THOUSANDS of people across Malvern and Ledbury are expected to vote today in the European Union Referendum.
Throughout the last few weeks MPs and political giants have been busy campaigning up and down the country citing their cases whether it is best to Remain or to Leave the EU.
All the campaigning is now over and voters will decide today whether Britain remains or leaves.
In Malvern and Ledbury, the town’s respected MPs Harriett Baldwin and Bill Wiggin have aired their contrasting views within the last few weeks in a number of campaign events.
Here are both their of their statements with Mrs Baldwin supporting the Remain campaign while Mr Wiggin is supporting the Leave campaign.
HARRIETT BALDWIN – REMAIN
On June 23rd, Worcestershire goes to the polls again to make a historic and irreversible decision. We are voting to Remain to keep our economic recovery on track and to protect jobs and working conditions.
We will vote to Remain in the EU on June 23rd because we have secured a special status within the EU, giving Britain the best of both worlds.
We will never sign up to the Euro.
We did not sign up to the no-borders Schengen area on mainland Europe.
We are more secure when we share intelligence with our EU neighbours and use the European Arrest Warrant to bring criminals to justice quicker.
The U.K. secured a deal to end Ever Closer Union. We will never join a country called Europe.
Our access to the tariff free Single Market of 500 million people is key to over three million jobs in the UK, including thousands here in Worcestershire. That’s why so many local employers support Remain.
We can travel without visas to live, study, work and visit other EU countries and many local residents do so. There are over a million of our friends, neighbours and family living in the EU. When we are there, we can use our free EHIC card to get health care.
Our economy is bigger because we are members of the Single Market. Leaving would certainly mean job losses and a drop in foreign investment. The only uncertainty is how big would the economic shock be? Bad or very bad? Even the Leave campaign have admitted there would be a short term economic shock which would cost jobs. They think it is worth losing manufacturing jobs and hitting agriculture. But tariffs for our food producers, tariffs for our manufacturers and uncertainty for our farmers would hit livelihoods. Young people and the lowest paid would be hit hardest.
Yes, we do pay a net contribution to the EU budget which the Independent Institute for
Fiscal Studies says is 24p per person per day. In return we have had £1 billion of foreign direct investment each week for the last decade from companies around the world. Three quarters of it comes here because we are in the EU. We also get tax revenues that are £36 billion higher, thanks to the bigger economy, helping to pay for our NHS and schools.
By pooling our sovereignty on trade matters we get enhanced trade deals not just across the 27 other EU countries but with 50 other countries as well. More deals are in the works.
Just think of the uncertainty, the years of fraught negotiations, only to end up in a worse trade deal than where we started, but permanently poorer and with a weaker economy with fewer jobs.
Yes, there are citizens of other EU countries working in the UK, including 250,000 in our public services like the NHS and social care. But employment of UK-born citizens is at an all-time high while the Living Wage helps the lowest paid. The Leave campaign are making false promises on controlling immigrations. They can’t answer simple questions about whether they want more immigration from outside the EU, work permits and visas inside the EU, nor what would happen to the hundreds of thousands of British citizens living in the EU. “We just don’t know.” Is their clearest answer.
A vote to leave is a vote for risk, a vote for job losses, a vote to be poorer, a vote for a leap in the dark.
Worcestershire is Stronger, Safer and Better Off in a reformed Europe than out on our own.
BILL WIGGIN – LEAVE
When we joined the common market in the 1970’s, we did so with the belief that it was for friendly trade with our European neighbours. Today we find ourselves tethered to a political union with no democratic accountability.
The EU is quickly becoming a European State, where Britain must adhere to laws, directives and rules that we have not voted for.
We are more than capable of making our own decisions and do not need unelected European Commissioners to tell us what to do.
A vote to leave would mean putting a stop to the current out of control immigration system that means an open door to EU members.
‘Deliberate’ use of the NHS—use by those who come here specifically to receive free treatment or who come for other reasons but take advantage of the system when they’re here—is hard to quantify.
‘Normal’ use of the NHS—by foreign visitors who’ve ended up being treated while in England—is estimated to cost about £1.8 billion a year.
Only about £500 million of these costs is thought to be recoverable or chargeable at the moment.
If we vote to leave the EU, we can take back control of our borders, and help the funding crisis that has gripped our health service.
If we vote to leave, we regain our seats on international institutions like the World Trade Organisation so we are a more influential force for free trade and international cooperation.
British businesses should trade freely with the EU because as net importers, we buy more than we sell to Europe so it is not in their interest to push us away commercially.
Leaving the EU will benefit our Farmers economically and allow the UK to regain national sovereignty.
Of the 72 times the UK tried to block EU legislation, it failed 72 times. Bringing sovereignty back to the UK national and local governments allows for more specific and appropriate regulation of agriculture.
Farming is important. Affordable, healthy and quality food is vital to voters and therefore to good government. Why would any democracy damage that? Switzerland and Norway give their farmers more money than the EU does.
Leaving the EU would lead to greater Government support for British agriculture. We have the most efficient Farmers in Europe: let’s allow them to flourish by voting Leave on 23rd June.
The Eurozone has severe economic problems. It has low growth, high levels of debt and high unemployment. If we stay in the EU we will foot the bill for the Eurozone’s failings and be penalised for having a successful economy.
Under EU law, the UK will be liable for Eurozone bailouts. The EU’s unpaid obligations threaten to leave the UK with an £2.4 billion bill after the referendum.
We have seen tax payer’s money being used for scare mongering and the constant doing down of the U.K economy, which is a far greater risk to our prosperity than voting to leave the E.U. We are the fifth largest economy in the world and we need to be positive about our future whatever we choose to do in Europe.
