Brexit: “Should the UK remain a member of the EU or leave the EU?”
On June 23rd 2016, the UK will decide whether they want to stay or leave the European Union and therefore will make an important decision in relation to their country’s future. Anyone who is 18 and older and either a British citizen living in the UK or living overseas for less than 15 years, a citizen of Malta, Cyprus, and Ireland living in the United Kingdom as well as a Commonwealth citizen living in the UK or in Gibraltar is able to vote in the upcoming referendum. The question asked on the day of the referendum was rephrased from “Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?” to “Should the UK remain a member of the EU or leave the EU?” because the initial question was said to be too partial and could therefore influence people’s votes.
Why are Britons going to make the decision on leaving or remaining in the European Union in a referendum in about six weeks? This referendum takes place because the British Prime Minister David Cameron promised the Britons a determining in-out referendum in January 2013 if he got reelected in 2015. The outcome of the UK leaving the EU is exceedingly unpredictable and if the British citizens decided to leave the EU, they would be taking a leap into the dark. No one can really say what the future of the United Kingdom leaving the EU would hold and also no one can predict how the EU would be influenced from a possible “Brexit”.
Now I could keep going and discuss arguments for the UK leaving or staying in the EU, but as a matter of fact I would much rather utter my opinion regarding the Brexit debate and what role Cameron plays in it. First of all, Cameron wants the UK to stay in a “reformed” European Union. The UK has not once fully accepted decisions made within the EU and has always grumbled about things that did not conform their anticipations. This is supported by a previous referendum on the UK leaving or staying in the European Economic Community in 1975.
A few months ago Cameron managed to make a deal with the EU to avoid a “Brexit”. To my mind, Cameron representing the UK always tries to enforce his claims and demands and wants to make sure that decisions are made with the best possible outcome for the United Kingdom. I feel like the UK is overdoing things at this point though. They already have a privileged position within the EU and they still do not seem to have their fill of expressing demands on other EU member countries.
The political cartoon expresses my view on what role David Cameron plays in the “Brexit” debate perfectly. Cameron’s permanent insistence in regard to a reformation of the EU to provide a freer European Union membership for the UK comes across like blackmailing to me. Cameron is not in the position to make demands on other powerful EU member countries like Germany or France. If the UK were to leave the EU, it would be because they tend to become isolationist and because they are a little over the top in terms of their pride in their empirical power in the past.
