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A FINAL PLEA TO VOTE REMAIN FOR THOSE WITH A
PASSION FOR CULTURE, TRAVEL AND LANGUAGE
By Amy Longland
On Friday, I got back from a small trip to Madrid.
Granted, so close to the referendum I perhaps should
not have gone. But last semester in the midst of essay
writing my housemate and I spontaneously booked
the short city break, in order to have something to
look forward to. Thanks to Britain’s membership of
the European Union, the return flights cost us £45.
For us and many other students across Britain, it is the
cheapness of flights across to Europe which enables
us to go abroad, travel and explore the world. We flew
with Ryanair, one of the most vehemently pro-EU
airlines there is, along with EasyJet and Monarch (all
the airlines that we, as students and young people,
use the most). These airlines want the UK to stay in the
EU, because quite simply, the open skies agreement
amongst Europeans countries ensures lower transport
tariffs and therefore, lower travel prices.
For students and young people, it is these cheap
travel prices that allow us to make spontaneous
trips abroad. It allows us to go on holidays to Spain
or Portugal with mates; allows us to go interailling
around Italy on a budget. These cheap travel prices
simply cannot be guaranteed if we leave the EU,
especially with the prospect of having to obtain a Visa
just to travel across the channel.
Being in the EU also means the pound is strong - more
spending money for us when we change our pounds
to euros. When Leave came out on top in the polls last
week, the economic uncertainty made the pound fall
against the euro. Used to the beneficial exchange rate,
I was surprised when I swapped my money at Madrid
and received like-for-like. If the pound falls more
against the euro with a Brexit, the price of flights and
transport will also be more expensive. Both of these
factors would create barriers against students and
young people, who don’t have much money, being
able to travel abroad and explore the world. For the
outward social mobility of young people everywhere,
we need to keep those barriers down.
Madrid is a beautiful, bustling, dynamic city. I am
lucky that I was able to go. I am lucky that, as a British
citizen within the European Union, I can easily and
cheaply visit Paris, Rome, Barcelona or Berlin. I, along
with many other students, have a passion for culture,
travel and learning a new language.
As for Erasmus - I myself was able to go abroad as
part of my degree to the South of France. I was
awarded an Erasmus grant that without, I would not
have been able to afford. Going on a year abroad
allowed me to learn another language, broaden my
horizons, live abroad in another country (which is
so appealing to graduate employers) and make lots
of friends across Europe. If we leave the EU, there is
no guarantee that we would still be able to take part
in Erasmus to the same extent and under the same
conditions (which, at the moment, we help decide).
Whilst the UK renegotiates 50 odd trade deals and
everything else we were part of, being in EU, I truly
doubt that renegotiating Erasmus and other funding
will be at the top of the list. And that means that
students below me at University that have dreams
of travelling abroad may not be able to do so. With
one of the lowest rates of outward student mobility
in Europe, I don´t want any future students have ANY
barriers in their way. And if we leave and the current
government have their way and reduce freedom of
movement, a UK outside of the EU could be dropped
from the programme - just like Switzerland has been
- which will greatly reduce opportunities for students.
European citizenship can be defined as belonging to
‘value-based communities… complementary rather
than an exclusive identity… an active role of citizens
in their different communities across social, cultural,
economic and political domains’. This description - as
opposed to definition - of European citizenship –
underlies the dynamic complexity of the notion, but is
illuminating in its tentative attempt to outline the core
elements. Perhaps one could argue that Europeans
hold both a ‘national identity’ and a ‘European
citizenship’ which can co-exist: people can and have
been seen to recognise themselves as members of