Today, I was invited to discuss and share my opinion on BBC Radio Leicester with three other EU students from University of Leicester on why Britain should remain in the EU. My reasoning for wanting Britain’s continued membership in the EU is as follows:

One of the many reasons for remain in the EU is access to the single market which combines free movement of goods, services, capital and workers. If the UK were to leave the EU and not accept rules of free movement it would most likely result in limited access to the single market and the possibility in having to pay customs tariffs.  

There is also the danger that if the UK votes to leave the EU it would lead to another referendum on Scotland’s independence; an independent Scotland could apply for EU membership thus resulting in the break-up of the UK.

The UK Treasury, the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, several independent research houses, and the banks have all unanimously agreed that exiting the EU will weaken the economy. George Osborne, the minister responsible for HM Treasury has drawn up an emergency budget of £30 billion ($43 billion) in the event that Britain leaves the EU.

It was also reported that cuts would have to be made to spending as well as possible increases to income tax and fuel duty. S&P ratings agency has evaluated that a British exit of the EU will increase credit risk of a prospective debtor, thus lowering Britain’s AAA rating. UK medical sciences also has to “scale back its ambitions” according to Professor Andrew Tobin from University of Leicester Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. Confronting the biomedical challenges such as increasing prevalence in dementia and infectious diseases will become harder if Britain leaves the EU. Professor Tobin elaborates: “By removing the restrictions otherwise placed on the movement of researchers, ideas and technologies the European Union is an ideal environment not only for the continued success of UK science but importantly puts in place the framework that allows us as to address the biggest questions in medical science”. EU referendum not only has consequences for Britain but for also for their overseas territory such as Gibraltar on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, who joined EU with the UK with 23,000 Gibraltarians voting on the UK’s continued EU membership. 30% of Gibraltar’s economy comes from tourism and shipping and much of the workforce of these industries commutes in from Spain. The UK seceding from the EU would effectively alienate Spain from the Gibraltar economy.

My enquiry for Leave campaigners is how would you expect to create a model that will simultaneous balance access for trade and influence over the rules of the market on one hand, with ultimate control over migration on the other?

Thank you for reading my blog post and please feel free to join the conversation!