BY BEN KERRIGAN
Tony Blair has recently slammed David Cameron’s pledge to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU Membership as one likely to cause economic chaos. The former Prime Minister was speaking in his former constituency of Sedgefield in County Durham. The former Prime Minister labelled the idea of a referendum as a ”huge distraction” emphasising that the prospect of a possible exit would leave a ”pall of unpredictability hanging over the British economy”.
Blair applauded Ed Milliband for putting the interests of the country first and opposing the referendum on conservative terms. His subsequent assertion that Labour was united by a “deep and profound belief in social justice” and that Ed Milliband has an “excellent set of policies” to deal with the challenges facing Britain is not one that seems to resonate with most British voters, even if Blair is right on this.
“I have always had a view that Ed can win and I hope and I am sure he will… I support him 100% to lead our party to victory at the next general election,” Blair confidently stated.
Mr Miliband smartly reciprocated the compliments paid by the man he would love to one day call his predecessor by saying ”it was quite important that we’ve got a former prime minister saying about the current prime minister that what he’s doing is dangerous for the country because he is making Britain drift towards the exit door”. One certainty is the innumerable benefits that accompany EU Membership. The European Union of which Britain is a member is part of the world’s largest single market comprising over 50million people and enabling free trade in a manner that benefits all its members. Most of the single barriers to trade that formerly existed before the integration of the Union have been extinguished. The freedom of movement of workers has also provided a boost to UK employers who have been able to utilize skills from other EU countries to fill in gaps that may otherwise have left a void without them. presently, no EU citizen requires a visa to move abroad for up to 3months,and that can even be extended provided proof that the EU citizen can sustain himself via and and house themselves can be provided. In short, an EU member can work and retire in any EU country with no hassle at the moment.
These benefits will automatically disappear in the absence of the EU. The question is whether Britain can afford to lose the benefits to trade that automatically come with EU Membership. Are the public knowledgeable enough to analyse the disadvantages of leaving the EU? One argument is that both Milliband and Blair should fully explain the advantages and disadvantages of being part of the EU to the British public so that they decide with a full understanding and implications of their decision. No longer would Brits be able to move to countries like Spain and work, and our economy may go downhill unless Cameron can give us a logical explanation of how he intends to avert any such disaster. Another argument is the one stated earlier i.e, even if the British public were fully informed, what proportion of prospective voters are intelligent and objective enough to effectively weigh up the pros and cons of leaving the EU? One selling point of departure from the EU has been the disgraceful loss of control on immigration levels. However, this has been a failure on the government’s part and has no real relevance to the case for staying or leaving the EU.
The most important issue has to be whether the public should have a say or not. It is hard to suggest the British public should be forced into staying in the EU, even if they run the risk of getting it wrong. This is where Blair and Milliband may be logically flawed . After all, the public are the electorate and we vote people in. Cameron may have an edge in this respect, but on the EU, I’ll make Blair and Milliband right. The costs of leaving outweigh the benefits.
