The United Kingdom should leave the European Union

My thanks go to my opponent, the Swedishperspective, for such an articulate argument which raises many interesting ideas. However we do not see eye-to-eye on many of the points he raised and I will address them now. Firstly when concerning my opponents economic argument he fails to evaluates the economic benefit for Britain but rather centralises his argument around the EU as a whole and this is a fundamental flaw as Britain is in a unique position in which it is held back by the EU as explained in my initial argument. Undoubtedly some countries benefit however Britain does not anymore. Furthermore my opponents economic argument is also centred around the idea and benefits of free trade, trade without tariffs. But we simply must acknowledge that we do not need a political union which requires: membership cost that accumulate to 10% of the UK's GPD [1], no border control and loss of power from parliament to have these trade agreements. Especially as the EU severely limits the UK's ability to create free trade agreements with non-EU members. It is a simple fact that the EU is more reliant on the UK than the UK is on the EU and therefore the trade with the EU will be largely unaffected by Britain's independence. That is a fact. Therefore Britain is in a economically unique position to leave and continue to have the free trade with Europe and not the ties of the EU as the statistics in my original argument prove. We live in a global world so why limited ourselves to one continent? Secondly my opponent mentions that it has become easier for international students as there is no longer a 'bureaucratic nightmare'. But I would just like to point out that top 3 countries in which international students arrive from to the UK are China, India and Nigeria [2]. Also the top country which UK students go to is the US [3]. So the 'bureaucratic nightmare' cannot be too much of strain on the students as they continue to come from non-EU countries and go to non-EU countries in such large volumes and therefore shouldn't be used as a reason for the UK to continue to shackle itself to the EU. Moreover the cost of the open border control of this has a heavy toll on the UK and is explained in my initial argument. This also highlights the EU's further discrimination against non-EU countries. As why does an EU student have a greater right to study in the UK than a Asian student or an American student? This is the objection I have for the EU immigration policy as well. We then go on to the misconception that the EU is the source of the wonderful peace that Europe enjoys. However it is simply not; N.A.T.O which was founded in 1949 [4] a separate organisation to the EU to the major organisation which has helped resolve issues. The peace we have been enjoying is not a product of the EU, it is a product of N.A.T.O , the sheer devastation of WW2 and changing social attitudes within Europe. To state that the Europe situation of peace is down to the EU is absurd. Also the opponent thankful mentions British influence well the facts are that with 73 MEPs and a parliament at a size of 751 Britain has about 9.7% of the vote [5] but Britain makes up around 13% of the population of the EU [6] and Britain is the 4th largest contributor [7] this does not seem fair representation. My opponent also mentions that the EU gives Britain a platform to influence international politics however without the EU it still does as a member the G8, G20 and permanent set within the UN, we do not need the EU to influence the world and tackle issues like climate change. Moreover my opponent mentions that the EU has made it easier for European countries to invest in the UK economy however before the EU investing was so difficult why is the top investor in the UK the USA? [8]. It may have encouraged further investment from EU countries but there is no reason why the UK could not have similar legislation independently for the world not just Europe. To summarise my opponents economic argument focus on the EU as a whole and fails to realise Britain strong position, how free trade agreements do not require a political union and that the same levels of trade would continue without EU membership. The fact that EU through its immigration and trading policy discriminates against non-EU members. Peace in Europe was not achieved through the EU but rather WW2 and N.A.T.O. The largest foreign investment comes from the USA and the UK could continue to have the same investment from EU countries whilst being independent. Britain is under represented in the parliament and can be a major world player without the EU. [1] https://www.gov.uk... [2] http://www.ukcisa.org.uk...-(non-UK)-students-in-UK-HE-in-2012-13 [3] http://www.telegraph.co.uk... [4] http://www.history.com... [5] http://www.europarl.europa.eu... [6] http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu... https://www.google.co.uk... [7] http://news.bbc.co.uk... [8] www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn01828.pdf