Look, you know, a lot of people have contacted me over the weekend asking which way I intend to vote in the European Referendum on June 23rd. I want to be very clear about this. I simply say to you, look, you know, and I have always been quite consistent on this, so let me be very clear about it… it’s far too early to say. I haven’t yet heard all the songs, and can’t really face the thought of it happening without Terry Wogan.
However, I promise you this; I will be voting in Britain’s best interest (subject to any arrangements which may be offered by either side of the argument to secure my vote). But vote we must! I must. You must. You have a democratic duty to listen carefully to all the arguments for leaving and remaining, then get yourself to the Polling Station and VOTE against the vision of Post-Referendum Hell which scares you most.
Will leaving the EU destroy our economy or will the UK economy be destroyed by staying?.. Mr. Farage says leaving the EU is the only way to prevent unwanted immigration; Mrs. May says remaining strengthens our ability to deport people… Do you agree with Labour’s Keir Starmer that leaving the EU would put this country at greater risk of terrorist attack, or with the Conservatives’ Ian Duncan Smith that staying in the EU would put this country at greater risk of terrorist attack? So many important issues to consider in what will, I’m sure, be a reasoned, moderate and informative debate over the next four months.
I tell you this; I didn’t vote to stay in the European Union at the last EU Referendum. I was 15. Yet, when I campaigned more recently in the Scottish Referendum, many of the dear little people I met there told me MY interventions were directly responsible for their turning out to vote, so I take my responsibility in these matters very seriously indeed – and I might mention here that I was extremely disappointed recently to find myself accused of scaremongering about Europe! Nothing could be further from the truth. I simply observed that more dangerous animals have escaped from UK zoos since we joined Europe than at any other time in our history. By the same token, since we’ve been EU members, very few of us have been mauled by wild animals and eaten all up. These are the things we have to consider.
A useful starting point would be to read the full agreement achieved by the Prime Minister last week in Brussels. And I certainly intend to do that at some point. Until then, like you, I continue to argue from a position of instinct and hunch, which have always served us so well in the past.
Look, it’s all about doing the right thing to do. If you vote to remain, you will make the life of David Cameron very much easier. It would please him, and Mr. Osborne and Mr. Javid and Mr. Hunt. I realise this may encourage some people to vote the opposite way, but they should remember that a vote to remain would also please Mr. Corbyn and Mr. Benn. And someone called Mr. Farron. A vote to leave, on the other hand, would ally you with Mr. Farage, Mr. Galloway and Mr. Gove. An Out Vote would almost certainly mark the end of Mr. Cameron’s term as Prime Minister. Possibly paving the way for PM Boris Johnson. It’s a conundrum alright. And when I have reached a definitive position, I shall of course let you know what it is, and will expect you to rally behind me without question.
I hope this helps.
Cheerio.
p.s. Recent sales of my mainland European property portfolio are indicative of nothing more than a coincidental period of marshalling funds for my forthcoming purchase of a small castle in this country. My country. Great Britain.
Magnus Turner MP 