Question for Remainers

[7salmonswimming]

Can you please tell me why you want to Remain?

Discourse is charged right now, there’s a lot of fact and non-fact swirling around. So apart from the single market and trade benefits (which I think are massive but probably misunderstood by most, because there’s so much detail), why do you want to Remain? Thinking back to when you cast your vote: fear of change? Feel European? Ease of travel? Married to an EU citizen?

We hear a lot of questioning of Brexiters’ motives, not much about

Full disclosure: I don’t live in the UK. I think what’s happening in the EU augers well for what is happening elsewhere in the world.

[Bluntness100]

I voted remain because no one could articulate what leave looked like and the impact on the British economy. The signs were clear it would be damaging which is what's playing out it will be, and as such, I couldn't vote for something that would potentially damage us and no one knew how badly.

It was abundantly clear that we needed the eu, it's not the 1970 s any more, and that we needed them more than they needed us. In both what we import and our ability to export. Our economy relies on it. As such, if no one can articulate the impacts, in my view it simply wasn't an option to vote for a pig in a poke.

[1tisILeClerc]

Going it alone is such a poor idea considering deals will need to be done with many countries, several were former colonies who will still bear a grudge, even if not overtly. They will certainly not be rushing out with fantastic deals.
Part of the issue with NI was from events 800 years ago.

[Chewbecca]

Because I like what being part of the EU brings, specifically:

I like the ability to easily live, work, trade and study throughout the union freely.

I actually like most of the laws and regulations the EU brings, they are mostly good for us, protecting individuals.

I appreciated the advice that economists and business leaders gave that (on the whole) said remaining would be much better for business and the economy.

I just don't get why I would want out of that. I couldn't and still can't see logic in the arguments for leaving.

[Giantbanger]

Northern Ireland and the GFA and peace. In a nutshell.

[Bearbehind]

Because there was not and still isn’t a credible plan for leaving. Simple!

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

I feel.European as well as British and want to be part of Europe. I can see loads of benefits and very little downside.

However, one of the main factors for me was political strength. I really worry about Russian Imperialism and feel the EU is a counterbalance to that. My fear was - and still is - that once the UK has left, other nations such as France and Italy will also pull out and the EU will be much weaker, thus exposing Eastern European countries to threats from Russia. Even if I thought the UK might be economically better off outside the EU I would still vote to stay for that reason alone.

[Talkstotrees]

Many of my reasons are found here: //www.gov.uk/government/publications/why-the-government-believes-that-voting-to-remain-in-the-european-union-is-the-best-decision-for-the-uk/why-the-government-believes-that-voting-to-remain-in-the-european-union-is-the-best-decision-for-the-uk

I also agree with previous posters, patucularly MardyBra and Kewqueue.

Plus I felt no affinity with the various leave campaigns’ rhetoric.

[bellinisurge]

Status quo is better than uncertainty. Maintain the fragile peace offered by the hard fought for GFA - half Irish so this was at the forefront of my mind.
Retain DD's right to travel work and study easily within the EU if she so wishes.
Appalling lies by Brexiteers that I wanted no part of.

[AlphaJuno]

I voted remain because:

Didn't believe the lies on the bus and about immigration.
I found the rhetoric of the whole campaign by farage et al somewhat divisive.
I was worried about being left at the mercy of the Tories, stripping away workers and human rights.
Didn't want my children to miss out on opportunities to live and work abroad if they wished.
I didn't think the uk had much to offer in terms of trade and believe we'd be better off as part of a trading bloc and the eu are our closest neighbours so makes sense.
I have family in Europe who visit, and my auntie pleaded that we vote remain as could potentially make her life more difficult.
THERE WAS NO COHERENT PLAN! If someone could've explained the mechanics of how we were going to leave and what was going to actually happen I may have reconsidered, but no one could and I didn't want to risk it.

[Jason118]

I voted remain because I didn't want things to be more shit. Even after the proposed WA it's more likely that things would be more shit than remaining. Why would anyone vote to leave, it's delusional madness consisting of unicorns and sunlit uplands.

[MongerTruffle]

All of the above, but mainly that I don't want to go back to a time of never going abroad, using only two sheets of toilet paper and only having strawberries in June.

[pointythings]

I am an EU national and so didn't get to vote, but my mother is a WW2 survivor and has living memory of what that was like. I am also old enough to remember what an utter pain travel was before the UK was in the EU - how stupid would it be to go back to that?

We also live in a world where countries operate in blocks with regards to trade - and the UK is a little island with grand delusions of Empire. I live here, I don't want the UK to sink. I still love this country despite the loudness of its more xenophobic inhabitants.

[BollocksToBrexit]

I voted remain because the EU is about the countries of Europe working together for the common good instead of fighting each other. I don't take the most peaceful period in European history for granted and I want my son to live in peace like I have, instead of being sent off as cannon fodder.

[Crimebustersofthesea]

Well DH will lose his job when we leave, so that was a big part of it.

He works in clinical research and sees first hand the benefits of EU partnership. All the funding that we will lose for stuff like cancer research.

NI and the GFA. Incredible (and depressing) that it was barely mentioned in the debate.

I agree the EU is flawed but surely better to try and fix it from within and we had the best deal going.

The economy will be fucked for years to come.

Our children will lose out on so many opportunities.

Any issues with immigration could have been sorted by the UK government. They chose not to. I see no reason to think they will now.

I honestly cannot see one benefit to leaving so why would I vote for it?

[Annandale]

I voted remain because 1. nobody could think leaving was going to be anything other than expensive and complicated 2. I've spent much of my academic life studying wars between European nations and their various aftermaths. The EU makes yet another European war less likely and that's good enough for me.

