There’s now less than one month to go now until Britain goes to the polls in the long-awaited referendum on its membership of the EU. As we approach the final furlong in campaigning, get ready for many more stories like this emanating from ‘In’ campaigners and an equal share like this to be pushed out by Brexiteers.
At the University we’ll try to cut through some of this spin in order to help inform the debate and the choices you make from a variety of different perspectives.
Colleagues at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) are lining up a significant new policy report focusing on the impact of the referendum and Britain’s membership across different themes – from migration to jobs and the economy. Crucially, this resource also steps outside the confines of the UK to examine other member states’ perspectives on a potential Brexit. The report will build on recent contributions to the IPR’s analysis blog; more on this very soon.
Next Thursday, 2 June, our first Referendum debate – hosted by the School of Management and IPR – takes place in The Edge. ‘Brexit or Bremain – what’s best for business in the South West?’, chaired by Professor Hope Hailey, will tackle some of the major economic and business issues in the context of the region. It will feature contributions from Graham Cole (former MD at AgustaWestland) and John Mills (entrepreneur and economist as well as Deputy Chairman of Vote Leave) as well as academic voices from Bath, including Professor Nick Pearce (Director IPR) and international collaborators.
The following Wednesday, 8 June, our Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies will host an afternoon event ‘Unravelling the complexities of the referendum debate’. Debating issues including the impact of the referendum on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, lessons from the Netherlands on 'rejecting Europe’ by referendum, as well as alternatives to EU membership looking at the Norwegian, Swiss and Canadian models, the event has been structured to tease out some of the real issues at stake on 23 June from different vantages.
I hope you can get to one or both of these events.
Finally if, after all this, you’ve not had enough of the referendum, via our Opinion blog we’ll continue to post contributions from academics across the University in the lead up to the big event.
Respond
