How will you vote in the EU referendum-Leave or Stay?

[BritBrit]

How will you be voting? Can admin add a poll?

Immigration.
I'm not sure what's not understood about sovereignty - controlling one's borders is ultimately one aspect of losing sovereignty.

Not knowing how many people will decide to settle in our country next year and being able to plan school places; maternity services etc are a result of lost sovereignty. The immigration is the side show of loss of sovereignty.

Cart before horse- horse before cart. Take your pick - but to keep saying, as if you can see the "bigger picture" - it's all about immigration - is becoming dull. immigration issue has resulted from gradual erosion of our country deciding major decisions that affect us in our every day lives.

Controlled immigration - or anyone in EU that wishes to come? Which sounds more sensible for planning proposes - housing, NHS, schools etc.

Or is the point you are trying to make is that it's xenophobic to plan and control immigration? Not sure anyone's buying that hackneyed old insult any more, are they?

Yes Snow, because in my boyfriend's country you need a masters degree to practise as a lawyer. In the UK you don't need one.

I take it you already speak the language fluently?

Oh and the reaminers are correct when we say that we would get a worse deal, worse deal with the EU, WTO deals with the US ( menaing regulations on products will come down) etc etc.

Immigration

Whilst it is necessary to have some forms of immigration you have to believe that over the last 15 years all immigration has done is make the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

If you're down with that then that's cool. if you believe in stagnating wages for the lower classes but making sure the "room for a pony people" can take advantage of cheap, skilled labour, then it's cool.

Just asked 3 of my colleagues and 100% is Leave.

about the demographics of the "Remain" and "Leave" vote, there is actually some real information from YouGov.

Basically: young, educated and middle class = Remain, and older, less educated and working class = Leave.

Basically: young, educated and middle class = Remain, and older, less educated and working class = Leave.

You've extrapolated that to fit your agenda. Well done.

Snow: yes.

(Re the language question.)

MrSnow I am actually making your point by saying the data support your argument that the middle class is for Remain, so I'm not sure why you're accusing me of bias?

The image turned out small, sorry, but the link is here if you want to look at the data and give your take on it.

yougov.co.uk/news/2016/03/24/eu-referendum-provincial-england-versus-london-and/

I will vote to leave.

The EU was founded on good intentions but I don't think it works. It's too big and it's not democratic so the leaders do not listen to the people.

The economies of Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are really suffering. Even France has terrible unemployment. Unemployment causes all sorts of horrors. Free movement of labour does not help because all the bright young things come and work in the North.

We should leave and then other countries will follow.

Europe is a fabulous continent. Maybe we can all get back together in an old-fashioned Common Market one day.

I'm going to make the point leave that Schools and hospitals are not adveresely effected by EU immigration.

Oxford University found that actually an increase in EU immigrants lowered waiting times at local hospitals and for GP appointments. Usually because they are young and don't go to the Doctor that often.

The schools issue has been known about for years, and the government have failed to build enough new schools in places where they are needed, whilst at the same time funding free schools in areas where there are surplus places.

Then when you add the fact that 85% of school children get their first choice school, you come to realise that too much is being made of this issue in the press.

With maternity services, 25% of all children born in the UK have are born to non UK national mothers, about half of these are born to UK fathers. The difference between the number of children born to UK mothers and Non UK is 0.4 (1.8 and 2.2 respectively). The rate of increase in births has also been noted for years.

The problems the NHS faces is the ageing population and a fall in the amount of social care available, lower levels of funding in areas that are key and then knock on to others.

Immigration is not the issue.

Yes the working classes are screwed and lots will vote to leave - however they have a Labour Party pretending otherwise.

Labour pretending zero hours contracts are not a result of a never ending supply of cheap labour; no need to value or train existing workforce as there's always going to be someone willing to work longer for lower pay and live in house of multiple occupation.

It's nice that you've got a great job and you think it's better for you to stay. However , looking at the future of the less well off in the workforce, I'm voting for leave.

Massive youth unemployment elsewhere in EU - the whole shebang needs reforming and us Leaving will be the kick needed to establish something better for people living in the Eurozone.

I don't understand why anyone is ok to blame Greece. It was never going to work.

Like federal Europe project - it won't work ultimately, and would,be better if they face it sooner rather than later.

Well said Milly. It is so tragic. It cannot be fixed by sticking on its current course. I do feel sadness for the youth on the continent. In our country we tend to encounter that well educated coming in for higher wages for jobs beneath their actual ability.

This gives us a slightly more rosy view of life for your average young EU zone citizen - they are not representative of the majority stuck in countries suffering under EU debt.

Italy will hit headlines shortly after referendum in same way Greece has been doing. Greece news being held under wraps but they are being sold up the river shortly after our Referendum.

It is truly appalling.

