Please Don’t Vote Tomorrow Unless…

In or out - your vote
In or out

I try to avoid anything that isn’t STEM related on this blog but I feel I do need to speak out on the EU referendum on 23rd June.  I fundamentally believe in democracy, and love the fact that in the UK we have multiple parties so we do really have a choice, even if many people do not exercise it.  However, we now have a black or white, in or out decision to make with regard to the European Union.  I have seen so many people saying that the way they will vote is not because of the issue but because of personality or logical fallacy.  So I implore you, spend the next 24 hours doing some real research or please don’t vote.

If you’re deciding to vote because celebrity X has come out to say they support a side, please don’t vote.

If you’re deciding to vote because you like or dislike a politician (or their motives) who supports a side, please don’t vote.

If you’re deciding to vote because of a meme, poster or pithy catchphrase (either because you like or dislike it) then please don’t vote.

If you’re deciding to vote because of the person who shouted loudest in the debates then please don’t vote.

If you are voting because you think democracy or the “system” is broken in the UK then please don’t vote.

If you were too apathetic to vote in any other election and then left registering until the last possible minute, I’m sure you’ll be too apathetic to actually make it to the booths to vote anyway.

This is not a vote on the economy, on immigration or free movement, on xenophobia or little Britain, on the state of the current UK government, on current funding, on workers rights, on current opt outs that may have been negotiated (time-limited or permanent), or even on cheaper mobile phone tariffs.

It is a vote on our continued membership of the EU and nothing else.  Don’t be swayed by the pithy arguments: take a detailed look at what the EU offers us, where it is headed and how it makes its decisions.  This is, as we keep being told, a once in a lifetime decision – do not make it lightly.

Read about the European Commission here – these are the people who make the laws, not the MEPs.  Read about the aims of the European Union and their end goals here and also more importantly here (the 2012 state of the union address to the European Parliament) and here (the five presidents report).

Go to the original sources, not the soundbite summaries proposed by both sides.

If you agree with the end goals of the EU (as outlined in the links: a single federated state with a single currency, centralised economic and policy control, centralised security, with an appointed rather than elected decision making board) then vote remain.  If you do not agree with this then vote leave.

If you have done your research and have come to a logical conclusion then please do vote, you will make a difference!

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janet

Dr Janet is a Molecular Biochemistry graduate from Oxford University with a doctorate in Computational Neuroscience from Sussex. I’m currently studying for a third degree in Mathematics with Open University. During the day, and sometimes out of hours, I work as a Chief Science Officer. You can read all about that on my LinkedIn page.