Not surprising
July 12, 2016
Dear Sir,
I am amazed that so many people are surprised that the British people wanted to leave the EU. Surely this was the reason that the referendum was carried out in the first place. The consequences seem to be far reaching with the political fallouts that are occurring, which is surprising because you would expect the political leaders to carry on leading, not turn away from the task and sulk.
The unrest started many years ago when the eastern European countries were allowed to join. There was a serious concern at that time about an influx of people from these countries flooding into the UK and going straight onto social security, adding to the housing wait list and clogging up an already struggling health service. There was resentment that these people had not paid into the UK benefits system but were entitled under EU law. No proper controls were put in place such as only allowing people in who had jobs lined up, as in some other countries.
These concerns have increased with all the refugees flooding out of Arabic countries into Europe. Some of these countries have never been very friendly towards Great Britain. Our government was powerless to stop this, as it was EU law. Who made these laws if it was not the very countries who were already members?
I recall that there was another referendum to join the common market (EEC) in the early seventies. This was, we were told, to have a single market throughout Europe for food produce. We were not told at the time that Commonwealth members would be excluded from this market, which meant that products from Australia and New Zealand, such as New Zealand lamb and butter, would disappear from our shops. We then went through a period where there was an excess of certain products, with butter mountains and wine lakes. Farmers who had been free to decide what products they could market were suddenly given quotas and some farmers had to leave fields fallow.
We were certainly not told at that time that the EU would start controlling what each country could do or not do and take control from our own government.
The EEC started off as a puppy that most people seemed to like but has turned into a monster that nobody can control.
Great Britain did very well before the EU and I am sure that we will do well again. It should be seen as an opportunity to start improving our manufacturing base again and not rely on other countries. After all, where did the industrial revolution start?
I understand the concerns that people who live and work in the EU have right now, but it would not make any sense for the countries involved to make life more difficult for people who have chosen to live in another country. Hopefully the governments on both sides of this will make the right decisions to benefit people living on both sides of this new situation. Unfortunately, governments do not always do the sensible thing.
Regards,
A Fisher
