EU Referendum: Tell us what you think…
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Posted: 20 June 2016 | Stephanie Anthony, New Food Editor | 29 comments
With only days to go until Britain holds a referendum on its EU membership, we can’t help but wonder how you feel…
With only days to go until Britain holds a referendum on its EU membership, we bring you some opinion pieces from industry experts.
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I hope that Britons would choose Brexit. Brexit will help Britain to stand on its own feet from both economic and commercial point of view!! Britain doesn’t need EU!! It has a very good system of education which provides the state with many million pounds every single year. Its a state that heavy industry and farm production can sustain Britons, whereas Britain is the biggest oil producer in EU!!
There comes a time when we have admit things are not working for us and the best course of action is to take a different road. If we were voting this week whether or not to join the EU Rather than stay in I doubt that any but the most idealistic of us would consider taking such as step – so if we wouldn’t join – why stay. It’s about control and democracy – it is for us, the British people, to decide what is best for us and if our political s get it wrong – we know what to do to them. It’s just plain crazy at the moment that trade deals that affect British business and jobs are thrown into a mix with arguments such as travel visa arrangements for citizens of Bulgaria or the quality of Spanish tomatoes. By putting ourselves first – making a successful future we will bring most strength and security to our neighbours in Europe. We are not leaving Europe but should leave the EU.
OUT is the only logical conclusion for a democratic nation.
The EU is anti-democratic.
Well to declare my interest first I am definitely IN IN IN.
The only reason I would vote to leave is that the integration does not go far enough – I would happily be part of a federated world.
Apart from that if you seek the advice of independent bodies such as Greenpeace ( on what is better for the environment etc. ) and the CBI ( on what is better for industry ) and the Police ( on what is better for security etc. ), they ( as organisations ) firmly recommend to stay in.
I have not heard anything from the Brexiteers as to what the alternatives will be ( only that it will be better ). The Brexiteers seem to operate on a very emotional level, mainly to do with immigration and sovereignty.
Please remember that some of these “faceless bureaucrats” are in fact British people fighting for British rights. An MEP made a good point the other day in that the vast majority of issues to the benefit of Britain we have won and we tend to lose on such subjects as items relating to Olive Oil ( for example, of which, correct me if I am wrong we do not have a big industry in ).
Vote IN
Eating my breakfeast today I have enjoyed orange marmelade which was produced in England and sold on the Common Market. My personal viewpoint is that we need more collaboration and not less. Opening the border to Eastern European countries was beneficial for all of us. I am in the favour United Kingdom remaining as part of the European Union.
At present we are in a system that is broken. If we continue to use this system things will not improve.
The politicians that are painting the picture of doom and gloom are the ones that stand to gain the most. They cannot be trusted. This has been demonstrated time and time again.
Its time to change. Change means leave.
As an African, I see this vote as an excise in triviality. But the British should first build a wall around their island before the vote else reconciliation after the vote could be much harder.
Thank God we are trying to construct the Africa Union in line and in light of the European Union. Too bad the British can not see the benefits of collectiveness. There is no such thing as an independent nation in the world today.
The way both campaigns have been run has been disgusting. It’s been a field day of inaccurate information, dis-information and straight up lies. It has brought out the worst in our political system, and our people.
At the end of the day the British public have been persuaded to blame all of their problems on our European membership, no matter how trivial, leaving it to the voters to assume that these problems will disappear if we were to leave.
This simply isn’t true.
If we were to leave, but remain part of the common market, we would still need to send the same amount of money to Brussels that we currently do. One of the requirements of being in the market is that we allow free movement, meaning we still wouldn’t control our boarders.
If we really wanted to solve the problem of ‘schrodinger’s immigrants’ (that can somehow simultaneously take everybody’s jobs, while sitting at home on benefits) we need to look at our education system. I currently work alongside two Polish ladies who both have Masters degrees, which they don’t owe anything for. Meanwhile I’m stuck with £10k’s worth of debt for a measly honours degree, which in this day and age is worth precisely jack.
If we were to actually engage in Europe, rather than voting in racists and biggots to represent us (who only turn up to work 60% of the time), we could reap the same rewards. Instead we (apparently) would prefer to drive our Morris minors to the village fete, before stopping off for a half of bitter in the pub on the way home paying just three and sixpence, while saluting a picture of the queen, because we’re British damn it!
If you want your kids to have the best possible opportunities in their lives, with free movement to go wherever they please, vote remain. If you want to try and harp back to when summers were longer, the grass was greener and this country didn’t have a problem in the world, well you probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote, because that isn’t real.
Vote remain.
