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22 Oct, 2011 16:09

‘Referendum – way to dismiss UK government’

A referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union is vital as it deals with democratic self-determination and the ability to dismiss the government peacefully at the ballot-box, believes Conservative Party MP Steve Baker.

“There is a lot of turmoil around the world, but people have signed up to a petition to parliament saying they want this debate now, and the debate calls for a referendum. So if they want this debate, let them have this debate,” he stated. Baker maintained the problem is that the UK ended up with the all-encompassing government.“The public still expect their members of parliament to be out there and represent them and have power over the rules which affect our lives. And the EU is breaching these fundamental principles,” he pointed out.  According to Baker, the eurozone was fundamentally set up to fail. After Bretton Woods collapsed with Nixon closing the gold window, the new system of money emerged. But bringing together several nation states and giving them the same currency without fiscal union made the already bad system of money even worse. “What they have been able to do through central banking is use monetary redistribution, so a country like Greece issues bonds; the bonds are then used to get loans in the Central Bank that creates new money; that new money goes to Greece; and in the end what they are doing is monetizing debts at everybody else’s expense,” he explained. “This is quite a complex process, but the truth is the eurozone has allowed monetary redistribution for its whole existence and people did not notice, so they did not mind,” he added.UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the eurozone debt crisis is “a real danger to all of Europe.” He compared the bailouts to plaster put on big cuts – just a temporary fix. And as Baker believes, he was quite right to say that.“The solution is a free market solution. If we keep applying temporary sticking plasters when people are living beyond their means and using a broken system of money, this is not a free society. We need to fundamentally reform money; we need money that holds its value; we need free trade and peace. Nobody wants the tough times that are ahead, but if we keep applying sticking plaster, things will just be worse later,” he emphasized.However, as Baker pointed out, if all EU nations return to their national currencies and abolish the euro, this will definitely save these nations.“It is time to go back to national currencies and let the currencies compete with each other,” he concluded.

Marta Andreasen, MEP and member of the UK Independence Party told RT the UK would be better off today trading with countries other than those that are having problems in the eurozone. “It has been badly hit, and I believe that as long as the EU bureaucracy does not allow these countries to default, leave the eurozone and be able to devalue their currency, we have no solution, and this problem is expanding to all countries, even those that are not in the eurozone. That is why the referendum is so important,” she explained.

David Campbell Bannerman, MEP and member of the Conservative Party, said 59 to 80 Tory MPs have declared their intention to defy Cameron, which sends a strong message of democracy.

He also added the referendum – should it be voted for – would not really take place for a number of years.

“It is not immediate. I don’t think it is good to have a referendum in the next six months or a year because there is a lot of sensitivity about the eurozone. However, in a few years’ time that will be a different ballgame. The eurozone is in serious trouble now,” he stated.

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