'Is it time to ditch the pound?' poll results/discussion

MikeH99

BritSwedeGuy wrote: »

The number of flag-waving, conspiratorial, uninformed and just plain dumb comments shouldn't surprise me. It still does though, so maybe I'm not as big a cynic as I thought I was.
My advice - don't form your opinions based upon Daily Mail editorials or that of Have Your Say commentators.

How superior. But not superior enough to answer any of them, I note ... I get my euro-critical opinions from Larry Elliot in The Guardian.

southantrim3

I note that the pound is creeping back up against the Euro - looks like the Eurozone may be reducing their interest rate....

McSaver

I would rather see us join the dollar

forestdoris

I've been reading with interest all the comments about whether we should adopt the Euro or not. We regularly visit France two or three times a year and have just returned from spending Christmas there. I have to say it was financially painful for us with the current exchange rates. Having said that, we have a huge number of French friends over there who's constant advice is "Don't do it". They all say how expensive everything became once the Euro took over from the French Franc. We have certainly felt the full force of that this holiday.
As somebody in one of the threads said...'the Pound will certainly rise again,' it's easy to look for a way out when things are bad, but I feel that if we can weather the storm things will return to normal. (whatever that is!!!).
The GBP has served us well for many years...if it works, don't fix it just sack the people responsible for messing things up!!!:p

Mike_Smith_Glos

Ruth63 wrote: »

No - I think we should join the Euro now, although I realise I am in a small minority. The majority of people in this country have been very successfuly propaganda-ed and manipulated into being Eurosceptic by the "Establishment" who want to maintain the myth that we are still a world power and still have an Empire, among other things.
How easily the pople in this country are taken in by the Eurosceptic media, acting in the interests of their very rich owners.
I doubt we'll ever join the Euro because it is not in the interests of the "powers-that-be" who rule us, including the "Royal Family".
It would be good to have a united Europe which could be a real power in the world - to balance against America. It would also be good to be able to work shorter hours for higher salaries, as in some ofthe Eu countries. It is still, comparatively speaking, a fledgling "Union"
I get very angry when I hear and see what Eurosceptics and see very few pro-Europe advantages put forward - it's completely one-sided.
Also, I do not think Gordon Brown is pro Europe, hence his so-called "five tests" to keep us out.

Sorry, Ruth - your arguments don't make sense. It is the "powers-that-be" who are trying to force us into the euro against the wishes of the majority (as demonstrated in this poll). Brown, Mandelson, Clarke et al want us in.
And, unfortunately, the Royal Family no longer rule us - as demonstrated when the Queen sadly caved in over forcing 'her' Government to give us the Referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon.
You say that you get angry when you see 'very few pro-Europe advantages put forward'. That is because there are very few pro-Europe advantages to be put forward!

As to the value of the £ against the euro - the money markets are now beginning to see the problems in the euro zone (eg the rise in unemployment in Germany) and that the 'one size fits all' is not going to work. Consequently, the £ is recovering against the euro. We have just seen the largest one-day rise of the £ since the euro came into existence.

Sage99

neblett wrote: »

... just to put the record straight on this response

1. There was nothing 'wrong' with his wages and therefore nothing 'to sort out'.
2. My husband worked for the same company for 12 years prior to and 4 years following the introduction of the Euro! The cut in his wages had nothing whatsoever to do with his abilities to carry out his job, but were solely due to the 'exchange rate' when it changed from DM to €.

If his wage were cut by over 50% due to the change over then clearly something was wrong and should have been sorted out... unless you are claiming that there was one exchange rate for prices (10 Euros for 10 Marks) and another for wages (around 5 Euros for 10 marks).

Clearly there was something very wrong here and this is not a sound argument against the Euro.

Please refer to my post of 23.

Sage99

neblett wrote: »

... just to put the record straight on this response

1. There was nothing 'wrong' with his wages and therefore nothing 'to sort out'.
2. My husband worked for the same company for 12 years prior to and 4 years following the introduction of the Euro! The cut in his wages had nothing whatsoever to do with his abilities to carry out his job, but were solely due to the 'exchange rate' when it changed from DM to €.

If his wage were cut by over 50% due to the change over then clearly something was very wrong and should have been sorted out... unless you are claiming that there was one exchange rate for prices (10 Euros for 10 Marks) and another for wages (around 5 Euros for 10 marks).

Clearly there was something very wrong here and this is not a sound argument against the Euro.

Please refer to my post of 23.

teddyco

For those posters who don't think there are any good reasons why Britain should stay out of the Euro, I will list a few for your reading pleasure:

British families have more of their mortgages in floating interest rates than people on the continent; we have a much bigger financial services sector, and more of our trade and investments are denominated in U.S. dollars. All of these factors mean that the right level of interest rates set for people in Greece, Germany or Italy is not necessarily the right one for us.

Giving up our currency would mean we would lose a vital tool for trying to run the British economy in the interests of the people of Britain - and that means an unacceptable loss of the independence of this country.

The lack of any coordination between European monetary policy, emerging from a committee of central banks, and European fiscal policy, emerging from a committee of finance ministers, will further lessen the possibility for alleviating local economic difficulties. This can be shown with the South-North migrations of millions of American and Italian citizens in the early years of their currency unions.

There are economic costs and risks arising from losing the option to devalue the domestic currency in order to restore international competitiveness. This might lead to growing social dislocation and rising economic inequality within the European Union.

There are obvious structural differences within the countries of Europe so, even if EMU begins in a state of convergence, economic shocks, such as crisis of supply of primary products, will lead to imbalances and there won't be a mechanism to restore the balance.

Adjusting to a new European currency will involve substantial costs for businesses and banks. Adjustment to economic divergence by migration of labour or capital will be costly; there is no clear EC commitment to relieving these costs.

Finally, Winston Churchill once said "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

I think that quote could be applied to this debate too.

willysoft

Ruth63 wrote: »

It would be good to have a united Europe which could be a real power in the world - to balance against America.

Couldn't agree more, Ruth63. It gets very tiring listening to deluded tabloid readers expressing their bile and xenophobia against our neighbours in Europe while conveniently forgetting that we are Europeans too, bound up inextricably with Europe's history and culture.

We've been far too close to the greed and madness of the US in recent years: any country whoe people believe that their liberty depends on Jesus and firearms is obviously dangerously unbalanced.

Peejbee

Personally I have no problem with adopting the Euro and ditching the pound, after all we are already governed by Europe now.
The reason why I am aprehensive about changing - every country I have visited that did so, suffered a price increase of around 20% on everyday goods after the changeover. Also most of the people in those countries that I have spoken to, want out of the Euro and have their old currency back!