[jasjas1973]

At the time i considered Leave and listened to their ideas and promises but none made any sense, they are all wishful thinking and leave is irreversible (at least for a generation) so mess it up, there is no plan B.
Sovereignty is a concern, however most people can't even spell it, let alone realise we cede it to international bodies like the UN and NATO.
You have to look at the benefits of being involved in Europe as opposed to being outside peering in.

The issues they blamed on the EU are all UK policy issues, we could have a health service like the french, a transport system like the Germans, an education system like the Swedish, we however choose tax cuts, usually for the well off

[Abra1de]

We also live in a world where countries operate in blocks with regards to trade - and the UK is a little island with grand delusions of Empire.

I know quite a few elderly Leave voters and none of them voted the way they did because of the Empire. It is now almost out of living memory.

It’s delusional to keep trotting this out.

Dunno why they did vote the way they did, though,

[KingPrawnBalls]

Because voting leave, afaic, is the equivalent of setting fire to your house just to see what will happen, then realising you've got no insurance.

[pointythings]

Abra it isn't elderly leave voters who have the delusions of Empire, it's the BoJo's and Rees-Moggs of this world who have Leave voters convinced the UK can go it alone Because Of Who We Are. Most of my elderly friends voted remain, even though they are nearly all Tory voters.

[Daddybegood]

1. For Jo Cox
   
2. Peace and prosperity
   
3. Opportunity to study, work, live, retire abroad
   
4. The GFA
   
5. Jobs, food, medicines, trade
   

6.The Nhs, education and public services

1. EU citizens living and contributing here have been treated like sh!t
   
2. No plan to leave, based on lies, manipulated by Cambridge analytica and Russian interference
   
3. Divorce payment of 39billion
   

10. Lose our veto, our MEP's and commissioners
11. Break up of UK
12. Loss of sovereignty and vassal state
13. The end of JIT manufacturing industries (e.g. cars) and farming
14. Sterling collapse and resultant inflation
15. Laughing stock of the world

But I still can't think if 1 single benefit from leaving (blue passports and union Jack boxers are lost on me), just 1 please

[BollocksToBrexit]

I know quite a few elderly Leave voters and none of them voted the way they did because of the Empire. It is now almost out of living memory.

It’s delusional to keep trotting this out.

Sorry but I think you're a bit uniformed on this. Britain had an empire up until 1981.

[Theworldisfullofgs]

No plan.
I feel European
My children's futures.
Passporting rights for financial services (and we are a service industry based country - Thatcher's plan) which brings huge tax revenues into the country.
NHS staffing.
I like immigration and culturally being part of the EU has done huge things for our country (food anyone?)
Oh and I looked at the people who were leading leave and I thought, why would I trust them.
Freedom of Movement, particularly for my kids. Now it's likely they'll leave and just not come back.
And it was fairly obvious that everything was promised was bullshit.
I didn't want to return to recession, a. My business just survived last time and b. Public sector funding. I'm a school governor and the thing that no one is talking about is what happens to the already dire public funding if the economy goes south.
And essentially it was the lies...the really obvious ones. A leave campaigner told me the EU was corrupt. He couldn't explain why - mentioned auditing of accounts. They're better at it than we are...

I could go on...

[Tanith]

I listened to the experts. They all said we needed to stay.

To be fair, I've always felt we should be closer to the EU, not further away. I was born in Europe, although I have lived in the UK for most of my life. I knew that the anti-EU stories published over the years by the UK press were a pack of lies.

As the Referendum got underway, I looked at who was running the Leave campaign. I didn't like a single one of them: John Redwood has always been an utter prat, best forgotten - I couldn't believe that anyone was listening to him. And Jacob Rees-Mogg! Who the hell was he? I remember that question being asked when Mumsnet kept getting those bizarre "Moggy for PM" posts all that time ago. Michael Gove. Boris Johnson. Nigel Farage. All men for whom I felt contempt and I knew damn well they only had their own selfish interests at heart.

They had no plan, only soundbites and that irritated me, too. The lies on the bus, the prevarications and misinformation all annoyed me.
However, what really worried and frightened me was the thought of being on our own against the power of the US and Russia. It still does. The US has shown repeatedly that it doesn't care about its own citizens, let alone those of other nations. Russia, at the time, was playing military chicken with us and other European countries.

I tried hard to think of one benefit of Leaving. I couldn't. So I voted Remain.

Everything since then has confirmed my decision:
The immediate cowardice and self-preservation of the Government in disappearing for the weekend following the Referendum while they decided on their statements.
The European mother crying with relief on my doorstep when she dropped her child off after a terrifying weekend of racist attacks reported around the country (Why? Because, like many childminders, I have a Welcome notice on my door in various languages including hers).
The total lack of any planning or understanding of the issues involved.
The embarrassing performance of those who are meant to be governing the country.
It has all served to make me furiously angry with the fools who have allowed all this to happen.

Most infuriating of all, it's my understanding that those greedy, contemptible bastards who have engineered this stand to make absolute fortunes out of selling our country down the river.
Well, I'd quite like to prevent that happening, so I'm still going to fight for Remain where I can. I didn't realise I was a vindictive person until I watched, with delight, Jacob Rees-Mogg falling flat on his face with his stupid bloody ERG revolution attempt and thought "Good!!!" and more besides.

[Theworldisfullofgs]

By the way May's plan does not protect passporting for financial services. Neither does no deal. So just how are we going to replace those tax revenues and the associated jobs?

[1tisILeClerc]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Empire#/media/File:Arthur_Mees_Flags_of_A_Free_Empire_1910_Cornell_CUL_PJM_1167_01.jpg
It would be interesting to get the views of people outside England as to whether they agree with the text/explanations at the bottom of this map.
Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, arguably the last bit of 'Empire'.