Poll: The EU Referendum: How Will You Vote? (April Poll)

Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

  • Remain a member of the European Union

    Votes: 452 45.0%

  • Leave the European Union

    Votes: 553 55.0%
  • Total voters
    1,005
  • Poll closed .
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I would like to add that if the Leave campaign had spent £9m on propaganda i'd be hating on them as well.

Especially when we can't find money for the NHS, Police, etc.
 
Tunney said:
I don't believe in forcing people to vote but it's pretty clear that the Dutch public don't care that much about the Ukraine deal either way.
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Listening on Radio 4 this morning they had interviewee's from both sides of the EU argument. One thing that came out was that there were considerably fewer polling stations than for a regular election making it extremely difficult for some quarters of the public to vote.
 
http://www.theguardian.com/politics...d-progress-risk-alan-johnson-theresa-villiers

Conservative cabinet ministers campaigning for Britain to leave the EU are putting Northern Ireland’s political progress at risk, Labour’s Alan Johnson will warn.

Johnson, a former home secretary, will single out Theresa Villiers, the Northern Ireland secretary, who is pushing for Brexit, saying she ought to understand that the EU has been a steadfast source of political and financial support for the peace process.

During a trip to Northern Ireland on Thursday to campaign for the UK to remain in the EU, Johnson will say: “Northern Ireland’s ability to access the single market, coupled with the success of the Good Friday agreement, has brought about economic development for Northern Ireland as well as enhanced economic cooperation between north and south in Ireland.

“A withdrawal from the European Union could risk reversing that trend and undermining the economic and political progress made. By siding with the leave faction within the Conservative party, the Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers is putting that progress at risk.”
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Just wow. :D
 
Freakbro said:
And to be fair, 9 million quid is chump change nowadays, the govt budget would lose that amount just due to rounding, so to produce quite a glossy pamphlet and deliver it to 27 million households at 33p each, that's a bargain!
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I'm really impressed at how cheap they managed it. Seems very low.
 
On Radio 4 this morning they were going on about how in Norway you can view the tax records for everyone in the country. They recorded some wage slave's reaction when he looked up how much his boss earned last year, though to be fair his boss did pay something like 50% income tax.

Then again, they also pointed out that Norway used to have a ban on curtains, so your neighbours could tell if anything sinful was going on in your sauna.
 
Sigh, it's very old news.

Is the government entitled to have a say on the matter? Yes. As was done before, and not just in EU-related matters; from wars to public sector bruhaha -- the government always has a formally agreed position communicated to the public.
Is their stance to leave the EU? No.
They should be neutral! No. They are not the Queen, the Royal Family, the Beeb or the Civil Service.
But should they use the Civil Services' research? It's available to both sides of the argument and the public. Want to use the Civil Service yourself? Get elected!
Should they be allowed to spend the money? Do not confuse the government and the yet-to-be-officially-designated In campaign.
The PM is a scoundrel! He's going, just like Merkel and other caricature pantomime villains of the Brexit myth. His picture isn't on the materials. Chill.

Here's the document: https://www.eureferendum.gov.uk/why-the-government-believes-we-should-remain/eu-referendum-leaflet/.

Pretty mild stuff.

The Wilson version was far more ideologically charged. But then again, even if it said: 'After much deliberation, we recommend to leave the EU.' The Leave camp would still cry 'unfair representation'.:D Only if they could agree on their platform, it might make some semblance of sense; but alas, tis too much work, too much detail!

Lastly, the ministers in the Leave group knew Cameron's stance, campaigning tactics and attitude towards winning, indeed they benefited form it, and now cue surprised indignation -- weak. The quitters knew whom they picked a fight with, they are now getting it.
 
I was under the impression (as in "it's what I heard on Radio 4 this morning") that this Government had given a verbal commitment some time ago that it wouldn't send a leaflet at taxpayer cost recommending the Remain position.

So whilst the Government has a position and it is within its power to send a leaflet and it has been done in the past, I am lead to believe they are once again contradicting themselves.

I'm a natural Conservative voter but in 2010 only voted that way because I lived in a key marginal and couldn't risk a Brown victory. I haven't been able to bring myself to vote for Cast Iron Dave since.
 
http://order-order.com/2016/04/07/e...-taxpayer-cash-gives-remain-unfair-advantage/

Here is the Electoral Commission’s view on Dave’s £9 million of extra taxpayer cash for pro-EU leaflets:

“We don’t think the government should have done it… [it gives Remain an] unfair advantage… undermines the principle [of spending limits]”
A major intervention – this is very strong language from the usually diplomatic Electoral Commission.

Meanwhile multiple sources report that a whole team of Whitehall civil servants have in the last week or so been seconded from their departmental jobs to help the Remain campaign. Taxpayer-funded officials from the Cabinet Office, Treasury and Foreign Office are said to have been moved to campaign roles. The slanted rules say such activity from publicly-paid staff is banned if they want to help the Leave campaign…
 
b0redj0rd said:
http://order-order.com/2016/04/07/e...-taxpayer-cash-gives-remain-unfair-advantage/

Here is the Electoral Commission’s view on Dave’s £9 million of extra taxpayer cash for pro-EU leaflets:

“We don’t think the government should have done it… [it gives Remain an] unfair advantage… undermines the principle [of spending limits]”
A major intervention – this is very strong language from the usually diplomatic Electoral Commission.

Meanwhile multiple sources report that a whole team of Whitehall civil servants have in the last week or so been seconded from their departmental jobs to help the Remain campaign. Taxpayer-funded officials from the Cabinet Office, Treasury and Foreign Office are said to have been moved to campaign roles. The slanted rules say such activity from publicly-paid staff is banned if they want to help the Leave campaign…
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EC should now say remain have spent their budget and may no longer spend anymore.
 
PlacidCasual said:
I was under the impression (as in "it's what I heard on Radio 4 this morning") that this Government had given a verbal commitment some time ago that it wouldn't send a leaflet at taxpayer cost recommending the Remain position.
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Heard this as well on R4. Trying to find it on record somewhere. Tactical but no unexpected. My understanding is that the main contention is the title, atm, since it explicitly states 'remain'.

Arguably the budget had a rougher u-turn ride, and that was written down! But as you say, people did vote for the C/O duo in sufficient numbers, for whatever locally-prevailing reasons, for them to both grant this referendum and hold it on their terms, negotiations and the rest included. Yes, when these tactical blows come, either side will cry 'unfair' but this doesn't make their approach to the campaign any better, in all honesty. Given reversed tables, they would hammer the message home just as hard, and do locally; and judging from Rob's post, they got their Leave leaflets out first before the official designations.

So like with general elections, the spending limit is there for the final stretch but it's largely becoming irrelevant. Again, this is the democratic approach the big Leavers fully enjoy and support when it plays in their court. Take their broader campaigning histories into account. But hey-ho, concentrating more power in their hands seems to be the popular mood in these threads. The difficulty of quickly replacing governments under FPTP and new electoral boundaries changes notwithstanding.
 
Doesn't take much to scare you lot, only a few pages back the arrogance and winning feeling was strong in Leave camp. :P
 
delta0 said:
EC should now say remain have spent their budget and may no longer spend anymore.
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Nope. That wouldn't be reasonable at all.

The fairest outcome, unfortunately, would be for the civil servants to go back to their jobs and a pro-leave leaflet to be distributed at taxpayer expense. Banning Remain from spending any more money would hinder their campaigning to a point that could influence the outcome. The matter of EU membership is too important for such petty solutions.
 
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