The large garden room at the Larruperz Centre in Ross-on-Wye was full to capacity on Saturday morning, May 7th when MP Jesse Norman hosted a question and answer session for local residents considering their vote in the EU referendum.

There was about 200 people listening to Anthea McIntyre MEP, a conservative who is backing the In campaign and James Carver, a UKIP MEP, who wants to see Britain out of the EU.

It was obvious that many members of the audience had already decided which way they were going to vote but probably the most high profile person there who has not stated his intention is the local MP, Jesse Norman. Even when heckled and asked if he owed it to his constituency to declare his intentions he categorically stated that it was no-one’s business but his own.

He said he had arranged the meeting so that he could hear the various points and would make his decision in private.

One gentleman compared the decision to an acrimonious divorce. He said even in the most difficult situations the couple has usually moved on after about six years but any children affected by the divorce would be affected for a lot longer.

This point was echoed by other members of the audience who appealed to the younger generation to get involved in the debate as the decision would affect them the most in years to come.