Fig,there is no right or wrong answer. I would also like each country to keep its own identity AND SOVEREIGNTY. Europe clearly isn't working when you look at the way the Euro is crippling countries like Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. The Euro was set up to fail and in doing so precipitate the crisis that forces fiscal union and the creation of a European Superstate. Power moves further from the people and democracy suffers, although it is debatable whether it would be any worse than what we have now. Europe is a monster that will grow as many heads as we allow.
It's entirely possible to maintain individual national identity within a federated Europe, it's not as if England is a bland homologous place and we're all one country and have been for over a thousand years. No one would suggest that Yorkshire and Kent have similar characteristics. Europe clearly is working when you consider the support given to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Greece. If the population is so concerned about European power growing why do EUor elections draw such ludicrously low turnout?
The Euro caused the problems in the PIIGS, it is not the solution. It is like a drug dealer offering more drugs to offset withdrawal.
Germany has tried many times to run europe and they have fecked it up again without firing a gun.... Followed closely by the french who always give in to germany and roll over... Can we vote yet? Saw a poll today from random everyday people and so far the swing is to leave big style.. I wish the waffle on clever types would give it a rest and let the simple folks decide for themselves. But then years ago only simple folk bought ducatis. ..............
It may have exacerbated the problems, although that's open to debate, but the economic problems were there long before the Euro came along, Greece for example systematically spent more than it earned and steadfastly refused to pay any taxes, the whole culture was one of a black economy. Spain has nearly 25% of the population out of work, Ireland had an economy that was artificially inflated by government policy. I could go on but one line answers do not get close to covering the causes of extremely complex economic models, to simply blame it on the Euro is simplistic at best and wrong. Whatever happened to Italy, Spain and Greece would have happened whatever their currency, being part of the Euro means there is a safety net to bail them out.
The point being though that they now have their hands tied behind their backs and are dependent upon handouts. Ireland's economy overheated because of massive injections of European money, first get them hooked then squeeze them dry. Greece never should have been allowed to join, the end result was forecast by many. But it suits the agenda, precipitate the crisis which triggers the fiscal integration.
Quite true but out of the euro they could influence their own currency value and stimulate growth. Now they have an overpriced currency and are becoming less competitive compared to say sterling when they should be doing the opposite. A lot of Irelands problems along with Spain was their bursting property bubble and corruption. With the likes of Greece and Spain relying so much on outside money supporting their economy in the form of tourists or property buyers, then a high currency value in a recession was destined to end bad. Not really sure they or the policy makers know quite how and when they get out of this one. Ultimately it can only be huge right offs by lenders when the Euro zone is strong enough to weather the market reaction to that. As a business i just want stability Eurozone or not. As my business activity partly requires foot fall, i personally see how bad economic news here or in the euro zone hits customer confidence in the short term. Bads news on Monday, slow business on Tuesday and sometimes for weeks after. No exageration it really is that noticeable. It's hard to predict anything when the goal posts keep moving.
as long as the uk pumps in £10 billion a year more into the eu than it gets back and as long as the eu meddles with the day to day running of the uk there is a very strong case to leave the eu if the uk can renegotiate the current deal to rectify this then there may well be a case to stay in the eu, but bottom line is when the eu will not allow us to remove terrorists from the uk something is horribly wrong
People think that the EU and the ECHR are all part of the same department. Meetings on trade agreements in the morning, ordering the release of terrorists in the afternoon, that sort of thing.
Just people are confused over the precise make up of the institutions surrounding the EU doesn't mean that their concerns over how those institutions function are unfounded. To dismiss those concerns out of hand is patronising.
The EHCR is a completely separate organisation from the EU. The membership, remit and scope of it's role is entirely different, leaving the EU would have as much bearing on our being influenced by EHCR decisions as it would on our being influenced by European Weather systems. They all have "European" in the title but that's the end of it. The poor level of understanding of the differences is being deliberately driven by the mendacious within our press to drive their own agenda, to then decry the EU as being undemocratic when the argument against is based on half truths and outright lies from a severely biased unelected and unaccountable media is bordering on satire.
But the eu now want to oversee the suggested media watchdog in this country and the rest of europe. who watches the watchers
But that's not entirely the case, is it? According to The Indy they want independent groups with real power to investigate and regulate the press It's hardly surprising the UK press are spreading alarm about the proposals!
If anyone didn't watch "this week" last night then there were 5 politicians and Andrew Neal all saying there won't be a Referendum. Because Big Dave can not win a majority at the next election and nobody he can form a credible coalition with will back it. It's a political headline grabber he hopes he never has to deliver on.
So you would rather have us follow the likes of George Soros who made billions betting against the UK. And Tony Blair who criticised Dave for being so vulgar as to offer the people a referendum when in his day deals were done behind closed doors. There is an alternative legitimate viewpoint that leaving the EU would be in the best interests of the people of the UK. That might be an incorrect view and only the future can hold the answer to that question but what is beyond question is the fact that the EU is run by elites for elites and not for the benefit of the common man in countries like Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain who will be living in poverty and surviving on handouts for decades as a direct result of EU policy.
It is possible, although in my view unlikely, that not being in the EU would be in the best interests of the UK however questionable personal opinions like are open to question and are not, no matter how often you say it, facts.
When someone repeatedly displays their sheer ignorance of a subject, even when the facts have been explained to them before, it is not at all "patronising" to explain them yet again - it's just being helpful and patient.
George Soros famously realised that the policies of Norman Lamont as Chancellor of the Exchequer were hopelessly doomed, and on the basis of that made a one-way bet on the currency markets. That is how he made billions. It's absurd to say he "bet against the UK". Not that that has anything to do with the topic under discussion.
