EU Vote

[Fleetwood Mac]

Basically anyone who still thinks Britain has an empire will vote out and anyone who thinks we would be better off in Europe will vote to stay in.

Absolute nonsense.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Hi all,

As one of the few ex-pats on this site that lives in Europe but outside the EU, after 35 years as such I reckon I might just know exactly what would happen to the UK if they voted OUT.

Nothing at all. Nothing drastic. Nothing nasty.
The pound may wobble at first..but wouls settle fown after a while (like the Euro did..remember?)

Both Iceland and here in Norway..people voted "thanks. .but no thanks"..in Norway's case..twice.
They both have good economies.
Norway is the 2nd richest country on the planet. Rvery last kroner of their substantial oil and gas money wrnt into the Norwegian system...With very very much saved..earning masses of interest over the years. It eould not have been that way if Norway was in the EU.....

Fear not GB. You will survive. The only thing that Brits have always been world beaters at..throughout history...is changing the way things are..have been...It was the same rubbish spewed out when the old £sd was abandon for the new penny system. All kinds of worries were forecast. They didnt happen.
Brits are afraid of change. Same old same old. And all of you living in the UK.. from the outside..this vote is seen as refreshingly good. 42% of Danes now want a referendum.

The EU have a problem..if Britain pull out..others may follow. And that means?

No german "empire".

Shame eh?



Phil

An ex-French President had it bang on recently.

He wasn't being anti-British, holding any grudge or anything else, he simply called it how he saw it without all of the spin.

He said something like:

"You need to leave. It'll be better for you and it'll be better for us. Buy being in the European Union you only ever cause problems which aren't good for either of us. Our history is not your history; our politics aren't your politics".

And, take away all the blather and that is as close to an objective opinion as you'll get.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Gee, it makes one wonder who won the war.

The British didn't win the war.

We were pretty much bankrupt after both world wars and this country changed forever, particularly after WW1.

We did end up on the 'winning side' but only at a huge economic and political expense. Both of which we still haven't recovered from.

But, in terms of the British/German relationship. Well, they have say 20 million more people and with a similar work ethic they are always going to be a larger economy (all other things being fairly equal).

So, there's no great shame in giving and taking with Germany.

But then, all of that is besides the point. We don't think like them and so it's not an alliance that can last.

[Ginger]

The last time Germany went off the rails it took the entire British Empire, the old Soviet Union, and the United States to stop them, and it was close at that. I really don't want to see them heading up a united Europe.

[Fleetwood Mac]

The last time Germany went off the rails it took the entire British Empire, the old Soviet Union, and the United States to stop them, and it was close at that. I really don't want to see them heading up a united Europe.

In this instance the pen really is mightier than the sword.

At the outbreak of WW1, German war aims consisted of a few things but one of them was a Western Continental European customs union ran by Germany. Not too far removed from what we have today.

I don't want to be unkind, nor do I want to suggest that Germany is inherently more war inclined than the rest of us because that would be untrue.

But, all of this was borne out of pessimism and fear, particularly on the part of the French. To me, the opportunities we gain from leaving the EU far exceed the potential consequences. The Germans are simply exercising a natural position in the event of a European super-state: they will inevitably be the dominant partner.

We will not leave this time because English people are inherently conservative and don't like change. But, we will leave at some point; it is inevitable. I would say 10 to 15 years.

[John Wheat]

Absolute nonsense.

Bullshit when will people realise we are an Island with an economy that is miniscule when compared to China and the U.S. We would be more powerful in a united Europe.

[jason_c]

Hi all,

As one of the few ex-pats on this site that lives in Europe but outside the EU, after 35 years as such I reckon I might just know exactly what would happen to the UK if they voted OUT.

Nothing at all. Nothing drastic. Nothing nasty.
The pound may wobble at first..but wouls settle fown after a while (like the Euro did..remember?)

Both Iceland and here in Norway..people voted "thanks. .but no thanks"..in Norway's case..twice.
They both have good economies.
Norway is the 2nd richest country on the planet. Rvery last kroner of their substantial oil and gas money wrnt into the Norwegian system...With very very much saved..earning masses of interest over the years. It eould not have been that way if Norway was in the EU.....

Fear not GB. You will survive. The only thing that Brits have always been world beaters at..throughout history...is changing the way things are..have been...It was the same rubbish spewed out when the old £sd was abandon for the new penny system. All kinds of worries were forecast. They didnt happen.
Brits are afraid of change. Same old same old. And all of you living in the UK.. from the outside..this vote is seen as refreshingly good. 42% of Danes now want a referendum.

The EU have a problem..if Britain pull out..others may follow. And that means?

No german "empire".

Shame eh?



Phil

Spot on. The economic consequences of an out vote will be minimal. We'll lose out in some areas and gain in others. I suspect most of the scare-mongerers know this. The major consequences shall be political.

[Fleetwood Mac]

Bullshit when will people realise we are an Island with an economy that is miniscule when compared to China and the U.S. We would be more powerful in a united Europe.

How exactly does this power that comes with being part of the European Union manifest itself?

[Robert]

Bullshit when will people realise we are an Island with an economy that is miniscule when compared to China and the U.S. We would be more powerful in a united Europe.

Tell it to the Greeks.

[John Wheat]

Bullshit when will people realise we are an Island with an economy that is miniscule when compared to China and the U.S. We would be more powerful in a united Europe.

Tell it to the Greeks.

The Greeks would be worse off on there own.

[John Wheat]

How exactly does this power that comes with being part of the European Union manifest itself?

So are you saying as an Island we have more power on our own?

[Robert]

The Greeks would be worse off on there own.

They are on their own.

[Fleetwood Mac]

So are you saying as an Island we have more power on our own?

It was your point. You could support it with a spot of reasoning?

[John Wheat]

It was your point. You could support it with a spot of reasoning?

Well if Britain votes no. I hypothesise we will be economically less powerful. Of course if Britain votes to leave the EU I will be either proven correct or incorrect.

[Mayerling]

This is a hard enough problem. The Empire is gone, and one sees the threads of the Commonwealth frayed at the ends. But I'm not so certain that the EU membership is the answer at all. In fact I'm not sure if it is Europe's future.

Everything always looks better on paper than in reality. Reading "The Wealth of Nations" makes one think unfettered capitalism is great - and it is great, but it leaves many people at the bottom. Reading "Capital" one sees the inequities, but the so-called solution of Marx was never more than some vague ideals which got horribly twisted in the 20th Century (and which still have some lingering dangers in China, Russia and elsewhere). Everytime I see some new brilliant idea espoused, I keep realizing it is a brilliant idea of one of mankind, and nothing ever made by man was perfect. There is always an overlooked imperfection, just like the "perfect murders" in Agatha Christie have overlooked flaws that unravel them.

As for Britain...well I keep recalling what Bismarck supposedly said: "The one diplomatic fact that must be kept in mind is that the peoples of the United States and Great Britain both speak english." I suppose he meant that as we have a common language and heritage it meant we have a unity other powers lack.

On the other hand, George Bernard Shaw once said that the British and the United States are two nations divided by a common language. Shaw also suggested a scenario which may lead us nowhere but can end my comments here. In his 1930 play, "The Apple Cart", King Magnus of Great Britain receives a letter from the President of the U.S. (one President Bossfield) that he and Congress have decided to reunify the British Empire and the U.S. by annexing the Empire, and moving the King and his court to Washington, D.C. When the Prime Minister (Proteus) and the cabinet return for a conference with the King, Magnus mentions this offer from the U.S. Proteus turns red and says he has heard of it, and that he'll move the capital to Ottawa, Sydney, or Cape Town first!

Jeff