Mike Jackson on how he decided which way to vote

Really interesting and thought-provoking article by General Sir Mike Jackson in the Mail today here.

He explains a number of reasons why he would like to be able to vote "Leave" - many of which will be shared by floaters like myself or reluctant Remainers - and then goes through the pro-remain arguments which for him outweigh the arguments to leave.

He concludes:

"My heart wants an end to our loss of sovereignty, to external courts overruling ours, to EU red tape and bureaucracy. But my head says strategic considerations must weigh significantly more heavily if we are to look with confidence to a secure future.
 
I would ask that this conclusion is not discarded as yet another example of so-called Project Fear, but rather accepted as a sober weighing of the long-term potential risks from leaving set against the irritations of staying.
 
It is therefore with a heavy heart, but I hope a clear head, that I will vote to remain."

Comments

Jim said…
Dear Mike,

Now that you have your clear head, and are arguing that we should remain in the EU due to single market access, can you please use your clear head to understand that the single market (EEA) and the political European Union are not the same thing, and you can be a member of the EEA without giving sovereignty to the EU.

Now its not an Ideal position to be in, I will grant you that, but off the bat we would have control of fishing and agriculture, we would be free of obscene ECJ judgements, and we would of course keep all of our current trading deals pretty much as they are. We would from there be able to add our weight to EFTA to push for a much better deal and would be in a stronger position to do so.

I am not going to fill you full of rubbish and start saying how we will be so much richer, as well that would be a down right lie, it wont happen instantly. but I will be honest and say perhaps you need to reflect on my first paragraph with your clear head, and it will help you a lot if you read this

Jim
6:03 pm
Jim said…
More clearly, that is the damage that the current "leave" campaigns are doing. No exit plan, and rubbish about the none starter WTO option, will have that effect.

An exit plan people, we need a clear, realistic, EXIT PLAN.

with out it "leave" simply will not win.

6:07 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
You've put your finger on the issue, Jim.
7:58 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria

Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the
Read more

Quotes of the day 19th August 2020

Image
"Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise."  ( Cato the Elder , who lived 234 BC - 149 BC, quoted in "Lives" by Plutarch.) There is a similar saying by Germany's Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck: Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have put the same saying in a more humorous form: "Wise men profit by the mistakes of others, while fools will not learn even from their own blunders." See also this thread on the "Quote Investigator" website . Let us all be wise and learn from the events of the last few days.
Read more

Quote of the day 24th July 2020

I was moved to put the passage below forward as a quote today when I saw a horrible post on twitter from someone writing that it was "excellent" that someone who took a different view from her about Brexit had died. I won't write which way round it was so that all the Remain supporters can assume the post was from a Brexit fanatic welcoming the death of a remainer and all the Leavers can assume it was a Remainiac welcoming one less Brexiteer. There's been plenty of nasty stuff on both sides but if you catch anyone of your own viewpoint  posting something like that who might listen to you, please do call them out on it - and point out that they're giving everyone on your side of the argument a bad name. Anyway, here's the quote from John Donne.
Read more