Do local UK expats believe their country needs to leave the EU?

PORT COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – Citizens of the UK aren’t the only ones grappling with whether the country should leave the European Union.

In this three-part series, we are looking at which direction local UK expats believe their country should be going.

“The EU is imperfect, absolutely,” says Mark Cannon, who now lives in Port Coquitlam.

He belongs to the Facebook page British Expats and was allowed to cast a vote, since he hasn’t been away from his country for longer 15 years.

He says he’s had to wade through a lot of doomsday scenarios cited by both sides of the debate.

While he admits the EU needs to fix its trade agreements and rein in the power of corporations, he believes the UK has to stay in the union.

And he’s not buying the argument that Britain has lost too much power as part of Europe.

“I don’t have a feeling that the UK has given up sovereignty. It has a lot of veto within Europe, so it can shape policy and it does shape policies.”

He believes the benefits of staying outweigh the drawbacks, especially considering the size of the financial contribution the UK makes to be a member of the union

“And it really is quite minor compared to other areas in the UK budget. Yes, the numbers sound large, but you have to put that in perspective.”

He admits the “stay” side might lose.

“Oh boy, it’s really close, really close. It seems the ‘leave’ vote have taken the edge.”

But he adds that polls have been wrong before.

The vote takes place on Thursday.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today