If I'm allowed to say important-sounding things. Democracy is the philosophy of making friends on equal terms. Not of creating master-servant relationships like the practices of the European Union. I want to have good friends, and I want to be a good friend to other people. But I don't want a good master or to be a good servant. That's precisely the reason I am not able to like the European Union. -lilin
I think it's pretty damn obvious we aren't going to leave the EU and then join the Schengen Zone. Norway and Switzerland have very different relationships with the EU as it is; but I want us to leave the Single Market entirely. I agree that getting a Norway deal is pure idiocy as that involves having to listen to EU directives without getting to shape them. The sole reason Norway goes along with that deal is because it means it gets to opt-out of the EU Common Fisheries deal; which given the massive size of the Norwegian Fishing Industry, works out very well for it. Our fishing industry would get a similar massive boon if we left, though admittedly we have a smaller base to start from. I think this is one of the lesser recognised reasons why so many coastal towns are pro Brexit though - it's unquestionable that the Fishing Industry would benefit greatly from Brexit; and it isn't the only industry that would.
Leaving the common market and enacting Trade Tariffs would also be a big boost for our beleaguered Steel Industry - as it would mean we could whack massive tariffs on the Chinese steel that is flooding the market right now. We can't do that right now unless the EU does it centrally, because otherwise the French could buy Chinese Steel and then sell it to us, making a small profit but still undercutting British Steel. Might even force the government to seriously back new investment in manufacturing within the UK, too.
Very unlikely. Trade deals that size take years to negotiate - TTIP itself has been under negotiation for nearly a decade now. And given the likelihood of a change in governance; plus the widespread public opposition to TTIP in general (along with Labour fighting it), I'd say any TTIP-like deal will be shot in the water once we're out of the EU. Admittedly I think it's increasingly likely the EU will reject it too, but the fact that such a horrific deal has been on the table for so long despite the public outrage against it across the Union really shows what the EU's motives are - and it ain't protecting the people.
yeah it's true that the UK will be pressured regardless of being in or out of the EU, the difference will be that in 2020, when all of the migrants in Germany and France will be able to legally travel around the EU countries, they won't be able to come here
agreed but EU migrants aren't syrian migrants, and we don't have to be in the EU the import skilled people from the EU
If Al Gore had won, the only thing we'd ever have to worry about is Manbearpig
deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Reminder that the word "Brexit" is a horribly constructed portmanteau
deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Reminder that the average EU migrant pays more in tax revenue than the average UK person and are also less likely to claim benefits
deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Reminder that the UK will not be stopped from being internationally pressured into taking refugees if we leave the EU and that it has nothing to do with the EU and are refugee intake is already ridiculously comparatively small
deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Reminder that Nigel Farage's favourite countries Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are all part of the Schengen Zone despite being outside of the EU and having no say on the directives they have to comply to
deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Actually a staggeringly large amount of economists and every single major economic institution backs the remain campaign because they realise the importance of being part of the world's largest single market and the effect on trade of dropping out of it
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deleteddeletedabout 10 years ago
Reminder that anyone wanting to vote out is dumb and stupid
I was working. Might watch it tomorrow, but given how they're arguing from a right wing perspective I will never have I doubt I'll be all that convinced by either side.
Well you've managed to make everything you've previously said look intelligent just by giving it this statement to compare to.
the eu belongs in the trash. only 14% of british economists oppose brexit, because economists are intelligent. the people voting stay are doing so because either they're scared of change, or because they want to be compassionate to a load of migrants even though the migrant issue isn't what it's mainly about. do some F***************ing research before you run with the first idea left wing celebrities that hardly spend any time in the country trick you into signing off on even though you will be forced to live with a lower quality of life. the real way to help the refugees would be to spend money fixing the places that they're coming from instead of just taking them in and letting them F things up here. DUCKheads
Won't high amounts of refugees entering Europe, unless they and their children are eventually sent back to Syria, cause more home-grown terrorism? Cuz you know, there's more second-generation Muslims to become terrorists?
No they have not. Which is good; given that Brussels and Paris were both committed out by home-grown or legally entered terrorists. Only one of the entire group of 20-30 terrorists had crossed into Europe as a 'refugee'.
Home-grown terrorism is a far far far bigger threat than terrorists hiding in the refugees. The people blowing our cities up are the same people the refugees are running away from. We're brothers in arms in the same conflict.
As for Cologne - that goes back to what I said earlier and terrible local governance and planning. Merkel's unilateral open door policy was indeed ridiculous though, and the results were predictable.
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