Priti Patel Conservative MP for the Witham in Essex did such a poor job for the LEAVE campaign this morning on Radio 4 that we should hear more from her. Thank you BBC for asking the real questions like: what Regulations do you mean? The MP waffled on repeating campaign slogans devoid of facts. Sweeping unsubstantiated statements flowed like a landslide. This was a real car crash of an interview. She obviously though just saying “boo!” to the EU on the morning radio would be enough.
For a Government Minister to call for an audit of regulations AFTER the UK left the EU is unbelievable. If this was the main issue for small businesses an audit of regulation should have been done years ago! I suppose if a post-Brexit audit found there wasn’t a problem then the UK would reapply to join the EU. Also, crazy was how when referring to ‘working time’ she said; Europe has done nothing for worker’s rights. However, it was the European Working Time Directive to which the Minister referred.
In the EU, the concept of a “level playing field” is good for business both large and small. It means that if a British mom and pop business has to do something (e.g. packaging, hygiene, waste disposal) then a Dutch, French, Italian, Polish or Germany business has to do the same. Access the single market means a small business can grow to become a large business. If you want proof just look at businesses like LUSH or the Body Shop. Started as small businesses now having 100s of shops around Europe.
John Vincent 