EU referendum

EU referendum

  • In

    Votes: 503 47.9%
  • Out

    Votes: 547 52.1%

  • Total voters
    1,050
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Everyone speculated and talked about UKIP having a huge breakthrough until a couple of weeks before the polls. It didn't happen
No fan of UKIP but it was only the electoral system that stopped them having a breakthrough. They were by far the 3rd most popular party by share of the overall vote. They got over 50% more votes than the Lib Dems and nearly 3 times as many as the SNP but only won one seat.
 
Doubt we'd have a choice if we wanted to be in the EEA. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein all had to be part of it. As you say though, it wouldn't be acceptable politically, so we'd end up outside the EEA and would have to spend years trying to negotiate a deal.

If the eu would buckle for us is guesswork but a lot of what will happen if we man up is
 
Doubt we'd have a choice if we wanted to be in the EEA. Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein all had to be part of it. As you say though, it wouldn't be acceptable politically, so we'd end up outside the EEA and would have to spend years trying to negotiate a deal.
I don't think anyone will have Schengen soon.

And if the uk pulls out then I think we will be followed by quite a few others and the whole thing will come crumbling down. So it won't be much of an issue.
 
If the eu would buckle for us is guesswork but a lot of what will happen if we man up is
is what?
I don't think anyone will have Schengen soon.

And if the uk pulls out then I think we will be followed by quite a few others and the whole thing will come crumbling down. So it won't be much of an issue.
Hope you're right but there's no way of knowing.


If we vote to stay and the European Parliament subsequently doesn't ratify Cameron's deal, it should be made clear there will be another referendum.
 
is what?

Hope you're right but there's no way of knowing.


If we vote to stay and the European Parliament subsequently doesn't ratify Cameron's deal, it should be made clear there will be another referendum.

If we stay in which we almost certainly will then the end result is a federal Europe, we will be nudged there a bit at a time and every tactic will be used to deceive the people of Europe. It would be better if they held a Europe wide referendum and just said federal Europe or trade only no inbetween settle it once and for all.
 
If we stay in which we almost certainly will then the end result is a federal Europe, we will be nudged there a bit at a time and every tactic will be used to deceive the people of Europe. It would be better if they held a Europe wide referendum and just said federal Europe or trade only no inbetween settle it once and for all.
There'd only be one winner.
 
I know which is why the fuckers won't do it, shitbags
Which is why it's so crucial we vote for Brexit. This will throw a spanner in the works and make the EU politicians think again. A vote for remain gives them a green light to carry on down the road they're travelling down. People intending to vote to stay need to think long and hard about this.
 
Bloody hell you Brexiteers don't half make up some totally unsubstantiated shit in your speculation.
And you accuse the remainers of trying to drum up fear!
 
Being part of the biggest trading bloc attracting investment, Global company's are based here because we're apart of it.

Being part of the EU means we have say in EU laws mainly for business, leaving would mean we have no say. -
More than 50% of our exports go to EU countries, and our membership allows us to have a say over how trading rules are drawn up.

It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership

Freedom to work In other EU member states

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU

The EU is the world's biggest market and plays a big role in world trade, climate change issues, development projects and more.

It has the clout to take on multinationals such as Google and Microsoft. At the moment Britain plays a key role in the EU, and leaving would see us forgo that.

Stripped of influence in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Britain would find itself increasingly ignored by Washington and sidelined on big transnational issues such as the environment, security and trade.

America and other allies want Britain to remain in the EU. The UK risks becoming a maverick, isolated state if it leaves.


British families enjoy lower mobile phone roaming charges, lower credit card fees, cheaper flights and proper compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled. These sorts of benefits could not be achieved by Britain alone.


The EU has helped secure peace among previously warring western European nations. It helped to consolidate democracy in Spain, Portugal, Greece and former Soviet bloc countries and helped preserve peace in the Balkans since the end of the Balkans War. With the UN it now plays a leading role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and democracy building.

Equal pay for men and women is enshrined in EU law, as are bans on discrimination by age, race or sexual orientation. This benefits Britain and British people who live in other EU countries.

