Dear Sir,
On the 23 June we will go to the polls with the chance to take back control of our country – and stop being told what to do by un-elected and unaccountable foreign bureaucrats.
For too long, we have been a member of this diminishing European club – a club that doesn’t serve our interests or listen to our demands.
On 72 occasions since 1996, we have opposed EU policy in the Council of Ministers. On all 72 occasions, we have been outvoted. This statistic proves what pitiful influence we have as a member of the EU.
The message from the Brexit side is very simple. The UK will be safer, stronger, and more prosperous, outside of the EU.
We want to bring back control of our borders and create fairer immigration system that treats people equally, regardless of where they come from in the world.
We don’t want open borders with 500 million EU citizens, not to mention the additional 77 million Turks who are set to be granted free movement within the EU – nor do we want to discriminate against Commonwealth citizens, or those from other parts of the world, who find it difficult to come here because of our discriminatory migration policy.
Instead, we need an Australian-style point’s based system so we can control who comes and who goes at our ports.
We want to stop sending £350 million a week to Brussels – and instead put that money towards supporting our schools, hospitals, police and brave armed forces, to name just a few. British taxpayers’ money should be spent, or saved, in a way that is decided by elected Britons – and on our own priorities.
The recent budget highlighted the willingness of the government to inflict yet more austerity on the British people. We should all be asking ourselves – what could we do with the £55 million a day we currently give to the EU?
How much public investment, or how many tax cuts for hard-working families, could we introduce if we had control of our own purse strings.
We also want to make our own laws in our own Parliament. The British people should be able to elect a government that has the power to make, amend, and scrap legislation.
That same population should have the power to vote in a good Government, and vote out a bad one. This is the definition of a parliamentary democracy.
But, while we remain a member of this unreformed European Union, 75% of our laws will be made abroad, where un-elected officials have the sole power to propose and scrap legislation.
At the same time, we should also have the power to sign our own trade deals – trade deals that would boost jobs and investment in the United Kingdom, whilst establishing trade links and relationships the world over.
So, the time has come for us to rejoin the wider world and have a truly global outlook.
We are the fifth largest global economy, the second most important defence player within NATO, a country with an incredible history and a fantastic future.
A UK outside of the EU would still be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, be America’s strongest and closest ally, retain our seat in the G7 and the G20, and remain at the fore front of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Far from being a leap into the dark, as the ‘remain’ camp would have you believe, the United Kingdom leaving the European Union would be a leap into the light – into a more prosperous, brighter, global future.
I believe we are good enough, strong enough and significant enough – do you?
John Grant