21 June 2016

Vote Remain

This long, unpleasant campaign finally comes to an end on Thursday and by breakfast on Friday, we will know whether Great Britain has chosen to remain in the European Union.

I would like us to stay in and will vote as such when I cast my ballot on Thursday.

Is the EU perfect? Most certainly not; it has made many mistakes. That whole "moving to Strasbourg thing" for examples.

But those mistakes are far outweighed by its practical benefits. The right to live and work freely in any member state actually benefits more British people in the rest of the EU than other EU nationals here. It makes many collaborative projects, especially media ones, much easier to do. Game of Thrones would be a lot harder to make if you had to apply for work permits for all of the cast and crew, who hail from many nations.

Also, the existence of the EU has been a force for democracy in other parts of Europe - nations have had to crack down on corruption and improve human rights to get in.

Vote Leave haven't been clear about their alternative and there is no guarantee that the organisation they dislike so much will agree to their proposals. 'Control our borders' would basically mean making it harder for our business to get skilled labour from anywhere bar the UK as all foreigners would need work permits, not just non-EU ones. It would also make it harder for those here who wish to work and study abroad.

They say that the rest of the EU ignores us; maybe it's because we haven't tried hard enough to work with others to improve things.

I am a Briton, but I am also a European; I believe in working together to solve our common problems, not pulling up the drawbridge.

Vote Remain.

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