There is now just 10 days to go until the EU referendum decides the fate of the UK with the polls neck and neck, but it is other battles in Europe that are stealing all the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Today, Russia were given a suspended disqualification from the FIFA European Championships following disgraceful scenes after England’s opening game in the tournament.

Despite facing expulsion from the competition and a 150euro fine, there is little contrition from the Russians. Even their striker, Artem  Dzyuba who plays for Zenit St. Petersburg, accused the British media of having the impression that England supporters are angels who just behave themselves. He added “you have to be objective, there is 50-50 in every conflict. I don’t see that Russia’s fans are the only ones at fault”.

Dzyuba has a point, there were some ugly scenes involving English fans before the game reminiscent of days gone by when so called English fans brought shame on us in the 70’s and 80’s.

 While it appears the incidents involving the English before the game were isolated the reputation of English football is once again being dragged through the mud. More worrying though, is the apparent pride some Russian commentators seem to have in the skills and viciousness of their fans. Violent clashes during Russian domestic games are fairly commonplace and footage of the riots regularly end up on social media sites. In fairness to the Russian football authorities, their Union have expressed regret about the behaviour of their fans, accepting that the suspended expulsion is right however other senior officials are quoted as calling the hooligans “real men”.

One Russian MP, Igor Lebedev said “I don’t see anything terrible about fans fighting, quite the opposite- the guys did well. Keep it up”. He also claimed that the lads had defended the honour of their country. A Russian fan from Moskow, said proudly “this shows who is most important among hooligans”. He went as far as to say that Russian thugs are younger, fitter and more sober than their English counterparts.

Andrei Malosalov, co-founder of the Russian fans union said “now many people are boxers or into martial arts, and Russian hooligans often follow a very healthy way of life, avoiding alcohol which used to be part of the subculture”. Astonishingly he told the BBC that the students have outgrown their masters.

It appears that the Russian’s involved see this mindless violence as a sport. It is not a sport. It is cowardice and stupid and there is no place for it in football stadia or in society. FIFA must adopt a zero tolerance approach, not only expelling Russia (and any other country )but coming down heavily on domestic clubs whose supporters riot. Forcing clubs to play behind closed doors would be a way to ensure safety of the players and would also hit the pockets of the clubs until the regulating bodies take the matter seriously.

It would be wrong to suggest that only Russia are responsible for the terrifying scenes this week, but with the 2018 World Cup being held in Russia it is particularly important that the behaviour is stamped out quickly. If FIFA wants to drag its own reputation out of the gutter following recent corruption charges, it must be much more transparent and responsible when deciding who hosts the tournament and should consider suitability of grounds, facilities, security and fans rather than simply taking account of who can fill the fattest brown envelope. With security in France supposedly being stepped up amid terrorist atrocities around the world, it is extremely alarming that Russian fans were able to take fireworks into the ground for the England game. It would be unwise to level all the criticism at French authorities though as they have limited resources and much of their time and attention was spent dealing with the hooligans. Would those proud violent men who think they defended the honour of their country be as proud if it meant that a bomb was able to pass through security or a machine gun toting maniac entered the packed ground? It is a football tournament for football fans. The fans around the world should be allowed to enjoy the spectacle in peace and safety. Anyone who doesn’t want to watch the football should stay home and anyone found guilty of violence at a match should be banned for life as well as face a spell in prison. We do not want to go back to the bad old days where real supporters are scared to take their kids to games.

"The Tories do not have a track record of prioritising the people of the North"

With only weeks to go until the EU referendum much of the debate still revolves around either the economy or immigration. I wanted to know what the effect would be not only on the country but on me personally as a man living in in Yorkshire. I asked Linda McAvan, MEP for the area whether she thought that a university city such as Sheffield, who’s economy depends largely on our tens of thousands of students,  would be less attractive to foreign students from both inside and outside the EU should we decide to leave.

She says “Visa free travel and the right to live, work and study in another EU country makes studying in the UK significantly easier for EU students.  Students, including UK students, can participate in study abroad programmes like Erasmus, Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, and Erasmus + all of which receive maintenance to help cover living costs.  Currently, EU students are treated as ‘home students’ meaning they pay the same fees as their UK contemporaries.  Brexit could change the status of EU/ European Economic Area (EEA) students to that of international students. Students from non EU/ EEA countries pay significantly higher to attend university in the UK.   

 EU membership has also provided access to considerable funding streams such as the Horizon 2020 fund which provides the UK with £8.5bn for research and development. Much of this money goes into University research programmes.  Access to such funding assists in the hiring of the best and most skilled academics from across the European Union. This collectively has a substantial impact on the quality of teaching and placement opportunities for students. Better learning opportunities enhance the student experience and contribute to the quality of degree programmes.   

EU students contribute £3.7bn to the UK economy. If fewer EU students started coming to the UK to study due to visa and finance issues such as the rising cost of fees, student numbers will reduce, this will have a knock on consequence on staffing levels as Universities will have less money. Less resources will be put into degrees and universities would have difficulty attracting the best staff to teach courses.  This would leave the UK trying to compete for EU and international students.

It is worth pointing out that in the event of a Brexit the UK could join the EEA just like Norway or Switzerland which would give us access to the EU single market. This however would require the UK to agree to the free movement of people, pay a contribution to the EU budget, and require adherence to EU rules and regulations without consultation or having a seat at the negotiating table”.

My second question was whether the North of England will suffer more than the South in the event of an out vote.

She told me “Economic differences already exist between the North and the South. Tory policies in the 80s and 90’s had a devastating economic impact on areas like South Yorkshire. EU investment through the programmes such as Objective 1&2, the European Regional Development Fund, and European Structural Fund put money back into the region. If Brexit happens, it will do so under a conservative government. The Tories do not have a track record of prioritising the people of the North”.

I asked Linda if she thought immigration was as big an issue as we are led to believe or is the real issue that we don’t have enough hospitals, schools or houses being built making immigrants simply an easy target. She said “The policies of the current government and the previous coalition government did not do enough to support the development of schools, hospitals and houses. The Affordable Housing Bill put forward by the Tories has done nothing to alleviate the housing crisis. In fact, home ownership has fallen in the past 6 years and rents have sky rocketed. Other EU countries have much higher EU migration.  Norway, for example, has higher EU migration than the UK in terms of proportion of their population. Unfortunately, Immigrants are always an easy target but lack of coherent policies from the government is at the root of these issues.

My conclusion from talking to Linda and previously her colleague Richard Corbett, is that locally, the people of cities like Sheffield will undoubtedly be worse off if we leave the EU. There are many cities in the UK that are very similar to Sheffield that would suffer also. I’m convinced that what the two MEPs are telling me is at least credible and almost certainly true. I am yet to hear an argument from the brexiteers that has credibility or evidence.

Only a vote to remain will allow us any certainty and stability.