It is always not easy to get a diverse group of people to work together and it takes time to iron out the differences, not to mention bringing different nations together. But once the initial difficulties are resolved, the benefits are immense. Look at the USA and China (there are still problems today for these countries). I think EU represents a new positive model of cooperation pooling the diverse strength while keeping the individual identity of each nation. It is a macro version of a society with a diverse mix of different races generating unimaginable dynamism.
I strongly believe Britain should stay in with all the economic advantages enjoyed by Britain for a long time.
Personally I think the case made on both sides have focused far too much on wheather or not we get a little richer or poorer
This EU referendum is really about which way the British public would like to see our wonderful country going
Trading pricing economics etc will soon settle and eventually to a relative stability
It really is a pity we cannot have the good of the remain campaign but coupled with the very important position regrading people
I want to see a fairer more confident Britain that has understanding and compassion going hand in hand with freedom but not driven my fear
A fairer truer Britian who we really could believe in troubled times living in tandem with all that want this way of life
On balance I believe in leave but I also believe we need to work for the same values if the vote is for us to remain
Opening the borders to former Eastern Europe was the best that could have happened to our economies in the nineties. The economic growth that followed in Western Europe and UK, was created by these millions of new middle class consumers, and it lasted for almost 20 years. We benefited from that as much as the former Eastern European countries did. Closing the border to the UK will set us all back 20 years in time, and it will have the biggest impact on UK households.
We need to get out as soon as possible. We are more than capable of making our own laws and regulations which are then subject to Parliamentary scrutiny and changes if required.
As it is we just have to do as we are told.
Once you have taken account of the cultural differences and heritage that give us our local and personal identity – which we all want to preserve – then the argument comes down to economics.
This is a personal viewpoint from Roland Renshaw, Group MD at international industrial food and process marketing services company http://www.DMAEuropaGroup.com
We have built a great team of bright, hardworking people here in the UK, including people from several countries of origin – some of whom have since become UK citizens. Being part of the EU as a trading bloc and accepting top-quality workers from around the world is part of what will continue to make this country a success.
Conversely, losing good quality people because we have restrictive employment laws is extremely counterproductive. We lost a valuable tax paying Chinese speaking employee to a US employer a few years ago – after he had paid for an English education – because we were forced to meet conditions that put locals at an advantage. Which was challenging when we needed a bi-lingual Chinese speaker in order to export to China.
The economics of how we fund a ‘European’ organisation such as the EU can be debated forever, it is however each nation’s responsibility to negotiate that deal, something the UK has just done. Beyond that the benefit to the people of each country is in trade and commerce.
The wealth of the UK as a country has come from hard work, innovation and trade. Anything that jeopardises our ability to do business with the rest of Europe is a threat to our well-being as a nation and as individuals. Being part of the EU doesn’t damage the great privileges of living in the UK, a well ordered, (mainly) law abiding society with low levels of corruption, high living and educational standards, and the NHS, which regardless of criticism is amazing.
It doesn’t matter how many times I have to re-set my American computer software preferences to ‘Language English (United Kingdom)’ I will do it for the convenience of using the software, which allows me to run a business that benefits our staff and the country in general.
The same applies with Europe, our Global Industrial marketing business employs around 30 people in the UK and has many more suppliers and dependants, we are over 50% export and around 45% of our business is traded in Euro. Our good relationships with other companies and customers globally are the reason why our business has the opportunity to be successful.
We do some business with countries that are traditionally regarded as ‘difficult to do business with’, but we don’t chase that business because it has a high cost of sales. Currently the bureaucracy and law making done in Europe is making it easier to employ good people from anywhere in Europe and to trade seamlessly with other European countries – this is good.
Better trade pays more tax into the UK economy, it increases our exports and benefits the EU as a whole. The uncertainty about Brexit is already hurting the UK economy. The vote should not be about whether to stay in or not, but on the deal that has been negotiated. Risking an exit just to get a new deal ratified is a political move, a risky, unwelcome and expensive one.
Let’s stay in and get back to doing business.
#betteroffin #bremain #brexit
I agree with Robin Smith
The remain arguments sound like those of parents telling you not to leave home at 35.
We are not children. We cannot change anything if we remain because there are too many other self interests to deny us our good ideas.
Had we entered the “great idea” of the EURO where would we be now? Remember all the arguments that expounded the disasters we would suffer if we stayed outside. They are the measure of the Remain arguments
Does Germany want to lose our demand for its cars? Does France want to lose our demand for its food and drink? How many European noses can they cut off to spite their self-righteous EuropeanUnion Faces?
The US President wants us to stay in to propound the US ideas in the EU. We have to pay the cost.
I voted before for a trading partnership.
I have never voted for a political surrender.
Whatever the result the political norms will change.
