--- title: Brexit Vote: Jeffrey Archer Will Vote Remain on June 23 description: "My heart says out but my head says in. So, reluctantly, I will vote Remain. An imperfect European Union is better than the alternative." canonical: https://time.com/4366168/jeffrey-archer-brexit-eu-referendum-vote/ author: Jeffrey Archer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-14T14:43:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:27.600Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Jeffrey Archer on Why He's Voting to Remain Within the E.U. og:description: "My heart says out but my head says in." og:url: https://time.com/4366168/jeffrey-archer-brexit-eu-referendum-vote/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeffrey Archer on Why He's Voting to Remain Within the E.U. twitter:description: "My heart says out but my head says in." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Why I'm Holding My Nose and Voting to Keep Britain in the E.U. > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Why 'Brexit' Will Be the Most Important Decision Britons Will Ever Make [Watch (HLS stream): Why 'Brexit' Will Be the Most Important Decision Britons Will Ever Make](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IAHL35u6.m3u8) (2:26)  _Published 2016-04-15. A look at what's at stake in Britain's June 23 vote on wether to leave or remain in the European Union_ by [Jeffrey Archer](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-archer/) ## Jeffrey Archer Jun 14, 2016 2:43 PM UTC by [Jeffrey Archer](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-archer/) ## Jeffrey Archer Jun 14, 2016 2:43 PM UTC Are you, like me, finding it difficult to make up your mind on arguably the most important issue the British people have faced since 1973 when we voted on whether to join the European Economic Community? I was a young Member of Parliament at the time we joined the forerunner of the European Union, and attended the entire five-day debate. I listened to speech after speech from members on both sides of the House, who kept repeating that this was the chance to ensure the next generation would not have to be involved in a third world war. Heady stuff, and utterly convincing as most of those Members of Parliament had served in the Second World War. However, 43 years later, the landscape has changed. ISIS has replaced World War Three as our biggest defense problem, and the main discussion now centres on whether we can survive financially outside the EU. We can, of course, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be better off remaining a member of the community. So, after some considerable soul searching, I have decided I will vote in favour of Britain remaining as a member of the EU. Both sides have formidable champions to promote their cause, who have done so with great gusto. However, I confess it hasn’t been the usual suspects in Westminster who have finally drawn me to the Remain camp. The unattractive playground squabbles that both sides have been involved in have been neither enlightening nor edifying, and have not helped either cause. And worse, the personal attacks within the Tory party may well have lasting consequences. I don’t know on which side Margaret Thatcher would have cast her vote, but I do know the former Prime Minister would have been appalled by the behavior of a handful of men and women who in a few weeks’ time, will be expected to get on with governing our country as colleagues, if not friends. I have been more convinced by those who could not be described as the usual suspects. I start with the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney. And before any of you leap up and down protesting that his office should remain steadfastly neutral in this debate, to you I say drivel, because you wouldn’t have complained if he’d come down in favour of Brexit. Carney knows more about global finance than 99% of the voters, and his is an opinion I want to consider. And he has given an unreserved warning on the economic dangers of leaving. The second person I take seriously is Field Marshall Lord Bramall, a man who saw combat in the Second World War as a young lieutenant. He says the defence of our country will suffer if we leave the EU. Who am I to argue with his assessment? And then there is former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg – who I wish was a candidate for President of the United States – who says unequivocally that it would be better for Britain to remain in the EU. Few know the global economy better, and he certainly has no axe to grind. I only wish Margaret Thatcher was still alive and kicking, because I would have undoubtedly been influenced by her views, and I have no idea how she would have voted on June 23\. Like many others, my heart says out but my head says in. So, reluctantly, I will vote Remain. An imperfect European Union is still better than the alternative. ## Transcript Brex it. The biggest choice we'll face in a generation. Do we want to stay or do we want to go? We are approaching one of the biggest decisions this country will face in our lifetimes. Whether to remain in a reformed European Union, or to leave. The choice goes to the heart of the kind of country we want to be. And the future that we want for our children. If the Brits leave the European Union, they're gonna be a lot of other people that say, that looks like a good idea, that referendum, especially if it looks Muscles. Specially of their breath seems like they're advantage gone forbid as the consequence which means that the EU is really incumbent on them to make this process as painful and it's process could take a long time to actually effectuate. It's gonna be enormous ly Democratic and they're going to make it hurt. They gonna make it hurt from a financial sectors perspective. They gonna make it hurt in terms of cash and trades. Security collaboration between the Brits and the Europeans. We get weaker, not stronger. And the idea that the Brits will somehow be less vulnerable to migration and terrorism if they would leave the EU I think is wholly ludicrous. And yet, despite all of those things, A reasonably decent chance. Almost a coin flip that the Brooks will indeed on June 23rd vote to leave. The reason for that is because [ UNKNOWN ] so bad. The cabinet agreed that the government's position will be to recommend that Britain remains in a reformed European union. [ UNKNOWN ] Should not be likely. There was a study that just came out from the Confederation of British Industries, that in the incidence of [ INAUDIBLE ] we would have a direct economic consequence to the UK of about $ 140 billion dollar hit by 2020, and almost a million jobs, but not 950, 000 jobs. Everything about Europe, whether it's governance, whether it's the strength of leadership from someone like Angela Merkel, whether it's terrorist threat, if it's the refugees and the unwillingness of anyone to accept them, the ineffectualness of decision making processes in Brussels or to Brussels. All of those things are gonna look uglier in June 2013 then we are today. At the end of the day, referenda and elections are about turn out, they're about passions, and how are you gonna get people to actually say that they support, in large numbers, this unpopular Europe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4366168/jeffrey-archer-brexit-eu-referendum-vote/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4366168/jeffrey-archer-brexit-eu-referendum-vote/"},"headline":"Why I'm Holding My Nose and Voting to Keep Britain in the E.U.","datePublished":"2016-06-14T14:43:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:55:27.600Z","description":"\"My heart says out but my head says in. So, reluctantly, I will vote Remain. 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