'Should the UK join the Euro?' poll discussion

Sceptic001

zygurat789 wrote: »

Sceptic said
The collapse of numerous empires over the last several thousand years (most recently the Soviet Union) tends to disprove your assertion, zygurat789.

And because the stock market has gone down means it will never go up again. Your standard of PROOF is very low.

And yes of course the structure has to be democratic, but again the movement over history has been towards democracy.

That's the way we're heading and have been doing since the start, the luddites only caused a slight delay. It will happen one day

I hope you are right about democracy, zyggi (if nothing else:D), in which case the EU in its present form is doomed to fail. Although it has a toy parliament to give the illusion of democracy, power is concentrated in the hands of the unelected bureaucrats of the European Commission.

Politicians love the EU because it gives them power (and fat salaries and expenses beyond the dreams of UK MPs) without accountability.

zygurat789

Septic001 wrote: »

Politicians love the EU because it gives them power (and fat salaries and expenses beyond the dreams of UK MPs) without accountability.

They're all at it. I don't suppose we'll ever see those who claimed for more council tax than they paid prosecuted and this was outside even their rules.

It needs sorting, we've done that for Europe before.

alared

The time for joining the euro was when we were getting €1.45 to the pound and not now when it is virtually one for one.

Although going by Brown`s disastrous gold selling escapade,he would think right now is a good time.

Sceptic001

zygurat789 wrote: »

They're all at it. I don't suppose we'll ever see those who claimed for more council tax than they paid prosecuted and this was outside even their rules.

It needs sorting, we've done that for Europe before.

Crikey, do you think we've got to storm the Normandy beaches again? Given the state of our armed forces we will need the Yanks to help us out with that one :eek:, but now I'm going seriously off-topic.

Let's hope that we can rely on the Irish (Luddites you would call them presumably, zyggi) to adopt a slightly less violent method by voting No to the Lisbon Treaty on Friday. That would strike another massive blow for democracy in Europe and stall the EU gravy train for a few more months.

zygurat789

Septic001 wrote: »

Crikey, do you think we've got to storm the Normandy beaches again? Given the state of our armed forces we will need the Yanks to help us out with that one :eek:, but now I'm going seriously off-topic.

Let's hope that we can rely on the Irish (Luddites you would call them presumably, zyggi) to adopt a slightly less violent method by voting No to the Lisbon Treaty on Friday. That would strike another massive blow for democracy in Europe and stall the EU gravy train for a few more months.

Your mindset is very worrying, you seem to be afflicted with tangential thoughts. The British always used to have clarity of thought and the nouse to know what to do and the grit to do it, by jingo. Why would you hone in on one instance and expand it exponentially?
Oh BTW the luddites were in no way democratic. Do you perchance write for the Daily Excess? You're about as logical.

Diesel44

The POUND Rules, the POUND must stay !

transgenic

We should keep the pound. It is one of the only things which seperates us from the EU and lets face it, the EU is becoming more and more a superstate every day. We MUST retain our independence by doing as much asn possible. Once we have the Euro, they will force pubs to sell half litres rather than pints etc.

tramsay

Sceptic001 wrote: »

For me the key issue is not how many euros I get when I go on holiday, but who sets the UK's monetary policy, the Bank of England or the European Central Bank. It is difficult enough to set a single suitable interest rate for the UK. To require the UK to adopt the same rate as the eurozone would be to surrender a key economic tool to an organisation (the European Central Bank) which, by definition, is unable to act in the sole interest of the UK economy.

Great post

Central banks have incredible power

PolishBigSpender

It's okay, UK, stay out of the Euro if you want.

Meanwhile, more and more countries will move to the Euro and any country outside of the zone will be facing a distinct disadvantage. Let's not forget that the Glorious Pound was up as high as 1.60EUR-1 pound a few years ago, and now it's near parity. Obviously the GREAT Pound is...well...not so great now. It's also not far off the historical low against the Zloty - today, it's trading about 4.6, and the historical low is about 4.2 or so. Given the weakness of the Zloty, this really is bad news for the UK.

Just remeber one thing - who is going to bail the UK out if the UK needs to be bailed out? Not the ECB, that's for certain.

stangs

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

It's okay, UK, stay out of the Euro if you want.

Meanwhile, more and more countries will move to the Euro and any country outside of the zone will be facing a distinct disadvantage. Let's not forget that the Glorious Pound was up as high as 1.60EUR-1 pound a few years ago, and now it's near parity. Obviously the GREAT Pound is...well...not so great now. It's also not far off the historical low against the Zloty - today, it's trading about 4.6, and the historical low is about 4.2 or so. Given the weakness of the Zloty, this really is bad news for the UK.

Just remeber one thing - who is going to bail the UK out if the UK needs to be bailed out? Not the ECB, that's for certain.

Schadenfreude, I know your name. As a net giver to the EU purse (compared to Poland's net taking status) I wouldn't be too triumphant about the current financial difficulties in the UK.

Just remember to give us a bell the next time Russia or Germany steam rolls you.

The EU couldn't fight its way out of a paper bag and relies on US military power to guarantee its Eastern borders (while sneering at them at the same time). As a result of this, military spending is at a pitiful level and it can use the 'saved' money for social programs to appear 'progressive'. If it had to defend its borders with its own strength of arms, your average Frenchmen would be marching on Paris like it was 1789, in uproar over the tax hike. You would be able to see the burning livestock and lorries from the cliffs of Dover...

As for the Euro - I'd rather work with Europe than be fully integrated with it. I feel it has expanded rather too quickly. Holidaying in Europe is nice, but convenience shouldn't be the main reason we adopt a common currency.

The Founding Fathers in the US had the right idea(s).