I AGREE with Ronnie Cowan that September would be a better date for the EU referendum, and it would be well within David Cameron's timescale (“To engage the electorate, the EU referendum must be in September”, Agenda, The Herald, February 8).
Mr Cameron promised us an in-out referendum before the end of 2017, so why rush us to the polling stations in mid 2016?
One reason might be that Mr Cameron is fearful that a long campaign will provoke further bickering and unrest within his already divided troops, but the question facing voters is too important to be squashed into a short campaign and should not get tangled up with other issues facing voters in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London, who all go to the polls in May.
Indeed, as the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all spoken against the referendum being held in June, it would be an opportunity for Mr Cameron to show respect for the other nations of the United Kingdom, and bow to their judgment.
There is also the question of turnout. To date, the UK electorate has shown scant interest in elections to the European Parliament, the highest turnout being 38.52 per cent in 2004 and the lowest 24 per cent in 1999. Apart from 2014 (35.60 per cnet turnout) all these elections have been held in the month of June.
An autumn date would give more time for voters to consider the issues, and perhaps engender more interest in the European Union than we have seen to date.
Ruth Marr,
99 Grampian Road,
Stirling.
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