Monday, March 31, 2014
"EU Membership Damages Rather Than Improves Our Economy" - Part I of VI Part Debate Between With Scottish Lib Dem Leader Or Nominee
Last Monday Willie Rennie publicly
claimed that UKIP’s desire for growth was inconsistent with wanting to quit the EU. He knew UKIP were censored from the debate – hence the present online debate
In 1980 the 10
EU countries represented 30.9% of world gdp. Now the 28 represent 18.3% and declining. The world economy is growing at 3.4%, which means, with the EU in recession, the non-EU 83% is growing at 4.1%. The EU is
the only zone of the world economy in recession.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why is the EU failing? Professor
Tim Congdon calculates that membership costs us £170 billion & Professor
Minford has a similar figure. This includes an estimate of 5% of gdp lost
directly though EU bureaucracy (the rest is mainly higher food costs, welfare
costs of immigrants and our direct financial payment). If this be thought
surprisingly large it may be because it is little reported in Britain that EU
Commissioner, Gunter Verheuggen has publicly estimated bureaucracy cost slightly higher at 5.5%
of the community’s wealth.
This is simply the immediate cost
– the long term cost of the lost growth giving us an economy half the size it
should be is far greater.
For 40 years now British politicians have said
that all that is needed is reform and they will achieve it, given a couple more
years. We didn’t quit when we were ahead. Perhaps we should quit now we are [40yrs
X £170bn} £6,800,000,000,000 behind.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Because UKIP Is Censored Some Of The Clearest Arguments Against Separation Are Also Being Censored
Letter sent to all and sundry. When it isn't published I will cut it & send it out again, several times. That will mean something close to 200 submissions. Statistically that would guarantee publication if our media were interested in balanced letter pages.
---------------------------------------------
Sir,
By comparison, last year UKIP’s leader Mike Scott-Hayward, candidate Stuart Maskell and I stood, without preparation, in debate against Yes campaigners (the traditional party representatives all pulled out at the last moment) and won convincingly.
Part of it is that some of the most clear-cut arguments involve the EU. If Scotland were to join as a new nation we would, at best, get the basic new nation terms. This means we would lose our share of Britain’s rebate (£500 million); would have to sign the Shengen immigration terms, meaning border posts at Gretna; agree to eventually joining the Euro; and sign up to the working time agreements which, going by the far worse continental employment figures, would destroy 170,000 jobs. However, because the traditional parties are EU enthusiasts they are clearly reluctant to mention this, and do not appear to have their hearts in the fight at all.
By excluding UKIP, for party political reasons, they (& the BBC whose censorship of UKIP in Scotland would have done the Soviets proud) are preventing Scots having a full and rounded debate. This is what happened in the AV referendum where the LibDems refused UKIP’s assistance, deciding to depend on the popularity of Clegg – and lost despite the polls starting in their favour. If Britain is destroyed and Scotland plunged into financial disaster under incompetent politicians who think wishing will make it so (& who have already threatened to repudiate the national debt, something no sensible chancellor ever merely threatens to do) it will not be because the extreme “socialists” and a declining covering of nationalists, have won the debate. It will be because the LabConDems & BBC have ensured Scots have not had a real debate. From experience both Clegg and I can confirm that those presenting the UKIP view can win in debate whenever we are not censored out of it. We can win the debate on whether Britain should have a future if we are not censored and Scotland’s future is too important an issue for it to be settled by party interests.
---------------------------------------------
Sir,
At his Scottish conference, LibDem leader Nick Clegg has said how important it is that the Unionist parties work together to defeat the separation referendum. Liberals, Labour and Conservative. There is obviously something missing from this spirit of togetherness – any willingness to work with the 3rd party in British politics UKIP (4th in Scotland, but still ahead of Clegg’s own & likely to take 1st place in the EU elections).
I attended a debate hosted by a leftist charity where the 3 approved parties spoke but from which UKIP was censored. The audience vote showed the approved parties lost heavily. This failure was all the more unnecessary since all the “nationalist” speakers, even from the SNP, were antagonistic to nationalism. All based their pitches on the, in my view, unrealistic expectation that separation would make us independent of the laws of arithmetic and able to make enormous financial commitments without raising any money. One speaker even acknowledged, in response to my question, that he would be happy to see us in permanent recession as long as their shibboleths were satisfied. It should not have been difficult to win that debate.
Neil Craig
Refs - The Referendum debate UKIP won http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ukip-debate-independence-campaign-ukip.html
The one the approved parties lost http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/independence-debate-not-about.html
Labels: BBC, EU, Scottish politics
