Brexit would force the US to put “Humpty Dumpty back together again”, LSE boss Xavier Rolet warned earlier this week.
Also in a letter published in February, almost 200 business leaders called for Brits to vote to stay in the European Union while the CBI warned that a Brexit could cost the UK economy £100bn.
Despite all the bashing that Brexit is getting, the Leave bandwagon is gaining some serious traction.
According to a recent ICM poll of 2,000 people, support for Britain leaving the EU now stands at 43%, that’s 2% ahead of support for remaining in.
Now we’ve already told you the five big reasons the UK leaving the EU would be a disaster. Here are five reasons the UK leaving the EU will be great for the UK:
1. Money spent
According to Vote Leave, the UK’s official budget is a whopping £350m a week. Leave campaigners argue that leaving the UK would help Britain use that money on important infrastructure like “building a new NHS hospital every week”.
A statement on their website states: “We get less than half of this [£350m] money back, and we have no control over how it’s spent – that’s decided by politicians and officials in Brussels, not the people we elect here.
2. Economy
Vote Leave CEO Matthew Elliott slammed CBI’s report claiming Brexit could cost the UK economy £100bn or the equivalent of 5% of GDP by 2020.
He said: “Even in the CBI’s skewed choice of scenarios for exit, they are forced to admit that employment and the economy will continue to grow after we vote Leave.
“The EU-funded CBI are desperate to recreate the same scare stories they spread when they urged Britain to scrap the pound and join the euro. They were wrong then and they are wrong now.”
Also, a report by IHS Global pointed out that leaving the EU would have a positive impact on the UK in the long run.
The report stated: “The long-term economic consequences for the EU may paradoxically be modestly positive if the political process in the wake of a UK exit were to eventually lead to a more homogeneous EU membership, greater clarity about the wider benefits of being part of the EU, and enhanced willingness to support common EU institutions and abide by self-set rules.”
3. Trade
Last month London Mayor Boris Johnson defied Prime Minister David Cameron to come out in support of Brexit. He claimed that leaving the EU would boost Britain’s trade prowess.
He said: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I think there is a huge opportunity. Do free trade deals, believe in ourselves.”
Campaigners say that leaving the EU would lead to Britain developing new trade agreements with Europe and the rest of the world.
Vote Leave argues that the UK isn’t allowed to “negotiate our own trade deals”.
“We currently have no trade deal with key allies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the USA – or important growing economies like India, China or Brazil. Instead of making a deal which is best for the UK, we have to wait for 27 other countries to agree it,” Vote Leave said.
“Outside the EU, Britain would have an independent voice on the World Trade Organisation,” the organisation added.
4. Safeguarding Britain against terrorism
Conservative justice minister Dominic Raab claimed in March that Britain is more at risk from a terrorist attack if it remains in the EU.
Raab argued that remaining in the EU “imports risk” into the country.
Raab said: “Europol estimates that up to 5,000 people are back in Europe having attended training camps run by Islamic State.
“They are back in Europe, free to travel from Greece to Sweden. This was evidently a relevant factor in the movements and organisation of those suspected of responsibility for the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, including Salah Abdeslam and Mohammed Abrini. Abrini was reportedly in Britain last July, when he took pictures of a football stadium.
“It is too early to accurately assess the extent to which borderless travel facilitated those involved in the Brussels attacks. But, it is undeniable that regaining control over our borders would be a valuable defensive tool in protecting Britain from future terrorist attacks.”
5. Protecting the NHS
Lord Owen, the former Labour foreign secretary, is set to claim today that leaving the EU would allow the UK to regain control of the NHS and “protect it from outside competition”.
He will say: “The EU/Eurozone from 1992, in marked contrast to the old European Community of 1975, creeps into every nook and cranny of our life.
“It is now becoming entrenched in the NHS and this June we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get it out.”
He will add: “Now is the time to take back control from the EU and protect our NHS for future generations.
“We are agreed in Vote Leave, that whatever our political views on the present marketisation of the NHS, decisions on the NHS should for the future be for the UK Parliament and devolved administrations to take.
“It should not be for the European Commission nor the European Parliament.”
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