Viva Lewes Issue 117 June 2016

EU REFERENDUM
...Or should we go?
Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes
As I write this, we enter the key period before every
person eligible to vote in British elections will -
thanks to the pledge within this Government’s manifesto
- have the chance to either vote for Britain to
leave or remain within the EU.
After the election, the Prime Minister set about
negotiating with other EU member states in order
to secure reforms to Britain’s membership. Agreements
were reached in March after a lengthy period
of negotiation. They present a welcome step in the
right direction, however, I feel due to the reluctance
of other EU nations, they fail to go far enough.
I have made it my mission to visit as many businesses
as possible, both big and small, to chat about issues
affecting them. It soon became clear that there was
one concern for the majority of those businesses: the
growing wave of bureaucracy, mainly from Brussels.
Whether it be new regulations relating to equipment
used in a Lewes hairdressers, or the failing
Common Agricultural Policy which so negatively
affects our farmers surrounding the town, it soon
became clear that our EU membership was having
a profoundly damaging impact on those putting so
much into the local economy.
We need only look a little further afield within the
constituency, at those fishermen working out of Newhaven,
to see an example of how little the reforms
will benefit the UK. A once-thriving fishing town,
Newhaven has seen its in-shore fishing industry
decimated by the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
Just before Christmas, I had fishermen expressing
their overwhelming concerns, as, overnight, with no
warning, the EU banned Sea Bass fishing in our waters.
Men who had just spent thousands of pounds
on new nets were now letting crew go because their
business had just been closed down. What could I
do about this as the local Member of Parliament?
Nothing. The decision was made in Brussels.
These concerns in most instances would be enough
to convince most to vote ‘Leave’ on the 23rd June.
However, there is another, for some even more
pressing concern, which relates to the clear disengagement
that the EU has with the British electorate.
Very few members of the public are aware of
who represents them within the European Parliament,
and even fewer seem to care.
Of course, this leaves a breeding ground for unaccountability
with an end result of policy that profoundly
impacts upon the lives of those within the
UK being steered in directions completely opposite
to Britain’s interests. Such an activity wouldn’t be acceptable
at any level of Government within the UK,
so why should it be acceptable within the EU?
On the 23rd June, we have a once in a life time
chance to map our future as a country. No one is
saying it will be easy but for the first time in nearly
40 years we will be masters of our own destiny, part
of Europe but not governed by the EU.
@mariacaulfield
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