According to the media many people have yet to decide which way they are going to vote in the European Union referendum on June 23^rd.

To listen to politicians both for and against the EU is to be bombarded by facts and figures based on speculation, surmise and, predominantly in the case of the pro-EU politicians, scaremongering. Nobody knows for sure what the financial cost will be one way or the other and frankly, the cost is irrelevant, as are the arguments on safety and security

The only relevant issue in this debate, and one that few have highlighted, is the issue of freedom. We, the electorate have to decide whether we want our country to determine its own future or have decisions made for us by a federation of European states.

As an independent United Kingdom we are governed by the political parties we vote into power and who we can vote out again after 5 years should we be unhappy with them. It is called democracy and accountable government. No such democracy or accountability exists in the EU where we are governed by unelected members of the European Commission accountable to nobody.

It may well be that we will be financially better off by staying in the EU (a moot point) but so what? You cannot put a price on freedom and, throughout history, peoples and countries (including our own) have fought to gain or protect their independence and freedom. We must not allow ourselves to be bought and sold on the whim of political idealists or fat-cat businessmen getting rich from trading in the EU. Freedom is price-less.

Here is a useful analogy for those yet to decide. If you were an animal would you prefer to be one which is fed, watered and cared for in captivity with a third party responsible for your welfare? Or would you rather be outside of the secure fence, free to come and go as you please, making your decisions freely and with sole responsibility for your own destiny? I know which one I would rather be.