Some of Nottinghamshire’s leading political and business figures will face each other in a one-off EU Referendum debate broadcast on Notts TV tonight.
Tuesday’s programme will see supporters of the Remain and Leave campaigns argue the pros and cons of a Brexit.
The debate will be broadcast on Tuesday, June 21 at 9pm on Notts TV and will be repeated on Wednesday, June 22 at 8pm.
It will address the impact of Brexit on jobs, the economy, law, immigration and more for a one-off edition of the Notts TV Debate.
Get involved in the debate with the hashtag #NottsTVDebate on Twitter and see our Facebook page for updates.
You can watch the show on Notts TV on Freeview Channel 7, Virgin 159 or Sky 117.
Here’s a run-down of our panel line-up.
Appearing in favour of remaining in the European Union;
Mark Spencer MP is a Conservative who declared his support for the remain position early in the contest. He has been MP for Sherwood since 2010.
On announcing his decision to back staying in, he said: “The EU is far from perfect. Nobody thinks it is. But I just don’t think that we should walk away from decades of co-operation on security, trade, labour rights at work, and a host of other areas where real progress has been made to better people’s lives.”
His family business, in Lambley in Nottinghamshire, is a former dairy farm which grew to employ around 50 local people, producing vegetables, eggs, beef and lamb.
Lilian Greenwood MP is Shadow Secretary of State for Transport and has been a Labour MP for Nottingham South since 2010. She has held a shadow transport role since 2011, first as a shadow minister and then as a shadow secretary of state from 2015.
She has underlined the importance of the EU to infrastructure, saying in May: “The EU is a vital source of funding for national and local projects. Whether it’s Crossrail, new IEP trains, or major ports upgrades, there is often European funding behind the transport improvements we desperately need.”
Appearing in favour of leaving the union;
Roger Helmer MEP has been a UK Independence Party member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands since 1999 and has lived in the region for 30 years. He is also the UKIP spokesman on energy and industry.
On the EU he has stated: “I have come to realise over the years that the European Union is beyond reform, and that the only solution for Britain is to leave, and establish a simple Free Trade Deal with the EU.”
Ewan Lamont is the CEO of Nottingham-based firm Legendary Games. He had previously been in favour of remaining in the union but says his views changed because of his experiences in business.
He has said: “The EU has taken a bit of a downer on digital businesses in particular. It makes the assumption that we are all super big mega corps like Facebook and Microsoft so we are increasingly burdened with rules that are hard to implement and at best pointless.”
“The referendum is a choice between staying a half committed member of an expensive club that makes our lives slightly worse, or re-joining the rest of the world and succeeding as an independent nation.”
