindon jobs are protected and that hard-working families don’t suffer because of a slogan and a fantasy.

ALEX HEGENBARTH

Head of Britain Stronger In Europe

Swindon

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Unfair parish proposals

I ATTENDED the extraordinary council meeting on June 15 and was totally shocked by the undemocratic proposal from the council to force parishes upon the unwilling residents of those areas of Swindon not parished at the moment.

Leaving aside whether parishes should be forced upon us, the detail has an enormous devil hidden in it. Initially, the parish councillors will not be elected but will be ward councillors, mainly Labour, and people selected by the Tory administration. Elections will take place in the future.

When asked whether these unelected people would have the power to make contracts that would be unbreakable by parish councillors who were later democratically elected, Coun Mary Martin said one word – “yes.”

STEPHEN THOMPSON

Swindon