British MP: Decision to Leave EU Not About Markets or Business

Despite the world’s overwhelming surprise after seeing the results of the United Kingdom’s referendum on European Union membership, one member of Britain’s parliament isn’t worried about the economic effect the vote will have across the globe.

“Obviously the markets don’t like change and we’ve seen that in the way they’ve reacted,” said Kate Hoey, Labour MP and co-chair of the Labour Leave camp. “But, that will change and it will go back to being a situation where, as the fifth-strongest economy in the world, we are not going to be in a long-term situation where it’s going to affect our economy in a detrimental way.”

However, Hoey said the decision to leave the EU was not about “markets and business,” but more about democracy.

“It’s actually about a democratic country being able to control its own borders like the United States does. Being able to control its own trade deals like the United States does, being able to control its own courts,” she said.

She added: “We are in a situation with the European Union where it wasn’t just a trading arrangement which is what people voted for way back in 1975, but had evolved into a trading arrangement with a political super structure.”

Though Hoey acknowledged there will be short-term issues that will eventually be settled, she is looking at what is yet to come through rose-colored glasses.

“As long as our Treasury and our Bank of England and all of our government machinery is working toward making sure that the rest of the world knows that we are going to do this [separation] in a very sensible way, we’re going to work to negotiate trade deals and our country’s got a really bright, hopeful future,” she said.