The UK is the second largest beneficiary of EU research funds, and the British Government expects future EU research funding to constitute a vital source of income for our world-leading universities and companies.
 
Being part of the biggest trading bloc attracting investment, Global company's are based here because we're apart of it.

Being part of the EU means we have say in EU laws mainly for business, leaving would mean we have no say. -
More than 50% of our exports go to EU countries, and our membership allows us to have a say over how trading rules are drawn up.

It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership

Freedom to work In other EU member states

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU

The EU is the world's biggest market and plays a big role in world trade, climate change issues, development projects and more.

It has the clout to take on multinationals such as Google and Microsoft. At the moment Britain plays a key role in the EU, and leaving would see us forgo that.

Stripped of influence in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Britain would find itself increasingly ignored by Washington and sidelined on big transnational issues such as the environment, security and trade.

America and other allies want Britain to remain in the EU. The UK risks becoming a maverick, isolated state if it leaves.


British families enjoy lower mobile phone roaming charges, lower credit card fees, cheaper flights and proper compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled. These sorts of benefits could not be achieved by Britain alone.


The EU has helped secure peace among previously warring western European nations. It helped to consolidate democracy in Spain, Portugal, Greece and former Soviet bloc countries and helped preserve peace in the Balkans since the end of the Balkans War. With the UN it now plays a leading role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and democracy building.

Equal pay for men and women is enshrined in EU law, as are bans on discrimination by age, race or sexual orientation. This benefits Britain and British people who live in other EU countries.

The UK is the second largest beneficiary of EU research funds, and the British Government expects future EU research funding to constitute a vital source of income for our world-leading universities and companies.
You seem to think the EU does a lot of great things, but as I see it they can't even stop a coach getting pelted with bottles ;-)
 
Being part of the biggest trading bloc attracting investment, Global company's are based here because we're apart of it.

Being part of the EU means we have say in EU laws mainly for business, leaving would mean we have no say. -
More than 50% of our exports go to EU countries, and our membership allows us to have a say over how trading rules are drawn up.

It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership

Freedom to work In other EU member states

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU

The EU is the world's biggest market and plays a big role in world trade, climate change issues, development projects and more.

It has the clout to take on multinationals such as Google and Microsoft. At the moment Britain plays a key role in the EU, and leaving would see us forgo that.

Stripped of influence in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Britain would find itself increasingly ignored by Washington and sidelined on big transnational issues such as the environment, security and trade.

America and other allies want Britain to remain in the EU. The UK risks becoming a maverick, isolated state if it leaves.


British families enjoy lower mobile phone roaming charges, lower credit card fees, cheaper flights and proper compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled. These sorts of benefits could not be achieved by Britain alone.


The EU has helped secure peace among previously warring western European nations. It helped to consolidate democracy in Spain, Portugal, Greece and former Soviet bloc countries and helped preserve peace in the Balkans since the end of the Balkans War. With the UN it now plays a leading role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and democracy building.

Equal pay for men and women is enshrined in EU law, as are bans on discrimination by age, race or sexual orientation. This benefits Britain and British people who live in other EU countries.

The UK is the second largest beneficiary of EU research funds, and the British Government expects future EU research funding to constitute a vital source of income for our world-leading universities and companies.

Take a bow DC back of the net!
 
Take a bow DC back of the net!

His reasoning is essentially FUD. We don't know what will happen so we presume we can't do it alone. It is quite as easy to say that we don't know what will happen so it will turn out much better. You can't fight an election based on "I dunno lol", which is why Brexit is surging ahead. They have a clear and decisive message which is resonating with people because it's speaking to them on issues they care about with a clarity of vision. The Remain campaign is speaking to them on issues they don't care about and muddying the waters.

