How do our friends feel about the whole thing?
Now that the EU Referendum is less than 100 days away, the media is really cranking up the pressure with lots of articles covering every aspect of the referendum. From Brexit allegedly making Easter Eggs cheaper, to Brexit campaigners employing EU migrants to man their call centres, clearly even the most ridiculous stories have become publishable. With all the testimonies and people coming out on one side or another, we are getting a good idea of who is on which ‘side’. Putting the mainstream politicians aside and looking instead at the UK’s friends on the world stage, one message is ringing loud and clear: everyone we value wants us to stay in the European Union.
Stating the obvious:
It goes without saying that both other European citizens and the European Union itself want us to stay. The UK brings a liberal and individualist perspective to discussions within the EU institutions; it is in a good position to drive forward European foreign policy and can share best practices on many issues from combating terrorism to higher education. The EU on the other hand will continue to benefit the UK in many, many ways, but that isn’t the purpose of this piece.
The individual member states of the European Union want the UK to stay too. During Cameron’s renegotiation he was generally met with sympathy by the other 27 countries, chief among whom was Germany, with Merkel trying incredibly hard to accommodate the UK’s demands. Even countries set to lose out on Cameron’s renegotiation, such as Poland which has a large expat community in the UK set to encounter greater difficulties in accessing benefits, were sympathetic and offered their support.
The European Union 28 embodies many of our closest friends, allies, trade partners, and holiday destinations. The fact that they want us should mean something.
In terms of trade:
British governments have long been banging the drum for greater British trade in goods and services in the world’s largest markets. Despite being a former British colony, India has greater percentages of exports and imports with Germany than it does with the UK, with the same being true for trade with China. Germany is at the heart of the EU economy and thus membership is clearly not what is holding back our relationships with all of these countries, as Eurosceptics claim. In fact, India (and its businesses), China, and Japan have all expressed their preference that the UK remain in the Union. This is all the more relevant in the case of Japan whose large car manufacturers set up shop in the UK to gain access to the EU’s single market and a high-skilled workforce. Thus it is no surprise to see Japanese car firms - important UK employers - asking us to stay in the EU. If we want to build strong relationships with a rising Asia, then EU membership would help with this.
What about the Empire?
There is a strong Eurosceptic strain of thought which argues that once the UK has freed itself from the EU’s shackles, it can deepen relationships with its friends in the Commonwealth. Tory MEP Dan Hannan is a key proponent of the ‘Friends of the Anglosphere’ concept. Ignoring the fact that this pipedream includes Australia, Canada, and New Zealand but is conspicuously absent of the many non-white countries that are in the Commonwealth, this simply not something that these countries want. Some British newspapers may support an alternative area of free movement between countries on opposite sides of the world, but our friends in Australia, Canada and New Zealand have made it clear that they support a united Europe. The idea that the UK has to choose between one block of friends and another is misleading. In the 43 years since the UK joined the European Union it has not ceased to send migrants and tourists over to the former colonies, nor has EU membership stopped us from hearing disproportionately about what happens to our cousins down under (e.g. the Daily Mail and the Guardian both cover Australian news) or coverage of Canadian elections. The EU has in no way cut back our network of friends, it has only enhanced it.
The world stage:
It makes many a UKIP voter sad that the British don’t physically control one quarter of the world’s landmass any longer, but the UK’s influence on the world stage has not fallen, and EU membership has not held it back as many Eurosceptics would claim. As the rest of the world begins to develop in its own right, particularly in Asia, the European Union serves as a megaphone for British interests abroad. The UK also retains disproportionate influence in international organisations. For example, it still has one of five permanent votes on the UN Security Council and is a member of the G7 (G8 if Russia is behaving well). Importantly, both the US and NATO, who have a huge impact in shaping British foreign policy, have said that the UK should remain in the European Union. Do we really want to not be on the same team as Obama?
On the other side:
On the other side of the debate, we essentially have the small-time fascists of the world. Think of Marine Le Pen, Nigel Farage, or Donald Trump, or human effluvia like
Katie Hopkins. All of whom represent ideas on the far-right of Western politics that the average citizen would not want to be associated with. Additionally, it has been claimed by some that leaving the European Union would play into the hands of awful groups like ISIS, or players on the world stage that seek to disrupt the world order we helped create, such as Putin’s Russia.
Many things should be taken into consideration when voting on referendum day. I’d like to suggest that we think about what Britain’s nearest and dearest want, and what the people who hate our country and our values want.
