BRUSSELS: Britain’s place is in the EU and at the very heart of it. With the European Referendum portentously looming over us, it is more important than ever to trumpet the overwhelming benefits of the United Kingdom’s membership of the EU and painful implications of Brexit.
Membership of the EU is of vital national interest to the UK and a vote to leave would have damaging economic ramifications. Leaving the EU is not a step into the unknown, not a daring patriotic adventure. The damage has been calculated, the consequences forecast. Britain’s exit would be more akin to a stumble into the abyss. The facts are there for those who care to look.
The European Union continues to be the UK’s largest export market, comprising 50% of the UK total. A figure three times as high than the UK’s exports to Asia. More significantly economic investment from the emerging markets and the Americas is directly linked to our EU membership. The UK is seen as a gateway to Europe and that’s why 40% of the world’s largest companies have their main or European headquarters in London. The UK’s continued membership of the European single market guarantees the pre-eminence of London as the financial capital of the world. A break from Europe would be catastrophic for the financial sector. HSBC and Deutsche Bank have already publically outlined plans to move all or part of their businesses abroad in the event of a vote to leave the UK. International business is aware that the EU cuts more red tape than it creates and it is important that Britain’s place within the tariff free single market is maintained.
