Why I moved from Remain to Brexit

I have always been a passionate pro-European. I believe European societies to be among the most humane, civilised and cultured societies on earth. I was therefore very passionate and vocal Remainer in the UK referendum on leaving the EU.

I have however, recently, changed my position from Remain to Leave. The reason is that the referendum showed through 17 million votes, that Britain as a nation will never be happy with further political integration in the EU. Britain will therefore need at some point to leave the EU, renegotiating its relationship with Europe, by leaving the political union and rejoining as only an economic partner.

The European Union is not just an economic union, but also a political union. From its very beginnings the European Union, was conceived as a political union. One of the key aims of European cooperation was to prevent another war in Europe, a purely political aim. In fact, economic integration was conceived initially as the merely the means to achieve this political end of peace in Europe. The idea was that if European nations cooperated economically, then it would make war inconceivable. The achievement of this political end, with the longest period of peacetime in European history, is no doubt one of the great achievements of the European project.

Personally, I would agree with further political integration in Europe. I believe in Winston Churchill’s vision of “United States of Europe”, a great power which can promote European values eye to eye with the world’s superpowers such as US and China. But I realise that this vision is a total anathema to my fellow British countrymen. Britain wants economic cooperation with Europe, but nothing more. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Britain to extricate itself from the political union of the European Union, and reinstate itself as either a member of the Economic Economic Area such as Norway, or even just a free trade partner such as Canada.

Brexit is therefore, however economically painful, and disappointing for pro-Europeans, necessary, and in a sense inevitable.

POSTSCRIPT

Other European nations seeking closer political integration the EU, should first initiate fundamental reform. There is a serious problem with a democratic deficit in the EU. This has been shown a voter turnout has fallen consecutively at the seven elections since the first election in 1979 and voter turnout in the 2014 election stood at 42.54% of all European voters. This is the lowest of any national election in the 28 countries of the European Union where turnout at national elections averages 68% across the EU. The Brexit vote should also be seen as important feedback from a major European Union member, that things need to change.

As the European Union integrates further politically, it needs to be accompanied by more direct representation. We are all tired of hearing about “unelected bureacrats” in Brussels, and these positions should be replaced by directly elected positions. There is anti-EU sentiment in almost every country in the EU, showing the need for reform. The populist right are emerging partly as a response to this across Europe. Even Macron, the French President admitted to British television interviewer, Andrew Marr, the French would also “probably” vote to leave the EU if given a referendum.

The EU also needs to build trust and goodwill amongst its citizenry. One proposal could be a European wide Bank Holiday and Europe wide festival — EU DAY. European citizens are too often reminded of their obligations and responsibilities by the EU, and not shown the benefits and joys of closer European integration.

The future of the European Union is closer political integration, the future of Britain is somewhere else.

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