roaringmouse

Most of Lothianlad's post came across to me as rather pompous, with occasional xenophobia - and on the whole sounded like someone had been on the special brew a bit too much!

robin1234

Yes that was what I thought - give the Lad his due, probably buying that "pocket-money booze" they have in the UK, then composing an effusion for BE.

Squirrel

Was saying to DH that Cameron made the right decision, going home in a cab Friday night. The cabbie suddenly joined in and started saying we should adopt the Euro and join Europe whole-heartedly. He said he couldn't stand seeing the Queen's face on our money!

I said as long as he doesn't mind all prices going up by one third if we adopt the Euro. (I've noticed that companies who state their prices in both Sterling and Euros have the Euro price 1/3 more than the pound price, even though it should only be about 5-10% more). I also said was he happy to have all the illegals in Calais (and anyone else who can get to any European country) be perfectly entilted to board the Eurostar and come on over to the UK?

Those two things shut him up.

Honestly I don't know any other Brit who is keen to adopt the Euro like him.

materialcontroller

I'd be happy to see the UK not just join the Eurozone but actually start, for once, to fully participate in all of the EU institutions.

Ask yourself why people are so keen to come to Britain? The answer is actually a ringing endorsement that the UK is doing something right. They come here a) because English is a universal language which most immigrants have at least a basic understanding of and b) it's a good place to live and work that is largely free of restrictions. I'd like to see those advantages extended to as many people as possible.

However I still think you'll find that Germany has vastly more immigrants than the UK so maybe the fears of being swamped by a foreign invasion are being overstated.

Squirrel

Not really, how many foreigners from outside the EU speak German? As you said, most speak English so they'd all come here. Why do you think we need more people with no connection to the UK here? The population is already set to top 70 million. Would you be happy when there is literally no green in the UK at all because it has all been taken up by housing for more and more people?

Hey why call ourselves Britain or United Kingdom any more anyway, let's just all call ourselves Europe and not have individual countries any more!

The fact is the countries of the EU are all very different and a 'one size fits all' currency clearly doesn't work or why are many of them now in severe financial trouble and looking to be bailed out by the more prudent ones?

Squirrel

Of course you probably won't care if prices all go up by a third but wages don't if you are going to live in America.

Lothianlad

Just for the record I am a total teetoller - incredible as that may seem as a Scotsman. I never touch the stuff. As for being xenophobic - not a bit of it, some of my very best of mates are Englishmen - I went to an English uni. Two others of my best mates are Dutch. I even palled up with some Americans at uni but sadly some of them needed a wee bit of a humour transplant.

I truly and fervently hope that the European Union survives this turmoil and that the € does, too - after a complete re-negotiation of terms between the UK and the Kommissars of Bruxelles I so hope that the UK will become a leading light within the EU in the course of time but at the same time the national interests of the UK are fully preserved, that the City of London remains untouched by Sarky-Merkyism and that the UK fully retians its unique character. Oh - and that 100watt light bulbs are restored in all of our stores.

It's only the likes of incompetent, clueless Sarky and Merky with their hypocritical double standards with absolutely lkittle idea on how to deal with the Eurozone crisis without demanding that thew UK pay over the odds when it already contributes more to the whole show than it receives in return by way of benefits and also their clear signs of anti British sentiment.

On top of all of that foreign criminals taking advantage of EU regulations permitting unrestricted access into the UK now languishing in UK prisons at the expense of UK taxpayers, Romanian opportunistic criminal gangs infesting the streets of the UK, other Eastern European drug dealers and disgusting sex trade perverts that push me in the direction of xenophobic tendencies.

Oh, I nearly forgot -a Sunday afternoon exploring the massive British Museum in London, positively jam packed with people of very nationality under the sun, but hardly any of them speaking English. In fact the only four people I heard speaking English were myself and my three companions - oh, and people on duty in the restaurant and the sales sections and all of them seemed to have non UK accents.

Apart from that I absolutely adore foreigners......

materialcontroller

OK firstly I have no problem with foreigners coming here to take advantage of the lifestyle and opportunities the UK has to offer. As I've hinted at in another thread, I don't think it's any different to a worker from Scotland or the North East moving to London because the same job pays higher wages down there. I have a very comfortable standard of living in Britain and I'm perfectly happy for as many people as possible to also share and experience that for themselves.

Secondly while you meant it as joke, I would absolutely welcome the idea of having a sovereign European state. Preferably as a first step towards even greater global integration. Why should I place limits on myself at the level of being "British" or even "English"?

A "one size fits all" currency works equally in London and also in Lerwick or Londonderry - despite all those places being vastly different in terms of culture, politics and economics. Strangely enough, single currencies also work rather well between Warsaw and Wroclaw or between Stockholm and Storlien. Now, if given the necessary mechanisms and impetus, there is no reason why a single currency cannot function in Barcelona/Brussels/Berlin/Braga/Biarritz or Bologna either. And I believe, at long last, the EU is finally giving some serious attention to providing the impetus and mechanisms required to sustain the €.

You're right, although probably not for the reasons you might think. I don't really care because the financial downturn is a global, rather than European, phenomenon and wages/prices are being squeezed regardless of geography or economic performance. And I'm not going to live in the USA either.

Sally Redux

Germany has a large population of Turkish origin.

bluenose123

If the population of the UK had a referendum on Europe , what % do you think
would agree with your views?
I have yet to meet anyone who shares these opinions.
Please give an honest answer,as I think you are living in the land of nod.

materialcontroller

Honest answer, I think the pro-EU side would struggle to get 10-15% maybe.

Bud the Wiser

The French are such bad losers.

Which is surprising, when you think about it.

roaringmouse

So you're suggesting there are no home grown British people involved in all these things, including any in prison at the expense of the UK taxpayer then?

Englishman43

Absolutely !!! He did the right thing but now we need to spend time fostering relations with India & China and down the road Africa .

Englishman43

MC - isn't that a bit "pollyanna'ish" ? Could the more cynical among us say it's because England is seen as an easy push over where you get housed, fed and given pocket money from the government the minute you set foot in the country.

I'm not being inflamatory just curious.