THE true voice of UK business today urges voters to back Great Britain and go for Brexit.

A hundred small firm bosses have joined forces to warn that only by leaving the EU can we truly be free.

3 Catherine Stanley, 41, of Pinnacle Arts and Crafts in Plymouth, Devon, thinks it will be "easier for people to flourish" without EU red tape Credit: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550

In a letter for The Sun, our nation of shopkeepers calls on readers to BeLEAVE at the polls on Thursday.

Small and medium-sized businesses make up 99 per cent of all UK firms.

And today the leaders of 100 of them argue the ideals of the EU are no longer in the best interests of British business or the British people.

They range from experienced company owners to young entrepreneurs and include migrants who have made this country their home and flourished.

The trades they represent range from butchers and grocers to vaping shop owners and interior designers.

3 Small and medium-sized businesses make up 99 per cent of all UK firms Credit: Getty Images

Their letter says:

Dear Sun readers,

We run some of the five million small businesses that form the backbone of this country. We believe Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and the Brexit camp are right that we must vote to leave the EU on June 23.

When we voted to join Europe in 1975 it was on the basis that the EEC was a trading agreement.

Today’s EU is no longer just a trading agreement. It is a project aimed at creating a massive political and economic union.

We believe many of the ideals of the EU are not in the best interests of British business or the British people.

Small and medium-sized businesses are constantly held back by unnecessary EU regulations and red tape.

We need the freedom to be able to thrive in the 21st century, to trade with other emerging nations and to create jobs for people in our local areas.

We believe the only way to achieve this is to vote to leave the EU.

A vote for Brexit is not a leap into the dark — it is a path to a brighter future.

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Signatory and fruit and veg stall owner Barry Moore, 54, from Newcastle upon Tyne, said: “Being in the

EU means we have to comply with a lot of their laws which causes waste.

“If a cucumber is not straight enough then we have to throw it out even though there is nothing wrong with it just because of the EU.”

I RESENT THEIR INTERFERENCE NIGEL Webb, 58, is co-owner of a hardware shop in Tenterden, Kent. Nigel said: “We’ve seen products we have sold for years disappear. “We can’t sell them — yet they are sold elsewhere. We’ve had customers say, ‘Oh OK, I’ll get it in France’. I’ve always resented the EU’s interference.”

3 The group also blasted Sir Richard Branson yesterday after he claimed Brexit would be a blow to companies Credit: PA:Press Association

And Catherine Stanley, 41, of Pinnacle Arts and Crafts in Plymouth, Devon, added: “I believe it would be easier for people to flourish without all the EU red tape and I am definitely voting out.”

Small businesses also blasted Sir Richard Branson yesterday after he claimed Brexit would be a blow to companies.

The Virgin Group billionaire, 65, issued an open letter claiming the EU made it easier to move

employees and goods.

In his message Branson said: “Although I’ve been living in the British Virgin Islands for some time now, I have never stopped caring about the UK and its great people.

“I remember how difficult it was before the EU. I couldn’t move employees between Britain and Europe without visas, moving goods was complex with high taxes and red tape. I’m saddened to think the UK would go back to that.”

Catherine Stanley said: “He’s a billionaire and I’m lucky to make a living. The richer get richer and the small are trying to do their best.”

And Mr Moore added: “He should keep his nose out of it.”

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