Responding to Lord Lawson’s call for the UK to leave the European Union Fiona Mall MEP, the leader of the Liberal Democrat delegation in the European Parliament, commented:
“It is absurd to suggest that we must somehow choose between trade with Europe and with the rest of the world. We are on the cusp of a game-changing trade deal between the EU and the US, worth billions of pounds to the British economy, and major trade agreements with India and Japan are also in the pipeline. To leave the EU now would be ridiculous. We would be turning our back to the global economy and jeopardising crucial trade and investment.”
“Moreover, the single market remains vital to jobs and growth in the UK. We continue to export more to the Netherlands than to China, Brazil, Russia and India combined, while 87% of small business exporters rely on trade with the EU. Just as we are finally beginning to emerge from a historic recession, it would be madness to gamble with our economic future by pulling out of the world’s largest trading bloc. Nigel Lawson got it wrong on the economy, wrong on climate change, and wrong on Europe. David Cameron should listen to the voice of British business, which overwhelmingly supports EU membership, not the voice of a Tory dinosaur who is unwilling to face up to the modern world.”
ENDS
Sir/Madam,
Why
Why is the Tory Party in such a panic when the electoral system militates against success for fringe, protest groups at General Elections ?
Instead of aping UKIP, something it will never succeed in doing successfully, surely it would be better to confront the group with serious argument about economic and political “facts and figures”, something it shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve, given the claptrap that emanates from Farage’s mouth ?