In or out? It’s time to decide about Europe

On Thursday the country will decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union.

Polling stations open on Thursday morning at 7am and counts will get under way when polls close at 10pm across the UK. We should have a pretty good idea from 4am on Friday morning of which way the vote is going.

In Bristol our four MPs have set out their views on Brexit. Here they are in alphabetical order:

Thangam Debbonaire, Bristol West – Remain

The EU Referendum is one of the most important decisions we will make in our lifetimes. Despite that, many people I’ve spoken to have said they can’t believe what they’re being told, or that they keep changing their minds depending on who they are listening to. Some are confused by too many statistics, others are irked by too much exaggeration. Some have said they’re worried about immigration. Others have said that their main concern is the effect on the economy.

The Labour Party is campaigning for us to remain in the European Union and I want to share a few reasons why.

As a proud Brit and even prouder Bristolian, I want the best for this country, our city and for my young nephews and nieces. Working together as a family of nations means some compromise, but I believe that overall we are stronger. We’re stronger because we’re able to sell our goods and services to all of the 500 million people in 27 other countries, with no barriers and with a level playing field. Everyone follows the same rules. That’s good for our local jobs and local businesses. And more than that, the EU helps us to invest in training and research so that we can build a high-skills economy.

Locally, Rolls-Royce and Airbus have both said they want us to remain in the EU. Their apprentices have told me how much they value being able to move between the different sites across Europe in their training programme and I know how much our local economy depends on these types of businesses doing well. Think how many small and medium-sized businesses are in their supply chain, as well as all the thousands of people who work directly for these thriving companies. Being in the EU is helping us in Bristol right now.

We’re also stronger because our world-class universities work closely together, with EU-funded research, on things like new cancer treatments or ways of making renewable energy cheaper. Bristol University and the University of the West of England (UWE) received £129 million from the EU in the last three years alone. And UWE got £60 million to develop its Frenchay campus.

But being in the EU is more than just economic good sense. Our rights at work are protected by European rules, which means we’re guaranteed paid holidays and maternity pay, and can’t be forced to work long hours. That’s good for workers and good for business.

And being part of the EU means that we can study, work or retire in any of the other 27 countries. It benefits the young people who want to study abroad in the Erasmus student exchange programme, for example, and our more mature folk who want to retire to sunny Spain. We can all travel without visas, and thanks to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) we can also have free health care on holiday.

Yes, we need to do better at planning how we manage migration in and out of the UK, but shutting the doors isn’t the answer. Migrant labour often fills gaps in the workforce we can’t fill. For instance, ten per cent of all NHS staff are EU citizens. The trusts that run Southmead Hospital and the BRI employ a total of 17,000 people between them, so you can imagine the recruitment crisis we’d face in Bristol if there were new barriers to employment.

Some people have said they’ve heard that Europe is ‘running our country’, but we UK Members of Parliament vote on the budget, the NHS, and the laws of this country. Our government has a veto on many of the EU’s decisions and we in Westminster have the final say on how European law is implemented.

If we want to change how Europe is run, we’re much better off inside it, leading those changes. Not whingeing on the outside, with no power to do anything. And if we don’t cooperate with our neighbours in the European family, we’re also on our own facing problems which don’t stop at borders. Pollution, financial problems, terrorism, the cleanliness of the seas, economic crises – these are all international problems which need international solutions. To work with our European partners is to help keep our country stronger, safer and more prosperous.

I urge everyone to vote to remain in the European Union this week.

Charlotte Leslie, Bristol North West – Leave

After long consideration, and periods of leaning to one side then the other, I have decided I will vote for Britain to leave Europe.

My decision is with nothing to do with either the Leave or Remain Campaign, but as an individual who has done their best to assess the situation and come to a conclusion based on my assessment of the facts to which I have access, my experience in working with European colleagues from many EU Member States over the years, and my own personal understanding of human behaviour and risk.

As I have said repeatedly, I do not necessarily think there is a right or wrong answer to this question, and I have the utmost respect and appreciation for those who disagree with me. I celebrate and welcome disagreement and debate.

After all my deliberations, I found myself coming back to a principle on which I try to lead my life: That you have to face realities, however difficult, because to attempt to deny a reality leads to more pain in the long term.

Personally, I cannot see the European Project, whose express aim is to further homogenise the very different nations of Europe into an ever closer political union, as anything but a fantasy, and as such, dangerous.

Therefore, however much I appreciate and understand the risks and challenges of voting ‘leave’, I find myself completely unable mandate this madness.

I completely understand the approach of those who take an opposite view. I have absorbed and assessed all the arguments. Neither do I pretend that my own personal opinion, which I have reached after long consideration, is any kind of ‘universal truth’. It is simply my personal opinion, which I have reached after long deliberation. I know others will want me to have come to a different conclusion, but to pretend that I think otherwise would simply be dishonest.