The campaign should be ran on four key points that should be stressed much much more:

  • The EU doesn't "take" money out of the UK, the whole of Europe puts into a central pot and that money is then spent across the whole of Europe which includes the UK. The yearly EU spending in the UK is about £8bn which is less than we give out but the net difference of £4bn a year. To put this into context, the UK Government spend is £795bn a year. That's about 0.5% of the budget. To put this into even better context, if the UK national expenditure budget was the length of a football pitch from goaline to goaline, our net deficit to the EU wouldn't get you to the penalty spot. In fact it wouldn't get you out of the six yard box. It would get you about a foot down the pitch.
  • The EU do NOT spend on social programs, defence or anything like that. In fact the EU barely spends any money at all, 80% of the budget is spent by national Governments. What it does is "sponsored investment spending" where it gives the national Government a certain amount of money to complete a project that must be spent on infrastructure that will help create growth. Such as providing super-fast broadband to rural England which was funded by the EU or farming subsides which are a major part of the EU investment in the UK. Those people who y'know, grow the food that we eat at a loss due to supermarket pricing.
  • The EU employs 55,000 civil servants to manage a confederation of 500 million people. The UK on the other hand employs 440,000 civil servants to manage a country of 70 million. 6% of the budget of the EU goes to administration which includes not just Brussels but paying for every administration in every national Government of its members. This is more than inline with comparable organisations.
  • New members who join the EU in recent years all have massive agricultural section but underdeveloped industry and infrastructure. This means that they put lots of food into the system and need lots of EU firms to come in and build up their country. A massive amount of British firms benefit from EU membership and win contracts within the EU.

Those are important points that address many of the concerns of people. We're not spending an awful lot on the EU, the EU is only investing infrastructure projects, the "gravy train" imagine is wrong, and new members joining the EU are almost always highly beneficial to the UK due to more resources in the Common Agricultural Policy to balance crops and bringing a wealth of contracts for British firms to compete and win with.

You know that people point at Norway as a model for the UK? They completely ran out of butter a few years back, at a national level and had to slash import duty by 80% so that they could still have toast in the morning. This created a black market butter business in which a pack of Lurpack was going for £50 each.. This doesn't happen in the UK, we don't get shortages on basic supplies because the Common Agricultural Policy ensures that all the farms across Europe instead of competing with each other and putting them out of business are working together to ensure the food supply stays within decent limits. Norway is not a part of the Common Agricultural Policy because they're not part of the EU.
 
His reasoning is essentially FUD. We don't know what will happen so we presume we can't do it alone. It is quite as easy to say that we don't know what will happen so it will turn out much better. You can't fight an election based on "I dunno lol", which is why Brexit is surging ahead. They have a clear and decisive message which is resonating with people because it's speaking to them on issues they care about with a clarity of vision. The Remain campaign is speaking to them on issues they don't care about and muddying the waters.

The campaign should be ran on four key points that should be stressed much much more:

  • The EU doesn't "take" money out of the UK, the whole of Europe puts into a central pot and that money is then spent across the whole of Europe which includes the UK. The yearly EU spending in the UK is about £8bn which is less than we give out but the net difference of £4bn a year. To put this into context, the UK Government spend is £795bn a year. That's about 0.5% of the budget. To put this into even better context, if the UK national expenditure budget was the length of a football pitch from goaline to goaline, our net deficit to the EU wouldn't get you to the penalty spot. In fact it wouldn't get you out of the six yard box. It would get you about a foot down the pitch.
  • The EU do NOT spend on social programs, defence or anything like that. In fact the EU barely spends any money at all, 80% of the budget is spent by national Governments. What it does is "sponsored investment spending" where it gives the national Government a certain amount of money to complete a project that must be spent on infrastructure that will help create growth. Such as providing super-fast broadband to rural England which was funded by the EU or farming subsides which are a major part of the EU investment in the UK. Those people who y'know, grow the food that we eat at a loss due to supermarket pricing.
  • The EU employs 55,000 civil servants to manage a confederation of 500 million people. The UK on the other hand employs 440,000 civil servants to manage a country of 70 million. 6% of the budget of the EU goes to administration which includes not just Brussels but paying for every administration in every national Government of its members. This is more than inline with comparable organisations.
  • New members who join the EU in recent years all have massive agricultural section but underdeveloped industry and infrastructure. This means that they put lots of food into the system and need lots of EU firms to come in and build up their country. A massive amount of British firms benefit from EU membership and win contracts within the EU.

