We are currently staying in a farm cottage on a working farm in North Devon.
Early this morning we went out to watch the new calves and had an opportunity to chat with the farmer.
I asked him how he was going to vote in the referendum.
He said "to be honest I don't know what to believe and therefore I am probably not going to vote".
We developed the conversation a bit more. He feels the public are being treated badly by politicians and the media. He talked about vested interests. He said "I am sick of project fear being run by Cameron".
This seems to be an increasing view. Disillusion. People are fed up with spin' exaggeration and misrepresentation.
(My view is the BBC should be doing much better than taking the middle line if it is clear project fear is speculating and exaggerating. Using forecasts 30 years hence for instance as if they are fact.)
In this I have hope. Maybe the out vote will benefit from a backlash against the establishment and their project fear (treating the electorate with contempt and as fools - the EU mentality.)
One line they keep repeating - inward migration "benefits" the country. What they are not including in this calculation is the cost to the country of the services migrants use - NHS, schools, social services - leave alone the effect on housing and transport. What they are talking about is ONLY - tax deducted from the wages of migrants relative to benefits they are able to draw like working family tax credits, child benefit and housing benefit.
Stats released today show net migration is running year after year at over 300000. There is no end to it. No control. When will the remain campaign face up to and confront this crucial issue in a fair and honest way instead of denying/lying about and misrepresenting its impact. Our country is already very densely populated and our way of life is under threat and many people are very concerned about it. The Conservatives were elected on a manifesto commitment to reduce inward migration to tens of thousand after all. Why won't they admit clearly that this cannot be achieved if we are members of the EU.
Early this morning we went out to watch the new calves and had an opportunity to chat with the farmer.
I asked him how he was going to vote in the referendum.
He said "to be honest I don't know what to believe and therefore I am probably not going to vote".
We developed the conversation a bit more. He feels the public are being treated badly by politicians and the media. He talked about vested interests. He said "I am sick of project fear being run by Cameron".
This seems to be an increasing view. Disillusion. People are fed up with spin' exaggeration and misrepresentation.
(My view is the BBC should be doing much better than taking the middle line if it is clear project fear is speculating and exaggerating. Using forecasts 30 years hence for instance as if they are fact.)
In this I have hope. Maybe the out vote will benefit from a backlash against the establishment and their project fear (treating the electorate with contempt and as fools - the EU mentality.)
One line they keep repeating - inward migration "benefits" the country. What they are not including in this calculation is the cost to the country of the services migrants use - NHS, schools, social services - leave alone the effect on housing and transport. What they are talking about is ONLY - tax deducted from the wages of migrants relative to benefits they are able to draw like working family tax credits, child benefit and housing benefit.
Stats released today show net migration is running year after year at over 300000. There is no end to it. No control. When will the remain campaign face up to and confront this crucial issue in a fair and honest way instead of denying/lying about and misrepresenting its impact. Our country is already very densely populated and our way of life is under threat and many people are very concerned about it. The Conservatives were elected on a manifesto commitment to reduce inward migration to tens of thousand after all. Why won't they admit clearly that this cannot be achieved if we are members of the EU.
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