I'm voting remain: the UK and EU need each other

The EU referendum has become major news globally. Unfortunately, the British people have not been given the facts, as the leading politicians pursue their own agendas rather than what's good for the British people.

As a businessman, entrepreneur, writer and mentor of several people and businesses, I've been disappointed at how people are simply following the lines being fed by the politicians rather like a herd.

There was one amusing image going around on social media in the last couple of days about there being over 100+ EU regulations on the manufacture of pillows. When the detail was examined in this image, it was clear that someone had simply carried out a Google search, and this list was the result of a straight search for the word "pillow" in the regulations.

John Oliver, in his weekly satire, This Week Tonight, looked into a these and found most of them totally unrelated to pillows. I thoroughly recommend you watch it to understand how all the propaganda that we are being fed is just untrue, and based on the personal agenda of the politicians.

I know that over the last 14 years, since starting my business, TechSpark, my work and personal life has been made easier by being part of the EU. My clients have been in France, Germany, Scandinavia and The Netherlands. And doing business in a wider market like this is easy when you are part of the 'club'. I don't understand how people think it will be easier doing business outside the club.

I also spent five years as a technology specialist adviser to the British trade organisation, UKTI. As part of government initiatives, I was often trying to convince tech SME (small and medium sized enterprises) companies to go and do business in countries like Brazil, India and Libya.  But Brazil is hard to do business and costly, India is so price sensitive so Brits can't easily sell knowledge based products there, and Libya was just too hard to get insurance for companies.

What they were really after is to do business in Europe and the USA. In my 30 years in tech, most of the companies I have worked with have pursued business in the USA, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, as well as Japan and parts of Asia (not India). That's where all the tech clusters are and where the decision makers are for buying British tech.

So my point is, the EU is a key part of the business opportunity for tech businesses. It is part of a global ecosystem where decision makers can also be based. So I don't understand why we would want to NOT be part of a trading bloc where we can easily do business, freely travel and share knowledge, ideas and talent.

And even at a personal level, my children and their friends have benefitted from being able to do their work experience very easily in countries like Spain and France. As parents would understand, the ability to send young children and feel that they are relatively safe or easily within reach can be really reassuring.

I have already signed two open letters of businesses stating their position - one was published in The Independent yesterday, and one by British Indian businesses earlier in the month.

So for those of you in the UK or eligible to vote, I urge you to think about practical day-to-day things in your life and see if it is really affected by the EU or if it's actually a result of our own government's policies. The reality might be that what you think is being dictated by the EU is not at all, and that we have more control over our own destiny than you think.

I'm voting Remain, I'm hoping you will make a decision that reflects the true you, and not just the line that people pursuing their political motives are feeding you.

[Image source: The EE referendum blog]