Sensible answer is to work with EU

In your edition of February 5, Tony Smith writes (letters) that the only solution to the migrant problem is for the UK to leave the EU.
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Feb 2016, 09:00 BST
Updated 17th Feb 2016, 07:39 BST

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This is like saying that the only way to deal with a smashed windscreen is to throw the car onto the scrap heap.

The UK’s migrant problem from non-EU countries will not go away if we leave the EU.

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Leaving might result in a reduction of EU citizens coming here but the price we would pay for the privilege of keeping them out would cause us to lose all the other advantages that the EU has brought to this country in terms of the economy, especially through the single market, political influence in the world, solidarity in the face of external threats, free movement for our citizens and many others.

Surely the sensible answer is to work in the EU to find answers to the problems which face us all – as the government is now trying to do, it seems with success.

As for the specific case of North African migrants, according to the FT of February 5, German ministers last week approved tough new measures for North African migrants.

The German government also backed plans to add Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to a growing list of so-called safe countries to which migrants can be more easily returned.

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They are not proposing that Germany should leave the EU to do this.

In the same edition of the Observer, Barry Jones manages to take a swipe at the EU in the context of his opposition to re-nationalisation of the railways.

He argues that all decisions taken about the railways are political due to EU directives superior to UK domestic laws.

The railway directives are designed to increase competition on the railways in the EU.

Isn’t that exactly what Barry Jones favours?

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Directives are proposed by the commission and have to be approved by the Council of Ministers (from which, if we leave, our ministers will be excluded) and by the parliament (in which we would have no MEPS).

And however sovereign we might wish our parliament to be, if we left the EU, neither UK ministers nor MPs would have the direct influence they have now on decisions taken in Brussels, however contrary to UK interests those decisions might be; as, for example, the Norwegians and Swiss find when the EU takes decisions affecting their interests.

HJ Arbuthnott

Caldbec Hill

Battle

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Related topics:TONY SMITHObserver