How will you vote in the EU referendum?

Thanks Elegran. I will make sure DD and DS get it sorted, this is possibly the most important vote in their lifetime. They are both interested in politics and current affairs.

While it is a small country, I do believe it is a powerful one. It has been awful watching the EU try, and succeed to strip more and more power away.
I will vote to leave,

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2016/02/22/i-will-mourn-the-conservative-party/

We can but hope.

Will there be a regional breakdown of votes? I do hope so.
The leader of the Northern Powerhouse has said he will join Brexit.
There aren't that many tory MPs in the North. He will probably lose his place at the next election.

Shall we go on forever with all the political point scoring? So boring and silly.
Staying in or leaving the EU cuts across ALL the political parties.

I can't imagine that employers in countries in the EU will want to throw out their British colleagues. This seems to be the way the Brits think -sort of mean spirited and revengeful. Those in Germany can take out German nationality they don't have to give up their British citizenship, but they do have to speak German and know about German politics and the constitution - equal rights, freedom of speech etc Actually all the things the British hold dear. Germans will continue to sell their cars and Spain and Italy their tomatoes and other vegetables.

In view of the fact that Britain via the BBC with its Red Nose day and collecting for UNICEf etc donating millions of pounds to these causes should object to a few Romanian or Polish fathers sending money home to where there is dire poverty. Its a weak leg for a referendum to stand on.

Surely donating to Comic Relief is voluntary?

We don't have a choice with income tax.

Couldn't agree more roses. I was interested in most of the comments which brought up real concerns and worries. For once this is not about supporting a political party but something that will affect us all.

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/22/new-social-housing-tenants-will-need-to-live-in-an-area-four-years

While all the stuff about Boris and Cameron has been going on, a white paper has been published in parliament today about social housing which includes changes to do with the new agreement that Cameron made.
It's about social housing and how long people have to live in an area before they can apply. It includes people moving from one area to another in the UK.
Tenants used to have to live in an area for two years; it is now four years.

The northern powerhouse and its relationship with the EU is important to us in the north, roses. Where do you live?
It was political to put a Tory MP in charge of it. Cameron could have chosen from many businessmen or council leaders.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/eu-referendum-northern-powerhouse-minister-10930782

I'm not the only one up here who thinks he should not have said it.

I am surprised that Nadhim Zahawi is going to vote out.

His message to Cameron went on about what a great PM he is, etc., before stabbing him in the back. It was more ingratiating than Gove's, but at least Gove had always said he wanted out of the EU.

Manchester to lead cities in campaign against Brexit.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/european-union-brexit-referendum-campaign-10921595

When I visit my daughter in Manchester, I can't help noticing how much regeneration is being funded by the EU.

Patricia494, What power has the EU stripped away? Some concrete examples of ones which affect you directly would be useful.

I always thought it was deemed to be a crap Tory idea , at least that's how I have interpreted some posts on other threads. Nice to hear the Northern Power House it is important to the North.

If we left the European Union why wouldn't the £20 billion (£12 billion after rebate) a year , that's £33 million pounds a day (maybe more I don't know thi 2014 figures ) be spent on the NHS, Education , Northern Power House ?

thatbags, I was a languages student once and spent a year abroad. In fact, I spent two Summers working in Germany as a 'foreign worker'. Languages students always had a special arrangement to study abroad, arranged through the British Council, but not other students. They did not receive, as my daughter did, a bursary from the EU. I well remember the hours I spent with bureaucracy getting hold of my work permits. I also remember one crossing into East Berlin, when I had to empty all my bags and was given a body search!

POGS, Who knows how the money would be spent? The BREXITERs don't seem to know.

Who knows how much trade the UK would lose? How much would the increased unemployed benefits cost?

Maybe if BREXITERs could come up with some viable alternatives, I might take them seriously. At the moment, they don't seem to have a clue how things would pan out, apart from a few stirring battle cries about 'regaining our borders' (we never lost them ~lol~)

Crocky, As you mentioned the fishing industry...maybe our representative for fishing should have done more to protect British fishing. Unfortunately, it was a certain Nigel Farage, who couldn't even be bothered to turn up to meetings, never mind defend it!

Actually (and I come originally from a fishing family) the EU didn't kill the British fishing industry. Overfishing by massive trawlers and misguided British nostalgia did that. In any case, there were regulations in place before the EU.

EmilyHarburn, If Eastern Europeans didn't do the jobs at Sports Direct, who would? If there are jobs in that area, there would be an influx of workers anyway. Or do you object to the fact they are foreigners? I though the idea was that the unemployed got on their bikes! If it's to Derbyshire, so be it!

The thing that really worries me if we stay in is what Jeremy Corbyn and his party would do. Let the rest of Europe walk all over us, join the Euro? What are his proposals for the next time Labour are in power?

Interesting point about regeneration in Manchester, daphnedill. Yes. There has been regeneration in other places too recently. I know about Dundee and Cambeltown and I daresay there have been several others.

When we talk about EU money we are also talking about UK money because the UK contributes to the EU coffers. I'm not sure a distinction needs to be made as if it were money only from other EU countries. Please note the phrase "I'm not sure". I mean exactly that. I'm querying the apparently automatic assumption that these city regenerations wouldn't have taken place without so-called 'EU money'.

I'd be very happy to have the sources of the regeneration money laid out in detail even if (especially if!) that proved none of it was UK money. I like facts.

I have mentioned the pressure the EU can put on non-members if they want to take advantage of trade, joint research and education etc. This is explained very well in this article from the BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35615604

Daphnedill: agree about the students 'year abroad' versus the EU funded work placements issue. The work placements scheme my daughter went on was to gain work experience in a particular field....and was not linked to study. Non-university young people could therefore benefit.
Also, reading through the thread, not many contributors are picking up on the Scotland aspect. Many Scots want to remain in the EU and would surely ask for another referendum to leave the UK should Brexit happen. Not only do we risk isolation, but also 'shrinking'....We won't have any significant input in world politics...What a prospect.

alima not sure what you are basing your premise on.
Corbyn is a known Euro sceptic and it was the Labour Party whose decision kept us out of the euro.

Remember the debacle of Black Wednesday with a harrased Lamont? That was the Tories.

su3ieQ, My daughter studied abroad for six months on the Erasmus scheme and received her normal loan/grant from the UK in addition to an Erasmus bursary from the EU. Some businesses DO arrange for trainees to work abroad. That's not EU funded, but it's an awful lot easier to arrange, because we're in the EU. A friend of mine is the CEO of a medium-sized business here in the UK. The company has partners in the US and Germany and sends people to Germany automatically. Apparently it's more difficult to arrange US placements. I really don't think anybody knows how much more difficult trade, exchanges, etc. would be without the EU. I was 20 when we voted to stay in the Common Market, so only had a little experience of what it was like before then. I first went to work in Germany when I was 18 and it was much more difficult and bureaucratic than it was when I went later, including having to take out separate health insurance and completing goodness knows how many forms just for temporary work and residence visas.