The night is dark and full of terrors...
There's no question in my mind that the EU needs a certain degree of reform.
It requires more transparency, more accountability, more democracy, better anti corruption systems...
It needs to get rid of ego mechanics such as thd yearly move between cities.
And yes....arguably it needs a better balance between the rights and obligations and duties of the individual, the state and the EU.
But overall....the EU is a good thing and the UK would be stupid to leave. That would leave it outside the EU but with a requirement to still follow EU laws to trade there. Worse, it would likely lead to the break up of the UK as such a vote would likely be rejected by Wales, NI amd especially Scotland.
EJL
Depends which way it goes and the circumstances surrounding it. A narrow No majority in England with Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland returning Yes votes will be chaotic. Any kind of Yes majority will get the ukip nutters up in arms, but hopefully by that point, after a long campaign, there will be a wealth of readily available information and plans for achieving reform within the EU that will leave only the really hateful xenophobes upset.
Better reform the EU instead is what I would say.
Yes, UK should remain in EU. Leaving it would only cause more problems for both sides.
On the one hand its a stale neoliberal breeding ground with Germany at the center haunted by a democratic deficit.
On the other I enjoy the freedom of movement, its a cash cow and brings in decent regulations.
Tough call.
Oh I know, the problem only really arises if other constituent parts of the UK vote No when Scotland votes Yes, although I can't see Northern Ireland or Wales voting No considering the aid they receive from the EU. Another poll came out recently showing a solid 60% in Scotland in favour of staying in the EU, after a few polls had suggested that it was tighter than that. So no worries there, my only concern is the how badly the campaign might be run if Better Together is anything to go by.
Pretty sure the question is going to be Yes to stay, No to leave as the experiences from the Scottish Referendum showed that it's easier to run a positive campaign on a Yes ticket. Not sure what kind of stipulations they'll make wrt a majority or even voter turnout (precedent being the devolution referendum in the 70s)
I will most likely vote to stay within the EU, however, there are parts of the whole EU mega train that annoy me - like the fact it has never had an audit, it really needs to be more transparent and clear as to what it is doing and why it benefits the people.
No, if anything we need to get more involved, stop electing fools like UKIP to the MEP, and elect people who will actually look out for and promote Britains interest instead of making us look like retards to the rest of Europe. Instead of trying to change the things we want to change by threatening to leave, we should get in, get on an equal footing with Germany and France, and then start changing things for the better.
We've all seen what happened with Greece. A Brexit will plunge the continent into recession again.
We're just too interconnected at this point to pick up our toys and just leave, there will be massive consequences.
Brit, here. I think we should stay in the EU but carry on not using the Euro. I like the free movement of peoples throughout the Union. I'd prefer if Britain weren't an opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union too (though I think the UK is obliged to follow a lot of it), as I find our lack of a modern written constitution clearly laying out the rights of citizens to be distressing, especially if the Human Rights Act 1998 gets changed or dropped.
I'm a non-british member of the EU, I think they should stay within the union. Mostly due to the fact that I don't believe they can pay their debt without causing more trouble for their own, as well, cba having to get some more paperwork just to visit my girlfriend's family.
FOMO: "Fear Of Missing Out", also commonly known as people with a mental issue of managing time and activities, many expecting others to fit into their schedule so they don't miss out on things to come. If FOMO becomes a problem for you, do seek help, it can be a very unhealthy lifestyle..
I think the UK will be better off if the remain in the EU and even better if they took part a bit more. The populistic contrarines their politicans and papers often like to foster is not helping anyone but their rivals outside the EU. Yes, there are always points they won't agree absolutely with but compromises always require that both sides are ready to move a bit.