Lilian Greenwood, Shadow Transport Secretary for the UK Labour Party, has said that Humber ports could be disastrously affected if Britain votes to leave the EU on June 23, 2016, according to the Grimsby Telegraph.
Greenwood said: “The majority of trade comes in from the relationship with Europe and that means that a lot of jobs rely on us being a part of the EU. Here in Immingham, around £20 million [more than US$28 million] has been invested prompted by our European membership.
“If we were to leave it would jeopardise the new opportunities that we have here in renewable energy. We definitely have to look at the infrastructure that serves our ports.”
PTI previously reported that Britain’s exit, or ‘Brexit’, could also have an impact on the commercial shipping sector, as a result of a reworking of trade agreements and currency volatility.
George Orborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer for the UK and Politician for the Conservative Party also recently said that leaving the EU could lead the UK into a year-long recession, according to the BBC.
Those in favour of leaving the EU argue that the EU places too many regulations on the British economy, with those in favour of staying arguing that it will improve trading relationships with the EU.
On April 6, 2016, PTI reported that more people were in favour of leaving the EU, having reached 43% of the total votes.
The votes have since tipped into the opposite direction, with the Financial Times poll tracker showing that the majority of people (47%) now want to stay in the EU.
