Labour's Euro Economics Nonsense Uncovered.

My response to Dr. Adrian Heald's letter in the Crewe Chronicle 22/05/13:

Dear Sirs

Oh dear! I don’t know a great deal about Dr. Adrian Heald’s qualifications, but on the basis of his letter last week, it is clear that he’s not a doctor of Economics.

His assertion that the UK has a Trade Surplus with the EU is totally incorrect. The UK runs a massive Trade Deficit with the EU and has done for many years. For the last full year for which figures are available from the Office for National Statistics (Nov 2011 – Oct 2012), that deficit was £53.5Bn. I can forgive Dr. Heald this oversight, because, whilst £53.5Bn may sound like a great deal of money to the rest of us, to his Labour Party, who’s Economic Ineptitude has resulted in a National Debt of nearly £1.2Tn, it is merely loose change.

This Trade Deficit is precisely the reason that the UK would command a very strong position in any exit-negotiation with the EU. By imposing Trade Barriers, the EU would be doing more harm to what is left of its own, tattered economy than ours. Of course, that strong position would depend upon the negotiations not being conducted by Messrs. Cameron or Miliband, who have already made their positions of wanting to remain within the EU perfectly clear. This is sheer idiocy on the part of anyone entering into a negotiation and typical of politicians who’ve never had a proper job, and for whom the toughest thing they’ve had to negotiate is the pavement adjacent to a chauffeur-driven Jaguar.

Dr. Heald also asserts that leaving the EU would result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, but falls short in explaining exactly how he arrived at this figure, or where or why those jobs would be lost. He is heavy on scaremongering, light on detail. In reality, the resulting ‘bonfire’ of unnecessary and restrictive EU Regulations would liberate companies in the UK to take on more staff, to innovate and to grow. 

Dr. Heald’s arguments seem to be based on the notion that the UK would not have access to the European Single Market if it left the EU. Again, totally untrue – the UK would have access to the Single Market through membership of the European Free Trade Area.

Additionally, after leaving the EU, the UK would benefit from being able to retake its seat at the World Trade Organisation and negotiate its own trade deals around the world, instead of having its hands tied by uncompetitive deals negotiated by unelected, unaccountable EU bureaucrats. Only last week, Stephen Odell, the head of Ford in Europe reiterated that the ‘Unbalanced nature of EU Trade Deals has caused huge damage to manufacturing within the EU’.

Dr. Heald states that ‘Britain cannot stand alone’ in the global market. Again, completely wrong. The UK is the world’s 5^th largest economy (IMF, 2012). We invented World Trade. We have great trading links through our language, Commonwealth and culture. We make some fantastic, high value products. Is Dr. Heald seriously suggesting that people in other countries would refuse to do business with us if we left the EU? That our international partners would stop buying world-beating British Products like Land Rovers, Rolls-Royce Jet Engines and JCBs? Again he demonstrates his complete economic naivety.

Somewhat comically, Dr. Heald quotes Winston Churchill when he describes the ‘unlimited happiness, prosperity and glory’ that could be enjoyed through European Integration. Is he referring to the 50% of unemployed young people in Spain? Are they prosperous? Or the Public Sector workers that have not been paid for over a year? Or the people dying of preventable illnesses in Greece because the Health Service can no longer provide their drugs? Are they happy? Or the people rioting and shouting despicable, nationalistic anti-German abuse on the streets of Athens? Are they Glorious? Were consequences of misguided and undemocratic European Integration not so dire for the people of this great continent, Dr. Heald’s arguments would border on the comical.

Dr Heald is quite correct on point however – that UKIP is becoming more vocal in our area. The reason is clear. UKIP represents the decent, working people in our country, with policies based on Common Sense and Sound Economics, confident about our future and certain of our values. I don’t doubt that Dr Heald is a perfectly pleasant fellow, but I feel that his time would be better spent on his excellent work in the field of Medicine, not Politics.

Cllr. Stuart Hutton CEng (Hons), (UKIP).