Out of the 672 respondents, 63% claim that they will be voting to remain while 37% are voting leave, showing that the majority of young people want the UK to remain a part of the EU.
The numerous comments made by the respondents regarding the referendum prove how vocal and passionate students and graduates are regarding this issue and their future. Some of the highly illuminating comments were:
In favour of remaining:
“I’m not really surprised but I’m happy that people seem to want to stay in. The EU was founded to create peace and relatively I think it’s worked well. It was never supposed to benefit us economically, and yes, while we are net providers surely the peace is worth it? The world is becoming more and more integrated and the EU is just a stepping stone towards a fully integrated world – and saying we want to leave just shows how selfish we are being as a nation. Surely by now there should be no “us vs them”, please, tell me people are wiser than that. In the EU we have their backs and they’ve got ours and surely events like Paris showed that we need to stick together. If we leave now we’ll be outcasts for a long time to come. We are a “rich” nation, and cooperation takes time and money, we just need to accept that fact.”
“We’re stronger in an international community. Furthermore, I think that the EU helps the poorest in society through development schemes and grants that go to deprived areas. I don’t think the current government in the UK would redirect the money to the poorest if the UK had more control over welfare as the conservative government cause economic austerity. This money realistically will not be solely given to the NHS, as some argue.”
In favour of leaving:
“The more people in the UK, the more people fighting for jobs, housing and school places, etc. If the UK cannot do well out of the EU being the city largest economy then the whole world’s in trouble. We have great expertise in this country, the world will still need us trade with us. We should be an outwardly looking country looking to the whole world. The UK is a great commodity, we have a unique chance to send a great message to the rest of the world. We are here and we are ready for business.”
“Leave. I’d like it if I go to a job interview there are only UK nationals there. So far every interview is 2-3 British citizens along with 10 Europeans.The housing prices and rents in UK would also come down with if we leave the EU and make it easier to afford to live in a place in London.”