I think the working classes are pretty screwed either way, as they are all over the western world right now. But I also think that they'd be even more screwed if the economy stalled. Which is what I think would happen post Brexit.

The working classes would be more screwed without the EU.

EU immigrants do not come in and "take" jobs from UK nationals, I've posted links to data that proves this above. Also this makes the lump of labour fallacy that there are only a certain amount of jobs to go around.

Can someone please explain how Brexit will create more jobs for working class British people?

More people puts a bigger load on all the public services. You can't get a quart into a pint pot.

I am not bothered by immigration. I lived in Lincolnshire for years which is a key area for EU migration. The (predominantly) Eastern Europeans who moved there really contributed to the local economy in a variety of guises. DD and I loved the local Eastern European deli too (they gave her lots of freebies ).
I applaud the relaxing of border controls (terrorism notwithstanding) and, 13 years ago, lamented the fact that we were not in the Euro as I only saw benefits. I am also concerned as I am scheduled to leave my job next year (public sector) and I (parochially) fear for the future if we leave.

I am bothered by the control the EU has over who we trade with and I have long thought that we should strengthen our trade and commerce ties with our commonwealth friends which being part of the EU becomes restrictive. I am also bothered by being part of an organisation which has precipitated and then failed to adequately support failing economies such as Spain and Greece. Moreover, Germany is heading towards failure within Europe by being too strong economically which is causing a currency and power balance issue yet also having a population which is getting too old. I am bothered by the fact that there are unelected eurocrats with such control and I know that MEPs help, but there is little we can do over who is 'elected' EU president as evinced by David Cameron's recent feeble protestations.

So, I am quite unsure at the moment which way to go. I am getting very frustrated by the Remain campaign's schedule of fear, hell and damnation with very little evidence and I am frustrated that the Brexit campaign gets blighted by racism such as ridiculous comments by Boris Johnson about Obama being half Kenyan. My very first thoughts though were for Brexit as I feel very strongly about building better Commonwealth bonds and a big part of me thinks 'ooh, lets try leaving to see what happens...'

I am torn.

Poor analogy because it assumes that the level stays the same, in fact because of immigration the amount of money available to public organisations has gone u ( you know cause they pay taxes, NI and consumption taxes). A UCL study found that removing EU immigrants would not be beneficial because the reduction in deamnd on services would be less positive than the cuts in funding would be detrimental.

Jocasta, I think the days of the Commonwealth are long gone sadly, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are all part of their own trading blocs and have their own deals. As are many in Africa, India might offer some opportunities.

We just don't have the same amount of trade going to these countries, the same amount of FDI or anything else as we do with the EU.

Its not doom and gloom, there will still be trade, but outside of the EU we are not as in a strong position.

The comments about Greece and Spain? Spain has largely recovered, although it still has large youth unemployment, and the Greeks? They've had huge hair cuts on the debts that they owe, but many of the protests going on right now are to do with cuts to public spending that they don't want to do. They have only recently made the retirement age the same as much of the rest of europe, they still are failing to collect taxes, the country is in a mess of its own making.

Lurked, your comments about the working classes, the unemployed, the youth etc leave me cold tbh.

You've repeatedly stated that the Eastern Europeans coming over are rightly being employed in low salary jobs over and above low skilled British people.
You've said 'should've tried harder' & similar.

Low skilled jobs and the low earning jobs have always been the domain of the lesser educated, predominantly working class people.
It is these jobs that are being taken over by the economic migrants - it is the working classes & unskilled youth that disproportionately feel the effects of this.

No matter how hard they try, there is a finite number of roles to be filled - they would have a far better chance of employment if the flood of unchecked economic migrants was stopped.

But of the economy shrinks then there will be fewer jobs to go round and we will all be poorer.

Oxford University found that actually an increase in EU immigrants lowered waiting times at local hospitals and for GP appointments. Usually because they are young and don't go to the Doctor that often

Sorry, maybe it's because I've had a massive lunch. And a twirl. That I don't understand why an increase of EU migrants, who don't got to hospitals, actually lower waiting times for those that are ill?

Mango, you've committed a lump of labour fallacy right there. There isn't a finite number of jobs, in fact basic economics tells us that the more people employed the more jobs there are created.

European economic migrants do not cause displacement or higher unemployment amongst British people. The effects on wages mean a 0.5% lower wage paid to people in the lowest 5% of employment, it isn't the massive thing you make out.

I'm being a bit facetious when I say that people should have tried harder, but in some ways its true. If an immigrant whose second language is English, who has qualifications from a foriegn awarding body that aren't immediately recognisable to an employer, is beating you to a job it does tell you something.

"It is these jobs that are being taken over by the economic migrants" some of them yes, many economic migrants are highly trained and skilled people, a higher % of the Poles here have degrees than the British population, 65% of the EU 14 immigrants have degrees.