Dear Students,
On 23 June, voters will decide in a referendum whether or not the UK continues to be a member of the European Union. The result will affect all our futures. We represent a number of academic disciplines, as well as a range of political persuasions. We strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to register and to vote, whatever their position in the debate. At the same time, it is our sincere view that Britain should remain in the EU. In this letter, we outline our reasons for supporting continued membership.
First, the economy. Britain is presently part of the world’s largest single market: nearly 50% of British trade is with the rest of the EU, and it is estimated that over three million jobs in this country are connected to membership. But the EU is far more than a free-trade area. Membership gives UK citizens the right to live, study and work in 27 other European countries. It guarantees progress towards equal pay for men and women. It provides us with common environmental and food-safety standards, security of food supply, consumer protection and a floor of basic employment rights. The EU also provides significant resources for scientific research that benefit British universities.
Second, politics. The EU is a force for progressive values. It champions our civil and political rights, and has outlawed discrimination based on gender, race, sexuality or disability. Although it has its shortcomings, the EU is subject to more democratic accountability than any other international organisation. Crucially, membership allows us to influence EU laws. It also allows us to play a role in reforming the EU’s institutions and procedures. Were Britain to leave the EU, it might be allowed to stay in the single market, but it would no longer have a say on deciding its rules or shaping its future.
Third, people. The right of free movement for EU citizens hugely benefits the UK. It boosts our economy and enriches us culturally. Universities in particular benefit from the rights of students and world-class researchers and teachers to move freely. Moreover, many hundreds of thousands of British people live, study and work in other EU countries. We will all be poorer if we lose this right.
Fourth, regional peace and stability. The EU has helped to keep the peace in Western Europe since its foundation. Before 1945, Europe was regularly devastated by conflict and war. Economic interdependence now makes war unthinkable between member states. The EU has also promoted the consolidation and spread of liberal democracy, in post-war Germany and Italy, in post-authoritarian Spain, Portugal and Greece, and most recently in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. For these reasons, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012.
In short, the economic, political, cultural and strategic benefits of remaining in the EU are enormous. Membership underpins peace and prosperity in our part of the world and vastly improves our lives. To us the choice is clear, which is why we are supporting remaining in the EU.
Yours,
- Dr Nicholas Allen, Reader in Politics
- Dr Joana Almeida, Teaching Fellow in Sociology
- Professor Richard Alston, Professor of Roman History
- Dr Stephanos Anastasiadis, Lecturer in Sustainability
- Professor Dan Anderberg, Professor of Economics
- Dr Michael Bacon, Senior Lecturer in Political Theory
- Dr Jesper Bagger, Senior Lecturer in Economics
- Professor Rachel Beckles Willson, Professor of Music
- Dr Daniel Beer, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History
- Dr Giacomo Benedetto, Senior Lecturer in Politics
- Professor James Bennett, Professor of Media Arts
- Professor Daniela Berghahn, Professor of Film Studies
- Dr Mark Berry, Senior Lecturer in Music
- Professor Derek Blundell, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics
- Professor Laszlo Bogre, Professor in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology
- Dr Veronique Boisvert, Reader in Physics
- Dr Jens Bolte, Reader in Applied Mathematics
- Dr Victoria Bourne, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Professor Andrew Bowie, Professor of Philosophy and German
- Dr Donna Brown, Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations and Managerial Economics
- Professor Mark Brown, Professor in Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation
