Air travel is cheaper thanks to the EU
So are we really qualified to make such a gargantuan decision with regards to staying in or leaving the EU? I’m not sure that we are.
As soon as the ink had dried on the date that David Cameron had decided on for the referendum, the bamboozlement commenced.
Just this week, a letter was sent by a group of business leaders saying that we would be foolish to leave.
The very next day, a response by another group of business leaders said the exact opposite. Yet both groups are comprised of hugely successful businessmen who you would think should know what they are talking about.
So if they can’t decide, what chance have us mere mortals got of getting it right?
The problem that the ‘in’ campaigners have (as far as I can see), is communicating what membership has already done for us. We just aren’t aware and it has all been taken for granted as life within the EU has been the norm for so many years.
Since 1993, when the European Union dismantled national barriers to air travel and began the final stage of opening Europe’s air transport up to competition, the number of routes has increased and monopolies have been broken up; 20 new airlines have opened for business and fares have fallen.
Indeed, given the drop in the ticket price for many scheduled routes and the fact that the charter market accounts for more than half the total market, around 90 per cent of all passengers now travel on cheap fares. That’s is something that is difficult to ignore if you work in the travel industry. And would leaving the EU jeopardise that?
My worry is that the side that comes across as sounding like they have the most persuasive argument for staying or leaving (and never underestimate the power that national newspapers still have in steering people one way or another) will win.
But that might not necessarily be the best outcome for the country. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. I might just sit on the fence.