UKIP shame Britain again

UKIP MEP, Stuart Agnew represents 2.4 British Women. I wonder how many agree with his policy statement last week:

"Women don't have the ambition to get to the top, something gets in the way. It's called a baby... Those females who really want to get to the top do so".

How much longer must we put up with the shame of Britain being represented internationally by UKIP?

UKIP are deluded

UKIP's self-delusion is breath-taking. In 2009 they secured only 16.5% of the EU vote; add in votes cast for the BNP and other fringe parties the total barely reaches 22%. 78% of the British electorate voted to stay in the EU, exactly the same % of members of the Engineering Employers Federation who support EU membership. The recent poll of CBI members found a similar number of their members support EU membership. Part of the CBI evidence being research that the EU delivered an average £3000 p.a. to every UK household due to the boost to Britain’s GDP directly attributable to the single market. Not a single credible business organisation wants the UK to leave the EU, well illustrated by Nissan's view that isolation from the world's largest market would threaten their continued presence in the UK.
Far from being the great break-through that they seem to think, 2009 was a pathetic result for UKIP, which gave them only 13 MEPs out of 55. Two of them have now defected. Multi-millionaire Paul Sykes may hope to buy a pyrrhic victory for UKIP, but let us be clear – leaving the EU will result in lost jobs and bankrupt businesses.

Conservatives have lost any sense of reality over Europe

I am not persuaded that the Tory demand for a referendum has anything to do with 'giving the British people a say'. In reality a large section of the Conservative Party want to leave the EU, and they see this as the mechanism to achieve that end.

They will fail for a number of reasons - not least because there is no groundswell of opinion amongst Brits to get out, and UK PLC has clearly stated that they want to stay in.

The anti-marketeers have shown how out of touch they are with the nations' mood. They ignore the reality that they do not have popular support for their views - displaying an arrogance that is beyond belief. They have also demonstrated that the core of the Conservative Party does not understand the need of UK businesses.

What this side-show amply demonstrates is that the Conservative Party has lost any sense of reality.

Don't forget the Science - EU support for world leading Science & Technology

Whilst the debate of the UK’s membership of the EU is dominated by the view from Industry, oft forgotten is the substantial contribution made by the EU to Science and Technology. As well as contributing an estimated £3000 pa to every UK household (CBI report), and acting as a magnet for internal investment (threat by Nissan to withdraw for the UK if we leave the EU), the UK is the 2nd largest recipient of EU science funding.
The EU’s Framework 7 programme of support for innovation is now closing, and the new 7 year programme will start in 2014. Known as Horizon 2020 up to Euro 80 Billion will be available for businesses, universities and public authorities to bid for in open competition. It is the world’s only International Science funding programme, and is responsible for some outstanding successes.
To pick just a few examples:
The European Consortium for Stem Cell Therapy in Neurodegenerative Diseases (NeuroStemcell) is delivering some stunning medical breakthroughs, including includes studies that are advancing techniques to repair neural damage, including Parkinson´s and Huntington´s diseases.

The European Telecoms Standard Institute was funded by the EU to develop the Global Standard for Mobile Communications (GSM), establishing Europe's IT sector as the world's leading player in the mobile phone market. There can be no doubt that this has resulted in the creation of 100,000s of new jobs, and created substantial business opportunities.

In all over 22,000 science and innovation projects were supported under FP7, covering exciting new developments in communications, energy, transport, medicine and other branches of science and engineering.

Horizon 2020 offers a stunning opportunity for more UK businesses to benefit from EU support for innovation. As all projects require international participation an H2020 project also creates a supply chain to sell innovative products in to.

The UK Government, through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and its associated Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTN) are organising briefing meetings up and down the country on the benefits of joining H2020 consortia, and advice on how to bid in to these programmes. There will be an organisation near you who can help you be a part of the next round of European technological success stories.

Do not vote for the Farage Tax

UKIP supporters claims that business leaders want to leave the EU is simply not true, as proven by the recent CBI poll which showed 80% of their members want the UK to stay in. A similar overwhelming majority of members of the Engineering Employers Federation said the same 3 weeks. Not a single credible business organisation wants to leave the EU. Hardly surpising in view of CBI's analysis that EU membership is worth £3000 p.a. to every household in the UK. For those who are interested the abolition of hordes of regulations that is result of merging 27 different nations set of product safety rules into a single common code, is also a major factor. No longer do I have to design a French version, or a German version or an Italian version of the same widget – I just make a British version and no-one can prevent me from selling it in any country within the EU as used to happen pre-Maastricht Treaty days. Perhaps James might appreciate why Nissan have said that an EU exit would threaten continued production of their cars in the UK.

There is no paperwork required to export goods to any country within the EU, or any bureaucratic barriers. There is paperwork, bureaucracy and costs associated with exporting anything outside of the EU – those of us who have to pay these costs call them 'The Farage Tax' – as that is the burden of red-tape and costs that fall on every business in the UK the day we walk out of the EU. Many small businesses would find it uneconomical to continue to export goods to Europe once these costs are imposed on them, which is why small businesses now also support EU membership. 

So it would be helpful if opponents of the EU just for once listened to business, as it is their exports that creates Britain's wealth and employment.

A Living Wage for All

As Tories line up to attack Milliband's proposal to offer tax breaks to businesses who choose to pay a living wage - they are rushing to the European Court to prevent the EU bringing in a cap on Banker's Bonuses. Nuff said!

Bedroom tax for MPs Electricity Bills

Heating Benefit of £5822 is claimed to have been paid to a Tory MP. Surely any employee should expect to have expenses covered to carry out their job, but they should be 'reasonable' costs. The solution to this latest scandal is to extend the Bedroom Tax concept to MPs, limiting their claim for second homes to 50% of the average household bills.