So I would contact James Cartledge and keep in touch, until I got an answer. Done it more than once in the past and if needed will do it in the future. He is always helpful and listens.
His opinions ahead of the referendum certainly make for interesting reading;
Why do I believe that the UK should remain in the EU?
www.jamescartlidge.com
- Sovereignty v trade
Whilst much of the Europe debate is highly legalistic and technical, one might summarise the journey of our membership as one of effectively exchanging sovereignty for economic benefit; pooling sovereignty over the years with our European partners, in order to maximise our benefit from trade and investment.
I worry that leaving the EU would amount to us doing the opposite - gaining sovereignty at the expense of our economy.
..I can only vote on the position we are in now and I profoundly believe that Brexit is a step too far because it would
entail very significant economic risk. Conversely, I regard our position of being in the EU but not in the euro as a very strong 'unique selling point' to the international investors upon whom we depend. I therefore take the view that it is in Britain's national economic interest to remain in a reformed EU.
- Leave v remain
I do not adhere to far-fetched arguments that either scenario of leave or remain will lead to some kind of doom-laden outcome in which the world collapses around us. However, I cannot imagine that many members of the public would wish to leave the EU if they thought it would make them poorer, and to do so would be a national humiliation. The challenge is therefore to look at the two options and try and work out which is most likely to be beneficial to our overall prosperity.
If we leave:
It is argued that we could 'cut red tape'. I know the 'petty rules' of Brussels can be maddening,
but I am not convinced an 'independent' UK Government would be any less bureaucratic, and in fact, if we wanted to continue accessing the single market (and to do otherwise would be truly economically harmful) we would still need to abide by the rules of the EU - but without the ability to influence them!
www.eveningexpress.co.uk
