Call me closed-minded if you wish, I do not care what you think.

My reason for voting to leave is down to the red tape that the EU is trying to enforce upon small businesses.

As a small business owner, I am not happy with the next set of red-tape that the EU is trying to enforce upon my industry, which could quite easily end up putting a lot of small businesses out of business.

We've already had the EU enforce food allergy regulations upon us, which add extra workload, extra risk of prosecution and the presumption of extra "human rights" by the customers.

Food allergy awareness and reducing the risk of adverse reactions to ingredients was already catered for by many responsible businesses, and the businesses would happily advise customers on the majority of allergens on request.

The EU then decided to enforce a list of 14 allergens, including many things the average person in the street wouldn't consider to be an allergen. Every job I do, now requires a specific allergen list, not just a blanket listing.

Fair enough, I comply, but every time a regularly used ingredient is unavailable, I have to check what's in any substituted item. This is on top of the already considerable Due Diligence recording system that I have in place for food hygiene, food safety, staff safety, public safety etc.

Now the EU are trying to push through charges of £500 per inspection carried out by any local authority. The local authorities currently conduct these inspections for free.

They will check my premises and my Due Diligence systems. They can also check at any point while I am at a job. When working at large public events, you know that you are going to be checked. For example, I will be working at one showground twice in one month this year. The same inspector will come round on both weeks, and he'll check everything on both occasions, even if he remembers he only checked it a few weeks ago.

If I do four events a month, that's a potential £2000 taken straight off me to pay for these inspections. That's £2000 I'd have to pay out on top of pitch fees, ingredients, staff and every other cost I have, without a guaranteed income.

Many of the small scale outside caterers are in agreement with me. Times aren't easy, yet the EU want to make it harder. Many are planning on giving up on attending events if these fees are enforced. Many will end up closing if they get bills like that every month. I do believe that the public's health is important, but I do not believe that the EU takes in to account how these schemes they dream up will impact on businesses. And that's why I'm voting to leave.

 

 

Fair points - well made!!

 

Is that seriously JUST as a result EU rules Scoobywont ?

 

Yes, I do think that the safety of the public is important, but I don't think that enforcing fees is fair, especially on small or micro businesses.

Some where like Wetherspoons, where each unit turns over £30k a week, will get one inspection, now and again, so the £500 is easier to swallow, but a mico-business, especially a mobile unit, may only turn over a.small amount. Does they guy making home produced jams and chutneys sell £500 pound worth at the local village show? Probably not, but he's still got to have a food hygiene inspection.

 

It's very wrong IMO but will it be dropped if we leave the EU?

 

I believe so, as many councils also oppose the idea as they fear that it will lead to the possibility of more unregistered businesses trading at private events, increasing the risk to the public (the council don't turn up at private events).

The trade association is also lobbying for this to be dropped, as they see an increase in risk to the public, a loss of jobs not just in catering, but also across food suppliers, equipment manufacturers and all other supporting trades.

 

Received my leaflet today and I'm posting it back .

 

its that kind of plastiky paper that doesn't burn well ,or mulch either !

 

I've now received a second copy of "Dave's Book of Lies". More waste.

 

Ready to send back!

 

Arrived, read, defaced, sent back to

Joanna George,
Freepost RSBB-XRZT-ZTXE,
The Conservative Party Foundation, 30 Millbank,
London
SW1P 4DP.

It was all if, but and maybe.

Vote Leave!

 

Sounds like the out campaign to me...

 

 

What on earth?

 

Syringing your lugs out buddy boy....and not before time, LOL

 

Go on then, enlighten me. Lets see something that actually definitively states we will be better off outside the EU. No opinions, no speculation, just actual hard facts.

 

The government will definitely debate the £9 million spent on diatribe pamphlet 9th May in parliament

 

We will be £9bn better off through not paying the membership fee. That is fact

We will make our own laws and not have them passed to us from Brussels. That is fact.

We will get to set our own border policy and will no longer be compelled to accept anyone. That is fact.

We will be able to choose for ourselves whether to support UK heavy industry or not, rather be told we can't. That is fact.

We will be able to negotiate trade agreements with whoever and whenever we like, rather than have it dictated to us. That is fact.

We will have 100% access to our own fishing waters, excluding other countries, resulting in more fish (and money and jobs) for the UK (rather than approx 57% currently). That is fact.

That is just the start but the whole thing is summed up very nicely by a post I saw on the BBC website yesterday .



VOTE LEAVE

 

This (the membership saving) is the only one that I see is being genuinely real. In other words one that will actually happen. Everything else there is reliant on the powers that be making use of it. For instance the ability to make our own laws, I really don't see the UK legal system changing that drastically just because we now set our own laws. Same with supporting heavy industry or the fisheries, there's no guarantee that because we can do these things that we actually will.

 

Yes its true that the Gvmt of the day may in fact choose to do none of those things. However the point remains, right now we are PREVENTED from doing those things and leaving WOULD ENABLE us to do them (if we so wished). Its an important step forward, and key to democracy.

I think the fishing one is relevant too. We will see increased income there

 

I have read the leaflet which I thought was well set out.


The one main statement which I can't fathom is when it states that we will be in control of our own borders. On the face of it controlling one's own border means you can let in who you choose if they don't have a British passport and evict others if they are non-passport holders and misbehave subject to sensible UN rules about torture and genuine refugees.


So how can HMG say our borders are under our control if every Tom, Dick or Gustav in vast swathes of Europe can freely enter this green and pleasant land.


Notwithstanding above I think staying in EU is the far better option.


Just my Euros' worth. David

 

There are NONE either way, neil, because truly, NO-ONE KNOWS.

My vote for out is based not on what might happen, but on what IS happening to us, NOW!!!

 

This^^^^

 

You missed the point: at the moment, we can't alter any of those things. If we vote out, we can. And if it's the will of the people, anyone who doesn't is soon voted out.

 

I wouldn't have said it's overly likely though. A lot of the legislation will most likely remain unchanged (e.g. the Human Rights act, H&S at work, environmental protection etc).

 

The Tories are always going on about their planned Bill of Rights to replace the Human Wrongs Act.

 

You can change the title without changing the content.

 

I see your point, and raise you: if we are OUT, we no longer HAVE to follow their rules, and if any government continues to do so, to the detriment of the country, they will get voted out. Surely?

Whereas if we stay in, nothing changes. WE enforce every rule, obey every law, the rest do as they please and give us two fingers while their economies benefit.

Seriously, neil, I've just come back from two weeks in france, a country whose economy is labelled as "basket case" by UK commentators.

And yet, after five months away, I see more and more new infrastructure, motorway builds, huge motorway repairs, new railway lines, new logistics centres etc etc. Same in Belgium.

In the UK: nowt. At least not where I've been.

 

Thats the North for you