Should the UK be a part of the European Union?

g0recki wrote: »

I've never had my say over Oxfordshire's membership of England, or England's membership of the UK, or the UK's membership of the EU.

Why does only the last one of these merit a(nother) referendum?

Now... lets see... Oxfordshire has been been a part of England since, well, since there was an england....

The end of Roman rule in Britain enabled the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, which is often regarded as the origin of England and the English people. The Anglo-Saxons, a collection of various Germanic peoples, established several kingdoms that became the primary powers in what is now England and parts of southern Scotland.[3] They introduced the Old English language, which displaced the previous British language. The Anglo-Saxons warred with British successor states in Wales, Cornwall, and the Hen Ogledd (Old North; the Brythonic-speaking parts of northern England and southern Scotland), as well as with each other. Raids by the Vikings were frequent after about AD 800, and the Norsemen took control of large parts of what is now England. During this period several rulers attempted to unite the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, an effort that led to the emergence of the Kingdom of England by the 10th century.

England has been part of the UK since the act of Union.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [nb 5] (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, the U.K. or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland.[nb 6] Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.

The history of the United Kingdom as a unified sovereign state began with the political union of the kingdoms of England, which included Wales, and Scotland. On the new kingdom, the historian Simon Schama said, "What began as a hostile merger would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history."[1] A further Act of Union in 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The UK has been part of the European Union since 1973

The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958 respectively.

Your question asks why not have a referendum on Oxfordshire's membership of England, well in that context membership is simply the wrong word England 'owns' Oxfordshire like France 'owns' Normandy. Oxfordshire could theoretically leave England if it wanted perhaps you could ask your school teacher when you are doing statistics if you could do some kind of polling to see what people think? Just in your school or in the wider community?
As for England leaving the UK there is a political party campaigning for just that...

The English Democrats are an English federalist political party, committed to the formation of a devolved English Parliament with at least the same powers as those granted to the Scottish Parliament. Whilst not supporting English Independence, the English Democrats consider themselves the English equivalent of the Scottish National Party in Scotland and Plaid Cymru in Wales.[3] Their motto is "Not left, not right, just English".

I must say I don't hold out much hope for them. But the comparison with Scotland is a good one since there is to be a referendum on it remaining part of the sovereign state of the UK

Now, to answer your question fully, Oxfordshire is a county in England not a country in England and terms such as membership are, as such, meaningless. England is a country which is part of a sovereign state, and country in its own right, namely the United Kingdom. The UK is a member of the EU which is a jumped up wannabe state which our traitorous leaders have lied to us for over half a century claiming that our sovereignty was not going to be taken away by joining.

As for questions regarding referendums the answer is simple a great many people think that they were either; lied to, or tricked into joining, or that the very nature of the EU has changed, or that we would just be better off out of the EU. As the EU isn't a country and holds no great spiritual connection for the people of the UK in the way that most sane people simply regard Oxfordshire as part and parcel of England and are spiritually linked to it and all the other counties of England.

A similar debate rages in Scotland regarding it membership of the UK. Referendums are a great way of democracies settling such questions although when people hold such opposing views they tend to go on and on and are not often settled with a single referendum, I doubt that the SNP will give up and melt away if they loose their referendum, you can look to Canada and Quebec for a good example of a series of ongoing membership referendums. Still at least they are getting the opportunity of a exercising their democratic right, that's a lot more than we are getting!

Well I must say its great to see a little lad such as yourself asking such probing questions but are you sure that this it the place for it? I am always happy to help but perhaps you could look at the CBBC site for answers next time?

All quotes Wikipeadia (other than your own)