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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Caporegime
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And just to show how big and clever he is, Cameron mocks Farage in the Commons for the way he pronounces his name:

Speaking in the House of Commons, Cameron praised Labour MP Ben Bradshaw for referring to the Ukip leader’s name to rhyme with “Farridge”, rather than “Farrahge”.

“I’m glad he takes the English pronunciation of Farage rather than the rather poncey foreign-sounding one that he seems to prefer,” the prime minister said.​

Way to claim the high ground for the Remain camp, Dave :rolleyes:
 
Soldato
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The main reason I have for wanting to stay in the EU is the enormous increase in freedom it affords us (i.e. freedom to live and work anywhere in Europe). Being in the EU increases, rather than decreases, the individual freedoms we - the British people - enjoy.

Jumping on a flight so i'll have to respond to this later but I couldn't disagree with you anymore on that point, the EU wants to take sovereignty/power/accountability/recourse away from us and centralise it all in Brussels.
 
Caporegime
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Interesting commentary from UK Polling Report on the latest poll. The headline figure is a 1% Leave lead but beneath the headline figures there is an interesting figure: more people believe that Brexit will be bad for jobs, bad for the economy and bad for their personal finances. I wonder whether we'll see a Scottish style situation where the Leave side appear close in the polls but on the day people vote for jobs, the economy and their wallets and back Remain?
 
Soldato
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The 'power' and 'sovereignty' argument is so exaggerated and over inflated.

I wonder whether we'll see a Scottish style situation where the Leave side appear close in the polls but on the day people vote for jobs, the economy and their wallets and back Remain?

I would hope so, pride in the idea that a British bloke you don't trust is making decisions over a foreign bloke means little to me if the company i work for takes a hit, the industry i use to work in takes a hit and we cause a EU breakup which leads to another crash.
 
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Associate
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The 'power' and 'sovereignty' argument is so exaggerated and over inflated.



I would hope so, pride in the idea that a British bloke you don't trust is making decisions over a foreign bloke means little to me if the company i work for takes a hit, the industry i use to work in takes a hit and we cause a EU breakup which leads to another crash.
How so? Do you not understand the importance of flexibility within a government or should all countries be ran with top down rules that are based on a free for all vote? How about you let 27 other people vote on the rules for spending your personal finances? It's not always a good system, of course they negotiate to make the most of it and also it's designed to promote trade but it's never a great system compared to local management.

Better yet we can decide the rules of how you travel and spend money too.
 
Soldato
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Yes. If we had a PM with balls that understood what 'Defence Spending' actually means then we could do a lot more.

I'm quite happy to spend more on defence at home and at EU level, but that's not the issue here. How far do you think gunboat diplomacy actually goes today?

Even with the military budget of the US, you cannot have total freedom or, under international law, a guarantee of doing 'what we wanted' on anywhere near regular basis. The tearful 100% mythical sovereignty argument, like the 100% total freedom argument, backed up by force, is a bogus argument. Nobody's ever had it!

Initiating certain tactical geopolitical plays ala Putin isn't the same as getting what you want in the end either. I know it looks impressive in the news to some, but it really isn't and wastes tons of political capital, not to mention lives and resources, for a bit of grandstanding.
 
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I'm quite happy to spend more on defence at home and at EU level, but that's not the issue here. How far do you think gunboat diplomacy actually goes today?

Even with the military budget of the US, you cannot have total freedom or, under international law, a guarantee of doing 'what we wanted' on anywhere near regular basis. The tearful 100% mythical sovereignty argument, like the 100% total freedom argument, backed up by force, is a bogus argument. Nobody's ever had it!

Initiating certain tactical geopolitical plays ala Putin isn't the same as getting what you want in the end either. I know it looks impressive in the news to some, but it really isn't and wastes tons of political capital, not to mention lives and resources, for a bit of grandstanding.

I am not suggesting gun boat diplomacy, but that we have allowed our Armed Forces to deteriorate to a point that is concerning; that should be addressed. We are still the most militarily capable nation in the EU and we don't have to do anything if we, as a nation, decide it isn't for us. What are they going to do? Nothing, that's what.

The EU needs us far more than we need them and I simply don't accept that we are better within; particularly if it means losing our identity.
 
Caporegime
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I am not suggesting gun boat diplomacy, but that we have allowed our Armed Forces to deteriorate to a point that is concerning; that should be addressed. We are still the most militarily capable nation in the EU and we don't have to do anything if we, as a nation, decide it isn't for us. What are they going to do? Nothing, that's what.

Why on earth do you think that military power is the be-all and end-all of power? How do you imagine we would influence trade decisions in the EU with an aircraft carrier? How do you imagine that we could influence regulatory changes in China with an extra wing of Tornado bombers? How do you imagine that we will persuade Argentina to lift a block on air flights to the Falklands with an extra platoon of infantry? How do you imagine we're going to negotiate with Russia or the US with any of this?

The idea that a bigger military will suddenly make us able to get what we want in the world is utterly infantile.

The EU needs us far more than we need them and I simply don't accept that we are better within; particularly if it means losing our identity.

Since the EU consists of a much larger proportion of the UK's exports than the UK consists of the EU's exports this seems a pretty tenuous suggestion.
 
Soldato
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How so? Do you not understand the importance of flexibility within a government or should all countries be ran with top down rules that are based on a free for all vote? How about you let 27 other people vote on the rules for spending your personal finances? It's not always a good system, of course they negotiate to make the most of it and also it's designed to promote trade but it's never a great system compared to local management.

Better yet we can decide the rules of how you travel and spend money too.

Rules of travel and trade will still be put down to negotiations and a vote with the EU anyway. If you think we will come out without free movement then you are just fooling yourself.

As for local management being better, that depends entirely on the management and spending trends on our government in the last decade does not instil me with confidence that they will pick up the bill when it comes to many of the areas and would rather just shift the money onto something we dont need or care about or would just use it as a once a year headline how government spending is x amount less in xxx area when in reality its just been spent in another area.

The EU needs us far more than we need them and I simply don't accept that we are better within; particularly if it means losing our identity.

Not at all. We break from the group and we lose the support of the group, while they lose the support of one of the wealthier countries but still just one country. The individual countries will not feel the same hit we do and at thye end of the day that is what the EU is made of. Too much emphasis is placed on the EU as a single body and people conveniently forget its made up of individual countries.
 
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Caporegime
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recent polls put 53% of French citizens wanting a referendum.

But even that source says "[a] third (33 per cent) of French people surveyed would back a so-called Frexit, while 45 per cent would vote to remain and 22 per cent are undecided, according to the University of Edinburgh poll" which suggests that Frexit is unlikely even if there were a referendum.

you've got to remember that if the uk leaves it will be mainly France and Germany having to pick up the extra cost which wont go down well with thier voters

These are not big costs.
 
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