The United Kingdom should leave the European Union

The final round shall be closing statements. One thing I will agree with my opponent on is that the case to leave the EU is very much a hypothetical chance at prosperity but it is a chance nonetheless. Think about the French revolutionaries in the 19th century, the Levelers in the 17th century and even the American rebels in the 18th century. Did they sit there and accept mediocrity when they knew they could be better or did they dare to dream? Were they afraid to ask "what if...?" The answer is of course no. They saw an opportunity to improve their country for the better and they took it. No doubt they would have thought about how the rest of the world would react to what they were doing but even so they were prepared to make things work for their children and grandchildren, just as I believe the British people are. My opponent points out how Germany is a greater contributor than we are. While this is true it is also somewhat irrelevant. Germany may well be happy with the contribution that they make to the EU but this does not mean that no-one else can be unhappy about their's. Germany also may well be happy to sit in a customs union that it can dominate but this does by no means mean that the British people have to be happy with the net contributor arrangement too, we are allowed to have an opinion that differs from that of the German government. I'm sure that Con would also not disagree with the notion that Britain has been a thorn in the side of the EU as of late. While this is nothing knew (except under Tony Blair, perhaps Britain's least popular prime minister) I believe we should be on good terms with Europe, trade with it, even defend it. Surely the best way to do this is to re-evaluate what our relationship should be so that we can be good neighbours as the Swiss and Norwegians are instead of being a constant annoyance, slowing down the European idea of what progress is. Con has shown you the possible negative consequences of leaving the EU (what the SNP would no doubt refer to as "project fear" were they campaigning to leave the EU) whereas I have tried to show a positive case to leave. That said, there is plenty to be concerned about with EU membership not least of which is the cost of membership (55-60 million a day). It is also the only trade bloc on the world that teeters constantly on the edge of economic recession, has a declining share of world GDP, is plagued by high unemployment, increases the cost of living, enforces protectionist trade policies through tariffs and who's ultimate destination is a "United States of Europe". Furthermore, con puts the UK's economic success in the 1970's down to what would become EU membership. I would again like to refer to the Civitas report that suggested the benefit of this did not last much beyond the first decade of membership. Just because it may (debatable) have been the right decision to enter back then does not mean it is the right decision to stay now. Con may believe he has economics on his side but the truth of the matter is that the economics of staying and leaving are highly debatable and since no official cost-benefit analysis actually exists, it is up to the individual to look at the data and decide for themselves. In most cases you will find a convincing argument to leave. Now for some of those positives. If we leave our contribution to the EU budget could be greatly decreased, we could see more investment and thus more jobs, lower food prices, we could see the return of our fishing and manufacturing industries and properly subsidise our farms. We would have to suffer less regulation from politicians whom we do not elect (the ones we do only make up 8% of EU parliament), we can openly trade with the rest of the world without it being penalised by EU tariffs and we can get our seat back at the WTO. We definitely stand more to gain by leaving than we do by staying. All we have to do is dare to dream. n.b I would like to take the opportunity to thank my opponent for the debate. I believe he has presented some very good arguments and it has been a pleasure debating this issue with him.