Today the UK will make a historic decision about its future. My decision to vote in favour of leaving the EU was arrived at after full and careful consideration.
I am a devolutionist and believe decisions should be as close to the people as possible. The European Union is pulling power and decision-making further away. A return of powers would not simply flow to London but to Belfast too.
I believe in accountability. The decision-makers should have to answer to their voters. I value the fact that people place their trust in me at the ballot box and I respect the mandate of others with whom I may disagree. Whereas Ministers in Belfast, Dublin or London can be held to account by the public in an election, there is no such pressure on members of the European Commission. The process of getting agreement between 28 countries and the use of qualified majority voting has given us a cumbersome process, where our interests can be and often are harmed.
There have been many people who have put forward the “remain to reform” argument that we need to stay in the EU to have influence and make changes. That argument has been blown out of the water however by Jean-Claude Juncker ruling out any treaty negotiations on the UK’s relationship with the EU while he remains president of the European Commission.
No one in the United Kingdom can ignore the issue of costs and benefits. The UK as a whole has been a net contributor. The difference between what we pay in and get back has quadrupled in the last four years.
In the past Northern Ireland has done better, but what we receive is declining. As the UK is a net contributor the funds we receive are UK taxpayers' money sent to Brussels, with a reduced proportion returned with EU conditions attached on how it must be spent.
The primary benefit of EU membership is presented as trade. It was sold to people as a Common Market rather than a Common State. However, this has become more of a promise than the reality. The UK has a huge trade deficit with the EU. When we should be looking outward at global opportunities, the European Union is not just holding the United Kingdom back, but many others through its waste, bureaucracy and the straightjacket of the single currency.
The threat of trade tariffs has been a well-worn scaremongering tactic during the campaign. With Leave campaigners having repeatedly said there would be no appetite for this within the European Union, that has now been backed up by the head of the BDI which represents German industry who said his organisation would be arguing against such measures. He, like many others know that such tariffs would harm his country as much or more than it would harm the United Kingdom. This would clearly also be the case for trade between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
For a region such as Northern Ireland in particular, flexibility and the ability to react quickly can help us succeed economically. We should be looking globally at the opportunities which exist and which businesses here are already taking up. We should have the confidence to be an outward-looking economy. It is not a coincidence that the Northern Ireland Assembly produced its best ever jobs record during the last term. Our economic success in the future will be driven by what we do when the powers and monies flow back to us.
Voting to leave the European Union is about taking control of our future and bringing decision making closer to the people.
Over the last number of weeks, I have noticed that many people’s resolve to vote Leave has grown as the referendum campaign has developed. The remain campaign as a whole and how it has treated Northern Ireland in particular has been the source of deep frustration on my part. However, what has angered me the most has been the purported threats to our peace.
There is one threat to our peace process and one threat alone. Those paramilitary organisations who remain intent on killing are the threat to our peace. A threat that our security forces deserve our praise and support for combating every day.
It is deeply offensive to present the people of Northern Ireland as ready to return to violence in the blink of an eye, especially over a democratic vote. Nor do I believe anyone in Northern Ireland or in the Republic wishes to seal off the border between our two countries. Travel and trade has flowed in both directions across the Border for nearly a century now. There is no reason to suggest that will cease tomorrow.
I believe in the people of Northern Ireland. I believe in the businesses of Northern Ireland. I believe in what can they can achieve. This is why I reject the absurd predictions and exaggerated threats. This is why I look to our future and the opportunities after the referendum and am encouraging people right across the United Kingdom to Vote Leave.
Jeffrey Donaldson MP for Lagan Valley, representing the Democratic Unionist Party