Should the UK remain in the EU?
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill called for the creation of a "United States of Europe" to bind France and Germany together. In doing so, he made clear that Britain would be a supportive but independent partner of any such entity. He famously said: 'We are with Europe but not of it." In the end, Britain did join the European Economic Community but only in 1973, 15 years after the Treaty of Rome was signed. We joined the Social Chapter in 1997, eight years after it was adopted by other member states. And we never signed up to Economic and Monetary Union or the Schengen Agreement on common borders. However, it is not until now that the British public have been presented with the
Paul Kahn, president of the 16,000-employee Airbus UK, stated, "If after an exit from the European Union, economic conditions in Britain were less favourable for business than in other parts of Europe, or beyond, would Airbus reconsider future investment in the United Kingdom? Yes, absolutely." If Britain were to leave the EU Mr Kahn suggested the company could face more red tape in areas such as work visas and trade barriers. Other manufacturers, such as Nissan, have also claimed that the UK would be better off in the EU, with Carlos Ghosn issuing a statement stating “It is a completely different situation if the UK is not part of Europe… From the foreign investor point of view I hope that the UK will remain as an EU member.” Despite these warnings, Euro sceptics still believe that companies might still be attracted to the UK thanks to an educated work force, good living conditions and lower tax brackets than other countries. Furthermore, a recent House of Commons report stated, “the UK might be able to establish a regulatory regime more favourable to overseas investors that could offset the effect of it’s departure”. This demonstrates that it might be possible to attract business by being more flexible than the EU. Also, The EU was created for the 'good of Europe as a whole' meaning that it is possible for individual countries to be net contributors to the system. The UK is one such member, contributing £11.3billion in 2014 and currently sitting