Britain Considers Quitting EU

Britain debates economic effect of leaving EU, Nation to decide in June whether it will leave 28-nation bloc. By Jill Lawless Associated Press

   

LONDON — British politicians and bankers tussled Tuesday over the economic impact of quitting the European Union, with an exit-supporting Cabinet minister accusing his opponents of treating voters like children and trying to scare them into staying with forecasts of doom.

   

But Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said uncertainty about Britain’s future was already having a destabilizing effect on the economy, driving down the value of the pound and creating “some softening in growth.”

   

Carney, who has avoided backing either side outright, told a House of Lords committee that leaving the EU would cause an “extended period of uncertainty about the economic outlook” and could slow growth.

   

On Monday, the Treasury said quitting the EU — a prospect known as Brexit — would leave the British economy 6 percent smaller by 2030, the equivalent of a $6,100 loss per household.

   

Carney said he was not involved in the Treasury analysis but the “broad approach to me makes sense.”

   

Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who backs Brexit, said the Treasury prediction was an example of scare tactics by a pro-EU campaign. In a speech in London to supporters of the Vote Leave group, Gove said warnings that Britain faced economic decline and isolation outside the EU offered a “profoundly negative vision of the future. I sometimes think that the ‘In’ campaign appears to be operating to a script written by George R.R. Martin and Stephen King ... .,” he said.

   

In contrast, he said leaving the EU would be the start of “a happy journey to a better future” in which Britain would control its borders, laws and economy.

   

Britain will decide in a June 23 referendum whether to leave the 28-nation bloc. Prime Minister David Cameron and many in his government support staying in, but Gove and several other ministers are backing a “leave” vote.

   

The “remain” campaign accuses Gove and others of failing to outline what relationship Britain would have with the EU if it leaves. As an EU member, Britain is part of a single market of some 500 million people and does most of its trade with other members of the bloc.

   

Others have challenged that view, pointing out that countries such as Norway and Iceland had to agree to abide by EU rules to be admitted to the free-trade zone.

Source: AJC 4/20/16 from AP

Comments

Britain needs to quit the UN and reverse course on all the UN policies that have ruined their country. They need to ban Sharia Law, stop excessive Muslim immigration and get their welfare costs reduced. They need to stop all “nanny-state” policies and lay off the bureaucrats. They need to refuse to accept the legitimacy of EU policies and refuse to implement them in Britain. They need to deport Muslims back to Pakistan, clean up their schools and drain the “no go” zones. They need to restore freedom to their own people.  They need to replace their managed economy with a free market economy.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader