Britain Leaving the EU?

I do not think things would be as straight forward as this next article states. However, with all the hardships that will ensue after the UK leaves the EU; I do think it would be better for us to leave rather then try for a renegotiated relationship with the EU.  We must be completely in or completely out. To be completely in a very undemocratically led EU, as it is at the moment, is no longer a viable option.  In the long run, the EU will become democratically viable to its citizens, but alas, not quick enough for the UK. Our politicians can't sell the EU to the electorate as it is. The EU has dropped the ball and no longer cares about UK membership to the degree of becoming democratically responsible to European voters quick enough. The EU is far too interested in saving the EU currency. Rome burns while un-elected Presidents play their fiddles.  The EU - Superstate or Free Trade Partner? We Can Leave. EU leaders are determined on political union.  This is clear from the way the Lisbon Treaty and the Constitution were driven through, ignoring their rejection by popular votes in Ireland, France and Holland.   Polls show that almost no-one in the UK wants political union, and more and more want us to leave.  The politicians tell us that leaving the EU is unthinkable.  They are wrong. We can leave the EU.  We would prosper outside as a free and independent country, trading with every part of the world, as we have always done. See Britain outside the EU Of Course we Can Leave - our Parliament is Sovereign We can leave the EU, because no UK Government can bind its successor.  We are subject to EU rules only because UK legislation says that we are. Statutes are passed through Parliament to implement each EU treaty.  These statutes require UK judges to have regard to EU law in making their judgements. Repeal this UK legislation, and we are free. EU law no longer applies to us. The debate with the EU would be about how best to manage our leaving, not whether we can leave.  We don't have to pay anything to leave.  In fact we will stop paying into the EU budget – more and more every year. There is a procedure for leaving the EU in the Lisbon Treaty, but no sovereign nation would use it in practice. Treaties can be repudiated (ask the Germans). The Lisbon Treaty procedure requires permission from a majority of countries and MEPs. The leaving country is not allowed to take part in the discussion of the details of leaving, such as who bears any costs. Having left, the country remains bound by EU rules for two years. Having decided to leave, who would be so spineless as to accept so one-sided a deal? The Lisbon Treaty affects the UK because an Act of our Parliament says so. If we repeal the Act, then we are not subject to the leaving procedure. How would we Leave? The actual steps of leaving could be as follows: • Repeal the European Communities Act and its amending acts which brought in subsequent EU treaties. • Stop paying contributions into the EU budget.  • Repeal the Human Rights Act and withdraw from European Court of Human Rights. UK courts could then no longer refer to foreign jurisdictions in their decisions - just British law and precedent. • There are thousands of UK laws based on EU Directives. It would be impossible to repeal them all at once. We should pass a series of Enabling Acts as vehicles for amending EU-related laws, and set up a Parliamentary group to review them over 2-3 years. Their brief would be to reduce the burden of regulation substantially and remove the influence of EU Directives. An Enabling Act each year would revise those laws which had been considered by the group. Businesses would be free to create more jobs.  • Negotiate a free trade agreement after we have left - once we give them a fait accompli it would be in their interests to regularise trade. WTO rules would prevent discrimination against us, as would self-interest - we are a big market for EU countries. • Negotiate our own free trade deals with the growing countries of China, India, the Far East, South America and the US – deals to increase the trade of Britain, not the EU • Notify the EU that we are resuming control over our 200-mile fishing limits, reviving what is left of our fishing industry • Replace the Common Agricultural policy with a policy which helps British farmers produce what we want at affordable prices We Can Leave the European Union - and Still Trade Successfully with Them

And Finally, a Thought from our former Prime Minister "Of course, Britain could survive outside the EU...We could probably get access to the single market as Norway and Switzerland do..."