ON JUNE 23, we will vote on an issue which has divided our country like no other.

People will have heard many reasons for wanting to withdraw from the European Union so I wanted to offer an alternative viewpoint – namely the one big reason I’m voting to remain.

We know that whatever happens on June 23, we don’t know what is going to happen in the future – a known unknown as Donald Rumsfeld put it so eloquently more than a decade ago.

So I’m going to focus on what we know about the European Union.

We know that the UK is the largest borderless marketplace in the world. We know that it has a combined gross domestic product greater than the United States of America, making it the world’s largest economy according to the World Bank.

The EU economy is so strong predominantly because of its population. When China, Russia, USA, Canada, Brazil or India are negotiating a trade deal, will they be more likely to listen and take into account the wishes and needs of a market of 500+ million people potentially at the expense of their own or will they be more likely to do so with a potential market of 70 million?

I believe that as one of the world’s largest combined economies, the UK is much stronger when it comes to achieving what’s best for us.

For Britain to be the best it can be, to punch above its weight, we must vote to remain in the European Union on June 23.

Jack Davies

Chair of New Forest Liberal Democrats