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Europe - in or out?

Posted: Fri 31 Jan, 2014 22.22
by Gavin Scott
For those of you in England, Wales and NI, would you vote to exit the union, and why?

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Fri 31 Jan, 2014 22.33
by Bail
Yes - In spite against certain EU regulations that have negatively impacted on my life. Ignoring any financial or serious thought on the matter.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Fri 31 Jan, 2014 22.58
by barcode
Shouldn't the Question be:

1974 Eu Terms or out?

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Sat 01 Feb, 2014 00.09
by martindtanderson
I don't see how leaving the EU and going it alone will strengthen our position in the world. Nor do I see how allowing the Tories to trample over human rights, workers rights, and a global, humanitarian, approach to relations with other countries - will make this country a nicer place to live in.

Does that mean I think the balance of powers between Nation states and the EU representatives is perfect. Or that there isn't more that could be done within Europe to improve democracy and global trade and relations.

I think all of the EU and ECC needs reform. Leaving it is a huge step, with an uncertain future. And the ideal is to be in it, but for the terms to be changed. Not just for ourselves, but equally among all the nations.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Sat 01 Feb, 2014 11.32
by Nick Harvey
barcode wrote:Shouldn't the Question be:

1974 Eu Terms or out?
I think I'll ignore that post, given the reaction from north of the border when someone from south of it tried to suggest the wording for the Scottish Independence referendum question.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Sat 01 Feb, 2014 15.31
by all new Phil
I have literally no idea which way I would vote, and I think the reason for this is that it is nigh-on impossible to read the positives and negatives without the extreme bias from each side of the argument. The pro-EU side say leaving would be bad for jobs, bad for the economy, bad for international relations, with statistics to back all of this up. The anti-EU side say exactly the opposite, with equally compelling statistics to back themselves up.

I think the media in particular are guilty of reporting the negatives and ignoring the positives of EU membership. If it is as bad as we are told, then why ARE we in it? Why is it not the policy of any of the main parties to leave? Even David Cameron would say that, despite offering a referendum if they win the next election, he would rather remain in.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Sun 02 Feb, 2014 17.45
by WillPS
martindtanderson wrote:I don't see how leaving the EU and going it alone will strengthen our position in the world. Nor do I see how allowing the Tories to trample over human rights, workers rights, and a global, humanitarian, approach to relations with other countries - will make this country a nicer place to live in.

Does that mean I think the balance of powers between Nation states and the EU representatives is perfect. Or that there isn't more that could be done within Europe to improve democracy and global trade and relations.

I think all of the EU and ECC needs reform. Leaving it is a huge step, with an uncertain future. And the ideal is to be in it, but for the terms to be changed. Not just for ourselves, but equally among all the nations.
I agree with pretty much all of that. We should also join the Schengen zone.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Sun 02 Feb, 2014 21.00
by cdd
The most tangible way I've been positively affected by the EU is in the dramatic reductions in (and forthcoming elimination of) data roaming charges. I'm normally a fan of letting the free market sort things out, but this is a perfect example of where that simply can't work.

Which segues rather nicely into the observation that, if we leave the EU, not only might we have to start paying roaming charges in the EU but that this category would include an independent Scotland.

WillPS: I'm not sure that joining the Schengen area is a bad idea. But given that there are relatively few points of entry between the UK and the rest of the EU, and border control is therefore not quite such a massive undertaking, what would be the upsides?

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Mon 03 Feb, 2014 00.29
by WillPS
cdd wrote:WillPS: I'm not sure that joining the Schengen area is a bad idea. But given that there are relatively few points of entry between the UK and the rest of the EU, and border control is therefore not quite such a massive undertaking, what would be the upsides?
Far more train services using the Channel Tunnel - direct services from Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester and to destinations in Germany and beyond. Sleeper services could potentially run through to Poland, Italy, Spain.

Being out of Schengen bottlenecks the amount of these services to what St Pancras International can cope with as the border control nonsense is ridiculously expensive.

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Tue 19 May, 2015 18.04
by Philip
Thought it may be a good idea to resurrect this topic - as a Conservative majority means we will indeed be getting an in/out referendum by the end of 2017, and it's been over a year since the original posts. How would you vote if it was held tomorrow?

Re: Europe - in or out?

Posted: Tue 19 May, 2015 18.32
by Alexia
In. Better to push for reforms as a member. Plus I have a personal interest.