The EU referendum on the 23rd of June is set to be one of the most important decisions the British public makes on its future. Unfortunately, as campaigning reaches fever pitch the tit for tat nature of both the Leave and Remain campaign have people’s eyes rolling in the back of their heads and stomachs churning at the potential outcome of this historic vote.

I am hoping that by writing this I can cut through the scare tactics and pantomime villainy that is the trio of terrors, former mayor of London Boris Johnson, Justice Secretary Michael Gove and UKIP leader Nigel Farage. That’s not to say Cameron and friends in the Remain campaign are our Knights in shining armour but they are certainly the lesser of two evils for a variety of reasons.

On Boris Johnson… ‘Donald Trump with a thesaurus.’ -Nick Clegg (Former Deputy Prime Minister)

I’ve heard so many people say in the lead up to the referendum that they just want the facts so that they can make an informed decision.A Reasonable request you would have thought but unfortunately TV debates carried out by Sky, ITV and several programs broadcast by the BBC have left viewers knowing less than they did before tuning in,as politicians resort as they often do to name calling and point scoring. For a moment it’s all very amusing to watch a highly educated men act like toddlers in front of the cameras until we remember it’s our futures they’re arguing over and we haven’t the slightest idea which toddler to side with.

‘In my lifetime, there has been no greater threat to this country than a disastrous combination of leaving the EU and a Boris Johnson Premiership.’ – Lord Mendelson (Former Business Secretary)

One of the main issues surrounding the EU referendum debate is the sea of statistics politicians are drowning us in that seem to be at odds with each other and have us scratching our heads a which figures to believe.

First, let’s take a look at the economy, an area which I believe to be one of the most vital when weighing up the pros and cons of the European Union. As the health of our economy has a direct impact on us the population as the 2008 market crash and subsequent and seemingly never-ending austerity measures have so acutely demonstrated.

As a member of the EU the United Kingdom has access to the Single Market, this means that we are able to trade within the EU without having to pay tariffs or have restrictions placed upon us. All in all the Single Market is incredibly beneficial to the UK economy. Figures published on the Government website tell us that the EU buys 44% of everything Britains sells abroad. It has provided us with around £540 billion in foreign investment over the past ten years. These are all facts provided by the Remain campaign. The Brexit outlook on the economy is rather different.

Vote Leave says ‘a backlog of Bills has left the EU with a £19.4 billion pound debt, for which Britain would need to cover £2.4 billion. However, this was dismissed by Labour Mp Chukka Ammuna as ‘nonsense‘.

Plenty has been said about the legitimacy of the Leave campaign throughout the debate as they have been accused of ‘performing and economic con trick on the British people.’ Vote leave claims that the cost of the EU totals at around £350 million a week. This figure has been called out as fundamentally dishonest, so much so that it drove Leave Campaigner Sarah Woolaston to defection due to the way in which the campaign was being carried out, Lying to the British public essentially, Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major has also weighed in on the debate

‘I am angry about the way the British people are being mislead…If they decide to leave on the basis of inaccurate information…known to be inaccurate then I regard that as deceitful.’-John Major (Former Conservative Prime Minister)

What has angered me the most about this referendum campaign is the flagrant use of immigration as a scapegoat and a smokescreen for problems the the UK faces such as overcrowding in Schools and Hospitals and the Housing crisis.

According to Brexit immigration is a major risk to the NHS as the number of patients is putting too much pressure on an already stretched health service. While I agree that the health services is being stretched beyond its means and has been for many years, blaming this on immigration seems backwards. Considering that the UK attracts the most skilled workers from Europe who happen to make up around 10% of our NHS doctors and around 41% of NHS nurses. If it wasn’t for European immigration our beloved NHS would be in a far worse state than it is at the moment.

For many including myself an argument supposedly defending the NHS from the Leave campaign was a difficult pill to swallow…

‘The NHS is about as safe with [Boris Johnson, Michael Gove an Iain Duncan Smith] as a pet hamster would be with a hungry Python.’ -John Major (Former Conservative Prime Minister)

The issue of immigration was raised in an episode of BBC’s Question Time (9.6.15) following comments from William Hague urging voters that they should not should not make their referendum decision based on immigration. This was put to a panel including Chris Grayling MP, Hilary Benn MP, Nigel Farage MEP, Alison Pearson (Journalist) and Eddie Izzard (comedian and serial marathon runner). I’ll give you three guesses if you can work out what Nigel Farage had to say about this.

3 out of the 5 panellists were in favour of leaving, the other two being Grayling and Pearson. Farage began shock horror not by answering the question but by attacking William Hague, by saying that he was a eurosceptic that had ‘sold-out’. Making him sound a bit like everyone’s hipster friend who was incredibly annoyed when their favourite obscure band found a modicum of mainstream success. I digress, Farage maintained that immigration would decide the outcome of the referendum and Grayling agreed arguing that every year we bring in the equivalent of the population of Newcastle which is putting a strain on our public services. However, Benn, Izzard and even presenter David Dimbleby highlight the fundamental flaws in Brexit’s immigration arguments.

While Brexit insists that leaving the EU means Britian can take back control of it’s borders Izzard highlights that if the UK left the EU and wanted to continue reeping the benefits of the single market system it would most likely have to operate under the Norwegian system which means that free movement of people would continue and Britain would still have an influx of EU migrants following an exit. Another suggestion made by the Brexitters was to adopt an Australian point system of immigration control, which on the surface sounds like a means of lowering numbers of migrants. Although upon its introduction in Australia the point system in fact meant that immigration increased. According to Brexit leaving the EU would seemingly solve The immigration crisis by giving Britian control of it’s borders however Dimbleby challenged Brexitter Chris Grayling by pointing get out that there are around 184,000 people coming to the UK from outside the EU and nothing has been done by the current government to bring those numbers down. Which is entirely a failure of government and cannot be attributed to the EU.

Benn and Izzard sought to emphasise that the problems the UK is facing are far more complicated than are being represented by the Leave Campaign and will not go away if we leave the EU. The European Union has become the scapegoat for the consequences and continued austerity measures following the 2008 market crash. Take the housing Crisis as an example. The lack of housing available in Britain is not caused by the EU or immigration but inaction by the current Conservative government who hold the lowest house building rate in peacetime. Highlighted by Guardian columnist Owen Jones. (Question Time 2.6.15).

As the debate, campaigning and Boris Johnson’s extended job interview reach there climax in the next day or so, which ever way you decide to vote is up to you. I just want to leave you with this thought….

‘Despair is the fuel of terrorism.Hope is the fuel of civilisation.’ -Eddie Izzard