- Professor Ian Candy, Professor of Geography
- Dr Benedetta Cappellini, Senior Lecturer in Marketing
- Dr Daniel Carey, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Psychology
- Dr Elisa Carrus, Postdoctoral Teaching Associate in Psychology
- Dr Christie Carson, Reader in Shakespeare and Performance
- Dr Lorenzo Cavallaro, Reader in Information Security
- Professor Sandra Cavallo, Professor of Early Modern History
- Professor Andrew Chadwick, Professor of Political Science
- Professor Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas
- Dr Andreas Chatzidakis, Senior Lecturer in Marketing
- Dr Philip Chen, Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences
- Professor Arnaud Chevalier, Professor of Economics
- Professor Carlos Cid, Professor of Information Security
- Professor Neil Conway, Professor of Organisational Behaviour
- Dr Ruth Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in French
- Professor Polly Dalton, Professor of Psychology
- Dr Antara Datta, Lecturer in International Relations
- Mr Rhys Davies, Senior Lecturer in Media Arts
- Dr Fabrizio DeDonno, Lecturer in Italian
- Professor Veronica della Dora, Professor of Human Geography
- Professor Rainer Dietmann, Professor of Mathematics
- Dr Mike Dolton, Senior Lecturer in Geography
- Mr Mike Dormer, Senior Lecturer Media Arts
- Dr Szonya Durant, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Professor Gavin Drewry, Emeritus Professor of Public Administration
- Dr Tom Dyson, Senior Lecturer in International Relations
- Professor Robert Eaglestone, Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought
- Professor John Ellis, Professor of Media Arts
- Professor Matthias Eschrig, Professor of Physics
- Professor Francesco Feri, Professor of Economics
- Professor José Fiadeiro, Professor of Computer Science
- Dr Robert Fitzgerald, Reader in Business History and International Management
- Dr Pierre-Olivier Fortin, Lecturer in Economics
- Professor Manolis Galenianos, Professor of Economics
- Dr Julia Gallagher, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations
- Mr Adam Ganz, Reader in Media Arts
- Professor Helen Gilbert, Professor of Theatre
- Dr Liz Gloyn, Lecturer in Classics
- Professor Michael Gold, Professor of Comparative Employment Relations
- Dr Maris Goldmanis, Senior Lecturer in Economics
- Ms Gillian Gordon, Senior Lecturer in Media Arts
- Professor Helen Graham, Professor of Modern Spanish History
- Professor Christopher Grey, Professor of Organisation Studies
- Professor Sandra Halperin, Professor of International Relations
- Professor Daniel Hamermesh, Professor of Economics
- Professor Ruth Harvey, Professor of Medieval Occitan Literature
- Dr Harriet Hawkins, Reader in Geography
- Mr Chris Howorth, Senior Lecturer in Organisational Strategy
- Dr Rob Hughes, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Dr Grégoire Ithier, Lecturer in Physics
- Dr Alana James, Lecturer in Psychology
- Professor Vincent Jansen, Professor of Mathematical Biology
- Dr Emily Jeremiah, Senior Lecturer in German and Gender Studies
- Dr Stefano Jossa, Reader in Italian
- Dr Nikolas Kauer, Senior Lecturer in Physics
- Dr Innes M. Keighren, Reader in Historical Geography
- Dr Johannes Kinder, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
- Dr Christos Kremmydas, Senior Lecturer in Greek History
- Dr Endrit Kromidha, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Professor Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies
- Dr Jonas Larsson, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Dr Elli Leadbeater, Reader in Molecular Ecology
- Dr Bryce Lease, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre
- Professor Gerhard Leubner, Professor of Plant Biochemistry
- Dr Ruth Livesey, Reader in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Thought
- Dr Enrique López-Juez, Senior lecturer in Plant Development
- Dr Melanie Lührmann, Senior Lecturer in Economics
- Dr Olga Luzón, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology
- Dr Carolyn McGettigan, Reader in Psychology
- Dr Edward Madigan, Lecturer in Public History
- Dr Andrea Mammone, Lecturer in Modern European History
- Professor Keith Martin, Professor of Information Security
- Dr Arantza Mayo, Lecturer in Hispanic Studies
- Professor Mandy Merck, Professor of Media Arts
- Dr Alice Milner, Lecturer in Geography
