How to vote in the EU referendum

SavingFish

Reposting this from a similar thread elsewhere on the forum...

I will be voting to remain, but this is just my opinion, and I would encourage anyone on any side to do their own research. As Martin says, nothing is certain and there are risks both ways. That said...

My thoughts:

Yes, purely in terms of the EU budget we are a net contributor, but why is this?

The EU has what are called structural funds. These are distributed to economically weaker countries (those with GDP<75% of the EU average). The idea is that, by helping the weaker economies to catch up, the EU as a whole goes up. "A rising tide lifts all boats." (It is important to take stock of the last 40 years here, and not just the recent global recession.)

If our economy here in the UK benefits, that means greater tax receipts for the government, and overall more money to spend on our priorities, not less.

Now, personally I believe we have benefitted economically, but there's also an altruistic aspect to this. It was covered in the government's 1975 referendum leaflet, but is sadly not even a footnote in this campaign. I consider myself very lucky to have been born in the UK, but if we can help poorer regions AND ourselves at that same time, that sounds like a double win.

I also believe the EU has done a lot in terms of employee and consumer protections. (These often take the form of EU "directives" which are then implemented as UK laws, leading some to mistakenly think that such protections have nothing to do with the EU.) Big businesses are keen to stay in the EU (because of the market access) despite the EU forcing them to be more responsible. Again, this feels like a double win.

I know there's much more to the referendum than this (and I'm happy to discuss any of it, including immigration and sovereignty). This is simply my own positive case for voting remain

pphillips

My reasons for voting to leave the EU are on the basis of democracy/accountability/sovereignty.

I would prefer the people that we elect to political office on the basis of a manifesto, to make or repeal the laws that govern us.

However, in the EU it is the unelected Commission that has the sole responsibility of introducing or repealing EU law. Although the UK government does get to appoint a British Commissioner it is the job of all Commissioners put aside national interests, to remain impartial and work together to further the EU's interests. We cannot vote for or remove the Commissioners.

Legislation proposed by the Commission then goes to the European Parliament and the Council. The European Parliament is an institution that debates and votes on proposed EU legislation and we do have a national election in the UK to elect MEP's. We are allowed to vote for 73 members of the European Parliament out of a total of 751, the UK therefore has about 8% share of the total vote.

Once proposed legislation becomes EU law this has precedence over any conflicting provisions of UK law under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972.

In my opinion it is anti-democratic for any laws, which if we decide to reject in a national election to be imposed upon us anyway and for the people we elect to have no real power to do anything about it.

Anthorn

In a nutshell Martin's article is not really any different to any others I've seen whether in the remain or leave camp. What is at the core is uncertainty: We know what we're getting if we stay but we don't know what we're getting if we leave. But let's face it, if we were told the back of our heads will fall off if we leave there is enough evidence to show that rather a lot of people will believe it.

For me the most persuasive argument to leave is that we didn't join it in the first place. We joined the European Economic Community, a Common Market. We did not join a political union and quite frankly if we stay we will continue to be a thorn in everyone's side as we continue to resist it. Better to be gone.

marleyboy

MSE_Eesha wrote: »

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.

No thanks, I think you will find the majority already KNOW how to tick a box.

As for those that don't, I'm thinking "Click on this link" might just be too complicated to comprehend.

[Deleted User]

Dial-A-Flight is a company that has a turnover £300million.
Its owner and Chief Financial Officer are on different sides of the EU debate so the owner decided both should write a short piece saying why - and this was distributed to all of their 500 brokers for them to make their own minds up.
I don't know the name of the owner because he doesn't court publicity in quite the same way that the narcissistic Martin Lewis does.
But I thought his decision was quite a smart one.
Unlike that of the founder of this website who I feel has got carried away with his own importance since trousering a large sum from the sale of MSE.
The article he wrote was incredibly one-sided and a long way from the fair and balanced reputation of the original MSE.

Discodee

The vpoice of reason! Spot on. People take note!

pphillips wrote: »

My reasons for voting to leave the EU are on the basis of democracy/accountability/sovereignty.

I would prefer the people that we elect to political office on the basis of a manifesto, to make or repeal the laws that govern us.

However, in the EU it is the unelected Commission that has the sole responsibility of introducing or repealing EU law. Although the UK government does get to appoint a British Commissioner it is the job of all Commissioners put aside national interests, to remain impartial and work together to further the EU's interests. We cannot vote for or remove the Commissioners.

Legislation proposed by the Commission then goes to the European Parliament and the Council. The European Parliament is an institution that debates and votes on proposed EU legislation and we do have a national election in the UK to elect MEP's. We are allowed to vote for 73 members of the European Parliament out of a total of 751, the UK therefore has about 8% share of the total vote.

Once proposed legislation becomes EU law this has precedence over any conflicting provisions of UK law under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972.

In my opinion it is anti-democratic for any laws, which if we decide to reject in a national election to be imposed upon us anyway and for the people we elect to have no real power to do anything about it.

MothballsWallet

Cheap EU roaming? Maybe, but that just allowed the networks to push up their prices for non-EU roaming: not all of us take holidays in the EU.

Kohoutek

For those who are voting leave but concede that things will go south for a few years or more - do you care about young people trying enter the job market during this period? From experience, trying to enter the job market during a recession is not pleasant.

globalds

Kohoutek wrote: »

For those who are voting leave but concede that things will go south for a few years or more - do you care about young people trying enter the job market during this period? From experience, trying to enter the job market during a recession is not pleasant.

Perhaps you should be asking about Greek , Spanish or Italian young people ?

Our youth would need a darn long recession to be in a comparably bad situation as their European cousins.

Spidernick

How to vote in the EU referendum? Easy - just put a 'X' in the box you want to vote for. Simple really!