The opponents of the British membership in the EU gained their most prominent colleague when Lord Lawson said that the country’s economy would be stronger outside the European Union.
According to the words of a British Conservative politician, the main aim of the Union was to build the so-called United States of Europe that were not for Britain. The European Union, Lawson says, is right now placed in a “bureaucratic monstrosity” that the country should break free from as soon as possible. Besides, the politician is also about to vote for the United Kingdom to leave the Union after the referendum 2017. Just like before, the ex-chancellor claims that the 40 years association with Belgian capital has already passed its sell-by date.
The latest remarks of Lawson put a certain pressure on Cameron to advance the legislation of the referendum regarding the membership of the country in the European Union. The author of the well-known “Lawson Boom” suggests that public demand is such that a referendum will happen in any case.
The heart of the matter, Lawson believes, is that the nature of EU, as well as of UK relationship with it, has significantly changed after the creation of the so-called “eurozone” and coming into the monetary union. With that in mind, while Lawson voted “for” in 1975, he is going to vote “against” in 2017.
Despite the advanced years that a great intellectual chancellor has spent in the previous stance, his 100% switch to the cause of the UK departure from the Union will be considered by a great number of Euro-skeptics as a defining moment in the domestic Tory battle over the future of Great Britain.
Even though Nigel Lawson insists that his viewpoints have nothing to do with “being completely anti-European”, leaving the biggest single market will bring a range of benefits for his motherland. According to the statements of the politician, there is no need to be the member of EU to be able to export to its market. The statistics are more expressive than words. For instance, over the last ten years, British exports to the Union have risen in terms of cash by 40%. At the same time, UK exports to the European zone from those outside it have risen by 75%. The whole point is that nowadays the relevant economic context is not related to Europe, but to globalization only, including global free trade monitored by the members of the World Trade Organization.
As Lord Lawson goes on, he insists that just like the entry into the Common Market in the past provided economical changes, so might the “exit” from the European Union that British journalist and politician calls an institution that has stepped over its sell-by date. And finally, withdrawing from the European Union may also help to keep the City of London as far as possible from the “regulatory activism frenzy” like the tax of financial transactions that Brussels is about to impose.