BIG BUSINESS BEATS BIG GOVERNMENT

On the subject of Brexit (yawn !!) it occurs to me that those who favour staying in, or not leaving, the European Union are mainly those who love central state control of our lives but hate big private corporations, while the opposite is the case for those who want us to get out of the EU as soon as possible.

Politicians of the left and others who have a vested interest in maintaining their own highly privileged careers and lifestyles love 'big government'. They see themselves as being somehow above the common man (or woman, to be politically correct) and love the complication and confusion created by the existence of huge volumes of rules and regulations; in such a situation, they have control as most people have little idea about what is going on. At the same time, these arch control freaks hate 'big business' because they find it difficult to control; they surround it with vast tomes of regulations and see it as little more than a cash cow, to be milked for all it's worth.

Conversely, those on the right of politics and others who believe in individual freedom love 'big business' but hate 'big government'. They see 'big business' as being the engine which drives the economy while 'big government' is a monster which simply gets in everyone's way and serves to stifle investment and innovation. 

Actually, both arguments have a degree of merit, though, in my view, the approach of the right is far more meritorious than that of the left. 'Big government' is undoubtedly bad as it creates a client state in which individuals rely on it rather than themselves to deal with life's problems; it leads to higher taxes and more government expenditure, much of which is wasteful and inefficient. At the same time, 'big business' needs a degree of control to ensure that it does not simply exploit the population and that it does conform to societal norms on issues such as the fair treatment of its workforce and product standards. However, the left ignores the simple fact that there does not have to be 'big government' in order to exert the necessary control over 'big business'.

Sadly, these opposing views are largely irreconcilable. The European Union is fundamentally left wing and protectionist, has a vast unaccountable bureaucracy and is autocratic in its outlook; it operates more like Soviet Russia than anything else, paying lip service to democracy while issuing diktats to its members. Regarding Brexit, its representatives continue to issue thinly veiled threats and ultimatums to the UK from their ivory towers, and bleat on about the need for the UK to obey its rules and regulations for ever and a day. The EU is the ultimate in 'big government' and is at war with those from 'big business' whom it considers to be failing to pay enough tax or obey its rules; at the same time, the EU pays its officials large TAX FREE salaries and expenses. Hypocrisy or what ?

Finally ridding ourselves of this monstrous organ of state control will enable the UK government to be more democratic, more innovative, more outward looking and less bothered about the minutiae of daily life than is the EU. It can only be good that we leave as soon as possible, regardless of what the doom mongers have to say about it.