This referendum is about the type of country we want to live in. Been pondering about this for awhile but in past week my mind has firmly been made up
I'm objectively against the concept of the EU. The current leadership in Brussels is dominated by political forces that seek to erode the social gains won in the past. Their is the issue of trade deals like TTIP that would hardwire privatisation and deregulation into our political system.Many of the member states remain wedded to austerity economics and have imposed their destructive policies on the people of southern Europe. I was disgusted by the way it imposed oppressive austerity measures on the people of Greece and Spain, and it is after all another corporate superstate, hugely undemocratic and unrepresentative,decisions affecting every man, woman and child on the continent are being made in ways it is increasingly difficult to understand and some profoundly reactionary interests dominate the EU institutions, aligned with big business and elite interests, the EU is in dire need of reform and more democracy, it's all a bit of a mess quite frankly. The anti capitalist argument against the EU has a good case yet at the same time the the EU does an awful lot of protections like workers rights, maternity leave, human rights and environmental safeguards, health and safety legislation, holidays, regular breaks etc. Things I don't trust the UK to keep up with. Certainly not under Cameron. And do you really trust the likes of Farage and Johnson when it comes to workplace rights and human rights.In fact, many of the worst EU policies, like TTIP, are precisely the ones that the UK government is most supportive of and would retain, emulate or even expand if Brexit were to occur.
Ideally we wouldn't be at the mercy of the EU or the UK government but whilst they still have such a strong say on the lives of normal people I will always choose the lesser of the evils. At the end of the day whoever we vote for the powerful always seem to get what they want. I will not be voting for the EU, per say but Brexit I don't think is the answer.
What has really consolidated my view is what has been going on recently. The campaign terrain has been marked out by the right wing eurosceptic Tories and by their outriders in UKIP. The British electorate has been told in increasingly strident terms that British “national sovereignty” is at stake.Another, slightly less subtle, message is also being delivered. Unless “Britain” rejects continued membership of the EU, the ethnic and cultural integrity of the nation will be threatened—the argument goes. The UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, has warned us of the dangers of waking up and finding Romanians have moved in next door. The implications, we will be told, are clear: for as long as the country is part of the EU, “the swamping” of the indigenous British population by alien migrants from the other EU countries cannot be halted. The noxiously chauvinist tone that has characterised so much of the debate about immigration invariably takes on an openly racist colour particularly when applied to the Roma people from EU states in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Leave campaign have created such a mood of toxicity in the country that resembles the one in Germany when Hitler won his first election. It has increasingly taken on a dangerous edge, warped poisonous and hysterical. It is horrifying to think where Britain will be heading if the Leave win. Every day I thank my lucky stars that I live where I do. I can't imagine how it must feel to be a refugee. To feel rejected and unwanted with no home to go to. I want to live in a country where people truly care about other human beings and who can show compassion. I want us to work together with our neighbours for the good of all people.
There can be no doubt that if Britain leaves the EU many European regulations restricting working hours and other employment and social reforms will be scrapped. The anti-EU right also demands a rolling back of the powers of both the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) and—more urgently—of the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR). The British Tory establishment has been outraged by some of the rulings of the ECHR in particular,for instance to give prisoners in jail the same voting rights they have elsewhere in the EU. Even more objectionable to the Tories have been ECHR rulings to protect the human rights of immigrants at risk of being deported by the UK. The ECHR is itself outside the remit of the European Union. But the ECJ is bound by the overarching decisions of the ECHR when ruling on matters of specifically EU law. The Tories want a “British” convention on human rights to replace the European convention. Anyone doubting this would deliver a serious blow to civil liberties and human rights in Britain is not living in the real world.
It is possible that the vote on Thursday could produce a democratic fracture in UK politics. It is not the most likely scenario but it is possible. The only thing we know for sure is that after Thursday the winner will have been a member the Bullingdon club. Staying in however we can keep on pushing for change and reform working steadily in solidarity with our European friends as part of a Europe-wide movement against austerity, racism and xenophobia, not left alone and isolated from our European neighbours.
The above reasons are why I am voting to remain. We have far to much to lose.
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