More jobs may be created after Brexit

Mary Steele
An EU flag flies in the face of ParliamentAn EU flag flies in the face of Parliament
An EU flag flies in the face of Parliament

Deerlands Avenue, Parson Cross, Sheffield, S5

Veronica Hardstaff continues to extol the virtues of the EU but via the Maastricht Treaty, surely it was they who imposed the disastrous privatisation agenda exposing public services to the devastating effects of PFI contracts. It’s claimed that, in 2016, contracts originally costed at £55 billion had cost £300 billion.

Thousands of jobs may be lost after Brexit, Veronica, but more may be created on opening up our markets to the wider world. Similar pessimistic predictions were made that the City of London would lose tens of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenues but according the The Spectator (2.8.18) ‘it doesn’t seem to have made any difference whatsoever’.

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The caring, social aspect of the EU is often cited as a reason to remain with possible exposure to US chlorinated chicken used as a threat to those wishing to leave.

However, little is made of the fact that the EU ignored WHO warnings that the pesticide glyphosate (Round Up) was ‘possibly carcinogenic’, their assessors giving it a ‘clean bill of health’ in an attempt to justify its renewed licensing after much Monsanto lobbying. Monsanto is said to have been later prosecuted and heavily fined for ‘covering up its cancer-causing effects’.

Veronica paints a doom- laden scenario for those receiving cash from European Social/Regional Development Funds but a March 2018 agreement means the UK will participate in programmes until 2023.

At this point, the fund will be replaced by a government ‘Shared Prosperity Fund’ designed to improve delivery/efficiency and bring accountability ‘closer to home’.

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Maastricht is said to have heralded a transition from a social democratic EU to a neo-liberal model but problems are rife across Europe with homelessness at crisis point and the UK, in 2017, ranked 20 out of 28.

Still, greed, self-aggrandisement and selfishness enriches some to the detriment of the many.