EU Referendum – What Are We Voting For?
MAY 25, 2015 / PETERWIDDOWS
One of the key issues in the upcoming referendum will be understanding what we are actually voting for. There have been endless analyses about what a Brexit would mean, so voters should have a reasonable picture of what exit entails, if they avoid the scaremongering and propaganda. However, as yet, nobody has framed what a vote to stay in the EU means.
The stated aim of nearly every member of the EU, and the European Commission, is for “ever-closer political union”, with the ultimate goal of a United States of Europe. Does that mean we are voting to be a part of a federal Europe?
Whether or not the voters think they are giving British politicians a mandate for a federal Europe may not matter, as no government is going to subject itself to a never ending series of referendums each time a new treaty change is proposed.
To this end, simply framing the argument as: ‘Yes’ means status quo, and ‘No’ means Brexit and change, is somewhat disingenuous.
Whichever way we vote we will get change. If we vote to stay in the EU, we will see a continued push for federalisation of the union and EU officials will use the UK vote to accelerate this process, seeing it as a roadblock removed. If we vote for Brexit, we’ll see the exact opposite — all of the powers ceded to the EU will be returned to the UK.
The choice people face then is stark: do they want to live in an self governing country (the UK), or do they want to live in a federal state, where the UK is but one small insignificant part?
Either choice is valid, but it behoves those leading the debate to frame it correctly and fully inform the public what their vote means.
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