EU Membership: Economic Benefits

Ian Blackford Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clegg]

Dare I say it, but even by the fairly specious standard of the statistics bandied about by both sides in this campaign, the way the right hon. Gentleman used statistics was spectacularly misleading. From listening to the Brexit campaign, people would think that the club we have been a member of for 43 years has been the fount of all misery. How come we are still an independent, free and broadly speaking prosperous nation if we have been a member of it for over four decades? I simply think that that applies to his example.

[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

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[Mr Clegg]

If I may finish this point, I will then give way.

The only way in which that current account deficit is sustainable is if strangers from elsewhere in the world invest in assets in this country—in property, infrastructure, the financial services sector, factories and companies. It is on those investors, and on the kindness of those strangers, as Mark Carney has said, that the sustainability of the ballooning current account deficit relies. What will those strangers think after next Thursday, when they do not even know whether our country will survive at all? The United Kingdom may not persist because Scotland may trigger a second referendum, and see the United Kingdom fall.

[Ian Blackford]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Clegg]

May I just finish this point?

What will those strangers say as they see year after year of grinding political, constitutional and economic uncertainty? Why would they continue to invest in UK plc? And if they suddenly pull out their money, I tell you what will happen: the pound will plummet; inflation and prices for ordinary people will go up; and we will be caught in an economic whirlwind that, irresponsibly, these people want to inflict on millions of our citizens. It is a scandalous position to take.

[Ian Blackford]

The right hon. Gentleman is making some very powerful points. May I remind the House that we are still living with the consequences of the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008? We have the answer to the question he is asking: the stock market has fallen by £80 billion in the past few days as investors recognise the risk to this country if we have a Brexit vote next week. That is the start of the tsunami that he is talking about. Why would we risk the prosperity of the United Kingdom and, indeed, of Europe by taking such a rash action?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. Interventions must be short to give everybody a chance to speak.

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[Ian Blackford (Ross, Skye and Lochaber) (SNP)]

Sometimes in this Chamber we say that we have heard it all, but talk about turkeys voting for an early Christmas! The hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) wants to give back £600 million that has been given to Cornwall by the EU. What twisted logic. Over the past two days, the world has woken up to the risks of Brexit. The hon. Member for Telford (Lucy Allan) said that the markets bounced by £17 billion today, but she ignored the fact that the FTSE index has fallen by £100 billion over the past week—a net £80 billion has been wiped off the FTSE as investors around the world begin to recognise the threat to our prosperity. Every renowned economist in the land has talked about the risk that we face from Brexit, not just in this country, but the risk of instability in Europe as well.

Not long ago we faced the financial crisis of 2007 to 2008, from which we have barely recovered. We have seen the markets react and sterling fall; the euro has fallen as investors flee towards the door. That is the risk that the Brexiteers are putting in front of the people of the United Kingdom. When we consider the fall in the value of the stock market, we are talking about people whose future pensions are being cut. That is what the Brexiteers are threatening for pensioners around the country, and we must all wake up and ensure that we vote for prosperity, security and sustainability by remaining in the EU.

[Martin Docherty-Hughes]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the argument made outside this House, and critically in English communities, is about policies such as housing? The problem of England’s housing shortage lies fairly and squarely at the feet of the British Government, and with successive Governments who have undermined social housing for the working class since the times of Margaret Thatcher.

[Ian Blackford]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We hear scare stories about constraints on housing, health and education, but it is the Government’s responsibility to plan for the increase from immigration. We must also consider the opportunity for all our people to live and work throughout Europe, from which we have benefited. In Scotland, 42% of exports go to the European Union and have a value of £11 billion, with 300,000 jobs directly connected to them. We must not play with fire and risk prosperity and jobs in Scotland and the rest of the UK.

There is a complete fallacy about immigration. Mark my words: we will end up back in the single market, and as a consequence we will have to accept free movement of people. The idea that we will fix the so-called problem of immigration with an exit from the EU is simply flawed and a lie. In Scotland, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond) has often said, we are not full up. We need migration, and for young people to come with families and deliver prosperity for Scotland. We need families such as the Brains, who live in Dingwall in my constituency and who this Government want to throw out.

Let me turn to Europe’s potential, and how trade and investment have benefited us. Let me mention opportunities for jobs, and workers’ rights that have been protected through Europe. The Minister for Employment is not in her place, but she said that she wants to deal with some of the rights for workers that come from the European Union. We must say to those on the left and those who voted for Labour, the SNP, the Green party and Plaid Cymru: “For goodness’ sake, don’t risk your employment rights with a vote for Brexit next week.”

There is a real danger to this country that if the UK votes for Brexit, the keys to Downing Street will be taken by the likes of the ex-Mayor of London and his cronies on the right of the Tory party. We face the risk of a right-wing Tory Government that will affect people throughout the country. Scotland’s future is in Europe, and if we end up next week with the UK voting out but Scotland voting in, the SNP will stand up for the rights of Scottish people and ensure that this House does not pull us out of Europe against our will.

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[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

I wanted to use my short time to focus on the importance of the European Union to communities in my constituency of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, in the highlands and of course in Scotland. There are 175,000 EU citizens living and working in Scotland out of a population of 5.4 million people. We have a problem not of immigration, but of emigration in the highlands. Those people from the EU who work for us are vital to the health industry. They fill skills gaps and help our tourism economy, but they are more than that. These people are not just numbers and EU citizens, but our neighbours, our friends and part of our communities. It is a two-way process. At the moment, both of my sons are working abroad in Europe: one in Germany and one in Spain. Earlier, we heard it said that this is about not immigrants or migrants, but expats when it suits.

[Ian Blackford]

I am delighted that my hon. Friend has given way. He is making some very important points. Does he also agree that those of us representing seats in the highlands and islands have benefited enormously from the European Union with the investment that is taking place in our roads and our infrastructure? The European Union has been a voice for good, and that is true for our crofters and farmers. All highlanders, along with everyone else, should vote to stay in.