EU Vote

[Fleetwood Mac]

Surprised there's no thread on the referendum. Have I missed it?

[GUT]

Surprised there's no thread on the referendum. Have I missed it?

I haven't seen one.

[Tom_Wescott]

As an American I'm curious to know what the advantages are if Britain left the EU. And what the advantages are if you stayed. I haven't seen an objective report on it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[rbaynton]

As an American I'm curious to know what the advantages are if Britain left the EU. And what the advantages are if you stayed. I haven't seen an objective report on it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Thats because there is hardly any objective info around. Both sides relying on scare tactics and panic scenarios!

[John Wheat]

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.

[Robert]

Basically anyone who still thinks Britain has an empire will vote out and anyone who thinks the Germans have an empire will vote to stay in.

[Phil Carter]

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

[Mayerling]

The New York Times today had an article about the upcoming vote on the EU in England, and it pointed out that polls throughout Europe noted a majority in ten member states dislike it. However, when broken down, the younger generation seem more inclined to like it than the older ones.

Jeff

[Robert]

Jeff, do not doubt that there will be sober discussion of the issues - very sober indeed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPgiI46FCDU

[Harry D]

Voting 'Out'.

Because whatever David Cameron wants for the country can't be good.

[Robert]

Oh, Cameron doesn't want anything for the country. Those visionary eyes of his long ago ceased to gaze upon petty national politics. The man's a statesman. The fate of Europe - nay, the world - rests in his hands.

Cometh the hour, cometh the mouse.

[Mayerling]

Oh, Cameron doesn't want anything for the country. Those visionary eyes of his long ago ceased to gaze upon petty national politics. The man's a statesman. The fate of Europe - nay, the world - rests in his hands.

Cometh the hour, cometh the mouse.

Hi Robert,

I take it, it is another "mouse that roared"?

Jeff

[Robert]

It depends who Cameron's talking to, Jeff - when he's talking to the British, he lays down the law with a firm hand. When he's talking to Merkel, he goes all shy.

[Mayerling]

It depends who Cameron's talking to, Jeff - when he's talking to the British, he lays down the law with a firm hand. When he's talking to Merkel, he goes all shy.

Gee, it makes one wonder who won the war.

[Fleetwood Mac]

As an American I'm curious to know what the advantages are if Britain left the EU. And what the advantages are if you stayed. I haven't seen an objective report on it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

The chances are you won't get an objective report from anyone, obviously any opinion is built upon his/her ideas.

There are all sorts of arguments going on, but in my opinion when you get past the small detail there are one or two significant concerns in no particular order:

Firstly, we, the English, don't think like them; and that is a monumental problem in a group of 20 odd partners. So, when you hear that we can exert more of an influence by being in the EU then it's certainly only ever to an extent if anything because by and large we don't agree with them on the important matters and so we're a bit of a voice in the wilderness.

Secondly, there are all sorts of arguments going on about minor economic concerns, but the fact is that the EU is a stagnant economy. In fact, Western Europe's share of GDP in the world is declining rapidly. You could point to the rise of China, India and a few more being the reason. But, the United States' share isn't declining: it's steady. Why is that? It's because the United States has values that are more conducive to enterprise. In my opinion our values are much closer to the United States than Europe and we need to get back to what we are as opposed to taking a safety first approach which will only ever achieve mediocrity. The Europeans will point to reconstruction in the aftermath of WW2, but they'll never concede that a huge factor in this was American investment to the tune of billions and the fact that from such a low point growth would inevitably happen with a skilled workforce. What we have now in Europe is stagnation because the boom is over and Europe's centralisation, bureaucracy and mixed economy or Socialism depending upon point of view; is anti-enterprise and will inevitably cause decline.

Thirdly, from a political perspective, so what if it all goes wrong. Better to fail off your own back than succeed off someone else's.