I run a small side business, consumer facing. The main EU 'red tape' that I see involves consumer protection (eg distance selling, electronic marketing, what I can do with customer data). One day I'll need to worry about EU rules on workers rights etc but for now it's just me and the dog.
A business not trading with the EU at all can already ignore as irrelevant EU legislation that specifically governs intra-EU trade. But there's actually very little that falls into that bracket, most things have much wider benefit.
There are still the universal standards to comply with, but these are all things like consumer protection, data protection, environmental regulations, worker safety, worker's rights, competition law, product safety, equality, product labelling, financial regulation to keep banks stable etc etc. I don't see how any of that is irrelevant to a UK consumer, unless you think it's just wrong in principle to have protections about such matters (like many of those at the top of the Leave campaign do).
I am yet to see the Out campaign actually tell me what the EU legislation that is supposedly so bad for UK businesses actually is. Can you give me any examples of what we're going to be freed from? All I can surmise is that the 'red tape' that the Out campaign refers to is the stuff that protects you and me the and environment. It may be 'bad' and costly for business, but it's good for the rest of us.
The Out campaign is not selling the vision that you set out - it is selling the idea that this stuff is Bad and that we will get to remove it.
If we're going to keep it anyway, isn't a key plank of the argument for Exit disingenuous at best?
Posted By: CWC, Apr 29, 14:23:47
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