Storm Internet’s position on the EU referendum | Storm Internet

On the 23^rd June 2016 the UK will be voting on whether to leave or stay within Europe. This article will give you a bit of information about why we think a vote to Remain is the best option for all of us.

But first, what is the European Union and how did it come about?

The European Union is made up of 28 member states with a political-economic aim. The institutions are the European Council who bring together the Heads of State, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament where members are directly elected every 5 years, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the European Court of Auditors.

In post-war Britain Winston Churchill said in a speech at Zurich that there should be a “kind of United States of Europe”.

The European Union as we know it today developed over many years and the UK  became part of it in 1973 when it was the EEC  (European Economic Community).  There was no a Referendum at the time, but in 1975 it was revisited and the majority voted yes to stay within the Community.  The European Union came into effect in 1993 with the Maastricht Treaty and has continued to grow ever since.

So what exactly does the EU do? Well, it was developed as an internal single market. It makes laws that apply to all member states. It has allowed free movement of people within the EU (a reason some are wishing to leave) and it legislates in home affairs, justice and common trade policies.

The UK are now embarking on another Referendum some 40 years later.  On the 23^rd June 2016 we will decide the future of the United Kingdom. Do we stay in the EU, or do we go?

Those who want to leave fear we are held back by the rules set by the EU on businesses and charges.  They believe that the UK pays millions of pounds in a year but gets little or nothing in return.

There is also a fear that the free movement of people has allowed our borders to become less secure.  The leave voters want Britain to take back the control.

Here at Storm Internet we believe the UK is better off staying in the EU. We believe we can benefit from the boost the membership gives us:

1. Security and border control
   We feel it is better to stay within the EU and be part of the club, rather than going it alone. If we left we do not believe we would be offered any benefits of a friendly “break up” and would therefore risk alliance with the other member states.The UK does not have open borders because we are not in the Schengen area like other countries such as France. So being in the EU does not make it any easier for terrorists to come to the UK, if they were not living here in the first place!
   
2. Immigration
   Any issues with immigration we believe can be dealt with without having to leave the EU.  Free movement of people, goods and money is good for us as it makes it easier to do business not only in Europe, but around the world.  As part of the EU we are a trusted powerhouse. People who come from within the EU and work in the UK are paying their taxes into the UK economy so we aren’t losing out.There has been a lot of scare mongering in relation to immigration. Reference to migrants coming from Syria and other war torn parts of the world are not relevant to the EU. They would still seek asylum if we were in or out of the European Union.

    

3. Trade
   Nearly half of UK overseas business is within the EU. Leaving the EU could cause a sudden economic downturn. We would still need to negotiate deals with other countries and apply any relevant EU rules to retain access to the single market.
4. Costs
   It is believed the money we put into the EU could be better spent elsewhere.  We do not agree.  If we left the EU we would still have to contribute to the EU financially in order to retain the access to the single market. We would also need to allow freedom of movement in order to access the single market. so we’d be exactly in the same situation where we are now BUT without any say or voice on how it’s run.
5. NHS
   There has been a lot of scare mongering here too. We are proud of our NHS.  We are lucky to have such a wonderful service in this country. Leave campaigners argue that resources are drained because of people coming from other countries to use our health service. This is simply not true. There are more migrants working and assisting in the NHS than there are using it.There is also a fear that money could be better spent on the NHS and not towards the EU. However, if we did leave the EU and free up money basic maths dictates that there would actually be a shortfall of funds as the money we also get back from the EU through rebates and mostly trade would be lost. Therefore it would be impossible to spend the money on the NHS when we are trying to find money we are currently already spending on other services right at this moment.
6. Education
   Our universities already receive millions in research funds from the EU.  We would lose this. Although the leave campaigners believe we could increase the funding for research from the money we aren’t spending as a member of the EU, as above assuming say for the purpose of this example that we only get 10% more back from the EU than what we put in (Remain claim it’s actually 10 times more) basic maths demonstrates that we would actually have a shortfall of cash to spend.Freedom of movement also works both ways. Here we and our families are also free to move around the EU as we like and can choose to study in any country in the EU that we want. This opens up a much larger world of opportunity to us all.
7. Employment
   Some of the employment rights we enjoy in the UK are down to EU laws.  Discrimination laws, for example were implemented from parts of the EU directives on workplace discrimination. The Equal Pay Directive has been implemented by the UK and very basically states that an employer is not allowed to pay a person doing the same work or work of equal value a different amount because of their sex.  Paid maternity leave came about because of EU laws. So the EU has offered us protection in the workplace.  Do we want to lose this? Three million jobs in the UK are linked to trade within the EU.

We run our business in the UK. We believe as a business we are better off as a member of the European Union and hope the majority feel the same way on the 23^rd June 2016.