Jimbox01 wrote:
The second referendum will probably be held no later than February or March next year - that should give everyone enough time to climb down off their high horses and come up with sensible solutions.
The EU will allow the UK to stay in, and impose an emergency break on immigration from the EU, but the UK may have to make concessions in other areas.
The new PM will sell the new deal to the people on the basis that it helps solve 'the immigration crisis', and at the same time protects jobs and future prosperity.
Hopefully not too many big businesses will have committed to moving out of the UK by then, and it hopefully won't take too long to recover from this mess, but while the government dithers, there are meetings being held in boardrooms across the world to decide what to do next and how to move forward.
What I would like to see:
1. More investment in infrastructure and services so that the country can actually cope with the increased population. Larger businesses could easily pay a slightly higher rate of corporation tax, or some form of social charge based on the number of employees, and if they're benefitting from the free movement of labour in the EU, then they should contribute towards solving the problems it causes.
2. Better efforts (and funding) to integrate immigrants into society and help communities cope with change.
3. Better control of immigration from outside the EU and better tracking of non EU immigrants after they enter the country - if they no longer entitled to be here then they should leave.
4. Better funding for the immigration service, so that they can properly tackle the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants.
5. Stricter controls over who can receive free NHS treatment (e.g. non EU citizens and health tourists), and the NHS has to claim back the millions it's owed from other EU countries - it can't be bothered at the moment.
6. Compulsory top up public/private health insurance for all higher rate tax payers (contributions should be allowable against tax though), and/or a similar scheme to pensions, e.g. employees and employers both pay towards health insurance. The money from this should go directly to healthcare, in addition to what is already paid from taxes, and the NHS and private healthcare sector should work together to provide a better service.
7. More support for the regions and encouragement/assistance for business, to try and get them to set up operations outside London and the south - maybe even regenerate areas that lost out when heavy industry disappeared.
8. The UK government should stop measuring success just in terms of GDP, budget deficits, trade deficits, etc., and switch its' focus to the wellbeing of the people.
Methodologies exist to measure the key factors that contribute towards quality of life and wellbeing (income, economic stability, employment, health, education, infrastructure, income equality, governance, environment), and the size of the economy is not necessarily indicative of how we perform against these measures. If the government refocuses attention on the wellbeing of the people (the people it's supposed to serve), the economy will still continue to grow and prosper, but so will the people. There has to be a balance.
I don't want the UK to cut itself off from the rest of the world, and I don't want to feel like an outsider in Europe.
The UK can't have its' cake and eat it, but it can change.
That sounds sensible and feasible, and I've said all along that even if the vote is 'Out' it will never happen.