Teens have their say on the key issues in the EU referendum

Seb Chromiak, Robbie Lennie, Hannah Qazi, Jordan Cameron, Jess Robson and Bethany Hall-Fletcher are all A2 politics students at Barrow Sixth Form, some of whom are also studying law and business. They are all preparing for what many believe will be the most important vote any of us will take part in during our lifetimes.

The clued-up teenagers have scrutinised the EU as part of their A-Level studies, and hope the younger generations will all join them into turning out to the polls on Thursday June 23.

Bethany said: “I don’t think enough people are engaged in politics and, the way the Leave and Remain campaigns are going, I don’t think they’re reaching out to young people at all.”

Seb added: “We’ve got to prove them wrong, that we will turn out. At the moment, there’s no point in targeting us lot because they think we’re a lost cause.

“Until people at a young age start turning out and showing that they take their citizenship seriously, they’re not going to try and reach out to us and do things important to us.”

While all six teenagers plan to vote to remain in the EU, they have continued to follow both campaigns closely and this week have their say on the key issues.

On security and immigration:

Vote Leave claims that the EU immigration system makes us less safe, forces us to keep our borders open to unlimited immigrants and leaves the UK vulnerable to increasing numbers putting pressure on the NHS. Vote Remain argues that immigrants contribute more tax money to the UK than they take out, boost productivity and public finances and strengthen the NHS and social care workforce to the tune of 135,000 employees. Our A2 students said:

“There’s a lot of safety and security with the EU that’s quite important. I think if we were out of the EU there wouldn’t be the same support, there wouldn’t be that banding together, that sharing of information.

“Leaving would mean less opportunity for us as well. One of my years at university is abroad and I don’t know if that would change. We want the freedom to move around – to go where we want and work where we want - as much as anyone else in the EU.” Robbie

“I’d probably try to move abroad before we left the EU, if we voted leave. I worry that I wouldn’t have a job to go to here.” Seb

“Immigration won’t change whether we leave or whether we stay. It literally won’t change.” Bethany

On trade, the economy and sovereignty:

Vote Leave claims remaining will mean continuing to have our laws governed by “unelected bureaucrats”, sending £350m a week to the EU and having our trade with the rest of the world limited by regulations.

Vote Remain argues that the 13 per cent of our laws linked to the EU are debated and adopted by elected MEPs and the national government ministers we vote for, that half of Britain’s exports go to the EU – accounting for 3.5m jobs, and that Norway (a non-member) makes roughly the same contribution to the EU budget while following the same trade regulations without being able to influence them.

Our A2 students said:

“I know people have started to realise the £350m figure’s not completely true, and if you think we’re going to form trade agreements with the EU and not contribute anything, it’s a complete myth.

“If we leave, you’re looking at three to five years of recession. When the polls show Brexit are in front, the pound falls massively. When we announced the referendum, the pound fell massively. You just have to watch how the world reacts when we talk about giving up.” Seb

“British politics is still sovereign. We still make our own laws – we just have to abide by certain things when we’re doing that, and rightly so.

“If we left, we’d have the European Convention of Human Rights anyway, we’d have to comply with trade laws to trade with Europe anyway. The argument is just wrong.” Robbie

“Everyone keeps going on about sovereignty but it’s important to have a higher power that keeps our politicians in check, that makes sure our government isn’t acting beyond its powers.” Bethany

On the campaigns:

Both campaigns have been criticised for negativity, scaremongering and misleading the public.

Vote Leave has continued to use its £350m-a-week claims to spearhead its arguments, despite being repeatedly told, including by the independent Treasury Select Committee, that the figure is fundamentally wrong. It ignores Britain’s rebate, plus other payments and financial benefits that flow back to the UK.

The committee also criticised the Remain campaign after it claimed families would be £4,300 worse off if Britain leaves. The average impact on household disposable incomes is actually predicted to be “considerably smaller” than that number, it said.

Our A2 students said:

“When Cameron and Farage went head to head, people were asking questions to do with facts and figures and Farage was just avoiding them altogether.

“I don’t think either of them came off as good choices to follow. They weren’t showing many facts and figures, and it seemed like they were twisting the truth whichever way they felt like.” Hannah

“Leave haven’t really brought out any formal statistics, and the ones they have put out have been inaccurate. They don’t have anything solid.

“I just feel like I trust Remain more, that’s the only way I can describe it. I don’t know what poeple expect to happen when we leave. Where do we go? Where do we start? It’ll be like trying to start a whole new country.” Robbie

“I think because the Leave campaign are a bit more controversial they’re going to naturally get more press. They are a lot more out there.

“The Remain campaign are perhaps relying more on the fact that, for undecided people, the natural thing to do in a voting booth is stick with the status quo.” Seb

On the youth vote vs the grey vote:

An opinion poll released by The Observer last month suggested the outcome of the referendum could balance on whether young people shake off voter apathy and turn out to the polls.

The national newspaper found support for leaving was far stronger in voters aged 55 and over, as was their certainty to vote. Young people are generally much more pro-Europe but much less likely to bother voting.

Our A2 students said:

“I think most older people want out of the EU for reasons they’ve come across through scaremongering and that really isn’t what democracy should be about. It seems unfair that this is our future and actually it will be influenced by the views of people who have lived in very different times.”

Bethany

“Older people are more likely to read newspapers and the types of newspapers they’re reading are just peddling a lot of scaremongering. “For me, it’s just a natural feeling that we should stay.”

Seb

“People like us, we already knew how we would vote before they even called the referendum.

“You do get the feeling that certain people will vote a certain way but, where we live in a certain area, we’re likely to hear only one thing.”

Robbie

“I don’t think it’s worth the risk of leaving.” Jordan

“My friends don’t really talk about it at all. I don’t actually think they’ll vote.

“What I’d say to people of our age is, ‘This might not affect you right now but in the future it will do’.” Jess