I don’t know about you, but I am mightily fed up with the interminable bish-bashing on both sides of the referendum brouhaha (won’t call it a debate, its far too noisy). Like many people, I am in a quandary about the referendum. As an ancient one, I can remember (just) Britain before we joined the EU and quite frankly it is ancient history and almost another country. BUT that memory is irrespective of whether membership of the European Union has been effective or not. For all my adult life, Britain or UK has been part of the EU (barring the currency) and for me it has not been negative – We have benefitted from a whole raft of employment, human rights and equality legislation, and, presumably, from inter EU trading agreements.
I have been employed by companies that had me working in Germany and The Netherlands and have felt the relief of just having Euro change after holidays rather than francs, marks, lira and a host of other jingly coins. With all that you would think I was an Innie. But I feel a sense of unease, nothing to do with immigration, or the TTIP negotiations, which I think favour USA over and above everyone else, but with the accreted power the EU is amassing.
I have heard the excellent Professor Michael Dougan (lecturer in EU Law) explaining that we still have sovereignty and that legislation has to be ratified by each country’s parliament before it becomes law and a lot more, and am still unsure. Thankfully, there is an excellent online site called https://fullfact.org/ which presents unbiased examinations of the claims and counterclaims, the apocalyptic and doomsday scenario on both sides of the debate.
Whatever you think, do please use your vote and use your vote once you have checked out some of the things you are specifically worried about. Leave the baying hounds out in the kennels and make sure when you vote on Thursday, that you know, in your own mind, what is important to you, your family and your business.
