Andrea Leadsom

The decision we took on the 23rd June was a great moment in history. Not just a historic opportunity for our country but for Europe as a whole. Perhaps the biggest moment since the Berlin Wall came down. We are not leaving any of our historic ties with our European friends, We are choosing freedom away from the stifling EU institutions. Through NATO we remain bound through the 1949 treaty to come to the defence of Europe’s democracies if they are attacked. The nations and peoples of Europe remain our close friends, staunch allies and key trading partners.

Viviane Reding's criticism of David Cameron's concerns about immigration show how completely out of touch she is with voters. Reding, the Vice-President of the European Commission, is reported to have said 'free movement and the supposed invasion of people who want to take advantage of social security and of the health system is an invention of politicians who like to have populist movements in order to win elections'. Can it be that Reding is a secret supporter of Nigel Farage? Her comments, hot on the heels of her decision to press ahead with proposals for a European Public Prosecutor's Office despite the opposition of 14 national parliaments to the scheme, are surely designed to enrage the British public and drive voters into the arms of UKIP?

Coffee House readers know well that democratic consent for the UK’s membership of the EU has reached rock bottom. In parallel, the people of Europe are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with EU. This is manifesting itself politically and socially all over the continent. On top of that, the EU is currently the slowest growing economic region in the world - as in the final years of the Roman Empire, the EU has grown complacent and over-regulation is stifling our competitiveness. This tale of democratic and economic woe demonstrates vividly the urgent need for reform of the EU. After decades of what Brussels would claim is well-intentioned regulation, and the rest of us see as interference by unelected Eurocrats, the EU has reached a crunch-point of sink or swim.

In its present form, the EU serves British interests very poorly. The time has come for us to finally take matters into our own hands. But I don't agree with the idea that we should simply withdraw now. That day may come, but surely not before we have given fundamental reform our best shot.  Everything we do has to be to promote the UK's interests, and then the referendum will finally settle the matter. Those who advocate withdrawal ignore the risk that the actual process of leaving, potentially taking years to negotiate out of the complex web of EU agreements and treaties, would have a damaging impact on our economy.