- Dr Alister Miskimmon, Reader in European Politics and International Relations
- Professor Jay Mistry, Professor of Environmental Geography
- Professor Fiona Moore, Professor of Business Anthropology
- Professor Anna Morcom, Professor of Ethnomusicology
- Dr David Morritt, Reader in Aquatic Ecology
- Mr Rudolf Muhs, Senior Lecturer in European History
- Professor Wolfgang Müller, Professor of Isotope Geochemistry
- Dr Philip Neary, Lecturer in Economics
- Dr Lara Nettelfield, Senior Lecturer in International Relations
- Professor Helen Nicholson, Professor of Theatre and Performance
- Professor Brita Nucinkis, Professor of Mathematics
- Professor Ben O’Loughlin, Professor of International Relations
- Mr Justin O’Brien, Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Marketing
- Dr Gül Berna Özcan, Reader in International Business and Entrepreneurship
- Dr Adrian Palmer, Research Officer in Physical Geography
- Dr Alexis Papazoglou, Lecturer in Philosophy
- Professor Kenny Paterson, Professor of Information Security
- Professor Giuliana Pieri, Professor of Italian
- Dr Steve Portugal, Senior Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Physiology
- Dr Anna Posazhennikova, Lecturer in Physics
- Dr Geraint Price, Senior Lecturer in Information Security
- Dr Robert Priest, Lecturer in French History
- Professor Kathy Rastle, Professor of Cognitive Psychology
- Professor Chris Rees, Professor of Employment Relations
- Dr Jessie Ricketts, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Dr Rüdiger Riesch, Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology
- Dr Leonardo Rinaldi, Senior Lecturer in Accounting
- Dr Rebecca Roache, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy
- Professor Eric Robertson, Professor of Modern French Literary and Visual Culture
- Dr Juan Pablo Rud, Senior Lecturer in Economics
- Professor Chris Rumford, Professor of Political Sociology and Global Politics
- Professor Alessio Sancetta, Professor of Economics
- Professor Rüdiger Schack, Professor of Mathematics
- Dr Catherine Sebastian, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Dr Jonathan Seglow, Reader in Political Theory
- Dr Hugh Shanahan, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
- Professor Anne Sheppard, Professor of Ancient Philosophy
- Dr Will Shüler, Teaching Fellow in Drama and Theatre
- Professor David Simon, Professor of Development Geography
- Dr James Sloam, Reader in Politics and International Relations
- Dr Kaat Smets, Senior Lecturer in Politics (Quantitative Methods)
- Professor Chris Smith, Professor of Organisation Studies and Comparative Management
- Dr Giovanni Sordi, Lecturer in Physics
- Professor Mike Spagat, Professor of Economics
- Professor Laura Spence, Professor of Business Ethics
- Dr Efrossini Spentzou, Reader in Latin
- Dr Tim Stevens, Teaching Fellow in International Relations
- Professor Gillian Symon, Professor of Organisation Studies
- Dr Shzr Ee Tan, Senior Lecturer in Music
- Dr Hannah Thompson, Reader in French
- Dr Varyl Thorndycraft, Senior Lecturer in Geography
- Dr Ashley Thorpe, Senior Lecturer in Theatre
- Dr Allan Tomlinson, Senior Lecturer in Information Security
- Dr Ija Trapeznikova, Senior Lecturer in Economics
- Professor Manos Tsakiris, Professor of Psychology
- Dr Cristian Vaccari, Reader in Politics
- Dr Sigrun Wagner, Senior Lecturer in International Business and Sustainability
- Mr Nik Wakefield, Teaching Fellow in Drama and Theatre
- Professor John Wann, Professor of Psychology
- Dr Dawn Watling, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
- Dr Anna Whitelock, Reader in Early Modern History
- Professor Nathan Widder, Professor of Political Theory
- Dr Martin Widmer, Reader in Pure Mathematics
- Professor David Williams, Professor of Performance Practices
- Professor Katie Willis, Professor of Human Geography
- Dr Karl-Andrew Woltin, Teaching Fellow in Psychology
- Dr Agnes Woolley, Lecturer in Contemporary Literature
- Dr Rafael J. Yáñez-Muñoz, Reader in Advanced Therapy
- Dr David Yuratich, Lecturer in Law
- Professor Johannes M. Zanker, Professor of Neuroscience
- Dr Jinghan Zeng, Lecturer in International Relations
- Dr Anica Zeyen, Lecturer in Strategy and Sustainability
- Professor Elizabeth Schafer, Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies
- Dr Daniel Le Heron, Reader in Earth Sciences
- Dr Jürgen Adam, Senior Lecturer in Structural Geology