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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder if people would admit to voting "leave" in the EU Referendum?

330 replies

evilcherub · 20/02/2016 15:38

Apparently there is a lot of inconsistency in answers when pollsters phone people and ask for their decision on Brexit compared to answers given online (respondents are more likely to say they will vote to "remain" on the phone but in online polls say they will vote to "leave"). I wonder if people admitting that they are going to vote "leave" is seen as taboo in the same way that nobody apparently voted for the Tories in the GE Grin. If you are intending to vote "leave" would you admit it to friends and family (especially if you think they are more likely to vote "remain") or are you afraid of being called a Little Englander?

OP posts:
EatenEasterChocsAlready · 22/02/2016 11:23

stripeypaws Sun 21-Feb-16 22:59:32

excellent post.

EatenEasterChocsAlready · 22/02/2016 11:27

we can kick the Tories out (if the voting public so decides), and at some point we will, but we can't kick out the EU bureaucrats, and we didn't even vote them in

And we have a good idea of who our politicians are, PP already picking apart Boris love child?

Does anyone had a clue as to the back ground and politics of the EU lot? How do we know they are not secret mad fascists or mad socialists?

People saying " better the devil you know" well we do know our own politicians, we do not know Brussles lot. So for me, better devil you know is our own MP's

VertigoNun · 22/02/2016 11:38

Weird to cling to the EU for workers rights and not the unions.Confused

stripeypaws · 22/02/2016 11:53

I suppose it's like a bad relationship. They're not the person they were when you met, things have got difficult, and you're trying to get them to change their behaviour but they won't. At some point you just need to bite the bullet and break up. There will be some pain and difficulty, but in the long run you'll be happier.

wasonthelist · 22/02/2016 12:05

I am surprised that Cameron didn't even get small compromises that he asked for. Surely the EU is better off with the UK in it than not? They should be bending over backwards to accommodate our requests. I would've thought they'd be bricking it at the thought of us leaving?
It's all about narrow national interests though - no-one wants to give us anything because they'll look bad at home.

Can you imagine the Polish/Bugarian PM and leaders reception back home if they had agreed that Child Benefit could be denied to their migrant workers? Or if they had agreed to limit numbers coming to the UK (which was actually what Cameron started off talking about before it became about benefits)?

That's just one example - when you are in a club of 28 nations, special pleading is never going to get you very far. The French (real French people I know) think that the camps at Calais etc are our fault because we never joined Schengen - they don't see it as an issue to be solved collectively.

The veneer of an organisation run for the benefit of all members is very thin once national interests (of all the countries) surface.

EatenEasterChocsAlready · 22/02/2016 12:06

Agree was its all happening now in front of our eyes, what more evidence to we need to see its failing?

stripeypaws · 22/02/2016 12:12

I must admit I don't quite get why the Eastern European countries want so many of their citizens to move west. Obviously people send home money and stuff, and I suppose it exports unemployment, but if so many of your citizens are moving abroad then will this not drag your country down further? How can a country develop a dynamic and forward moving economy/society when so many of their young, educated and intelligent people are leaving?

OttiliaVonBCup · 22/02/2016 12:19

Stipey, it's win/win for Eastern Europe.

Unemployment there is very high, so people leaving relieves the pressure and the money flowing back helps the economy.

As for the short term drawbacks, when's the last time you've known a politician to think long term?

Mouseinahole · 22/02/2016 12:25

My dh and I both have post graduate qualifications and careers in education/higher education. We will both be voting to leave without hesitation. We value our British identity and sovereignty. We want our farmers and fishermen not to be controlled by whole Europe legislation. We want to maintain an independent currency.
It is ironic that two World Wars were fought partly to keep Britain free from the dictats of foreign nations. Now many people want to give all that up.

HelpfulChap · 22/02/2016 12:27

Mouse - great post

MaidOfStars · 22/02/2016 12:38

I'm an "IN" vote, on an economic platform.

