I read a discussion about this a little while ago, before Lawson's comments. One person was contending that it would be economically beneficial for the UK to leave the EU, as it currently has a net outflow of funds to the continent. Another responded that a large portion of that is trade deficit, and if it were to exit the EU, it would lose it's tariff protection, and would presumably continue to spend the money offshore, but paying higher prices, so it should find itself worse off. I don't know enough about it to know what is the correct assessment.
-Pete On Tue, 7 May 2013, Keith Hudson wrote: > The most powerful voice yet raised against UK's membership of the EU is > revealed in an article in the Times today. This is the biggest banana skin yet > under PM Cameron and he's unlikely to hang onto his job for very much longer. > > Former British finance minister calls for EU exit > > > <http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1367914642264-1-0.jpg?1367949668> > Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson (left) and form > > Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson (left) and former French > Finance Minister Edmond Alphandery(R) in Sao Paulo, Brazil 01 December 1999. > Britain would enjoy a significant economic boost if it left the European > Union, Lawson said in an article Tuesday which will fuel the debate about a > referendum on British membership. > <http://www.france24.com/en/files/imagecache/aef_ct_wire_image_lightbox/images/afp/photo_1367915915201-1-0.jpg?1367949668> > Former Conservative cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher, N > > Former Conservative cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher, Nigel Lawson > attends the ceremonial funeral of British former prime minister Margaret > Thatcher in St Paul's Cathedral in central London on April 17, 2013. Britain > would enjoy a significant economic boost if it left the European Union, Lawson > said in an article Tuesday which will fuel the debate about a referendum on > British membership. > > AFP - Britain would enjoy a significant economic boost if it left the European > Union, former finance minister Nigel Lawson said in an article Tuesday which > will fuel the debate about a referendum on British membership. > > Writing in the Times, Nigel Lawson insisted that "the case for exit" was now > clear and urged Britain to sever its 40-year association with Brussels. > > "In my judgement the economic gains would substantially outweigh the costs," > wrote Lawson, who was Margaret Thatcher's longest serving Chancellor of the > Exchequer. > > Lawson, a leading senior member of the Conservative Party, said the economic > gains from a British exit "would substantially outweigh the costs". > > He said the EU had become a "bureaucratic monstrosity" and warned that the > idea of "a federal European superstate" was "profoundly misguided" and > "certainly not for us". > > Lawson, who voted to keep Britain in the bloc during a 1975 referendum, also > claimed that an exit would save Britain's valuable financial sector from a > "frenzy of regulatory activism". > > His comments come days after Britain's eurosceptic and anti-immigration UK > Independence Party (UKIP) scored resounding successes in local polls, piling > pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron. > > UKIP leader Nigel Farage confirmed that he would stand in Britain's next > general election in 2015 as the party seeks to translate growing public > support into seats in parliament at the expense of the three main political > parties. > > Government ministers on Sunday rejected calls for Cameron to counter UKIP's > rise by pushing through legislation for a referendum on EU membership before > 2015, instead of by late 2017 as he has promised. > > Lawson served in Thatcher's Tory government as finance minister between 1983 > and 1989, overseeing a huge rebalancing of Britain's economy through > privatisations and deregulation. > > He now sits in the upper House of Lords after being made a life peer in 1992. > (France 24 website > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
