With the EU Referendum vote coming up, you’ve probably been bombarded with loads of information about why you should vote in or out. Between David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage fronting the news headlines, and the political slang term ‘Brexit’ it’s pretty hard to take any of it seriously, isn’t it? With all of that being said our generation will be the ones most affected by this decision in the future. We’ve come up with a full proof list of the things you should consider and know about before you vote. (You can thank us later.)
So, what is this vote and why should I care?
The vote that takes place on 23rd June 2016 in the UK is all about our future relationship with Europe. We have a choice to vote to remain in the European Union or out of it. We joined the union in 1973 and last voted to remain in it just two years later in 1975 – so yes it’s kind of a big deal.
Older generations seem to be the ones more likely to vote, and to have an opinion on all of it. But it will affect millennials mostly as it looks into our future working relationship with the rest of Europe as we hit adulthood… (Ouch!)
So you should probably vote shouldn’t you?
Should I vote in or out?
That bit is up to you, but you should be careful when reading up on each side (the campaigns are saying all sorts), so we’ve done the research for you and here’s what you need to look out for:
- Be careful of the big numbers, they’re not all they make out to be. (We’ll explain this in a minute)
- Also the small numbers aren’t all that – they’re mostly there to scare you into voting on one side
- Look at the bigger picture, and think what impact will this have on my future?
The ‘Remain’ vote to stay in the European Union
We’ve all heard the remain front runners talk about how leaving the EU will cost each of us £3,000. That number is actually the total production, distribution, and consumption of commodities related to EU trade.
They’ve also been tossing around the threat that three million jobs will be at risk if we leave, but when you have a closer look – basically all of these jobs would only disappear if we stopped trading with Europe entirely.
The ‘Brexit’ vote to leave the European Union
While we cringe at the term ‘Brexit’ – they have also been telling some porkies. They keep on claiming that our EU membership costs us £20 billion a year, but it’s actually £17.9 billion. And if you dig even deeper and weigh out what we get from the EU including rebate and EU spending in Britain, the net cost is actually around £8.4 billion.
What next?
Well, much like your belly button you need to decide if you’re an innie or an outie. We suggest reading up on all of the campaigns and deciding which one you think you’ll benefit more from. While we can’t make that decision for you, hopefully we’ve helped you on your way.
Happy voting!
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