Kerry McCarthy, Bristol East – Remain

This is one of the most important political decisions any of us will make during our lifetimes.

People on both sides feel very strongly about this issue, whilst many remain undecided. I accept that the EU needs reform, to make it more democratic and accountable, and less bureaucratic, and to ensure that public money is well spent. But on balance I believe that the benefits of membership are too important, and the risks of leaving too high, so I will be campaigning and voting for Britain to remain in the EU.

From the millions of jobs tied to our membership of the EU, to cross-border justice, security, and trade links, Britain is stronger, safer, and more economically prosperous in the EU. If we were to leave the EU, it’s very likely we would still have to abide by the vast majority of European regulations in order to maintain our access to the single market, and yet, we’d have little to no say in the creation of these regulations. Countries such as Norway and Switzerland must still contribute to EU coffers, without any of the benefits of EU membership. We can only make a difference to the EU if we have a voice at the table – not if we are just spectators on the sidelines.

In Filton, 4,000 people are employed by Airbus, which is backing the Remain campaign. Being in the EU gives us access to the single market, and protection for workers’ rights, such as paid maternity and paternity leave, minimum paid leave, rights for agency workers, protection for employees when a company changes hands, the right to commission and overtime pay, and an obligation on employers to inform their employees of future redundancies. Future EU trade offers the chance to create 790,000 more jobs by 2030 by opening up markets in energy, tourism, and digital services. In short, being in the European Union is good for British jobs, and provides rights for the people in those jobs.

As well as the risk of losing access to the single market, a vote to leave the EU would prevent us from taking advantage of the many trade deals negotiated between the EU and the rest of the world. In the EU, we form part of a market with 500 million consumers, whom other countries want to do business with. In this regard, we’ll always be stronger as a group than as one country on its own, as negotiation with countries like the USA and China is far easier and more productive as part of the 28 countries that make up the EU.

Equally, being in the EU strengthens our relationships with neighbouring countries, and helps us promote common values of security, democracy and peace across borders. I believe that Britain is safer in the EU. We’re better able to collaborate on counter-terrorism initiatives within the EU, and we are also able to bring criminals to justice even if they manage to flee Britain because of the European Arrest Warrant. This has led to the arrest of thousands of criminals, including terrorists.

As Shadow Environment Secretary, I’m especially interested in the environmental benefits of being in the EU. I have been working with Environmentalists for Europe during the campaign, and taking part in a number of debates. The EU has banned pesticides which are harmful to bees, driven up animal welfare standards, introduced the Birds and Habitats Directives to protect nature and biodiversity, forced action to clean up our beaches and waterways, and introduced measures to improve air quality. I have written a more detailed argument on the environmental case for remaining in the EU here.

As you know, this is a big decision to make, and the outcome of the referendum will affect generations to come. With this in mind, it’s crucial that everyone who can vote does so.

Karin Smyth, Bristol South – Remain

The outcome of this Referendum will profoundly affect the lives of every Bristol resident. It’s the biggest political decision we’ve faced for generations.

The dangers of a ‘leave’ vote are clear: we would suffer a huge blow to jobs, to living standards and to business confidence. And the UK would need to tear up positive trading agreements that have evolved and strengthened over four decades, and start again.

I was nine in 1973 when the UK became a member of what was then the European Economic Community. I recall the special commemorative 50p piece featuring nine overlapping hands, each representing a member country. In later years I was lucky, visiting places that had been the scenes of horrendous World War battles: some Normandy beaches and the Somme battleground, for example. I marvelled at how countries previously torn apart by war had chosen to work together hand in hand. Europe felt instinctively a good place to be. For me it still does.

This is not a fantasy project: Being part of the EU has helped secure economic growth and our families’ prosperity. Bristol enjoys many of the advantages a growing economy brings. Challenges too, such as migration, which many people raise with me as a concern. It’s not often I agree with former Conservative Prime Ministers but Sir John Major has rightly described the ‘Leave’ campaign’s tactics as ‘deceitful.’ Those suggesting leaving the EU would solve our country’s migration challenges are wrong. And they’re only making the claims because they’ve lost all the economic arguments.

Working people have significant benefits from EU membership too. Like other working mums I value how being part of the EU has significantly improved the rights of women at work, for example:

• rights to equal pay
• protection from sex discrimination
• better treatment of pregnant women and new mums in the workplace
• new entitlements for parents to take time off

And basic rights, like paid holiday which many part-time women workers previously missed out on, were introduced at EU level.

For our national security and our influence in Europe and across the world, we need to remain in the EU, because by working together we can continue to face up to the many threats and uncertainty in the world.

The EU isn’t a perfect institution. But to influence something, it’s far better doing so from the inside, not deliberately going into uncertainty, looking in, powerless to shape anything.

Bristol needs Britain to be leading the EU, not leaving it.

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