“This is like the jailer has accidentally left the door of the jail open and people can see the sunlit lands beyond.”
Or so Boris Johnson described the possibility of Brexit on the Andrew Marr Show on 6 March (watch from 38:45). Now let us consider 10 important freedoms the UK might want outside Boris’ Brussels jail.
1. We want freedom to veto any stupid foreign policy initiative of the EU. We have it.
2. We want freedom to choose when to go to war. We have it, and are also free to do whatever with Nato, which eurosceptics seem to like.
3. We want freedom from having to join the euro. We have it.
4. We want freedom to veto any tax measure from Brussels. We have it.
5. We want freedom from having Brussels impose the re-location of refugees in the UK. We have it.
6. We want the freedom to join, or not to join, any EU scheme that improves security cooperation over terrorism. We have it.
7. We want freedom to hire Portuguese nurses to make up for shortages in the NHS. We have it.
8. We want the City of London to be free to hire the best banking talent from the continent. We have it.
9. We want freedom for our retirees to retire in the sun in Spain, and get free healthcare there. We have it.
10. We want freedom for our scientific researchers to join European networks of excellence. We have it.
Michael Emerson is an associate senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies.
Edited by Luke Lythgoe