Letter: We Should Not Fear Brexit, It is Our Salvation

Published on: 17 Dec, 2016
Updated on: 17 Dec, 2016

From John Armstrong

Chair of Guildford Ukip

Carte blanche for Brexit, Sue Hackman says in her letter: Winning the Referendum Does Not Give the Brexiteers Carte Blanche.

If only.

Just for a moment let us cut out the hyperbole of racist alarmism and class divide etc. Let us talk about the money.

Where in the EU is the expansion potential for British business? We have been in now for over forty years and after all that time, despite the Single Market, EU exports still only amount to 12% of our economy; and that 12% represents only around 44% of our total exports globally. From the outset our global exports have outstrip exports to the EU; import and export tariffs not withstanding.

The thing about money and success is that they make everything else possible. So the grants and the subsidies etc, are easier. The divisions in society disappear if that society is thriving and providing good secure jobs. People then do not feel hard done by or disenfranchised because in a thriving economy they can buy that house or that car, and can otherwise partake of the fruits of living in a world class economy.

What has gone wrong is that the legacy that older generations should have been able to pass on to younger generations has been squandered by politicians who felt, once they were elected, that the nation and the people in it were at their disposal. So instead of maintaining the nation and it’s integrity, and building upon it for the good of their own people, they sold it it off or closed it down in the puritanical pursuit of globalisation. They have allowed foreign “investors” to push up property prices so our own people struggle to rent, let alone buy.

The state of the nation, and the struggles that people are now facing, from the cradle, through life, to the care home; are the direct result of deliberate policy decisions taken by politicians who felt that someone else deserved our money and our jobs more than we did.

So do not fear Brexit. It is not our Nemesis. It is our salvation.

Responses to Letter: We Should Not Fear Brexit, It is Our Salvation

David Pillinger Reply

December 19, 2016 at 1:56 pm

Mr Armstrong implies that 44% is small; it is absolutely massive! That kind of analysis would fail a school economics test.

Regarding the progression of the % over time, it’s worth noting that, mathematically, as more of the world becomes rich and we do business with it, it will tend, by definition, to fall as total global trade increases. If it does, it is not a worry, but a mathematical inevitability.

What we do know is that the volume of trade with other EU countries has increased dramatically over the period since joining, especially since the advent of the Single Market which has made movement of goods and services easier and cheaper, with consequent positive price benefits for consumers in all EU countries, including our own. That is a fact.

Additionally, may I correct Mr Armstrong’s point on the foreigner effect on house prices. This has only been an issue in certain places in London where large numbers of Middle Easterners, Russian and Chinese have been buying. In Guildford the problem is lack of house building which has nothing to do with foreigners, the the EU.

It would be civil of Ukip people didn’t keep blaming foreigners for our own sovereign government’s mistakes. They spend huge amounts of money here making us richer, and happily accept 1.3 million British people living within their shores (EU only figure), without accusing them of “sponging”, as Ukip would say, on their host countries.
John Perkins Reply

December 20, 2016 at 11:21 am

Mr. Pillinger assures us that the so-called “foreigner effect” only applies to certain places in London.

Those who used to own property there, but have been forced to move because they can no longer afford to stay, or who chose to take advantage of the inflated prices offered by “foreigners” (many of whom are simply people with the means to keep their money offshore), move a little further out. That is here or any attractive place near to London.

Only if it can be shown that they invest their gains in, say, Liverpool or Glasgow or Barcelona, can they be said to have no local effect.
David Roberts Reply

December 20, 2016 at 9:52 pm

Mr Armstrong’s piece is the usual mixture of xenophobia, snake-oil economics and paranoia. Who is the Chair of Guildford Ukip to complain about politicians selling out the public? He is one. This is pure conspiracy theory.

So, our global exports outstrip exports to the EU. Doesn’t that just go to show that EU membership has been no obstacle to a global Britain?

And does he really think foreigners are going to buy our exports or staff our NHS if they’re banned from buying our flats?

Mr Armstrong needs to get real. Globalisation is here to stay. Free movement of goods and people has barely begun. In their hearts Ukip know this. Is that why they continue to whinge despite winning the referendum? Out of populism’s last hurrah will come a more cosmopolitan, open and liberal Britain.