EU Referendum for UK

EU Referendum for UK.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, will today unveil details for a UK wide referendum on membership of the European Union.

A draft bill will be presented to parliament for debate and ultimately for a public vote in 2017.

The bill and a need for referendum has widespread support amongst many Conservative MPs, although both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have warned of the risks of going to the people.

Our view
EU membership is complex and many of the EU laws and directives are seen as restrictive as Britain is a constant net contributor to the EU rather than a beneficiary.

That said, the EU is a huge trade partner for the UK and any exit is risky to the economy. We have written many times that the UK being a member means that we are attractive to non-EU corporates as a gateway into Europe, with the banking and financial sectors benefitting.

That said, open borders and benefit tourists are political ‘hot potatoes’.

If the UK is to leave the EU we must develop closer ties with emerging BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as those more established like the USA. An issue that will also have to be dealt with is the fact the EU is negotiating free trade deals with both the USA and Japan. The UK would suffer if we were not party to this.

That said, our close commonwealth ties should leave is well place to develop trade in Africa, Canada, Australia and India.

Membership of the EU is a tough, complex decision andwill be difficult to explain to voting public. That said, we have been EU members since 1973, 40 years of membership has not put the ‘great’ back into Great Britain. Maybe now is a time for change and for the UK to move back to global development.