On 23 June 2016, the British public will have the opportunity to vote on Britain's continued membership of the European Union. As you may know, I believe that it is for individuals to make their own minds up on this important issue so I am not campaigning for either side. However, I thought it would be useful to provide some neutral information ahead of the date.
First of all, logistics.
If you want to have your say at the EU Referendum, you must be registered to vote. Anyone who was already registered to vote (or recently registered) before the 18 April deadline for the 5 May elections will also be registered to cast their vote at the EU Referendum. You do not need to re-register.
To check if you are registered to vote, please contact your local electoral registration office. For constituents living in Gosport, the Gosport Electoral Services team can be reached on 023 9254 5227. For constituents living in Stubbington and Hill Head, the Fareham Electoral Services team can be contacted on 01329 236100.
You can vote in person at your polling booth, by post, or by proxy. To apply for a postal or proxy vote, please contact your local Electoral Services team on the aforementioned telephone numbers.
Making your mind up.
I know many people have yet to decide on how to vote in the EU referendum.
The referendum question that will be posed on 23 June 2016 is as follows:
Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?
There are very strong arguments on either side and I know that many people feel the debate thus far has not provided the impartial "facts" that will help them decide.
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee have published a report which they hope will help. The Committee acknowledges that each individual will consider one argument more important or relevant but it has tried to cover some broad topics such as trade, defence, economic and foreign policy and the UK's reputation in the world. The Committee is split equally between Leave and Remain and therefore it considers it report to be unbiased and hopefully of help. The report can be found here.
Finally, my view.
As I said, I will not be campaigning in the EU referendum and I have a lot of sympathy for many of the arguments on both sides. However, I have decided how I personally will vote. You can read about my personal deliberation here.
I do hope you find this information useful. If you have any queries on this subject please do not hesitate to get in touch.