I await David Cameron switching to the Leave campaign on Wednesday morning or resigning on Friday.
PS I’m voting Leave
Sir/Madam,
As a Norwegian citizen, I voted for non-membership for Norway in 1973.
During the years after, I have seen what EU have become, a big organisation of people, ( not countries ) that sit and decide who and what, and for what cost things are going to cross borders.
Too much money goes where it should not go, and too many people work on things they know very little about.
Tray to be free, save your democracy, unfortunately we in Germany did not have such a referendum
I’m not British, I’m not living in the UK and I have no formal interest in the UK, so why bother?
Well, my dear fellow Europeans in the UK, because I would hate to see you go. Europe needs UK and I sincerely hope that a majority will feel that UK needs Europe too.
This is not (only) about free trade and prospering economy. And is is not (only) about much too many regulations coming out of EU, and much too much money being spent there.
What is really at stake here, is the peace on earth! Not that we will go to war against UK on the 24th of June, but in a World that is falling apart all over, we need to stick together and collaborate all we can. In EU, in the Americas, between the two, with Asia, etc. Pulling out is not the way the World needs. More collaboration is a hazzle and a nightmare sometimes, but more collaboration is needed, not less.
EU is the most important peace project since UN. Hang in there.
I guess my view is totally in line with the stay lobby!
We are far better placed to have a voice in Europe that to have to trade with our European clients without influence.
Its is clear that if we exit we go into a recession and prices will increase and for us it will have a dramatic negative effect on us remaining competitive. In fact so much so that we have considered already moving our manufacturing base out of the UK.
Hi Howard
Whilst you make some good points I think the one of having a voice in Eorope is really far of the mark since we don’t have much of a voice at the moment while we are still in the EU
Whilst for me at least the agument is more about our Countries freedoms I cannot see how further intergration will not occur and whilst in was ok with the concept of the foreign market some 40 years ago I do not see how my lovely pounds are being spent and it seems to me that unelected persons in grey suits simply cannot be trusted to allocate my earned money in a responsible manner
On balance we should head for the exit
The idea of a Brexit seems to me to be fuelled by a romantic longing for days past. Unfortunately, you can’t get your youth back. On the contrary, a Brexit will make you grow old fast, not being able to keep up with progress, becoming isolated and not being taken fully serious.
Remain.
If we know what is good for our economy, without which all our options and choices are depleted.
We purchase bakery goods from Europe, Brexit would create financial uncertainty which will have an immediate negative impact on the value of the pound. A weak pound makes our food more expensive, with a direct impact on all our food bills.
Out, the EU will screw us in to the ground if we vote to stay.
The whole idea was a trading relationship which we needed and need now. What we do not want is to be ruled by unelected people
We had over 1000 years without the EU. In that time we gave the world the rule of law, we had the agrarian and industrial revolution, we built an Empire, although I’m not advocating we repeat that. Admittedly we had a few punch ups with the French but fortunately that is now restricted to the football pitch. We went to Europes help when they were in trouble in 1914 and again in 1935. We asked for help from Europe when we “borrowed” William of Orange from the Dutch. We gave the world so much from the bicycle, to pencilin, the steam engine, the mobile phone, the Internet and thousands of inventions in between. Tarmac, stainless steel, cast iron. I could go on. We gave the world many of it’s building blocks to be able to develop to the level it is now. It was a Briton who recognised gravity and a Briton who gave the world an understanding of evolution. We don’t need the EU to be a successful country. I say look to history to see the future. We have always been good enough to stand on our own feet. Stand up for ourselves and look what we have achieved and have faith in what we can achieve in the future. That’s my soap box rant. Vote Leave and have faith in yourself.
We need to stay in please for the goodwill of the future!
This is is understatement for our country economy. Britain cannot truly stand on it’s own, we need to stay united as the world is now one global market place and in my view life will be much harder for the working professionals who will need a visa even to take up employment in the EU. Do we really want this for the next generation to deny them if a European Union freedom?
Any body who thinks leaving will cure all our ills is kidding themselves.
It may probably would help with border control, but much more to it than that.
We could always choose to leave at a later date, but once out I doubt we would get back in, better to keep an institution that has helped keep the peace and prosperity for decades across Europe!
As the International Business Director for one of the Britain’s iconic beverage Brand – Typhoo, I am strongly in the favour Britain remaining as part of Europe. Majority of the financial experts (Bank of England, IMF etc.) have warned about the economic implications of Brexit. Europe offers our company and many other fellow exporters access to 500 million consumers in Europe. Other benefits such as defence intelligence, environmental co-operation and visa free travel for British businessmen and tourists offer as tremendous opportunities for growth in the future. Brexit will make us insular.
STAY IN