Why I will vote Remain

While I'm quite aware of the shortcomings of the EU and its crying need for reform in many areas, I'm also very aware of the huge value of belonging to this international forum whose members are bound by a commitment to work together for the common good and to uphold human rights and the rule of law.

I think the decision to put this complicated matter to a referendum rather than ask our parliamentary representatives to work it out is folly.

It is asking ordinary people, busy with their daily lives (already not easy for so many), to be both able and willing to set aside time to study and absorb, in the space of three months (if they started working on it the minute it was announced), the vast number of factors that need to be taken into account.

Having absorbed all that (and who dares to say that they have understood it all perfectly?), they must then weigh up all the foreseeable implications of voting one way or the other, keep in mind the unintended consequences that will also emerge from either result, and come to a sensible and practical decision about what to do.

That's a very big ask, and a very unfair one. These are the kinds of complicated issues that we have a representative parliament to thrash out for us in committees that might take years to complete their work. Years. We have had three months.

However, it is done, and we have to vote. And we better HAD vote. Every single vote that's actually cast on a ballot paper (not just announced to a pollster or mentioned in conversation) will count.

Unlike a general election, we will not get a chance to change our minds in five years and vote for something else and so have it all reversed.

More than in any election I can think of, turn out on the day is going to be crucial. So whatever your opinion is on the matter, please go and vote.

I am going to vote to remain.

In making up my own mind, I admit I certainly don't understand 'everything' about what EU membership means. But when I think of what is happening in the world around us right now, and the challenges that we face as human beings on this planet, not just as citizens of this one country, I think it simply doesn't make sense for Britain to jump ship and 'go it alone'.

I'm thinking in particular of:

• the increased level of terrorist threat around the world and how we deal with it
• climate change
• resource degradation due to harmful practices in farming, logging, mining, heavy industry, fishing, etc
• the long term damage wrought in society by the 'austerity' measures that we were told were 'unavoidable'
• the huge threat to jobs that's coming from robots
• the rapid rise of China as a leading economic and political power
• the steadily ageing population and falling birth rate of developed countries (including our own)
• the blighting of the lives and hopes of so many young people
• sharply rising levels of inequality in society
• the maelstrom of wars driving people from their homelands
• and too many other things to list!

Facing all this, I think we simply HAVE to work together.

In the EU, we have a more or less functional way to do this, even if it's very far from perfect. It is remarkable that there have been no wars between countries in the EU area for 70 years. We may have differences with these neighbours, but we also have ways to work through those differences that don't involve going to war. This is a fantastic achievement.

On sovereignty, my view is that sharing sovereignty (as we do in the EU) is better than going it alone -- although of course you don't get absolutely everything that you want. It is not the case that Brussels 'dictates' to us. We participate in devising agreed ways forward on all sorts of matters.

Yes, it's slow and cumbersome and there are undoubtedly ways it could be improved. Yet those EU regulations that so many decry as just red tape that ties our hands also mean that we can be confident that when we buy services or products from any of the 28 members, they will be provided or produced to the same set of standards, and if a supplier fails to meet those standards, we have redress available.

Similarly, our own country was called to account when our human rights legislation was found not to meet the agreed standards. Although this is painful, as we all know on a personal level, it is right that we SHOULD be held to account.

On immigration, a matter which I know many people feel strongly about, my view is that it's understandable that people worry about 'losing their jobs', but they fail to appreciate that the real upcoming threat to jobs is not from increased immigration but from increased automation -- the spread of robots. There are some interesting articles and links on this topic on the BBC website -- search for 'the jobs robots will steal first' or click here..

I think it is shocking that our politicians are not actively and publicly addressing this and coming up with a plan for what to do with all those people (including immigrants) who are going to have NOTHING TO DO in a few years time. This is going to happen whether we leave or stay in the EU.

What are people going to live on? What will they spend their time doing? This is a huge social change coming our way. It is already happening. Not just here but in Europe and all round the world.
Meanwhile, some of the facts about immigration are:

• Immigrants do not take a disproportionate share of jobs created by our economy
• There is no evidence of an overall negative impact of immigration on wages
• There is no evidence that EU migrants affect the labour market performance of native-born workers (i.e. make it harder for native-born workers to get promoted, get a pay rise, etc).

Our population is declining and we actually need migration to boost our numbers. The free movement of people in the EU is a fantastic benefit to all of us, even though there are of course difficulties and problems associated with it. I think it would be a great mistake to abandon this. This information was published by the London School of Economics in their report 'Immigration and the UK Labour Market' in 2015. The report is available here.

To conclude -- whatever your own view is, please do go and vote!

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