Beckles Says Brexit Will Have Adverse Effects on the Region
Those in favor of leaving the E.U. say that it would allow the U.K. to better control immigration, thereby reducing pressure on public services, housing and jobs. It would also save billions of pounds in E.U. membership fees and allow the U.K. to make its own trade deals and free the U.K. from E.U. regulations, as well as red tape that is seemingly needless and costly. They also contend that being a member of the European Union undermined national sovereignty. On the other hand, those who wanted to remain argued that leaving the E.U. would risk the UK’s prosperity and diminish its influence over world affairs, among other reasons.
Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice Chancellor, U.W.I.
Sir Hilary Beckles
“The purpose for going in in the first place was to use the context of the European Union to restructure, retransform its economy and having done that it has now taken the choice to remove itself. I do not see these things as coincidences or irrationalities. The history shows that these are highly rational, scientific choices that are made by men and women who have thought these matters through given their concerns; fear of being consumed by a European continent. Margaret Thatcher was always very clear on that. Britain’s fear has always been a European super state, a super state in Europe within which Britain would be subordinated; not going to happen. Now, we are at a moment where we have choices, we can wait and see and there’s a group that says, “Well let’s wait and see, we can’t read the future.” People who say we cannot read the future are people who do not know the past. If you know the past, if you know the past you can understand the present and you can see the most likely trajectories for the future. You can see the most likely trajectories for the future if you understand historical trends that give you a clear perception of what is your current reality. There is no need for us to wait and see, this is an ongoing process. There is no doubt that the current situation is a threat to our economies. There is no doubt that it’s a threat to the fragile stability that we have put in place in the last ten years, fragile stability. The governments have worked hard, the private sectors have stepped up to the plate to stabilize this situation to lay the foundations for growth. This circumstance is going to adversely affect that fragile stability that we have achieved through hard work and at the cost of the people of the Caribbean.”
The Brexit Symposium will be aired in its entirety on Sunday morning at eleven o’clock, right here on Channel Five.
