Immigration CAN work — but Brexit would ruin us
AS A Brit living in the Netherlands, I’ve enjoyed the EU to the max. I have started my own company, learnt Dutch, bought a house and have a Dutch girlfriend.
At where we help designers sell directly to customers, I have 12 employees: two British, three Dutch, two French, one Polish, two Italians, one Greek and one Icelandic.
All have the right to live and work anywhere in the EU. Most are immigrants and have been welcomed with open arms by the Dutch. It is a clear example of the European project working.
As a Continent, we were at war with each other for hundreds of years and only in the past 70 have we been able to live and work together in peace.
I am sure if my grandfather, who served in World War II, could see Europe now he would know he fought for a good thing. Brexit is a big step backwards towards isolationism. I understand the issues the Brexit voters have with the EU: it is expensive, bureaucratic and undemocratic.
But the UK cannot change anything from the outside. The referendum has been a wake-up call to the EU and I believe accommodations will be made if we vote to Remain — just like after the Scottish referendum. I have not seen one backed-up argument that Brexit will benefit our economy, and experts are calling it economic suicide.
Do I trust and like the Leave camp of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage and Michael Gove? No. Do I trust and like Remain’s Sir Patrick Stewart, Eddie Izzard, Sir Richard Branson, Barack Obama, Christine Lagarde and leading economists and scientists? Yes.
I would be ashamed if the country I grew up in and which made me the person I am today becomes inward-looking. My fingers are crossed for Remain. MARK STUDHOLME, Amsterdam.