There’s panic from many people around the UK at the thought of leaving the EU, without an agreement, on 31st October. The willingness of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to leave, ‘do or die’, on Halloween has ramped up the possibility of no-deal. However, many issues would still remain if we do not agree a new deal with the EU before our departure date.
Finding a solution to the Irish border issue is just one of many things that still need to be dealt with if we are to leave the European Union in an orderly way. Failure to do so could put peace in Northern Ireland at risk, which could have severe consequences for the UK.
Here are four other reasons why we should only leave the EU with a deal.
To retain our strong friendship with our European allies
There’s no doubt whatsoever that a no-deal Brexit would damage our relationship with some of our closest allies, if not all of the other 27 nations within the European Union. Going from one of the biggest influences and leading nations in the EU to being completely out of the union will have an effect.
Unity has to come first.
Sharing and exchanging our ideas, culture and traditions with other nations has made the United Kingdom what it is. We want to be one of the main leaders on the world stage, retaining our friendship with some of our closest European allies will only help us achieve that. The last thing we want is for us to be isolated, after distancing ourselves from agreeing a close relationship with the EU.
Ensuring our national security is as watertight as it can be
One of the great benefits of being within the EU is the security communications and updates between the 28 countries. Countries within the union, like France and the UK, have suffered multiple terrorist attacks over the past few years, but high level security intelligence must have foiled many terror plots over recent years. The last high-level terror attack that the UK experienced was the Finsbury Park incident that was carried out by a far-right terrorist, way back in the summer of 2017.
A report from The Guardian back in August stated that a no-deal Brexit would harm the UK’s security. This isn’t just a statement from any random person: this was from Britain’s head of counter-terrorism. Neil Basu warned that even increasing the amount of police officers and security service workers would not be enough to combat the ever-existent threat of terror attacks.
He also stated that UK replacements for EU-based security systems would not be as good. Only a negotiated deal would allow the UK to keep using these faster systems.
Halting the panic over stockpiling
According to the gov.uk website, 30% of food that was consumed in the UK in 2017 originated from other countries within the EU. This is a significant percentage and this is why we need to come to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Without tariffs, this is less costly to the UK.
That’s why any deal with the EU needs to be similar to the trade agreement we currently have with them now. Stockpiling isn’t just necessary for food, but for medicine as well. Some of this medicine (originated from the EU) is much-needed by UK citizens, this is exactly why we have to be willing to work with the European Union to secure a good deal.
Not only could stockpiling essentials like food and medicine be costly for the government as well as your average citizen in the UK, it may also cause panic around the UK. People may end up panic-buying too many products.
A no-deal Brexit may even result in food shortages. Whilst we survived on rations during the Second World War, surely it’s not worth going through that again just so that we leave the EU. Getting a deal with the EU eradicates the chance that we will have shortages.
Jobs have to come first
Former business secretary Greg Clark warned that thousands of jobs would be lost in the event of a no-deal Brexit. These comments were made in the midst of the race between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to be the UK’s next Prime Minister, who both said that they were willing to leave the EU on the 31st October with or without a deal. Boris Johnson has kept that promise so far, and is on course to take the UK out of the EU if he doesn’t manage to agree a deal within the next month.
Not only would job losses affect the UK, it would also have damaging consequences for other EU countries in terms of employment. A study from the Leuven University revealed that the UK would suffer 500,000 job losses if we left the EU without an agreement, whilst Europe as a continent would have 1.2m more people in unemployment.
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