Vote Remain

So here's the reason I finally got a blog. I am afraid that the UK is about to make our worst mistake since the Munich Agreement, and the official Remain campaign is a shambles.

This referendum would not even be happening if David Cameron was either responsible or competent (both would be best, but we can't expect too much from a Tory). As others have rightly noted, he's offloaded his problems with his backbenchers onto the British public instead of dealing with them as leader of his party. In doing so, he's normalised fascist discourse in the UK mainstream. I suspect that the referendum pledge is one part of the manifesto he had intended to dump as part of a new coalition deal with the Lib Dems, but having stumbled into a majority he was stuck with it.

That's a digression, though. This post is about how we're better off in the hands of Brussels than in the hands of Westminster.

1. Europe is more democratic than the UK

The main bodies of the European Union are:

1. The European Council, made up of elected heads of state (including David Cameron), holds power over agenda setting, appointments and vetoes.
2. The European Commission, made up of, yes, unelected commissioners who are appointed by the elected governments of their member states, and are usually elected members of parliament in their own countries. The Commission drafts legislation, but cannot vote on it, and individual Commissioners also hold ministerial portfolios.
3. The European Parliament, made up of MEPs elected by Proportional Representation, votes on the legislation. They can reject bills or force the Commission to make amendments. They also approve the portfolios of Commissioners.
4. The Council of the European Union, which serves as a second chamber to vote on legislation approved by MEPs; its membership isn't fixed, but is made up of the relevant (usually elected, though sometimes ours is a Lord) government minister for each member state.

The main bodies of the UK government are:

1. An unelected monarch. The monarch holds wide-ranging powers to reject laws and sack governments, not just here but abroad as well. This is tolerated as long as they are never used.
2. The House of Commons, made up of MPs elected by First Past The Post, which both drafts and votes on legislation.
3. The House of Lords, made up of unelected Lords, which serves as a second chamber. Notably, the government of the day can appoint as many Lords as they like.

Would it be better if Commissioners were elected instead of appointed? Probably, yes. This wouldn't require treaty change. We could demand that the UK government hold an election to allow the people of the UK to choose our own Commissioner. But if we're about to point fingers about a lack of democracy, maybe we should get our own house in order first.

Our current Commissioner is Lord Hill, aka Baron Jonathan Hill of Oareford, and he holds the finance portfolio. Like many Lords, he's a former lobbyist.

Crucially, European treaties serve as a check on the power of the UK government. The UK has no written constitution and operates on the principle of parliamentary sovereignty. Our government can, legally, give itself the power to do anything. We saw this in 2013 when the Workfare scheme was found to be illegal and they voted to make it legal retroactively. Without a constitution, European legislation like the Human Rights Act is the only way we the people can hold them to account. And within the EU, the different bodies can serve as checks on one another, as a single party elected with 36% of the vote cannot get a majority to force their agenda through and then stack the second chamber with as many people as it takes to get it enacted.

2. TTIP is more likely to be stopped by the EU than the UK

TTIP is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, a proposed trade deal with the USA. Don't worry if you've never heard of it. A lot of people don't like it because it contains an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, i.e. it allows multinational companies to sue national governments.

It is reasonable to be concerned about this. But:

1. The fact that TTIP is under discussion at all means that the European Council have all approved it. Which means David Cameron has personally approved it. Which means he would have no problem with passing it into law in a UK outside of the EU.
2. There is wide and cross-party opposition to TTIP within the European Parliament. It is more likely to be stopped by German MEPs than British MPs.
3. ISDS mechanisms are part of every trade deal the USA signs. The multinationals that benefit from them are mostly based in America. A key platform of the Leave campaign is establishing stronger trade links with the USA; if they get their way, we will absolutely be signed up to TTIP or something much like it.
4. We're already signed up to dozens of bilateral ISDS trade deals with various countries. We've never lost a case (though UK companies have successfully sued the governments of poorer countries).

