The Left backing Brexit: It is no big dream

This EU referendum has been on my mind almost constantly for these past two terms, and while I came into the debate with no bias either way, I came out a staunch Brexiteer. I found out a lot about the EU in the process, and it seems to me that the leave side of the campaign is not putting forward their case in the most effective way.

The overarching argument for this triad of articles is that the EU is not the wonderful social collaboration that you think it is. I still cannot figure out why people would hate David Cameron’s austerity, yet want to stay in the organisation that forces austerity onto other countries.

The EU is not the wonderful social collaboration that you think it is

Why do people strongly believe that the corporations and banks at the top need to pay their fair share of tax, but want to remain in the club that helps these corporations thrive? Or why people support a large foreign aid budget, yet want to stay in a trading bloc which by its very nature exploits and bullies poorer countries.

The problem with the leave side of the argument is its supporters. Jeremy Corbyn, once a heavy critic of the EU, slyly moved onto the remain side so as not to anger his party even more, and so we are left with the outspoken right wing politicians who don’t do so well with students. People like Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

The problem with the leave side of the argument is its supporters

No matter what their arguments are, they are guaranteed to put off a large proportion of people just because of their reputation. So what follows is not the standard immigration or economic arguments, but instead a smattering of the more social arguments for leaving the European Union.

Lobbying is a phenomenon where corporations, industries and other vested interests persuade politicians to make and pass laws in their favour. Lobbyists are individuals hired to form strong personal relationships with politicians, and push the agendas of their clients across. This happens on a massive scale in the US, where some have estimated that the industry brings in $9 billion a year.

They are guaranteed to put off a large proportion of people just because of their reputation

It is undemocratic, and is the framework that big businesses use to pass laws in their favour. How does this phenomenon affect the EU? Well the EU commission has around 31,000 staff. There are 30,000 lobbyists working in the EU. Here too, it is an industry worth billions, and it is estimated that lobbying influences 75% of legislation.

But it’s even worse than that, because the EU commission, which proposes new legislation on the 507 million EU citizens, is entirely unelected. They have no manifesto to be held to, and there is no method of removing them from office. They are shielded from democracy, which is fantastic for lobbyists.

They are shielded from democracy, which is fantastic for lobbyists

You may have noticed in the news that big banks like JP Morgan are supporting the remain camp. This is wholly because it is far cheaper to lobby in the central Brussels parliament, far away from the people, and have their laws apply in 28 different countries, rather than lobby in each of those countries separately.

Of course, lobbying happens in the UK too, but here it is on a much smaller scale. It affects politicians who we can remove democratically, and we are able to pass laws to regulate the system. It is also worth mentioning that the UK, unlike the EU, has common law, meaning that our laws derive from the people rather than from some holy constitution, interpreted by a supreme court. Hence legislation is a process less susceptible to lobbying.

Of course, lobbying happens in the UK too, but here it is on a much smaller scale

Anyone pushing the argument that the EU has helped clean up the air should note that it was the EU that caused it to become so dirty. It is impossible to quantify the number of deaths resulting from this law change, but air pollution kills more people globally than malaria and HIV combined.

So we’ve seen that the EU is corporatist heaven – with flocks of lobbyists, fearless legislators who cannot be removed from office, and all of this miles from the people. If you believe that corporations do not deserve power over us, then you must vote to leave this European Union.

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