Those are important points that address many of the concerns of people. We're not spending an awful lot on the EU, the EU is only investing infrastructure projects, the "gravy train" imagine is wrong, and new members joining the EU are almost always highly beneficial to the UK due to more resources in the Common Agricultural Policy to balance crops and bringing a wealth of contracts for British firms to compete and win with.

You know that people point at Norway as a model for the UK? They completely ran out of butter a few years back, at a national level and had to slash import duty by 80% so that they could still have toast in the morning. This created a black market butter business in which a pack of Lurpack was going for £50 each.. This doesn't happen in the UK, we don't get shortages on basic supplies because the Common Agricultural Policy ensures that all the farms across Europe instead of competing with each other and putting them out of business are working together to ensure the food supply stays within decent limits. Norway is not a part of the Common Agricultural Policy because they're not part of the EU.
350 pages, and at last a decent well argued case to remain. Shame there aren't any others.
 
Being part of the biggest trading bloc attracting investment, Global company's are based here because we're apart of it.

Being part of the EU means we have say in EU laws mainly for business, leaving would mean we have no say. -
More than 50% of our exports go to EU countries, and our membership allows us to have a say over how trading rules are drawn up.

It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership

Freedom to work In other EU member states

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU

The EU is the world's biggest market and plays a big role in world trade, climate change issues, development projects and more.

It has the clout to take on multinationals such as Google and Microsoft. At the moment Britain plays a key role in the EU, and leaving would see us forgo that.

Stripped of influence in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Britain would find itself increasingly ignored by Washington and sidelined on big transnational issues such as the environment, security and trade.

America and other allies want Britain to remain in the EU. The UK risks becoming a maverick, isolated state if it leaves.


British families enjoy lower mobile phone roaming charges, lower credit card fees, cheaper flights and proper compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled. These sorts of benefits could not be achieved by Britain alone.


The EU has helped secure peace among previously warring western European nations. It helped to consolidate democracy in Spain, Portugal, Greece and former Soviet bloc countries and helped preserve peace in the Balkans since the end of the Balkans War. With the UN it now plays a leading role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and democracy building.

Equal pay for men and women is enshrined in EU law, as are bans on discrimination by age, race or sexual orientation. This benefits Britain and British people who live in other EU countries.

The UK is the second largest beneficiary of EU research funds, and the British Government expects future EU research funding to constitute a vital source of income for our world-leading universities and companies.

Well done BH I must congratulate you on your post, the first I've seen from an inner that attempts to point out the achievements of the EU, furthermore there is no disputing them. However there is strong thought that what we achieved is a lot less than we cloud have done had we not been so constrained by the bureaucracy and red tape of the EU.

However, going forward the things the uk could benefit from are amongst others the items I've posted in the past. There is no guarantee that staying in or leaving is going to deliver a better place for us to live - I do believe however whichever way it goes we're in for a tough ride and furthermore I think off the back off this we are a broken nation.

I don't want to stay and I cannot reason in my own mind why anyone would, all the achievements you list could have been achieved if we were outside. Why if we leave will we change the way we are working today?

Why wouldn't we have the ability yo extradite criminals from not her country?

I don't agree that the EU has been a leading player in keeping the peace.... That's more down yo NATO. Personally I believe the EU is currently, not deluberately, causing unrest and the rise of right wing factions across Europe and regardless of whether we stay or leave this will continue at a pace I might suggest.

As being a beneficiary of research funds or any other project grants.... They're only giving back to us money we've paid to them, the problem with this is we still pay £8.5 more than we get out, a not unsubstantial amount I think you'd agree. In fact the Vote Leave Camp would be better advised to quote the £250m (net) a week we give over to the EU rather than the £350m a week gross. Anyway I digress, the UK Givernment would need to give undertakings that if we voted to leave they would continue to invest the money they're giving over to Europe in the projects that Europe have initiated - though I know this'd be a big ask, but not unreasonable.

