EU debate: how are the people of Stroud voting in tomorrow’s historic referendum?

We spoke to shoppers, residents and business owners of all ages to see if they favoured a Brexit or a Remain vote, and why they were casting their ballots.

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Mike, 29, is a chef at the independent café Woodruffs on Stroud High Street.

Speaking to me on his break, he said his was planning to vote In tomorrow, as were the majority of his colleagues and friends.

“For me the main reason I’m voting in is human rights – particularly women’s rights. The EU has done so much to develop rights on equal pay, sexual harassment and maternity leave,” he said.

“That’s the thing that swayed me most. All of my friends bar one are voting In too. I think this is the same for most young people.”

Despite the majority of under 30s in Stroud being likely to vote the same way as him, he is still worried the result could swing the other way tomorrow.

“The feeling I get from people here in Stroud is for Remain. I like to think people will vote the right way; for the way that benefits the country most.

“But I sense it will be pretty close. I think there are also so many undecided voters that haven’t been convinced by any of the arguments or campaigns that it could still swing one way or the other.

“Let’s just hope it’s the right way.”

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Sally Pickering, 53, from Stroud, is a Green voter. She’s in the same camp as the vast majority of her party in wanting to stay in the EU.

She thinks Stroud Town will definitely vote to Remain – but is worried more rural areas will vote to Leave.

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John, 66, from Stonehouse, who is retired, spoke to me on Stroud High Street.

He and his wife said they would be proudly voting to leave.

“Let’s have our country back,” he said.

“We’re sick of overpaid and unelected politicians in Brussels making decisions about Britain.

“Plus there are far too many rules and regulations these days.

“There are too many people coming over as well. Our schools and hospitals are overcrowded. If immigration keeps on going as it is now our public services will buckle.”

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Barbara Moore, 70, said she was completely on the fence and had no idea how to vote.

“Don’t get me wrong I’ll be heading down to the polling booth tomorrow. But I just can’t make up my mind. It’s such a huge decision,” she said.

“My family are completely split on which way they are going too. My daughter is voting IN, but my husband is going Out.

“On minute I lean towards leave and the next I go for Remain.

“I watched Daily Politics this morning and thought I’d made up my mind to Leave, and just now in the last five minutes I’ve changed my mind again.

“I have grandchildren and I can’t help thinking about what this vote will mean for them. It just seems like such a huge decision to give to people.

“I think in the end it will come down to an instinct or gut decision tomorrow when I wake up.”

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Carl, 51, is a solicitor and owns his own business in Stroud. He is leaning towards an IN vote on Thursday.

“I’m going to be voting IN tomorrow. There are primarily two reasons for that decision.

“The first is economic stability in the UK and the second is international stability.

“From my own business point of view, my firm thrives off a stable and buoyant property market. That is easiest when there is a strong economy in the UK.

“So for that reason I want us to stay IN. I think the economy is safer if we’re part of the EU. Unrestricted access to the single market of half a billion people is a huge factor in this.

“On an international level, I wouldn’t want to see a Brexit trigger a domino effect among other EU states. The union was set up or the best possible reasons and such more good than bad has come from it since then.

“I really wouldn’t like to see it collapse. While I don’t think Brexit would be the nail in the coffin, I think it could hasten its demise.

“We all know the EU isn’t perfect, but I just haven’t been convinced by any of the leave side’s arguments.”

While he’s convinced the vote will be tight, he thinks the UK will chose to stay IN tomorrow.

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Mr E couldn’t give his real name because of his job. But he spoke to me outside Ladbrokes on Stroud High Street.

“I’m voting out so we can take back control of our borders. I want to see 100 per cent of our laws made by politicians we elect,” said the 70-year-old.

“The main reason though is to stop the amount of immigrants coming in.

“Britain is an island – we can go it ourselves. Most of the people I know who are my age agree with me. There are eight of us who meet for coffee three times a week – and all eight want out.

“We’ve seen the world change so much in the last 40 years – and not for the better.

“I think the vote will be close. I’ll just have to wait and hope we take this chance to leave.”

