EU Referendum: Webchat with four experts on Monday 20 June, at 12 noon

[BojanaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re pleased to announce a webchat on the EU referendum with four guests with a wide range of expertise at 12 noon on Monday 20 June.

Angus Armstrong is Director of Macroeconomics at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London. Prior to joining NIESR, Angus was Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at HM Treasury, closely involved with stability measures throughout the financial crisis.

Catherine Barnard is Professor in European Union Law and Employment Law at the University of Cambridge. She specialises in EU law and employment law. She has advised the government over the Balance of Competences Review.

Anand Menon is Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at Kings College London. He also directs The UK in a Changing Europe initiative. He has written on many aspects of contemporary Europe including the EU politics and institutions and European security.

Will Moy is the director of Full Fact, a non-partisan fact-checking charity. Full Fact is often asked to assist the media with factual and statistical issues and Will has given evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee on the communication of official statistics and the Leveson Inquiry on accuracy and press standards.

The EU referendum will be held on 23 June.

Please do join the chat on Monday, or if you can’t make it, please leave a question here in advance. And do bear in mind the webchat guidelines - one question each only (follow-ups allowed if there’s time) and please do be polite.

Thanks
MNHQ

@0phelia

My question for Will Moy, How many times have you found facts checked by your organisation to have been completely twisted or the opposite being said, during this referendum? (I'll offer a choice between always, frequently, sometimes, rarely, never) Thank you.

Hi 0phelia

Sometimes. I think most of us wouldn't be willing to take a lot of the referendum claims at face value if we knew all the facts, unfortunately. Outright wrong isn't that common, but there are quite a lot of one-sided or selective claims that I don't think an advertiser would be allowed to make about something they were trying to sell.

Best wishes

Will

Research takes a lot of time, though, doesn't it? - as your three years example demonstrates. I worry that that 'time-lag' between outrageous claims and the time needed to do real, corroborated, peer-reviewed research is often quite vast.

That disparity seems to feed the 'post-truth' dynamic.

This webchat has been a lovely example of the positives, though: the increased visibility of and engagement with information and research. It's been fascinating.

Thank you for your great questions. It has been a great pleasure answering them and I hope as many as possible vote on Thursday.

For more questions, please feel free to send me a tweet on @angusarmstrong8 and do check out the websites ukandeu.ac.uk and niesr.ac.uk

Best wishes,

Angus

Hello everyone

Thank you again for having us. It's been great to chat, and you can always find us at fullfact.org/europe/.

Best wishes

Will Moy - from Full Fact

Thank you all, that felt well-balanced.

Thanks Will, that's good to hear.

That was pleasingly reasonable.
Probably my favourite Referendum experience to date!

Thanks to you all.

ha! My question was so good it got answered twice. ;-)

Often the rabid leavers on MN have insisted all leave-related negotiations w/ EU would have to happen within 2 yrs. Interesting to read that the Experts thought the negotiations could easily take longer (seemed likely to me, too).

If vote leave win, do you think this WILL actually result in the UK leaving the EU or do you think there might be renegotiation and changes within the EU, for example restrictions on free movement followed by another referendum? This is what a friend believes, I don't, is she right?

Also do you think an out vote will ultimately lead to Scottish independence?

imho, your friend is misinformed, FN4N. If Referendum result is Out, then we go Out. This isn't a vote to renegotiate. That question isn't on the ballot.

Mind, I heard that MPs have to vote, technically, if Referendum result is Leave. So technically MPs could defy the electorate if they all wanted to quit politics, anyway.

Interesting to read that the Experts thought the negotiations could easily take longer (seemed likely to me, too).

That may be no bad thing. It means the negotiations can be considered carefully, and in order of priority, instead of being rushed. It also means there's more chance of a general election in the meantime.

Sorry you started with a question about Eurovision and left out one about democracy. OMG.