How should I vote in the EU referendum on June 23?

Here are some of the arguments for staying in:

  • The European Union allows us to trade freely with other EU countries. That means that British goods can be sold in other EU countries without having to pay a tariff - a fee which would make our products more expensive

  • And investors from the rest of the world spend money in the UK, for example by building factories or employing staff, because we are in the EU. Tata, the Indian owners of carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, are one example. If we left the EU, investors from India, China, the US and elsewhere might create jobs in EU countries, not in the UK.

  • The European Union has helped prevent war in western Europe. And although people don’t like to say this out loud - it seems a bit rude to the Germans - what they really mean is that it’s helped prevent another terrible conflict between France and Germany, by making sure the two countries work together.

  • We’re a lot stronger in the EU than we are on our own. How could the UK stand up to China, Russia or the USA when they are more powerful than us? But the European Union as a whole is just as powerful as any other country.

  • Yes, there’s concern about immigration - but we actually need immigrants to work in this country. They pay tax here like everyone else. And we’d still need immigrants if we left the EU anyway.

  • The European Union has rules which protect workers’ rights, such as ensuring they are entitled to maternity pay. Would we still have these rights if we left?

Here are some of the arguments for getting out:

  • If we left the EU then we could still trade with the rest of Europe. Are Germany or France really going to tell their manufacturers that they can’t sell their products in the UK? We’re the world’s fifth largest economy, and foreign firms want access to it. In return for access to our markets, the EU would allow our producers to sell goods in their countries - that’s how trade deals work.

  • And it might actually be easier for the UK to trade with the rest of the world if we left. We’d be able to sign our own trade deals with India, China, the US and other countries, instead of having to wait for the entire European Union to agree a deal.

  • At the moment the UK has to obey laws created by the European Union - but how many people know how these laws are made or who exactly is responsible? Leaving the EU would ensure power lay with our own elected governments, and if you don’t like what the Government does then you have the chance to get rid of it in a general election.

  • Being in the EU means anyone from any EU country has the right to come and work in the UK - but there are tough restrictions on immigration from the rest of the world, including Commonwealth nations such as India, Pakistan and a number of Caribbean nations. Leaving the EU would give us back control of our borders and allow us to introduce a fair immigration policy.

  • The EU is in serious trouble. The Euro single currency has not been a success and some countries have needed bail-outs (which means lending them huge sums of money). If the UK remains then it may be forced to contribute to future bail outs, or even find itself part of an organisation in the process of collapsing.

Many voters say they want someone to give them the facts and tell them exactly what will happen if we leave - or stay in.

The difficulty is that the facts are contested. Nobody can agree what will happen, because nobody knows for sure what the future holds.