HE MAY not have declared his own position on the EU referendum yet, but George Hollingbery is giving his constituents plenty of food for thought.

Two panel discussions have been set up by the Meon Valley MP ahead of the referendum – and the 900 seats for these sold out in days.

“I?have been hugely encouraged by the level of interest shown,” he said.

He is chairing the public meetings, one of which was held at Botley last week, with the second in Horndean on March 18, in the “spirit of non-partisanship” to allow for informative debate rather than campaigning from an ‘in’ or ‘out’ stance.

The financial implications, both for people’s pockets and for the nation, were of major concern at last week’s meeting, as were the mechanics of coming out of Europe – how it would work and how long would it take.

“People wanted to know about the legalities and how it would be delivered,” said Mr Hollingbery.

“Then there were the big ticket issues including ‘would the EU survive a leave vote?’”

Mr Hollingbery intends to announce his position immediately after the debate at Horndean Technology College at 7.30pm.

On the panel will be Polish ambassador Witold Sobkow, the highest ranking dignitary to visit the Meon Valley since D-Day in 1944.

Others include Gary Jeffries of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and Richard Ashworth, MEP for the South East.