As with Trump supporters in the US, a pro-Brexit argument here
was that it was a vote against the corrupting influence of “big business” on
the polity (albeit not necessarily expressed in those terms). The thing is, in
this regard the Trumpists are a couple of military grade, semi-automatic shots behind
the Brexiteers in the which country can shoot its feet off the fastest race both
sets of clods have shat over the rest of us. The why is straightforward;
British governments don’t go after, reform or penalise big business for being
naughty to anything like the same degree the EU does.
Fer instance, when Microsoft moaned in 2006 about the EU
fining it for abusing its (effectively a) monopoly position, the EU response
was to threaten to up its $1.5m a day fine to $3m. Similarly, the EU subsequently
fined Intel $1.44m for abusing its influence as a parts supplier to feck up its
rival AMD by giving rebates to PC makers Dell, Hewlett-Packard Co, NEC and
Lenovo if they bought most of their computer chips from them.
There’s other examples, go find them later, but in the
meantime compare/contrast with how us Great British folk treated much of the British
construction industry after the OFT found out they’d been rigging tenders for
public sector contracts for years; 103 firms were fined a total of £129m in
2009. Chew on that for a second … 103 firms were fined £129m for ripping off
the public sector i.e. us, for years. That’s 103 firms, including Balfour Beatty
and Carillion and £129m. 103 firms. Over a 100 firms and barely £1m apiece on
average for ripping us all off.
So whereas the EU really does stand up to “Big business”,
left to its own devices, the British government barely manages a smack on the
wrist. So by voting for Brexit, all of us will be left more exposed and
vulnerable to abusive, Big Business behaviour. Shit.
Compare/contrast this with Trump; his rhetoric about NAFTA
etc., suggests he’s less keen on free market access (to the US) and the
associated scope for moving production from the US to lower wage economies. On the other hand, this outsider’s outsider
has said hee haw about actually reforming the political process to reduce the
influence Big Business has. But, here’s the thing, a pro-Brexit vote still appears
dumber than voting for Trump.
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