MoneySaving Poll: How will you be voting in the EU referendum?

I can't see why anyone running the stay campaign would want to stay in, unless it's for personal gain. For those worried about the propaganda about foreign holidays and working in other member states, I did both before we joined, and there was no hardship about either.

edl2011 wrote: »

If Britain leaves the EU then I will be leaving Britain, albeit reluctantly.
It would be the final nail in the coffin, signifying at last the complete takeover of braindead, blinkered bigots in a once proud and respected country.
So terribly sad.
We still haven't found out what Martin has to say on the issue!?

Don't let the door hit your backside on the way out ...

If you don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Here is the EU put simply.
A son goes to his Dad having saved up some money from his weekend job.
Son “ Dad I’ve saved up £350 pounds to buy the new laptop I need for my college course”
Dad “Well done son, give the money to me and I’ll help you”
Son “Ok now what?”
Dad “I will allow you £185 pounds back less my handling fee of £5 so £180 which you may only spend on a new phone”
Son “But I need a laptop!”
Dad “No, we’ve decided you can only buy a phone and you may only buy a phone from Germany and it must be pink. You must also source the phone within 2 days otherwise I will not release the money”
Son “But it’s my money!”
Dad “I’m afraid you are a member of this family and you must contribute to everyone else’s needs. I will decide how the money is spent”
Son “So what happens to the £165?”
Dad “Well your sister needs a new dress”
Son “She has already had many new dresses”
Dad “We’ve put it to the vote and I’m afraid you’re outvoted”
Son “But I need a laptop to continue my course!”
Dad “My decision is final”
Son “But that’s not fair, will I ever have a say in how my money is spent”
Dad “No, and by the way we’ve got a couple more people moving into your room and you’ll have to pay for their keep”
Son “Well I’m leaving then”
Dad “Don’t be like that lad, we need your money. And if you leave you won’t be able to buy a pink phone from Germany you’ll have to buy one here instead”
Son “I NEED A LAPTOP!”

[snip]

However MSE, with 15 million visitors a month, will be representative of a wide cross-section of the UK - male/female, ABC1/C2DE, well educated/less well educated, northern/southern, metropolitan/rural, etc.

It'd be interesting to see a breakdown of MSE readers. I suspect they lean towards the better educated, based on what I've read here over the years. But not necessarily the better off.

The only thing we all have in common is a desire to get the best deal. Arguably, given that the pound is very likely to fall against the Euro or Dollar following a Brexit, and it will take time to get new trade agreements in place, the economic arguments seem to favour Remain at least in the short term

I agree, I think Brexit will cause a period of uncertainty, which I suspect will almost certainly involve hardship - at very least no pay rises (so what's new I hear you cry:)), and I fear probably some job losses. Whether in purely economic terms we'd ever get back to even where we are now, I don't know (and nor does anyone else). [Whether the pound would fall against the Euro I think is less certain, because I suspect the Euro would also fall after a Brexit.]

I still think leaving would be best for Britain in the long run for reasons beyond the economic. The EU now is very different from the one we joined (and were told at the time was just a "common market"), in matters beyond just the economy. But I can see that a lot of people - I suspect, especially the younger members of society - can't afford the luxury of choosing that, even if they agree with me: they would have to vote stay to survive the next - well, I'd say couple of years at least: if their job is at all precarious, and/or they have a big mortgage. I have sympathy for that position. (Also a lot of younger folk do more agree with the ideals of the EU [if nothing else, they've grown up in it]. I have less, but then I'm at 56 tending towards old git.)

But in spite of that, 64% of now over 25,000 people are saying Leave. That has to be significant.

It is certainly interesting!