Richard Walton, head of Counter Terrorism Command at New Scotland Yard between 2011 and 2015,
said the UK had a counter-terrorism operation which was “envied” across the world and which regularly
shares intelligence across international boundaries, something which wouldn’t change in the event of
Brexit. He added: “Among the arguments currently raging across the European debate, I have been most
surprised by the emphasis being put on security: we are being told we need to stay in the EU in order to
keep safe from terrorism. From my own experience as head of the Counter Terrorism Command, I’d say
that Britain’s security depends on many different factors – but membership of the EU is not necessarily
one of them.”
5. EU red tape decimating fishing industry
From French wineries to the German automotive industry, other member states rightly do all they can
to protect important sections of their own economy, while British politicians willingly give away one of
our own. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the EU’s method of applying pan-European laws on
fishing as well as setting quotas for member states on the amounts of each type of fish we are permitted
to catch. Designed to manage fish stock for the European Union as a whole, the CFP has instead
continued the trend of ineffective
fisheries management in European
waters. Quite simply, it has been a
disaster. By placing our precious waters
under a shared resource, Britain’s
fishing rights are now reduced to a
mere 12 miles off our own coast. This
has inevitably led to depleting fish
stocks leaving many coastal towns in
economic and social ruin through the
loss of thousands of jobs.
Another nation where the CFP played a
similar, damaging, role is Greenland
who decided to leave the EU (EEC at the
time) in 1984. Their politicians
recognised the huge implications this policy was having on their largest asset and saw no other option
but to leave. Ignoring scaremongers at the time, the islanders now enjoy average income on par with
other rich northern European states and have favourable trade deals with Europe without the red tape
from Brussels. If a nation of just 57,000 can do it, why cannot Britain, a country of 65 million, do the
same?
6. Trade Union rights are being eroded
As the weeks roll by, more and more members of the British Trade Union movement are joining the case
for Brexit. Recently some of the UK’s largest trade unions including Aslef, RMT and the Bakers Union
have all passed votes for their members to leave Europe.
A growing social media campaign group, called Trade Unionists Against the EU, says workers rights’ are
being eroded by the EU. It says: “The EU is irreversibly committed to privatisation, welfare cuts, low
wages and the erosion of trade union rights. This is why the dominant forces of British capitalism and
27 cross-party reasons to Leave the EU | @DavidSeadon