I do not believe we have a hope of negotiating favourable trade deals without accepting the general principles of free movement etc, so what's the point? I do not think we can compete alone on a world stage - our power is access to the EU market, IMO.

And TTIP is fucking horrible.

ComeonSummer1 · 22/02/2016 12:38

Probably a leaver too and why on earth would anyone lie?

If you have an opinion share it.

ComeonSummer1 · 22/02/2016 12:43

How sad that some l
People actually equate staying as being politically more savvy and educationally superior.

Well not sad just daft really.

HelpfulChap · 22/02/2016 12:48

It also appears that many equate an IN vote as being anti-Tory.

splendide · 22/02/2016 12:49

Voting to stay is strongly correlated with being more educated. I don't think that makes that person superior or right.

Brightnorthernlights · 22/02/2016 12:49

I think the sight of David Cameron sweating away as he travelled around Europe asking countries for 'concessions' or 'extras' was enough to confirm my feelings of leave.

splendide · 22/02/2016 12:50

For what it's worth I'm undecided. Mostly because I was very pro joining the single currency and I now know I was really wrong on that so I want to really think hard about this one!

Alibabsandthe40Musketeers · 22/02/2016 13:03

DH and I will probably be voting to leave, our instinct lies that way.

We want the British Parliament to have sovereignty over this country, not a bunch of unelected Eurocrats.
The real power in Brussels does not lie with the (vastly expensive) parliament, but in the Commission, the quangos, the committees - many of whom are unelected. The reach of the EU as a body has extended hugely beyond anything that we have voted for or given permission to happen. Despite Cameron's efforts (and btw I think he should be applauded for some of what he has achieved), this extension of reach will continue, and our Parliament are powerless to stop it, unless we leave.

Our farmers and fisheries are likely to benefit if we leave, because we will be able to reassert our rights over our own waters.

stripeypaws · 22/02/2016 13:07

This is an interesting thread, and I'm actually quite surprised at how many people on here are saying they want to leave. Good to see a debate which doesn't resort to name-calling, regardless of the variety in opinion. I sometimes read the Guardian comments section and whilst there's a fair amount of Euroscepticism on there, it also doesn't take long before people are calling others xenophobic racists, etc.

ajandjjmum · 22/02/2016 13:22

Interesting to read that some are saying Brexit would have a negative impact on the 'special relationship' between the UK and USA. I'm old enough to remember people saying that the UK joining the Common Market would have a negative impact on that same relationship!

Scottish Referendum - the 'outs' were very vocal. General election - left wing very vocal. I don't get that with the EU referendum - hopefully people can discuss and debate in a more civil fashion. I'm thinking probably 'leave' but happy to listen to arguments.

Useful thread OP - thanks.

ajandjjmum · 22/02/2016 13:25

Alibab - DH and I were discussing this yesterday. Initially there were a handful of members who were of a similar culture/economic background - now there are 28 members, different countries are (understandably) looking for different things.

wasonthelist · 22/02/2016 13:31

Almost no-one in the USA has even heard of the "special relationship" - try asking a few Americans - even among my well-travelled, well educated US friends and colleagues you just get a "special what?". It's something we like tell ourselves over here, but it's pretty insignificant in real terms - and all bets will be off anyway if Trump gets elected.

wasonthelist · 22/02/2016 13:32

Stipey, it's win/win for Eastern Europe.

Unemployment there is very high, so people leaving relieves the pressure and the money flowing back helps the economy.

As for the short term drawbacks, when's the last time you've known a politician to think long term?

100% agree

wasonthelist · 22/02/2016 13:35

I'm an "IN" vote, on an economic platform.

I do not believe we have a hope of negotiating favourable trade deals without accepting the general principles of free movement etc, so what's the point? I do not think we can compete alone on a world stage - our power is access to the EU market, IMO.

And TTIP is fucking horrible.

The EU is pro TTIP. Our power is in what we buy from the EU, not what we sell there, IMHO - we sell much much less than we buy.

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