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Sophia Dowett, 30, is from Cheltenham but works at an NHS dentist practice in Stroud.

She said the health service was the main reasons she had chosen to vote IN tomorrow.

“I’m definitely voting Remain. I think to leave the EU would be quite a risky and quite a selfish thing to do,” she said.

“We are an island but that doesn’t mean we have to act like one. The world is bigger than us – I wouldn’t want to see us pull up the drawbridge.

“Co-operation is a key part of the EU – that’s why I think we have a chance to make it better than it is now. But to do that we have to be at the table.

“Most importantly I think the NHS is stronger and safer if we’re inside the EU.”

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Wayne Wood, 52, also said he would be voting to stay in the EU.

He is ex-armed forces and used to teach business studies and industrial law.

“For me it’s a no brainer. We stand to lose far more than we gain by leaving the EU,” he said.

“Funding, subsidies, co-operation, free travel and visas will all go.

“Plus it will take many years to reorganise trade deals that we’d forfeit if we leave. It wouldn’t be the quick fix that the Leave campaign are saying.

“Parts of the European Union need reform, we can all see that. But the way I see it, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

“If we want to be an outward facing country and help change things for the better we need to be at the table.”

Placing his hypothetical bets for the vote, he said he was worried Stroud would vote out tomorrow.

“I think a lot of the debate and rhetoric around immigration has really swayed people to vote out,” he continued.

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Francis Barton, 39, lives in central Stroud. He was proudly displaying a sticker of “Greens In Europe”.

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Mark Lewis and Adrian Flavien are facility managers from London who were visiting Stroud on business.

While they work for the same company, they have come down on different sides of the debate.

While Mark thinks Britain should go it on its own outside the EU, his friend is of the opinion that the UK would be better off staying in.

“I think it comes down to an issue of sovereignty and democracy. We have the power to elect our government in the UK. We can’t elect who governs in Brussels,” said Mark.

“I think more power should be kept for national governments, not in the hands of an unelected bureaucrats who are committed to seeing a European superstate.

“We should have control of how our money, all of our money, is spent.”

Adrian refuted these points, arguing the UK government retained the vast majority of its powers.

He added: “In the end I think we’ll vote in. People don’t like the unknown. They don’t like economic uncertainty. They don’t like change.”

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Alex Massey, 44, from Painswick, stopped to chat outside the Subscription Rooms.

He said he was truly torn between how to vote and kept swaying from one side to the other.

“I’m so split. Generally I’ve been leaning in. But sometimes I don’t think I know enough to make an informed decision.

“I watched the BBC debate last night and thought the politicians acted like children. That being said, I did think that the leave side of the debate last night was far better at getting their points across.

“At time the level of debate has been appalling. There has been a huge amount of scaremongering on either side – economic scaremongering from the IN side and fears about immigration from the leave side.

“I don’t think people have been listening to what the politicians say in this campaign. Trust of them is so low. But that has left us needing somewhere else to turn to. Are we supposed to listen to economic experts, business leaders, celebrities?”

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David Mayne, 47, from South End in Wales was visiting Stroud for the day.

He said he was leaning towards the IN side, but was not 100 per cent convinced.

“The EU has a lot of flaws. But if we want to fix these issues we should be a part of the union,” he said.

“I think the risks for leaving are just too high. It’s a leap in the dark.

“One of the biggest reasons I’m voting to stay is how distasteful the campaign of UKIP has been. Their portrayal of the issues around immigration has been awful at times.

“That’s not the kind of country we want to be. And that’s not the kind of people we want running it in any way, shape of form.

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This backlash against “scaremongering” was something that retired Stroud social worker Ruth has also noticed.

“All the young people I speak to daily say they have been appalled by the level of hatred and discrimination against immigrants they have seen from parts of the Leave campaign,” she said.

“They say they’re voting IN because of this. Personally though I’m confused by it all.

“It’s such a huge decision to make. Leaving seems like such a huge jump into the unknown.

“So I’ll probably vote IN tomorrow, simply to preserve the status quo.”

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Polling stations open in the EU referendum tomorrow.