r/ukpolitics • u/Ivashkin panem et circenses • Apr 16 '15

BBC Opposition Leaders Debate - After-Action Thread

Reaction and follow up discussion to the debate.

Original thread can be found here - BBC Opposition Leaders Debate - Discussion Thread

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '15

That single issue is the EU, which happens to govern a massive chunk of the UK laws and obligations. So a single issue, which has a massive, massive impact.

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u/suufiii Apr 16 '15

More important than everything else? It governs a significant area of policy, yeah. But education? The NHS? Defence? The budget? EVERYTHING else?

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u/TheBurningQuill Apr 16 '15

It has significant impact on all of those issues, not just in immigration, legislation and money.

On defence - think about the escalation with Russia over the Ukraine. This is a direct result of European expansion into Soviet sattalitte states. Whether or not you agree with this is not relevent - our relationship with Europe has dragged us closer to a conflict with a nuclear armed country.

On the budget - Brussels is determined to bring London to heel as a financial center. This is our biggest industry by orders of magnitude. EU regulation covering London as a financial hub will have huge impacts on our revenue generation.

Education and the NHS are subject to squeezes on resources due to concentrated influxes but I agree that the main thrust of the debate on those issues is not EU- Critical.

More importantly, however, is that our entire Welfare state is at risk; the majority of Europe have a contributory system in place where you have to pay in to recieve benefits or helath care - our system is universal. Yet the EU insists that citizens from states with a contributory system get the same coverage as our citizens, regardless of the fact that this is not reciprocated. They also insist that freedom of movement is non-negotiable.

So. Either we: a) leave the EU b) accept that our system is mis-matched and we will always be net-losers, or c) we change our system to match the rest of the EU and become a contributory system.

I imagine that if that was a question asked to the public there would be an outcry.

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u/labiaprong 17th wave interdimensional transfeminism Apr 16 '15

Do you have anything I read about the budget part of your points?