THE QUESTION:
Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?’
Remain a member of the European Union [ ]
Leave the European Union [ ]
On the morning of June 24, 2016, the United Kingdom and the world woke up to the news that on the previous day the electorate, 52% to 48% with a 72% turnout, voted to leave the 28-member European Union (EU). Britain’s 43 years of membership is coming to an end. A four-month long, bitterly fought campaign between those that wanted to remain in the EU (called Bremain) and those who wanted to leave (Brexit – British exit) has culminated in a shock result – Brexit prevailed, though it was the underdog (BREMAIN had the support of key British political leaders, business leaders, billionaires, globalists, international allies, and EU partners). This is only the third time in Britain’s long history that there has been a referendum and it can clearly be labelled ‘historic.’
Democracy at work: First, we should all derive satisfaction that the UK EU Referendum was clearly democracy in action. Prime Minister David Cameron, who announced his resignation soon after the results, promised the people an ‘In or Out’ Referendum. On a matter of such fundamental importance, the nation was given a chance to have their say. In addition, membership in the European Union is voluntary and member states can choose to leave without armed conflict.
The Economy: Why did 52% of the electorate vote to leave the EU? One issue was economics. There is much dissatisfaction over the annual contributions Britain has to make to the EU ($16 billion in 2014). Recently, Brussels sent London an unexpected invoice because the UK economy had done better than expected. In addition, there are all kinds of rules and regulations that hamstring the economy and smack of protectionism.
Immigration: A second concern was immigration. As part of the responsibility of EU membership is that citizens of member states have the right to live and work in other member states (similar to citizens of Australian and American states can live anywhere in the country). Today, 13% of the residents of Britain are foreigners, a couple of million clearly being citizens of other EU countries. Perhaps what helped to tip the balance was British concern over the collapse of Europe’s borders during the great migrant rush of 2015, with 1.1 million unauthorised aliens coming into the continent.
Sovereignty: The biggest issue of all had to be national sovereignty versus being part of a European superstate. When the British voted in a 1975 European referendum, they were promised that no law from Brussels (headquarters of the EU) could be imposed against the will of Britain’s elected representatives. In other words, Britain was told that it had a veto. Yet, as more countries joined the union and new treaties negotiated, that veto became null and void. Since the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, the UK lost its veto 40 times in over 40 different areas. Over the years, the UK was outvoted again and again in the Council of the European Union, while it also lost 101 cases and won only 30 in the European Court of Justice.
Even more shocking is that most of the UK laws are made by Brussels, not Westminster. According to Jeremy Paxman in a BBC documentary and Toby Young of The Spectator, 59% of UK law came from the EU. And who made these laws? Not by the European parliament in Strasbourg, where 73 out of 751 Parliamentarians (MEPs) are British. They are made by the 28 unelected European commissioners. The parliament either accepts, rejects, or amends. Like the ‘law of the Medes and Persians,’ once the law is enacted, it cannot be repealed. Anyone who takes the notion of democracy seriously should find this very disturbing.
United States of Europe: The European Union was started after two disastrous world wars with the intent to unite the continent economically and politically for the sake of peace and prosperity. While it had fine ideals, its real goal has always been a European superstate, ‘ever-closer union,’ or, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls it, ‘more Europe.’ Already the EU has a common court, central bank, currency, president, criminal justice system, military, open borders between states (Schengen), passport, flag, and parliament – all these are the trappings of a nation-state.
A United States of Europe means that member states are reduced to mere provinces in Super Europe. What would happen to the British monarch, as well as the other European monarchies? In addition, the EU, though espousing democracy, has become very socialistic, regulatory, bureaucratic, post-Christian and postmodern organisation. Serious problems like broken borders, entitlement funding crises, non-robust military, regulation overload, and more, have caused a rethink about EU membership even beyond Britain’s borders.
As shared in an earlier article, the re-paganisation of Europe under the EU, and the reintroduction of mythological Europa riding the beast, has been a cause of concern for some British Christians. They have engaged in intense prayer and fasting for this referendum. They chose to ‘vote in the heavenlies’ by prayer before voting on earth at the ballot box.
National Identity: Ultimately, the British electorate was being asked about what kind of country they want for the future. Is Britain merely a little island off the coast of Europe which, having been stripped of its empire, needs to ‘get over it’ and accept is new and reduced status in an enlarged Europe?
Or is it still a great leader, with the world’s sixth largest economy, fourth largest military, and permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council. It contributions to civilisation are enormous:
The English language;
Parliamentary democracy;
Constitutional monarchy;
The Commonwealth of Nations;
Abolition of the slave trade;
Spawn the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions;
Twice helped defeat Euro-fascism;
Hosts great financial hub in London;
Common law;
Rule of law;
Christianity and mission;
Sport (cricket, bridge, snooker).
All these things – and more – have spread worldwide.
For those who voted to Leave the EU, far from being xenophobic and narrow-minded nationalists, BREXIT is about helping the UK, who has already given so much to the world, to stand on its feet and take its rightful role in Europe and the world. Now that the choice has been made, let’s support the UK in its brave new future.