by Mish
The current and former CEOs of HSBC do not see eye-to-eye in this debate.
Back in January, the current CEO, Douglas Flint, threatened to move 1,000 investment jobs to Paris if the UK were to leave the EU.
It appears Flint has not thought through the ramifications of a financial transaction tax that will be crammed down his throat (among other things) shortly after the UK elects to stay in.
Meanwhile, a YouGov poll of over 1,000 small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) shows a mere 14% percent believe the EU market makes things easier for them.
Bloomberg reports Campaign Backing U.K. Exit From EU Adds 250 Business Executives.
Former HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan is among 250 business leaders backing the push for the U.K. to leave the European Union.
“With our growing list of business supporters, Vote Leave will make that case that whilst the EU may be good for big multinationals, for smaller businesses it acts as a job destruction regulatory machine,” said Matthew Elliott, CEO of the group. “Jobs, wages and the economy will thrive when we take back control.”
Vote Leave also released a YouGov poll of over 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises that showed just 14 percent believe the EU makes it easier for their business to employ people.
Project Fear
In-crowd fear mongering has picked up steam. Prime minister David Cameron and the Bank of England are both in on it.
Some label it “Project Fear“.
Project Fear — the massive PR campaign aimed at sowing and watering the seeds of dread about the potential consequences of a YES vote in the upcoming referendum on a British exit from the EU — is in full bloom. In the event of a wrong answer, all manner of biblical disasters can be expected to befall the nation, the British public is constantly being warned.
The country’s national income will shrink, hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs will vanish, the City of London’s core industry — financial engineering — will migrate across the channel, the currency will collapse, house prices will plummet, European firms will stop selling products to Brits, the U.S. government will impose massive tariffs on British imports, and even Britain’s already dismal climate will get worse.
Project Fear’s shrillest shills include the British government and institutions of State, the UK’s most powerful business lobby group The Confederation of British Industry, the City of London Corporation (and all the too-big-to-fail financial institutions whose interests it faithfully serves), the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the world’s biggest fund manager BlackRock.
Another prominent prophet of Brexit doom and gloom is the Bank of England, an institution that, according to its charter at least, is supposed to be “independent” from national politics, but which has done nothing but feed the fear.
Cameron Accused of Fearmongering
Also consider UK’s Cameron accused of Brexit Fearmongering.
Prime Minister David Cameron stands accused of unleashing “Project Fear” to try and keep Britain in the EU at a June referendum — but experts say both camps are resorting to negative campaign tactics to win support.
Cameron’s old friend and nemesis Boris Johnson, who came out for Brexit in a surprise snub to the premier last month, has led the attacks with a string of well-crafted broadsides accusing the “Remain” camp of scaremongering.
“The agents of Project Fear — and they seem to be everywhere — have warned us that leaving the EU would jeopardize police, judicial and intelligence cooperation,” Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph shortly after announcing he would support the “Leave” camp.
Another leading anti-EU figure, Cameron’s welfare minister Iain Duncan Smith, accused the other side of “spin, smears and threats.”
But neither side is innocent of the charge of negative campaigning, according to observers ahead of the June 23 referendum.
Two-Way Fearmongering
It’s safe to say both sides engage in such tactics, but the out-crowd has the better argument. Giving sovereignty to a gang of 28 is not a smart move.
The UK will be subject to financial transaction taxes, other taxes, and massive numbers of rules, regulations, and tariffs.
The EU has even admitted holding off on new regulations for fear of stirring up the Brexit vote.
Brexit the Common Sense Vote
Of all the “Brexit” battles over whether or not the UK should stay in the EU, I never figured a Tampon Tax would become a lightning rod.
But it happened. After UK women’s rights groups made a huge stink over the VAT tax on tampons, the EU changed its rules specifically to placate the UK.
Following the change, UK chancellor George Osborne commented “It just shows how Britain can make a case for a reform that will benefit millions as a powerful, confident voice inside a reformed EU.”
Nonsense. That such a deal needed to be reached proves how beholden the UK will be, to 28 nations, having to grovel over every conceivable thing, including tampons.
Brexit is the common sense vote.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
