The United Kingdom should leave the European Union

Firstly, I would just like to point out that British trade to the EU makes up 36% of our exports, not 52%. In fact, it is Britain alone that receives 52% of EU exports, making us their single biggest market in the world. [1] This also means that Britain is worth "400 billion to the EU, not the other way round. That said, we do in fact get money back in various forms but the UK is known widely to be a net contributor to the EU meaning that we put more money in than we get back [2]. Secondly, according to the IMF, the UK has the fastest growing economy in the western world [3] and the Centre for Economics and Business Research has predicted that by 2030, the UK will overtake both France and Germany to be the largest economy in Europe. [4] Also, even though we are rated 1st in the world for soft power, it is unlikely the Chinese would not form some sort of trade agreement with us as they have already done so with both Iceland and Switzerland who both lie outside the EU and who both have vastly smaller economies than the UK [5]. Thirdly, you are correct that Norway must agree to EU trade laws without having a say but they have actually only adopted 9% of those laws. Daniel Hannan, a Conservative Member of European Parliament (MEP) tells us in an article he wrote for CapX, that between 2000 and 2013 Norway adopted 4,724 EU regulations (almost all minor that required no additional legislation) whereas the UK, in the same period, adopted 52,183 new regulations [6]. This suggests to me that the UK can indeed pick and choose what regulations it would adopt should it take a similar path and that leaving the EU would go some way to deregulating our economy. While we would lose our say in what the trade laws are it would still be no different than exporting to any other country such as the USA where we also have no say in trade laws. Furthermore, we would also regain the right to create our own agriculture and fisheries policies once more which means a significant return of sovereignty to the UK as well as an end to policies that have made food more expensive at a time when people's wages and household incomes are suffering. Fourthly, in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) a report by the think tank Civitas showed that while initially, in the first decade of membership, the EU did contribute to FDI in to the UK, "there is no evidence that any benefit continued beyond the first post-entry decade" (pg 64) and it also says that between 1993 and 2012, FDI grew at a slower rate than it did in the EFTA countries (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland) [7]. In short, it is not unreasonable, in light of this report, to expect a larger and quicker amount of FDI in to the UK should we choose to leave, not to mention we would not longer be penalised by trade tariffs should we trade outside of the EU. As a side note, CBI, among others also gave the exact same arguments when the UK was deciding whether or not to join the Euro. All I can say here is that they were clearly wrong about that and thank god we did not listen to them. Finally, some of the problems the EU faces are highlighted again by Daniel Hannan MEP. He explains that compared to the rest of the world, economic growth in the EU is minimal, EU debt is at 880 billion Euros, our trade with the EU is declining and unemployment is high [8+9]. By the majority of measures we, a small island nation, are doing better than an entire continent and therefore leaving the EU would not hurt us nearly as much as you suggest. To conclude, leaving the EU in favour of EFTA would have the immediate benefit of vastly less regulation that damages small and medium size businesses in the UK. We could also see more investment, at a faster pace in to the country which would help create much needed jobs at a time of high unemployment. While it is true we would lose the (minimal) say we have in the European Parliament on trade laws, we would also gain the ability to make our own laws in other areas that have a much bigger impact on the UK and therefore we should leave and make our own way. [1] . http://www.express.co.uk... [2] . http://news.bbc.co.uk... (click net contribution button) [3] . http://www.telegraph.co.uk... [4] . http://www.cebr.com... [5] . http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk... [6] . http://www.capx.co... [7] . http://www.civitas.org.uk... [8+9] . http://www.dailymail.co.uk... + . http://www.capx.co...