A month ago I posted a discussion on LinkedIn to get the vibe of our Business in Berkshire LinkedIn Group and here’s what’s been said todate…

Jonathan L Davey Heard any good arguments for IN or OUT of the European Union?

I started by adding a few videos

Phil Shipperlee FIoD I have heard a lot of good arguments in support of leave and some of them are arguments the stay campaign think support their position – there is a real sense that the stay campaign is blinded by fear and we all know what happens to rabbits blinded by the lights.

David Willis An interesting and thought provoking perspective by Yanis Varoufakis (the long read) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/05/yanis-varoufakis-why-we-must-save-the-eu

Andy Mileham Being in the EU might not be perfect, but I cant help thinking that its a whole lot better than the alternative…

Jonathan L Davey Hi Andy, with your professional hat on I’d be interested to hear your opinion on how the government plan to count the EU referendum votes. Apparently adopting an Eastern European Carousel methodology where all the votes are gathered in locally and then squirrelled off to a secret cave with no press or media access to be counted. Have I got that right and what are the possible repercussions of such a policy?

Phil Shipperlee FIoD Simplistically, I think the best reason to consider leaving is that being in the EU means we are focused on around 16% of global GDP and at least some of the remaining 84% is difficult for us to access due to EU rules. So; motivation in voting to leave is that I want to access the 84% and I will still have access to most of the 16% in the EU as well.

Andy Mileham Hi Jon, I must admit to having no knowledge about how the votes will be counted, or what measures are planned to ensure that there are no allegations of vote rigging. I would like to think that with of vote of such national importance that there will be fair play all round..

Steven Birt http://www.thehunterfoundation.co.uk/sir-tom-hunter-joins-eu-debate-free-detailed-book-aiming-clear-facts-uks-future/ Everybody seems to want more facts so here you go.

Jonathan L Davey The world you live in and you think Cameron wants to play fair… so Obama has popped over to take the air has he?

Gareth Crompton MBCI Right now we should assure our partners and customers (especially the EU based/interested companies) that we will continue to purchase, support and supply, whatever result comes out of the referendum. I think that any political polarisation must remain a personal matter and not risk harming the image and reputation of our businesses.

Gareth Crompton MBCI Thanks to Steven for the link. The book by Tom Hunter which Steven suggests is very informative.

Gareth Crompton MBCI Here’s an interesting article from a British citizen in Gibraltar. Gibraltarians face constant oppression from Spain and are staunchly British but pro being part of Europe. Mr Gomez’s comments indicate a strong dislike of Angela Merkel. He suggests to change the EU rather than leave it. (The views expressed are not entirely my own) http://chronicle.gi/2016/04/for-europe-but-not-the-eu/

Jonathan L Davey To me this is what Europe is about… making hay for corporations at the expense of human life on earth… let’s see how much media coverage this gets… my guess, not a lot… http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/2016/Greenpeace-Netherlands-releases-TTIP-documents/

Jonathan L Davey This is a really good summary… https://www.facebook.com/leaveeuofficial/videos/946139178817657/

Barbara Patrick https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10153579536457217/

David Willis Did The Spectator Debate – Should Britain leave the EU? provide any good arguments?

Allan Buckridge Common sense should rule. The EU is dying, bankrupt, desperate and a failure. A vote to stay is the end of this Country.

Elaine Sullivan The IoD is holding some events, went to my local one, very informative http://www.iod.com/your-business-topics/business-zones/eu-referendum/events/regional-roadshow

Phil Shipperlee FIoD The IN mob are putting forward some very strong arguments for leave. Take a few minutes to read anything (security, trade, immigration, economy, etc.) being said in favour of IN and if you read it without bias in either direction you will find it screams at you LEAVE, GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN. If we stay we know exactly what we will get only worse so the safest option is OUT.

Elaine Sullivan Went to the IoD roadshow which was quite informative. Although sadly and still undecided http://www.iod.com/your-business-topics/business-zones/eu-referendum/events/regional-roadshow

Chris Mitchell TV Chamber hosted a good debate yesterday. It was (unintentionally) unbalanced in that whilst the presenters did try to give a “pros and cons” analysis of Brexit on their industry there was nobody really pushing the leave case and when pushed, those that would express a personal view were all solidly in.

It did give some interesting additional considerations such as the R&D grants that UK businesses can get from Europe, the income that the Higher Education sector gets from Europe and the impact on staffing that potential visa requirements could bring.

I’ve yet to hear a sensible, evidence backed, case to leave.

Jonathan L Davey I’d like to see a sensible, evidence backed, case to stay

All in but a balanced debate? Perhaps they should have asked some people who were solidly out to join in for an actual balanced debate?

There are no hard facts on any of this besides the hard fact that the EU hasn’t submitted its books for sign off since it began… that sounds to me like a very corrupt system or else one of the big finance houses would add their marker… they must be scared of the potential liability if they do and someone honest gets in a position of power, which is obviously highly unlikely.