ISDS mechanisms were invented because American companies were reluctant to do business in countries like Venezuela, out of fear their assets would be unilaterally seized by populist governments. Since then, companies have attempted to use ISDS mechanisms to sue governments over policies which impact their profits, such as Australia's plain cigarette packaging law.

3. Freedom of movement is a good thing

If you're not already convinced of this I'm probably not going to convince you. But hear me out:

First, freedom of movement benefits UK citizens. It means that you can easily go retire somewhere warm. It means that you can, if you wish, live and work anywhere in the EU (did you know that the minimum wage in Luxembourg is €11.10, or £8.71, per hour? That's 20% more than here). It means that UK citizens can go to universities across Europe, giving them access to more choice in education than any time in history, often more cheaply than going to school in England and Wales.

Second, the UK has an ageing population. Birth rates are down and people are living longer. That means that we need to import workers in order to have enough working population to support our growing retired population. The vast majority of immigrants to the UK are in work. They pay taxes and are also new customers for UK businesses. Those few that aren't in work tend to be dependent family members of those who are. With an expanded tax and consumer base from working immigrants, we should have no problem investing in our infrastructure and public services to support our expanded population. In fact, immigrants are less of a burden on public services than new UK-born citizens, because newborns need to be cared for and educated for eighteen years before they start paying tax, while immigrants usually start paying tax immediately. Despite this, nobody would ever suggest that the country is too full to handle any more babies.

The reason our infrastructure and public services are insufficient right now is because of ideological decisions by successive UK governments to cut spending to benefit the rich. It's nothing to do with immigration or the EU. But it's been convenient for our politicians to point the finger at Brussels and pretend it wasn't their own idea.

Q. But isn't Brussels full of lobbyists?

Yes. So is Westminster. The difference is that our press pays more attention to what MPs do, and there's better turnout for general elections, so they have to be more careful. More media and public interest in Brussels would be better. Despite this, companies have a harder time influencing EU law than UK law, as individual companies are much more important to the UK economy than to the overall EU economy. Amazon can do whatever they like to avoid UK tax, but still have to comply with EU data protection rules. MEPs have already passed legislation to force lobbyists to join a publicly-searchable register by 2017.

Q. What if I favour a Bennite protectionist siege economy?

True, we can't do that within the EU. Looking at the Leave campaigners, do you really think that's what's on the table? What's more, do you think it's feasible in an age of global communications and companies moving wherever they can work people hardest for the least money?

Q. What about benefit tourists?

Despite what you may have heard, benefits in the UK are kind of lousy. Irish people moving here often continue drawing the dole in Ireland instead of claiming JSA here, because Ireland has much higher out-of-work benefits, and that's even after Ireland had to be bailed out. The UK has high housing benefit, because rent is so high, because we haven't been building enough new homes. Housing benefit goes into the pockets of landlords (usually British), and is not retained by those claiming it.

Q. What about the draconian measures the Troika imposed on Greece and Ireland?

I'm not here to argue that the Eurozone was a good idea. The UK doesn't use the Euro. But yes: in Greece, we can see the likely results of post-Brexit “negotiations”, if we were to try to get a trade deal after leaving. The best way for the UK to help Greece would be for us to appoint a Commissioner sympathetic to debt forgiveness, not for us to up and leave.

Q. What about factories being moved to Eastern Europe?

The EU helps to stop this practice by making sure that employment laws are the same all across Europe – so, for example, companies can't cut costs by going where there's no Health & Safety laws, because Health & Safety standards across Europe are the same. There are still some companies that move to take advantage of lower taxes and wages. The only way to address this problem is through legislation that affects all of Europe equally – otherwise we're all in a race to the bottom on wages and corporation tax. If we weren't in the EU they'd be moving to China instead.

Q. What about stupid laws like the curvy bananas thing?

That's a myth. Don't believe everything you read in the Sun.

Q. Will the Troubles start again if there's a hard border in Ireland?

I don't know, I'm not in the IRA. I don't think they've released a statement.

Q. What about the economic argument?

I'm not an economist, you should probably ask one. They all seem to be backing Remain, though.