Paul Walls has invited me to share with the public how those who are campaigning for a Vote to Leave the EU will protect our borders, and maintain our access to the EU “single market”.
Let’s start with protecting our borders. The only way we can retake control of our borders and begin to control immigration is by leaving the EU.
Now, Paul and some others may be excited by the prospect of 100 million Turks, Albanians, Croats, Bosnians and others being allowed to come and live and work in the UK, but I recognise the fact that if just ten per cent decide to take advantage of the second highest minimum wage in Europe, plus tax credits, a house and a higher standard of living, that extra ten million people will do irreparable harm to our public services like the NHS, GPs surgeries, education, infrastructure, as well as, drive up unemployment, house prices and rental costs. This is not rocket science, it is common sense.
From day one we can start to put the legislation in place to introduce a points based immigration system like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA. This is the common sense solution to protecting our borders.
If you do not have the correct paperwork, you will be refused access to the plane, train or bus.
Equally, there will be no uncertainty on trade or access to the single market. Under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, any country leaving the EU will continue to have two years of unfettered access to the single market to allow negotiations to take place on a new trade deal.
As we currently buy £286b more in goods each year, than the EU buys from us, and the Eurozone economies are on their knees, we know that negotiations on a new trade deal will be concluded very quickly, and within those two years.
The trade deals which the EU has already negotiated – on our behalf – with countries will continue to be in place, so it will be business as normal from day one.
In the meantime, we will begin to negotiate new bilateral trade agreements with those individual countries.
One of the conditions of our entry to the then EEC in 1971 was that we severed out trade agreements and ties with our Commonwealth partners. We will resurrect those trade agreements and common ties, and begin to build a truly global free trade area, which if Holland, and Denmark have their way will be joining us by leaving the EU.
Many other EU countries which value their freedom and independence are looking to Britain to lead them out of the shadows of the crumbling EU and into the sun-lit uplands of a new European dawn built on free trade, not national emasculation.
Unlike the Project fear that Paul Walls and the Brussels elite like to peddle, these issues are rather simple to resolve.
Then there is his mixed up arithmetic on our contribution to the EU budget. Britain is the second largest net contributor to the EU budget, currently sending £350m a week to Brussels.
Paul claims that the real figure is £17.8b, but that does not include the additional bill of £1.5b we were handed by the EU last year and will continue to pay each and every year in the future.
Yes, we do get a small amount of the money we contribute back, but then it is with a multitude of strings attached on how it is spent.
Worse still, the amount we get back each year is shrinking as we continue to subsidise the building of flood defences in Bulgaria and Hungary while parts of Britain lie under water, we are also subsiding multi-million pound bridge building projects in Greece while we have millions of potholes on our own congested road network.
It quite simple really Paul, if we don’t send £20b to the EU each year we can spend it on our own priorities like the NHS, policing, whatever we choose.
The important point is the Government of the day will be able to choose how we spend our £20b, not the unelected and unaccountable EU Commissioners.
Likewise, we can protect our agricultural subsidies, or even increase them like non-EU Switzerland, Norway and Iceland do. At the same time we can reduce the burden of regulation on our farmers, and abolish the hated basic payment system. We can tailor our agricultural subsidies system to the needs of British farming and our rural economy rather than dance to the EU’s tune.
In terms of protecting our borders; controlling immigration; security; our economic well-being; our children’s and grandchildren’s future; it’s safer to Vote Leave, take back control and spend our own money on our own priorities.
Craig Jackson
Vote Leave constituency co-ordinator
South Holland & The Deepings
