Europe yes or no?

Most of the info we are getting at the moment is from parties who are trying to push us in to their way of thinking. We need an unbiased view which will give us the plain facts so that we can make our own minds up and not have the politicians make it up for us.

We have Scottish elections coming up in May, so I have been concentrating on local issues, manifestos, hustings etc., EU Referendum has been on a back burner as a result......However, I have begun to do some research and think of Pros/Cons. Not very straightforward is it?
Yes, I believe the EU is a Bureaucracy maze - not always efficient, and a bit of a free ride for some....
Yes, the Common Market we joined has exploded in size - so does that make it even more bureaucratic and unwieldy?
I totally disagree that people with criminal convictions coming from other member states, cannot be blocked on that basis alone - Murderers have committed crimes in UK after doing same in their own country; are we opening doors too far?
I am glad we never entered the Eurozone in financial terms-Financially hard times persist here, and the poorer suffer most - but we can benefit from better exchange rates, and that might help with exports/imports and jobs?
Yes, I appreciate access to continental living and some alternative health options are available and easier to access
Ireland & Denmark joined EU at same time as UK - have they benefitted over the term of 40+ years?
H&S and other PC type 'ridiculous rules' as exercised in UK often get blamed directly on EU membership - but many claims have no basis, and it appears that it's our own Nanny State that's to blame in many situations!
Will our access trading markets shrink if we go it alone? I think they will, at least in the short -term, and we are too economically fragile to cope with this - so will any advantages we might (and should) gain to redress Agriculture & Fisheries restrictions will be lost?
China and India are leading market places - can/will a solo UK be able to compete? No; I doubt it.......Although I choose not to listen to Mr Obama's assertions-I believe he was reading something 'scripted' for him
EU Funding has backed some major building and infrastructure works and also some disability/educational projects throughout UK; I wonder though have they been managed well enough, and has EU kept to contractual agreements re paying timeously? (Past experience was no - but it may have improved)
Do people understand that NATO, European Human Rights Courts etc. are not directly connected to EU...............?

Oh dear - the more I think and discover - the more difficult it is to decide

It's not a straightforward decision as their are plusses and minuses on both sides of the argument, but for me the most important point is sovereignty. Being a member of the EU reduces our democratic power and will continue to do so given their plans to allow even more countries (such as Turkey) to join. Also to those who argue that leaving would be a leap into the unknown I would suggest that the same could be said for remaining. When we last voted to stay in (the EEC as it was then) in 1975, nobody could have envisaged the changes which subsequently took place. Similarly, nobody can predict how the EU will look in the future.

The EU is a bureaucracy and not a democracy of which we have always lived by so for that reason alone we have to leave. We make no decisions of our own these are made by the EU. Why even have a parliament if we cannot decide how we run our own country? We pay so much each day which could be put back into making thing better for us. We have a housing, education and NHS crisis which will only get worse. We cannot afford those migrant that come here for "a better life" we owe them nothing and many do not work as declared. Those that do have overtaken areas which are now little Poland, Romania etc. We pay CB to children that are not living here but are still back in their own countries, if we are to continue to do this it has to be paid at there monetary rate and not the British rate. We have become the dumping ground for migrants with no skills and no intentions to work and this will effect our quality of life as we will become too many to be able to afford and cope with.

I don't think it's a good thing. It has moved so far away from what "The Common Market" was originally designed to be.I think we have created a monster that is now too big,too expensive and interferes in every little detail of our lives.I'm not a fan of the idiots we have running our own country but at least we can vote about them.We don't have any say over who makes the rules in Europe.

I love Europe ,but not the undemocratic corrupted EU

Love being part of Europe, it's being a member of the EU that I'm against. Actively campaigning with GO.

Yes its an excellent thing. I have many friends in Europe-own a german dog and enjoy going to Europe..whats not to like!

Why are the electorate not being presented with a contingency plan in the case of there being an exit vote. All we are getting is ifs and buts and leaps into the unknown. You would imagine there would be a business plan in place. It seems to me there is complacency on the PMs part that an exit will not happen.

Sorry to disagree with you we pay into this European government more than GB get out. So a drain on our resource , it costs us over 400 Billion per year. Which then give us back two thirds? In grants.

We continue to prop up paper tiger economies without having a choice .

If my memory is correct after Churchill supported its conception, on more than occasion we were black balled by France?,before our inclusion in 75. Even then it was a common market we voted for not a European super state?

Since being part of EU we have lost our Fishing industry- Coal industry and now a Steel industry that we cannot even help because the GB government cannot overturn the EU on steel tariffs?