Most people don’t like change… so those who have no vested interest would rather things remain the same because why mess with the apple cart.

Those who are self sufficient and enjoy the thrill of the chase are all for getting out as EU stifles innovation in its purest sense.

EU looks after the interests of big business and does everything it can to crush small businesses and get them to toe the line.

Phil Shipperlee FIoD I have just put a VOTE LEAVE poster on the fence at the front of my house; it will upset some and please others but it will hopefully prompt some proper discussion with neighbours and may even spur some, who have their heads in the sand, to start thinking.

Barbara Patrick “Brexit The Movie” – it’s over an hour long:http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/05/15/brexit-winning-eu-argument/

Phil Shipperlee FIoD I agree with what you say Jonathan except that I think there are plenty of hard facts on the IN side as we have had 40 years of being in so we know what it is like and if we stay it will be more of the same and almost certainly worse. For those who fear change you should vote out as the next 10 years will see life for those in the EU change dramatically and all the change will be driven by the bureaucrats not the citizens.

Jonathan L Davey check this out http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/2016/blog/social/twitter-reveals-that-the-uk-will-vote-to-leave-the-eu.html

Diksha Chakravarti Still confused…especially now that both sides have been accused of inflating the figures to support their arguments….BUT attending the Business Forum breakfast meeting at Bearwood Lakes tomorrow morning where Anneliese Dodds, Labour MEP for the South of England (Stay) will debate this issue with Stewart Paterson (Leave), a prominent businessman working as a Senior Partner in a London investment company. Hoping to get some enlightenment then.

If you want to join us tomorrow, then contact Sue Dormer.

Stuart Young For the record here’s why I’m voting REMAIN: If I look forward to a future with equal opportunity for all, equal access to resources for all and a fair and peaceful society globally, then it has no borders. It might take a 100 years to get there, it might take a 1000. But if that is our goal, what is the first step? In my opinion we took that step in the 70s with the European Union. Of course it’s not perfect, in some areas it just doesn’t work – yet. but leaving at the first sign of a problem is not going to fix it. Getting stuck in and doing the hard thing is what’s going to make it work. If we want a better world we need to come together, not split apart. Just my opinion.

Phil Shipperlee FIoD If you want a borderless future Stuart why lock yourself into a group of countries with less than 8% of global population and stagnating economies? Logically to achieve your aim you should walk away from the EU and embrace the other 92%.

Barbara Patrick Interesting comparison via Thomson Reuters. The polling figures are interesting – massive variances depending on which one you select. http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/1/792/1115/index.html#section-overview

Diksha Chakravarti Had a very informative morning at the Biz Forum breakfast meeting, gleaning fresh insights into the reasons why we should stay/leave. John Redwood and Stewart Paterson both made an excellent case for leaving whilst Annilese Dodds made less of an impact. She lost me when she said leaving would entail a great deal of wasted time unravelling the legislation – this is like saying I don’t want to move house because I can’t be bothered with unpacking….

At the end it all comes down to risk and trust. Risk: are there enough markets beyond the EU for us to take our wares to and to negotiate beneficial contracts for the UK? India and China are emerging markets but doing business in both these countries requires a completely different mind and skill set. Trust: will the powers that be be able to undertake these challenges for the benefit of the UK? Neither of these can be answered with certainty…

Phil Shipperlee FIoD This article presents a really interesting and balanced debate on the whole topic managing to avoid exaggeration or too much emotion; well worth a read.http://www.adamsmith.org/the-liberal-case-for-leave

Alan Jones If you were voting to join the EU today as it is and knowing what is likely in the future, would you want to join? I know I would not so I am voting LEAVE

Jonathan L Davey This is an interesting read… http://elloydowen.com/2016/06/02/the-eu-referendum-why-i-am-no-longer-a-fence-sitter

Hazel Lobo F Inst Pa On area not being covered very much in either campaign is environmental protection. Rosie Oliver (working party advisor for the UK Environmental Lawyers Association) has helpfully collated a range of reports and other resources aimed at informing the debate’. She has provided links and short descriptions at https://www.ukela.org/brexit

It is important to note that UKELA remain neutral on the issue, but if you can forward the link to your networks, that would be very helpful – the more information we can share the better our decision making will be

Dr Franciszka Magdalena PhD Have just tried out the Sky survey tool; it turns out that My stance towards EU vote is the same as my entrepreneur son-in-law’s . Like about 20pc of population, I’m Utilitarian …How about you?

Jonathan L Davey Should the deadline be extended…http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/08/eu-referendum-live-voter-registration-david-cameron-nigel-farage/ If you haven’t thought it important enough to get registered before the last day then you are a bit of a muppet whichever way you are voting… love Farage’s sign off to MEPs 😉

That’s the story so far… go add to it below on in the Business In Berkshire LinkedIn Group >>>

Just seen this… an alternative view…

Thank you.

Jon