Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Why we are safer in
The economic arguments for staying within the European Union are overwhelming and should be reason enough to vote that way on 23rd June. However, there are other reasons for staying too.
One of these reasons is the security and safety of this country and its citizens. Yesterday, as reported by the Independent,two former security chiefs expanded on that argument:
In a direct challenge to Leave campaigners who have argued that Britain’s membership of the EU leaves the country more vulnerable to terrorist attack, Baron Evans of Weardale, the former director-general of MI5, and Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, said the opposite was true.
They argued that a vote to leave could damage intelligence sharing because the EU would restrict surveillance powers if the UK were not in the union.
Intelligence work today relies on the lawful and accountable use of large data-sets to reveal the associations and activities of terrorists and cyber-attackers,” they write in an article for the Sunday Times.
“The terms on which we exchange data with other European countries are set by agreement within the EU.
“As an EU member, we shape the debate, we push for what we think is the right balance between security and privacy and we benefit from the data that flows as a result.”
They conclude: “An agreement reached without us would probably be too restrictive for our needs . . . this could undermine our ability to protect ourselves.”
Sir John later told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "It's not just about the day-to-day co-operation, it's about the wider stability of our continent. We are only secure because the wider Europe is secure.
"Pulling out will make it more dangerous. There is a real risk of the pressures on the European Union - migration pressure, economic pressures, pressures from Russia - pulling the European Union apart.
"We are seeing politics in Europe going to the extreme left, to the extreme right. We need to make sure that the centre is solid and the European Union plays its role underpinning democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe."
These are authorative and knowledgeable voices who we ignore at our peril.
One of these reasons is the security and safety of this country and its citizens. Yesterday, as reported by the Independent,two former security chiefs expanded on that argument:
In a direct challenge to Leave campaigners who have argued that Britain’s membership of the EU leaves the country more vulnerable to terrorist attack, Baron Evans of Weardale, the former director-general of MI5, and Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, said the opposite was true.
They argued that a vote to leave could damage intelligence sharing because the EU would restrict surveillance powers if the UK were not in the union.
Intelligence work today relies on the lawful and accountable use of large data-sets to reveal the associations and activities of terrorists and cyber-attackers,” they write in an article for the Sunday Times.
“The terms on which we exchange data with other European countries are set by agreement within the EU.
“As an EU member, we shape the debate, we push for what we think is the right balance between security and privacy and we benefit from the data that flows as a result.”
They conclude: “An agreement reached without us would probably be too restrictive for our needs . . . this could undermine our ability to protect ourselves.”
Sir John later told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "It's not just about the day-to-day co-operation, it's about the wider stability of our continent. We are only secure because the wider Europe is secure.
"Pulling out will make it more dangerous. There is a real risk of the pressures on the European Union - migration pressure, economic pressures, pressures from Russia - pulling the European Union apart.
"We are seeing politics in Europe going to the extreme left, to the extreme right. We need to make sure that the centre is solid and the European Union plays its role underpinning democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe."
These are authorative and knowledgeable voices who we ignore at our peril.
Comments:
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Economic arguments overwhelming? What economic arguments? There is nothing we can’t do out of Europe that we can in it economically speaking. I have yet to hear a valid argument for staying that isn’t based around scaremongering and we now have the PM warning us of war in a new low for the remain campaign.
I only had to see the way Greece were treated by the corporate fascists that run the regime to come to my decision. They were forced to accept bailout money against their will, money that went straight to the banks and in exchange they were asset stripped of shipping ports and airports, told to increase the retirement age, to end fuel tax benefits for farmers, to making savings to social welfare and a whole host of other policy demands.
How anyone can call themselves a democrat and support this kind of behaviour is beyond me. Had the UK joined the Euro and given up our central bank we would have found ourselves in the exact same situation as the Greek people and the most disturbing element of this for me is like the Greeks, we would be powerless to do anything about it. At least if its a Tory government making policy decisions I disagree with, I have the power to vote them out.
I do believe it is a huge mistake to remain in the EU and an even bigger mistake on behalf of Labour and the Liberal Democrats to support this campaign. Just look at Scotland for instance, scaremongering will only get you so far. They voted to stay within the UK on the back of a similarly desperate campaign, only to go to the election polls months later and vote emphatically for the SNP. Scotland is now lost for generations and possibly forever from a political perspective.
As someone who has no particular political ties but is from a working class background, I look to Labour and the Liberal Democrats to serve my political beliefs and interests and I will never vote Conservative. I have never felt so alienated politically, I am deeply disappointed to see both parties backing the remain campaign so fully. I will not vote for either party again any time soon. So what am I left with Plaid or UKIP?
This is why I make comparisons to the Scottish situation and why despite you being the only candidate to knock my door and me knowing that you were no doubt the most hard working of the candidates and that it was a local election and national issues should not matter, I still did not vote for you. Should we vote to remain these feelings will only intensify and voters will be further polarised, so be careful what you wish for!
Commiserations by the way and the very best of luck for the future.
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I only had to see the way Greece were treated by the corporate fascists that run the regime to come to my decision. They were forced to accept bailout money against their will, money that went straight to the banks and in exchange they were asset stripped of shipping ports and airports, told to increase the retirement age, to end fuel tax benefits for farmers, to making savings to social welfare and a whole host of other policy demands.
How anyone can call themselves a democrat and support this kind of behaviour is beyond me. Had the UK joined the Euro and given up our central bank we would have found ourselves in the exact same situation as the Greek people and the most disturbing element of this for me is like the Greeks, we would be powerless to do anything about it. At least if its a Tory government making policy decisions I disagree with, I have the power to vote them out.
I do believe it is a huge mistake to remain in the EU and an even bigger mistake on behalf of Labour and the Liberal Democrats to support this campaign. Just look at Scotland for instance, scaremongering will only get you so far. They voted to stay within the UK on the back of a similarly desperate campaign, only to go to the election polls months later and vote emphatically for the SNP. Scotland is now lost for generations and possibly forever from a political perspective.
As someone who has no particular political ties but is from a working class background, I look to Labour and the Liberal Democrats to serve my political beliefs and interests and I will never vote Conservative. I have never felt so alienated politically, I am deeply disappointed to see both parties backing the remain campaign so fully. I will not vote for either party again any time soon. So what am I left with Plaid or UKIP?
This is why I make comparisons to the Scottish situation and why despite you being the only candidate to knock my door and me knowing that you were no doubt the most hard working of the candidates and that it was a local election and national issues should not matter, I still did not vote for you. Should we vote to remain these feelings will only intensify and voters will be further polarised, so be careful what you wish for!
Commiserations by the way and the very best of luck for the future.
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: 6:59 PM
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