A vision for Britain outside of the European Union

Not another article about immigration, I promise


Most of the EU debate so far has been Project Fear based. However, what I would like to share is the vision I have of the United Kingdom outside of the European Union. An optimistic vision where our full sovereignty has been restored.

Despite the UK being the fifth largest economy on earth, we are at a loss in a number of areas. We currently do not have our own representative at the World Trade Organisation, cannot make all of our own rules, or sign trade deals with nations. Post-Brexit, we will be able to do all these things.

In recent news, we have seen the issues at Port Talbot and the British steel industry. Outside the European Union, we would be able to take steps to soften the losses Tata face and hopefully prevent job losses. With full sovereign power we would be able to impose trade tariffs on Chinese steel- similar to America- or import cheap solar panels, thus lowering energy costs.

Many of the Remain campaign will argue that this pails in significance to the loss of free trade with Europe. However, it would not be in the interest of the European Union to not instigate a new free trade deal with the United Kingdom. This is because the EU’s GDP is stagnant compared to that of countries such as China (despite them facing a slowdown) and India who are expected to rise by seven per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively in 2016.

In the past, the future of trade seemed to be in regional blocks. However, we now live in an age where geography is not a major barrier. The internet means information can be sent in milliseconds, transportation costs have never been lower and perishables are easily exported. Outside of the EU, London can continue to be an international financial hub – our ports on the west coast can be revived to export goods around the world and we could become the world leaders in software development without EU regulation holding us back.

Let’s not limit ourselves to just these developments. Thousands of students emerge from our leading universities ever year. Without EU laws, lobbied for by big business, there will be opportunities for these graduates to join or start small businesses that can provide products and services to the rest of the world. In a matter of years we could have trade agreements in place with the USA, Canada, China, Brazil, Japan and many more, all of whom the European Union do not have trade agreements with.

What is more, we will be able to have trade deals with members of the Commonwealth. These are nations we are historically compatible to trade with due to Common Law. This means that we have similar trade practices and the same accounting standards. An example of a Commonwealth country we could, and should have a trade deal with, is India. As well as operating under Common Law, much of the Indian business community speak English. How many nations within the EU are we as compatible with?

To quote Daniel Hannan: “The European Union is a hangover from an earlier age.”

Our future outside the European Union will be bright. We can once again, be the centre of the world.