In the January 7 issue of this newspaper I welcomed in the new year with a prediction for the upcoming election.

Whilst all the professional pundits, pollsters and politicians called the election incorrectly, claiming we would have a hung parliament or Labour-SNP pact, my forecast was so accurate, you couldn’t have written it any better with hindsight.

Not only did I state that there would be a Conservative majority, but also that Labour would be wiped out in Scotland, Ukip would take votes from Labour, not the Tories, and that the Lib Dems would be forgotten.

The next major vote coming up will be the European referendum.

To be honest, I don’t know how the public will vote, but I know how they ought to vote, and that is “out”. When the EU, or formerly EEC, was founded, trading relations with neighbouring countries had much greater significance than they do today.

In the age of the internet it really makes little difference where on the planet your trading partner is located.

Are British companies setting up call centres in France, because it’s 22 miles away? No, they are doing it in India where labour costs are lower.

My own company uses consultants based in Argentina to do our website development for us. Europe as a trading block is irrelevant. If we pull out, the Germans will still want to sell us BMWs and Mercedes. Trade will not evaporate, even if tariffs are imposed.

There are no significant benefits to being in the EU any longer and being part of the trading club involves us being subjected to far too many pointless and expensive rules and regulations which harm our economy.

But the biggest harm Europe is inflicting is on itself with the single currency. What is happening in Greece today is just a foretaste of what is to come in Portugal, Spain, Italy and even France.

The Euro is a titanic disaster in the making and even though we are not in the Euro itself, jumping ship early from the EU will ensure we are safe from the fallout and hopefully encourage the others to do so too.

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