How will you vote in the EU referendum?

I am neither an economist nor politician. I don't have any particular agenda and try to keep an open mind. However the prospect of leaving the European Union is to me, one of the biggest political gambles to be taken in my life time so far. In my opinion there are huge economic risks in leaving. Yes, billions are paid to the EU but many business leaders consider that the savings from Free Trade agreements outweigh this. I wonder what will happen to the billions paid in EU subsidies to British farmers? The car manufacturing industry has already been mentioned and if cars can be produced in lower cost European countries then what is to stop that happening? I don't have the answers but it will be the next generation, my children and grandchildren that will have to live with consequences for far longer. I have tried to gather the information that I need to make an informed and rational decision. One of the better sites that I have found is www.debatewise.org under the heading: The UK should leave the European Union. It is not as partisan as this sounds giving arguments side by side on the main areas to be considered. This article does not however cover such issues as the implications for Scotland or Ireland of a Brexit.

I lived for quite a long time in a country in Europe which was not part of the EU - Switzerland. It had many agreements with the EU over trade, inter- country collaborations in research etc BUT it had no control over the regulations and controls on these collaborations. In particular, it had to agree to implement the Schengen agreement. At the beginning of last year, the Swiss voted in a referendum to come out of Schengen. The EU immediately stopped all the trade agreements, research collaborations, border agreements etc and the Swiss government were forced to back down and reimplement Schengen. Other countries outside the EU have found the same. The reason companies like Nissan say they would have to consider where they're based is nothing to do with how people work, it's much more to do with how difficult trading could become if you have to start trading as a country outside the EU. A lot of people are employed by companies associated with the aero and space European developments and new companies have been formed from spin-offs from this and there are other countries which would like to grab this from us.
And I haven't even mentioned the distinct possibility that leaving the EU would lead to a break-up of the UK...

I believe Russia is the biggest buyer of Nissan cars exported from the Sunderland factory Petra so anywhere in Europe would be better placed for export than South America/Mexico.

Petra do you really think the French are going to care about that, anyway I have seen migrants getting on buses to the UK from here one man with a clipboard ticking off names and mainly men with refugee papers.
My friend who was on the bus said the only person removed at the border was a student from the UK who had an arrest warrant out for him.
Once they get over the channel which of course they will as there will be no border controls here then it will be the UKs' responsibility to look after them.
Believe me we would love to get the UK to take responsibility for the chaos which is the middle east and North Africa. Many of the countries shouldering the burden of the migrants have no links to these conflicts but are the nearest to the conflicts or closest to the promised land of the UK.

I am on the fence.

I am still on the fence. On the one hand, I feel that being part of a group gives us more strength as we are just a small country. Selfishly we have a house in greece and being in the eu makes that easy for us to come and go. On the other hand, it really makes me furious at the amount of money spent in Brussels which seems to be completely unregulated. As a country we have been in recession and cut back whereas the european parliament just voted for a rise for themselves and spent a fortune on new offices. The amount of stupid laws they keep bringing in are so infuriating too.

Perhaps I will vote to stay in and at the same time persuade my husband to become an MEP and I can be his highly paid secretary!

Ok, so the border moves to Dover. To get to Dover you need a ticket, to get a ticket you have to have a passport, oh I forgot, most of the migrants have destroyed their passports/ identity cards. Time for plan B.

I sway one way then the other I will be like nonanna I might not know till I've got the pen in my hand.
Today I am in the stay camp.

gillybob. Nissan produce cars in North America & Mexico. If we leave the EU i wonder what the difference would be.

Felice. I lived in an EU country before they joined the EU. There were a few people who recieved invalidity benefit living there.
I do sympathise, but there is nothing that could sway me to stay in the EU.
To say I hate it is a bit strong, but it's getting that way.
As in all things like this, there are winners and losers.

Why should you get nasty comments about your post felice? Surely we are all just weighing up the pros and cons.

Re; The borders. Some would argue that we could police our own borders more vigorously if we had full control and were not subject to EU rules. We are an island after all.

I will vote to stay.

I hope you all take into consideration the 2.2million British people living outside the UK in the EU.
I am disabled and recieve invalidity benefit paid by the government here, I live in a Granny flat which has been adapted by my DD and SIL to my needs, I am not the only person just within my group of friends and aquantancies in a similar situation.
I hope you are all prepared to house us give us jobs or pay us benefits.
EU countries and employers will not be required to employ or support us.
Also consider that France will remove the UK border control from Calais etc, which will mean asylum seekers will be arriving in the UK.
I have major health issues and will need support and medical care regularily. Paid for here by my health insurance at just 9€ a month cost to me.
I could go on but I am sure I will recieve a lot of nasty comments about just this post.

Petra I have heard the CEO of Nissan (Carlos Ghosh) quote many times that "Nissan would have to reconsider their position in the UK if we (the UK) left the EU" An empty threat perhaps???? It is well known that the Nissan workers are the most productive workers in the UK.

Also I believe he is also CEo of Renault and I can imagine the French would be chomping at the bit to have the Nissan factory in France (although productivity would probably fall by 99%).

No wonder I am confused.

I'm not sure. I keep reading up on this and think'leave' but then get swayed by something else. If it goes to a vote I'll probably not be able to make up my mind until the pen's in my hand

Stay I think.

Can't make up my mind.

I voted against joining in the first place; and share the concern about the corruption and the gravy train element. But I have always said that if we are in, we have to play the game and be a true part of it.

If I were to be absolutely truthful, I do not think I know sufficient about economics to be able to decide whether we are better off in than out now. I think that I am not alone and that the vast majority of people will have little idea either. This is why I am so opposed to referenda - they leave us all prey to propaganda on issues that many know little about.

Why are they all so insistent that we should stay? As Bill Clynton said: it's the economy, stupid. They need us more than we need them.

gillybob. Could you explain why Nissan might leave GB if we leave the EU.
As I see it, Nissan will build cars where it's economicly viable to do so.

Leave!
We are the main bankroller of the EU and we are being bled dry. It is time to stop!
There will be much alarmism put about by those who have the best seats on the gravy train so we need to be wise enough to see it for what it is!

What petra says.

As a Geordie and a small business owner, I worry that leaving the EU could force companies (such as Nissan) out of the UK which would be devastating for this region as so many people are employed by them, both directly and indirectly.

I agree that being in the EU does cost us a lot of money but what "price2 would we pay if we left? How many big businesses would pack up and leave?

Like OlderNoWiser I have yet to make up my mind although I worry that a lot of young voters will be swayed by the refugee situation and the influx of cheap labour from other EU countries.

I am very

Leave leave leave. I was never in favour of it, and the longer it has gone on the corrupt, dictatorial it has become.

As somebody who is quite politically astute and/or interested I must say I am still sitting on the fence on this one.

On the one hand I can see that the EU is costing us a lot of money (but let's not forget that there are also quite a number of people who make a fine living out of EU subsidies), and I understand that some people feel threatened by the influx of cheap labour from other EU countries, I do think that any small country is not, in this day and age, able to turn it's back on the rest of the world, and survive on its own.

I cannot imagine that a Brexit would cost the country 3 million jobs either, but I do know that my job (which consists mainly of dealing with German language patents and legal documents) would be affected if Britain were no longer a member of the EU.

A double-edged sword I think, and I have no idea yet how I will vote.