In Out, In Out, Shake It All About!

At some point in the next couple of years we are going to have the opportunity to vote on whether or not Britain remains a member of the European Union. If that vote was today, which way would you vote? If you know, then good for you;  I have yet to make up my mind.

The problem is that I find myself swayed by the arguments of both sides, depending on who is doing the talking. If we were to exit the EU, goes the argument, we could still retain our trading links with Europe, as do the Norwegians, the Swiss and Turkey, all of whom are outside the EU. The Norwegians, for example, have access to the single market  (with the exception of some financial services), but are free from EU rules on agriculture, fisheries, justice and home affairs. Sounds good; rid ourselves of the pettifogging bureaucracy and the loony policies on the angle of bend of a banana and the like but retain the benefits of trading with mainland Europe. Except of course that  Norway (and Switzerland) have to abide by many EU rules but have no influence over how those rules are set, and they still have to pay to access the single market. Successive Prime Ministers, from Thatcher, through Blair, Brown and now Cameron, have made pledges to go to Brussels and renegotiate Britain's deal with the EU with limited success. And that's fighting for a better deal from inside the group; imagine how much success they would have had trying to bargain from outside the European clique?

What about employment, jobs, then? Leave the EU, the argument goes and freed from the petty red tape of EU regulations, firms would be able to expand with those who trade outside the EU benefiting most. But on the other hand, how many jobs would be lost through companies moving their operations to lower cost EU countries? And what about financial services? Chances are that many of these would relocate to Europe, specifically Frankfurt which is already a major competitor to London in terms of financial services. HSBC for example indicated that they may move their headquarters away from London in the event of Britain leaving the EU; they would not be alone.

Other factors that weigh heavily in the pros and cons of EU membership include the immigration issue. That is something that I see as being wholly separate given the state of affairs with the number of migrants currently making their way into Europe. With Britain not being a member of the Schengen Area and with the Channel forming a greater physical barrier to free movement than exists between the mainland European states, immigration, especially in respect of refugees and asylum seekers, is increasingly becoming beyond the control of existing EU legislation. Germany's decision to close its borders recently suggests that open borders do not work in these circumstances, even if Angela Merkel's government promises that border controls are only temporary. Future agreements on border controls will have to be negotiated whether or not Britain remains in the EU and the fact that as an existing member, Britain is outside the Schengen agreement indicates that EU membership is not the most important factor in the matter.

The EU horror stories so beloved by the tabloid press are generally gross exaggerations designed to provoke Angry of Tunbridge Wells into a blood vessel bursting invective over his cornflakes. "EU to ban selling eggs by the dozen," was a story that surfaced in the press...in 2010. Last time I looked, Tesco were still selling eggs by the dozen or half dozen. Similarly, stories that the EU had plans to ban coffee makers, British number plates, double decker buses and Prawn Cocktail crisps have all been proven to be nonsense. Another story was that the EU would ban bagpipes on the grounds of noise pollution. Sadly that one was a myth too.

 

Stuart Rose, formerly chairman of Marks & Spencer is leading the Britain Stronger In Europe group.

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell unsurprisingly backs the side campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.

At least the official launch of the campaigns to get voters to make up their minds, with "Britain Stronger In Europe" on one side and "Vote Leave" and "Leave.EU" on the other, has taken our minds off the crisis that engulfed the nation last week when the 5p charge was introduced on the use of carrier bags in supermarkets and other large retailers. "Supermarket 5p A Bag Chaos Fears" screamed the Daily Mirror headline, while the Daily Mail warned that "Plastic Bag Chaos Looms." And as if to prove their point, these papers, and others, carried stories of shoppers arguing over the 5p charge, being stopped from carrying their shopping to their cars in supermarket baskets, of overcharging (one shopper was charged £3 a bag in error), of stores putting security tags on bags, of shoppers stealing bags. Given the literally millions of supermarket transactions undertaken every day, the fact that there are so few stories proves that this is very much a non-story.  

The EU debate and the refugee crisis in Europe, both considered less important than having to pay 5p for a carrier bag.

Supermarkets haven't always given away carrier bags at the check outs; my Mother used to go shopping with a proper shopping bag or two, and in her later years used a trolley, not free carriers.We will get used to paying or taking our own bags quicker than the tabloids give credit for. The whole industry around stories about 5p carrier bags is pretty pathetic, and at a time when there are much more serious things with which we ought to be occupying our thoughts, insulting of our intelligence. I think I have been in a supermarket pretty much every day since the charge came in and not yet seen even a discussion between shoppers and staff about the charge. Still, as they say, the papers rarely let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Not sure which one of the Kardashians this is, but I don't think it is the one married to Kanye West.

But, to return to the EU referendum issue. Whether Britain would benefit from continued membership of the EU or would be better of pulling out is an impossible question to answer with any certainty as there are no precedents; no one has as yet withdrawn from EU membership. So, In or Out? I don't know, but at least I have plenty of time to shake it all about and make up my mind, with no date as yet fixed for the referendum. In the meantime it will be a case of sifting the wheat from the chaff in the media...assuming they can tear themselves away from stories about carrier bags and those aliens from Star Trek, the Kardashians.