Brexit cards on the table
With the In/Out Referendum looming, I am keen to have an online debate about what this means for the IT industry and the channel. Views are my own and I'm not speaking as CRN.
DISCLAIMER ALERT!!! I will reiterate again, that the views in this blog are entirely my own, and I am not speaking as the voice of CRN - this is just me expressing my views. And I am not saying my views are right, just that this is how I personally feel. Please feel free to disagree with me at the end via comments.....
The IT industry is a global one, yet next week a vote is taking place that could throw a huge spanner into the works and start the fragmentation process of a carefully built, historical institution.
Admittedly, an institution that does need modernising and overhauling - but the benefits still outweigh the negatives. Do we really want to become an isolated island just off the coast of France? I know I don't.
If polls today are to be believed, the 'Leave' campaign is seven points ahead of remain. That not only makes me sad, it scares me.
The UK will just be a tiny country with a few million inhabitatants, rather than part of a block of over one billion people with the economic clout to go with it.
Our financial centre is the powerhouse of Europe - but what will it become if Brexit becomes reality?
Sure, if Brexit goes ahead there will be new trade deals forged, but will they work in favour of the average man/woman on the street? Osbourne warned today that tax and NI will have to go up - I think we pay enough as it is. I don't want to pay any more.
When the idea of a referendum was first mooted, I'll admit that I was very much undecided. But I am not now.
The scaremongering on both sides has really irritated me, I have to say - there has been little intelligent discussion with valid points for leaving/staying - just lots of threats bandied about. That hasn't helped at all.
It is no wonder people have no idea where to turn.
But I mentioned on a Facebook post today that I was listening to four people debating the Referendum on the train this morning and the 'out' supporter's argument for leaving was that the UK had managed on its own for nearly 2,000 years before the EU was formed.
Yes, we had. But as I said in my status update, it was a time of great unrest, bloodthirsty wars, pillage, violence and general fear, where nobody was sure where the next invasion was coming from.
We had two World Wars costing millions of lives around the globe. But since the EU came about the stability of our region has been noticeable.
Yes, there are issues of immigration that need tackling - but I am half second-generation Italian immigrant - so I know the struggles that my grandparents faced when they came to this country. They were called names, they were told to go home, but they stuck it out and did nothing but contribute to the economy in their small way. They were eventually accepted as were hundreds of thousands of others - it is what makes our island such a great place to be.
Those saying we will be great again - please do explain how. And how long will it take to be 'great' again? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades?
Bringing it back to our industry - the UK is seen by many US and other global vendors as the springboard into Europe, many have set up their headquarters here for that very reason - what is going to happen to them? Will they stay? Or just move to the most convenient location within the EU?
Our industry is borderless - ours is a language of business - and one that relies on close ties between countries in the EU and the wider world.
Can we really afford not to be a part of the bigger picture? We are the fifth largest global economy, but will we continue to be so if we become the pariah of Europe?
And then you have the hassle of travelling within the Eurozone that we all take for granted, freedom of movement to live and work anywhere you choose, and also recruit talent from abroad. Do you want to lose that too?
I would really welcome your views on this issue and would love to get a proper debate going ahead of the referendum next week.
Please leave your comments in the box below.