Britain's membership of the European Union

AA) Freedom of MovementIt would be hypocritical to simultaneously expect to be able to go to any country you like regardless of whether you have legitimate reason to be there and control our borders, the consequences of not doing so, as I described in the previous round, are far greater than the possible upsides freedom of movement could mean to British people going into Europe. + there are ways, as even my opponent has conceded for well-meaning people to travel across the world; Work Visas Residence permits But he also does cite some of the upsides of freedom of movement to British people; "As I am a British citizen, I am also an EU citizen. This entitles me to live in any other European Union country whenever I like without the need for a visa, or any other sort of residence permit." "When I want to retire, I can live elsewhere without stacks of paperwork to fill out." I ask my opponent to tell me whether he thinks that these reasons outweigh the following problems to be caused by immigration at its current scale; Increase in crime Wage compression Increased house prices Water Shortages Failing Hospitals The ultimate net fiscal cost of these & other problems caused by immigration at current scale being £140bn over the period 1995 - 2011 [MigrationWatchUK, 2014 report] [37] The Coalition Government's record on immigration illustrates the great lack of control that Britain has on the scale and quality of immigration whilst being a member of the European Union. As I've pointed out before, David Cameron was trying to get net migration to under 100,000 p.a., and even while trying to provide incentives through legislation for people from the EU to migrate to Britain, such as making it harder for British and foreign people to create families together and limiting the amount of benefits new migrants can receive, it has still now increased to over 260,000.BB) Common MarketA lot of the points my opponent tries to make here I have already refuted in my first round where I cited two reports showing zero benefit to trade that Britain receives from EU membership. I have also provided evidence to suggest that trade would be much greater outside of the EU, as we'd be able to reactivate our seat on the World Trade Organization. Pro claims that if we left the EU we'd have to pay tax if we went to another European country with € 10 000 (£7,507.93) or more, ignoring that there's no reason why legislation, if mutually beneficial, could be kept, and that this clearly does not come close to being greater than the consequences of open borders.CC) GovernmentMy opponent's implied claim that the ECHR acts in the will of the people is very disputable. For example; The ECHR makes it harder to deny citizen's rights, such as voting, from people who have forfeited such rights such as prisoners [BBC News, 2013] [38], a position most British people disagreed with the ECHR on [YouGov, 2012 survey] [39]. The ECHR makes it harder to deport terrorists, for example the blocked deportation of Abu Qatada [The Guardian, 2012] [40]. More people support leaving the ECHR than remaining part of it [YouGov, 2014 survey] [41]. My opponent also implies a sketchy claim that without the ECHR, the age of consent for homosexual and heterosexual sex would not have been equalised, which is reasonable to be sceptical of considering there was legislation only 6 years ago changing it from 21 to 18 [YouGov, 2013] [42]. Human Rights do, despite europhile claims, predate the European Union.Contentions Britain is losing influence within the European Union Britain is inherently at a disadvatage in terms of influence by being a member of the European Union Britain receives no trade benefit from the European Union The European Union hinders Britain's trade The European Union passes an excess amount of red tape for British businesses to obide by The European Union's energy policy is a drain on Britain's economy The European Union destroys British jobs The European Union maliciously introduces massive waste into Britain's aid budget, currently dominated by non-humanitarian aid Britain's EU membership opens its borders and so causes excess increases in house prices, crime, population growth, water shortages, and failing hospitals The European Union spends millions on propaganda every year The European Dream is dying, and with good reason Sources[37] http://www.migrationwatchuk.com...[38] http://www.bbc.co.uk...[39] https://yougov.co.uk...[40] http://www.theguardian.com...[41] https://yougov.co.uk...[42] https://yougov.co.uk...