EU referendum: Brexit 'could weaken Nato', says top US general

[Grouse]

Evening all!

BTW, whereas I quite enjoyed the Colonal Blimp comment, I'm actually an engineer.

The overall thrust of my argument is that this is neither a simple nor obvious decision.

Sadly, it is necessary to filter the rhetoric and read around the issues

Be careful of statistics, 78% of all statistics are made up on the spur of the moment

Most of MY "facts" come from The Economist which generally has a good record

I will contribute a number of items which support, on balance, staying in and pushing for reform from within

Today, let's consider cost

1) UK contributes 0.5% of GDP to the EU budget

2) NET contribution PER HEAD is 9 out of 10 contributing countries

3) NET contribution as a proportion of GDP is smallest of all EU countries

So, it's a great deal of money. But it doesn't keep me awake at night

Finally, this is NOT off topic. A powerful EU wields great soft power. I suspect Putin is more concerned about EU sanctions than about NATO tanks