LETTER: Let's be brave

Why is it that there is so much doom and gloom concerning the UK’s departure from the EU?

In particular, what’s all this about a free trade deal with the remaining 27 EU members (‘the 27’) being so vital? What rubbish. Such a deal would be good but it’s not worth as much as the media portrays. The 27 export significantly more to the UK than the UK exports to the 27. Also, the 12 billion euro management fee paid by the UK to the EU each year is such a significant part of the EU’s running cost budget that the EU Commission/Parliament cannot survive in its present form without it.

Am I missing something? But surely, therefore, the 27 should be knocking on the UK’s door to negotiate with us. The UK, and not the EU, should take the lead and define the terms. It is the UK which controls whether or not the EU loses the 12 billion euro and also the free trade benefits which are significantly more beneficial to the 27 than to us.

Some Captains of Industry, many if not most small businesses and the Governor of the Bank of England (who now has changed his mind), not to mention President Trump, all recognise that there is so much more to the UK than the EU. Indeed the most recent company performance figures, GDP, inward investment commitments, FTSE 100 and employment/unemployment figures all confound the pre-Brexit scaremongers. In spite of what the doom and gloom mongers say (including the media which continues to talk down the UK) it must be clear to most of us who examine the pros and cons objectively without the spin that the positives of Brexit very significantly outweigh any negatives.

So let’s be brave. Let’s take the initiative, leave tomorrow and stop throwing good money after bad. Let the EU knock on the UK’s door and ask to negotiate with us. Brexit means the EU loses its second largest paymaster and will put the EU on the edge of a cliff unless we allow the EU to negotiate terms which save it. The UK has the upper hand and should be in control.

Cllr Alan Latham

Chairman Ukip Lewes