Sarah Todd: Brexit is the leap of faith to make Britain great

LEAVING the European Union would be a bit like a divorce.
David Davis MP has impressed columnist Sarah Todd in the EU referendum campaign.David Davis MP has impressed columnist Sarah Todd in the EU referendum campaign.
David Davis MP has impressed columnist Sarah Todd in the EU referendum campaign.

For parting couples life is usually incredibly stressful in the run-up. Then, a bit tough on the old purse strings. But – if the relationship has gone sour – both sides usually look back and say it was well worth it in the long run.

Boring expert after boring expert has told us about the financial, political and possibly even security reasons why we should, come the June 23 referendum, vote to remain.

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But whatever happened to the great British spirit of adventure – of taking a leap of faith into the unknown?

At the moment we have the bland leading the bland. This grey-suited status quo will get us nowhere. Whereas, just maybe, taking a leap of faith will bring some sparkle back into our country.

It doesn’t matter how many analysts pour cold water on Brexit, there is something so potentially reinvigorating about leaving the EU for our country that this correspondent, for one, will be voting for change.

He’s said some silly things, but there’s just something about Boris Johnson.

Same with Nigel Farage.

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They have that bit of oomph so lacking in today’s toeing-the- party-line world.

Closer to home, Howden’s Tory MP David Davis has spoken such a lot of common sense.

None more so than his line about not wanting to be a member of any club that threatened to “ruin me if I left it”.

He’s dared question the whole, as he puts it, gravy train of international elite who have been shipped in to tell us what to 
think and do. All bullying us to doff our caps and do what we are told.

If you are looking for in-depth analysis turn the page.

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This newspaper has printed endless informative opinions from highly-regarded individuals who have forgotten more than yours truly will ever know.

But, as a ‘normal’ person, there’s something about the passion of the Brexit campaigners that makes me want to stand on a soapbox and urge others to be brave.

To forget about the doom and gloom merchants and take the reins of our destiny back from the bureaucrats in Brussels.

Coming from a farming family, it was touch and go as to whether this enthusiasm for the leave campaign would get short shrift.

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But no, contrary to popular opinion, the majority of farmers don’t like being subsidised.

They would far rather get a fair price for their produce and take their luck on a fair playing field. Something, as an aside, our Government needs to start seriously tackling. A good starting point would be the supermarkets.

Waving goodbye to the shackles, sorry status, of EU membership would enable the agricultural industry to negotiate its own trade agreements.

Farmers would be able to deal much more competitively with non-EU countries if they weren’t jumping through all that silly red tape.

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At the moment, farmers can barely scratch their noses without having to make 
mention of it in some officially-audited movement record or other.

Figures aren’t my thing. But even this mathematically challenged individual can see that to continue paying farmers the same subsidy as they are getting now would cost the British taxpayer half as much as they are already forking out.

We currently pay £6bn a year into the Common Agricultural Policy, but our farmers get only £3bn back.

Interestingly, the much more vocal French farmers receive three times as much.

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Trading with Britain is already different because we have the pound – not the euro.

It’s beyond me why this doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the seemingly endless television debates.

Not having the euro hasn’t stopped other countries from dealing with us before so why should it now?

We should have confidence. Britain produces some fantastic, quality products and people aren’t going to stop buying 
them.

And if they do, we’re not daft.

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We’re a country of entrepreneurs and we’ll find other outlets. Markets develop and change.

Our 15 year-old daughter said something the other night which was, when we thought about it, wise beyond her years.

She believes David Cameron should have delivered the deal he came away from the EU with and then stepped away from the debate.

“His job is to get on with running the country,” she said. “He should have been like the Queen and not taken sides. All this arguing has made it very difficult for ordinary people to understand what it’s all really about.”

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Talk about out of the mouths of babes. Back to the analogy of divorce we started with.

Those couples who get on
with it – with as little mudslinging as possible - come out of the other side with a far greater chance of future success and happiness.

Sarah Todd is a former editor of Yorkshire Life magazine. She is a farmer’s daughter, mother and journalist specialising in country life.