I believe the cost of Brexit is too great

Both sides of the debate have been accused of misleading, obfuscating, and downright lying about the ‘facts’. But that was inevitable. The effects of leaving the EU are unknown, so most ‘facts’ can only be speculation. We must base our judgements on what we think is likely.

The EU is far from perfect, and needs reform. But membership has positive benefits for Hastings. Over the past eight years, Hastings Council has attracted over £6m in EU grants for local projects. Other local organisations have successfully bid for EU funds too. Hastings Council has a further £8m in EU funding in the pipeline - we’d lose that if we left. And I don’t believe that money would be replaced by the government. Added to that, tourism (our biggest local industry) and the language schools in Hastings benefit enormously from the free movement of EU citizens, as do Hastings residents in their ability to travel, work and study in the EU - France is less than two hours from Hastings.

Protecting the Hastings fishery is often cited as a reason for leaving the EU. But the problems of our fishermen have much more to do with the way quota is allocated by the UK government, with less than five percent allocated to under ten metre boats, which make up over 80 percent of the total fleet. If we left the EU, quotas would still be necessary - the UK fishery was at its largest in the 1930s, since then it’s consistently declined, because of shrinking fish stocks.

Regulation and ‘red tape’ is also upheld as a reason for coming out of Europe, because EU ‘health and safety’ regulations hamper businesses. But there are good reasons for health and safety regulations - they make us healthier and safer. Directives on working hours, holiday entitlement, water quality, pesticides, car safety standards and even mobile phone charges have all improved our lives. There are many more. But when challenged, Brexit campaigners fail to come up with a single regulation they would abolish. And yes, there were EU regulations on the size and shape of fruit, but they were abolished years ago!

The economic effects of Brexit are harder to call, although this is perhaps the most significant consequence. The assertion of Brexit campaigners that we could demand free trade with the EU and it wouldn’t cost us a penny is however fantasy - leaders of other EU states have consistently said that won’t happen. But not only would we have to negotiate an expensive trade agreement with the EU, we’d also have to establish trade agreements with another 51 countries with whom we currently have agreements via the EU. That would take many, many years - economic chaos seems inevitable.

And so the big day approaches. It is, of course, up to every UK voter to make up their own minds, based on the information available, such as it is. But for me, the benefits of EU membership, despite the needs for reform, are too great, and the consequences of leaving too uncertain. I shall be voting Remain.