But I would still have voted to Remain if I had the power because for me, there is an even stronger emotional argument for Remain. My view of the future lies in the world moving toward a closer community where war is less likely and in which everyone has a greater possibility to thrive. Both are better achieved by bringing ideas, capital, and people closer together. That is why we should remain part of the European Union.
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M ATTHEW K EMPTON
Strawberry fields forever?
In 2015, over 80 thousand tonnes of strawberries, a fruit that is grown in the UK, were sold in Britain. And yet most people wouldn’t realise what a huge influence the EU has on the sale of strawberries. The EU plays a huge role in giving subsidies to farmers; it spends 40% of its annual budget on farming subsidies, equating to £45 billion. Should we leave the EU, famers will continue to need such subsidies, otherwise we face food prices increasing (as farmers will need to raise prices to maintain profit margins), or farmers going bust, neither of which are beneficial to anybody. Leave campaigners often argue
that money saved on the EU membership fee could cover the cost of subsidising farmers. Meanwhile, remain campaigners argue that exiting the EU, and thus likely having to abandon free trade, will result in a slowing, or even declining economy. Because of this, the Government won’t be able to cover the cost of subsidising farmers. Should this be the case, we could see unemployment significantly increase in this sector, or an increase in food prices, in turn decreasing the spending power of households across the country. Importing food is also an unattractive option. A “Brexit” would likely lead to a decrease in the value of the pound, due to uncertainty over the state of the economy and future trade deals. As a result, international investors may well pull money out of the UK, decreasing the demand for the pound. Combine this with additional trade tariffs, and we could end up paying high prices for imported food. An obvious solution, trade agreements, would certainly help, however these are unlikely to lead to a revival of the pound, and could potentially take years to complete. Another role that the EU plays is the setting of regulations. This is strict even for a simple product, such as strawberries. In order for a strawberry to make it onto the shelves it must comply with rules surrounding shape, size and colour. Strawberries must be “Fresh in appearance, but not washed” and “free of abnormal external moisture.” On top of this, the leaf must be fresh and green, and a minimum of 18mm wide. Should we leave the EU, and abandon the regulation, we could see a drop in the quality of food on shelves. In actual fact, British regulation is stricter than EU regulation for most foods. We require higher meat content in sausages, safer pesticides, and cleaner egg farms. Therefore, it is unlikely that we would see a drop in quality. However, leaving the EU certainly would give us more freedom over the regulation. If at some point in the future we decided that regulation was either too strict or not strict enough, it would be much easier to make
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