Finally, around influence and governance. For me a one size fits all economy and currency just cannot work as we are witnessing with Greece as a single example. It us clear to all that the only beneficiaries in this calamitous problem are the bigger EU (Euro) economies and the banks.

We can do it alone, we can strike up bilateral agreements with any country we want then. We have to believe and we have to act and be positive, not be subservient yo a committee of 28, it just doesn't work.

Still thanks for the arguement! 80).
 
Being part of the biggest trading bloc attracting investment, Global company's are based here because we're apart of it.

Being part of the EU means we have say in EU laws mainly for business, leaving would mean we have no say. -
More than 50% of our exports go to EU countries, and our membership allows us to have a say over how trading rules are drawn up.

It has been estimated that UK trade with some countries in Europe could have increased by as much as 50% as a result of EU membership

Freedom to work In other EU member states

The European Arrest Warrant cuts out the need for long and complicated extradition procedures and allows criminals to be brought to justice across the EU

The EU is the world's biggest market and plays a big role in world trade, climate change issues, development projects and more.

It has the clout to take on multinationals such as Google and Microsoft. At the moment Britain plays a key role in the EU, and leaving would see us forgo that.

Stripped of influence in Brussels, Berlin and Paris, Britain would find itself increasingly ignored by Washington and sidelined on big transnational issues such as the environment, security and trade.

America and other allies want Britain to remain in the EU. The UK risks becoming a maverick, isolated state if it leaves.


British families enjoy lower mobile phone roaming charges, lower credit card fees, cheaper flights and proper compensation when flights are delayed or cancelled. These sorts of benefits could not be achieved by Britain alone.


The EU has helped secure peace among previously warring western European nations. It helped to consolidate democracy in Spain, Portugal, Greece and former Soviet bloc countries and helped preserve peace in the Balkans since the end of the Balkans War. With the UN it now plays a leading role in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and democracy building.

Equal pay for men and women is enshrined in EU law, as are bans on discrimination by age, race or sexual orientation. This benefits Britain and British people who live in other EU countries.

The UK is the second largest beneficiary of EU research funds, and the British Government expects future EU research funding to constitute a vital source of income for our world-leading universities and companies.

Yes that's all very well but you don't go anywhere near immigration, population density and land mass.
For anyone in any doubt of just how out of control immigration to the UK has become, please look at the following:

England's population density is 413 people per square kilometre, European countries would have to take in the following numbers of migrants to make them to the same:-

Austria 26.4 million
Denmark 12.4 million
France 162.3 million
Germany 65.6 million
Greece 42.8 million
Italy 64.7 million
Poland 90.5 million
Romania 79.4 million
Spain 162.1 million
Sweden 176.3 million

Do you have kids? When you are struggling to get them into your local school you can comfort yourself that the EU can take on Google and Microsoft.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...mber-children-European-migrants-families.html

When you find yourself struggling to get a quick hospital appointment for either yourself or your family and find yourself in a queue behind non english speaking migrants you can comfort yourself with the thought that you could go and work freely in Europe (even though you could have done that even before we entered the Common Market).

When you are stuck in a never ending queue of traffic as most people already are in and around London and Kent you can comfort yourself with the alternative frustration that we cannot export criminals because of European human 'rights'.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ple-with-very-poor-immigration-histories.html

Nice that you missed out some of the negatives...loss of fishing rights or the fact that we subsidise countries like Poland who contribute 3.526 billion Euro but receive 17.436 billion Euro each year (2014 figures). Contemplate those few things while you work out how to ensure your democracy.

While you contemplate peace in Europe you might consider how Greece is going to survive as a country. You might worry about it's relationship with Turkey and what that might lead to when Turkish citizens get a free pass into Greece. Peace? You're having a giraffe. And you want to be a member when that kicks off?

And god forbid if you ever want to buy a house in Kent or London. While you're pleading for a mortgage you can contemplate these wonderful European civil engineering projects you speak of paid for out of a proportion of your taxes.
 
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