EU referendum - Reality Check (BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35603388

I am unsure which way to vote at the moment and will be reading many things before the vote takes place.

I am leaning towards "Brexit" at the moment....

Guess who once denounced the EU as follows: "A European bureaucracy totally unaccountable to anybody. Powers have gone from national parliaments. They haven’t gone to the European Parliament, they’ve gone to the Commission and to some extent the Council of Ministers. These are quite serious matters."

Hint: It was not Nigel Farage and not a Tory.

I got it right.

Nigel Benn?

One of the issues that really made my blood boil about EU directives was when "mountains" of fish were dumped back into the sea.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/7102241.stm

Uncontrolled immigration is too much to take also IMO.

Was it Keith's mate?

Immigration is the key thing for me, I'm all for NHS workers and professional coming to the UK as they have always done but I cannot help feeling that if we could limit the amount of eastern Europeans coming to the UK that it would ultimately be beneficial to low skilled UK workers, especially the youngsters who need a foot up.

Charity begins at home as the saying goes, never a truer saying in my opinion. The EU has just grown so big with an imbalance of economic countries that it can no longer manage itself to the point where everyone of the member countries are in agreement, I always keep hearing the word "compromise" when decisions are made in the EU, if we stand alone we do not need to compromise to appease all the other EU countries.

I've never felt in the slightest European, I'm British.

I do not believe the out camp can offer any guarantees about future trade, but it does make sense that business will do everything within its power to continue trading with the rest of Europe, it is beneficial to both parties to put something solid in place as soon as possible. We must remember that it will take us around two years to leave the EU in the event of a EU exit, which should be time to lay the cornerstones of a trade deal.

Like yourself I believe the UK people will vote to remain in the EU, what I'm hoping is that older voters (who are more prone to vote out) will turn out in greater numbers than the young (who tend not to vote) who will lean towards staying in the EU.

Time will tell.

I don't agree with what you say, if we stay with the EU we know that we will have decreasing control over "what's gonna happen", we know from experience that any assurances otherwise will be lies.

By voting out the UK will be able to regain control of its own destiny free from the millstone of the EU.

One thing that amazes me - if as you say, "The UK is no longer a world power", then why is GBP listed as one of the dozen currencies chalked up on the exchange rate board of back street money-changers all over the world?

(By "back street" I mean small exchange shops, not illegal ones)

I have always thought this is because British folk travel a lot.

Indeed it was Comrade Corbyn, Tim. The quote is about 20 or so years old but those are the views he held until very recently. He's just another weather-vane swinging in the political wind. Corbyn is really a true Bennite Eurosceptic and I suspect he's itching to place his cross in the Leave box!

Have you noticed that the Remain camp no longer mention Dodgy Dave's renegotiations and how Europe is to be reformed by their measures? Well as key figures in the European Parliament keep pointing out, Britain does not have and will not have any special status and the so-called concessions that Cameron claims he's won will very likely be thrown-out by the Parliament.

The Electoral Commission has reportedly set spending limits of £7 million for each of the Leave and Remain campaigns. So how come the Government can spend £9+ million on sending a propaganda booklet to every household telling people to vote "Remain"? Much criticism by the BBC Question Time audience last week many of whose members believe that the government publication should be balanced. Also is it morally acceptable to expect all tax-payers to fund what is, arguably, a minority campaign - a new poll places Leave ahead of Remain?

To those who believe Britain is too small to go it alone, take a look at Guernsey which thrives outside the EU. As do Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

We import from Europe far more than we export - our Balance of Payments with Europe is billions in the red - they need us more than we need them. Britain is a full member of GATT and is well-able to negotiate trade deals with other nations.

As for 'common European security', given the massive security lapses in France and Belgium which allowed for Daesh-supported attacks on a magazine, a supermarket, a football stadium, a music venue and an international airport, I really don't think Europe can give us any lessons about security. One could argue that Europe's all-encompassing human rights legislation actively hampers security forces' efforts to keep us all safe.

Obama should keep his nose out of the referendum and so should other EU leaders, I find it quite annoying that world leaders are giving their two penneth.

Some very good points in your post Dom

@Aromulus the link is broken to the TTIP article

I found the article quite worrying on a quick peruse, my gut feeling tells me that the Tories would just love the NHS to be privatised, it has always been a millstone around their necks.