I shudder at more net receivers joining the EU. As if the EU does not already have enough problems - and Germany not already having enough to pay - and the choir not already singing wrong with far too many far too different voices. A chain does not get stronger by adding weak links. There are already far too many members, and too many of them are weak. Economic unions only can work with partners being roughly on same level with the other - and freely floating currencies to compensate for smaller differences in economic competitiveness. And currency unions historically never worked in the long run - they have been tried by the dozens, and all of them failed, although ALL of them so far were tried under much, much more positive starting preconditions: fewer members, economies more comparable to each other. Check the history books, they all failed. Paper money syastem all failed too, btw, since the 12th century already when the Chinese tried the first one - not even 30 years later it blew up in their face. The EU excels in celebrating symbolism. That is all hollow, empty shell. You cannot spend your way out of debts. You cannot afford more than what your economy can sustain. Reality never bows to ideology. Printing money does not make you rich. Ignore this, and the consequences will mount on you until you inevitably break. BTW, Brexit will not happen, me currently thinks, in some years the Brits will still be in the EU. The same EU as now, or an EU that will have formed a special status for difficult members like Britain. The referendum will be rendered meaningless.
It seems that England always messes up Germany's attempts to fully unify Europe. Perhaps next time around.
You are surely talking about political and financial Elites forcing such attempts for their own good (in Germany and elsewhere). Note: Germany is not Germoney - Merkel and Schäuble are not Germany - big difference. "We decide on something, leave it lying around and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don't understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back." Jean-Claude Juncker, referring to his colleagues in the European Council
The Republic couldn't afford to take on the North. It would bankrupt them (even further). Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are net receivers in the United Kingdom. They receive more per head than the English. Scotland would struggle as an independent nation, even more so with low oil prices, which is why they see their 'independence' as net receivers under the control of Brussels.
That's up to the Scots to consider. Better the devil you know or a devil a bit further away? Personally I don't think they do badly out of Westminster as the Scots get more money per head than the English and a considerable number of jobs in the defence sector such as the submarine fleet that carries the UK's nuclear deterrent. Scotland has played a significant and very positive role in the history of the United Kingdom but would be an extremely insignificant nation in the EU. A net receiver of 5 million people. Also I don't believe there is such fervent support for another Scottish independence referendum as Nicola Sturgeon is banking on. Nearly 40% of Scots voted to leave the EU. Not sure that would translate to 60% wanting to leave the UK.
A positive view on Brexit... http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/27/nevermind-the-brexit-uk-will-emerge-with-a-good-trade-deal.html
There has been NO "progress" for the UK over the past few years, I have seen my life made IMMEASURABLY WORSE over the last 10 years FACT. When I see my Govt peeing money out of the UK whilst at the SAME time cutting CRUCIAL services then you bet your life I'm going to vote OUT of the EU. It has done absolutely SOD all to protect the sick and disabled in the UK.
In what way is not being in the EU going to help the sick and disabled? If anything lower tax receipts due to the likely negative effect on the economy will mean there'll be less money available to spend on public services. Health policy and how much we spend on the NHS is the decision of the UK government. The EU has been a scapegoat for many problems that it has had very little impact on.
Also see: Iain Duncan Smith backtracks on leave side's £350m NHS claim https://amp.theguardian.com/politic...endum-brexit-vote-leave-iain-duncan-smith-nhs Not only was the amount bandied about wrong (net weekly EU contributions are more like £175m a week, as we get a big chunk of this back), if we do still want access to the single market we'd probably still have to pay a large contribution (like Norway and Switzerland do), and even if we go completely isolationist and don't pay the EU anything, the likelihood that a significant proportion of the money "saved" would do directly to the NHS is looking increasingly slim.
That first sentence alone... 15 words and three contentual errors. Might Ivanovic be underestimating the financial sector tho? It is Britains last remaining field of excellence, I mean where do all those German exports come from? Industrial goods that aren't produced in the UK anymore and financial services. While the trade of goods might not be diminished in the long run (we still want you to buy our machines and you still want to buy them), but the financial sector might suffer a severe hit if all of a sudden London isn't part of the EU anymore. It's just the thing with many of these pro-leave texts, they exclusively highlight negatives, which (to me) makes them seem interest driven. Maybe it's just my naive nature, as pointed out several times now ^^, but there's no pondering, no wheighing of arguments. The UK has always been a counter-force in the EU, slowing things down, not participating in certain areas. And I didn't think of that as a bad thing like many others, in a way it helped to ensure that no nonsense agreements are simply handed down. But you can't expect to be the cherry-picker for decades, blame the union for everything you do wrong, then flip them a big beebo and after that expect them to not be pissed off about that. Well they know both devils, don't they? And if I had to decide between the devils headlock and the devil standing a couple yards away, not looking in my direction all the time... You know better than me that this isn't the prevalent sentiment towards the Scots in England. I wrote a paper about the West Lothian Question and EVEL, and what I found about the relationship between England and Scotland (or more generally southerners and northerners) during that research was not quite as positive. That's one thing nobody mentioned so far, how will this whole thing influence inter-UK relationships? Assume UK leaves but stays as it is, do you expect the tensions between the members to to ease up? Until now they could blame the EU, but once they are on their own again, once again there'll be nobody else to rub shoulders with but the UK member states themselves. I'm not saying that the empire (what's left of it ) will fall, of course we'll find a way to get along without the world coming to an end. Of course we'll still be dealing with each other. But retreating to nationalism just doesn't seem like the right move from my pov. There's more to that union than just "who's better off financially" at the end of the day.
Nigel Farage was a commodities broker before getting involved in politics, Vytenis Andriukatis was a cardiovascular surgeon. Which of those sound most like a "proper day's work" to you?
I wondered how long it would take before there was a Brexit version of the Bunker-Scene-From- Downfall meme, search for "Boris Johnson's HQ as the EU referendum result comes in" on YouTube. Warning - very sweary (but funny)!
There are 751 members of the European Parliament. Using 2 is going at the same level as Farage. For the Dutch Euro-parliamentarians it is true that many have pursued a political carrier since their study. I assume that is similar for other countries. It is a _very_ lucrative position, by the way. The level of alcoholism is also amazingly high, but Farage won't object too much to that.
Farage is a clown,and i'm sorry as a brit for his attitude.The man is a racist and a vile pig who should be dropped into the deepest darkest hole on earth.