There is now just one month to go until the country goes to the polls to vote on what is probably the biggest single issue for at least four decades – whether to remain or leave the European Union. And to mark the occasion, and to try an gauge how our industry intends to vote next month, I am carrying out my own poll.

This poll will last right up until the day of voting, and will close at the same time as the real polling stations close.

I carried out a poll at the beginning of this year, to try and get a sense of how the industry felt about the vote. This was before any proper campaigning got under way, and as I promised in the post that published the results, I would carry out another poll closer to the time to see if that campaigning made a difference. You can click here to see those results and my comments around them.

My thoughts

In the full interests of disclosure and transparency, at the moment I intend to vote to leave. And here is my reasoning behind that.

Immigration, although it will be an issue for many voting to leave, is not an issue for me. In fact it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. We live in a globalised world and the population of this planet should be free to move about and settle and integrate smoothly wherever we choose. And it’s worth remembering that 3.3 million Brits do live abroad in other countries.

My reasoning for leaving is purely from a monetary perspective. We currently give £350m per day, equating to £20bn a year, to the EU. Yes we get a proportion of that back over time. But all I keep thinking of is ways that £20bn could be spent. The NHS, roads, policing, affordable housing, paying down the national debt. The list goes on.

I am also aware that should the country vote to leave, there would be a period of volatility, instability and uncertainty until the lay of the new land is known. For those voting to leave, they would have to be OK with that. The process to leave is going to be long, it will likely take two years, if not longer, to complete. That will undoubtedly have an effect on our economy.

The poll

Those are my thoughts, and they should not sway you one way or another if you intend to vote in this online poll.

I have decided to include a “don’t know” answer, even though we’re edging closer to the vote, as some people may only make their minds up on the day, so to not include it would mean any results could be undermined.

The poll will appear on various parts of DGB until the end of polling day. It will be interesting to see how the results from glazing industry voters reflects the final national vote.

As always, comments on this topic, and all others, are very welcome via the section below.

I will be on holiday from 23rd May for two weeks – all comments will be moderated and published as and when possible!

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