Why Britain joined EU?

baby_boomer

Why did Britain join?

I didn't have a vote at the time, but as a good European, studying two languages at A Level and doing community service, I foolishly tried to persuade the 20 old people I visited to vote YES for the country's future.

Sorry about that early piece of naivety .

Generali

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Historical error. The referendum was several years later in 1978 or 79. Under Labour.

We both got it wrong.

I think you're thinking of the referendum for Scotland remaining part of the UK in 1978 (link)

Labour's referendum on remaining in the EEC was in 1975, I thought it was in 1974 (link).

Pennywise wrote: »

I've never really seen any of the supposed "benefits" of freedom between EU countries. Someone above mentioned tourism and holiday homes, but I've got clients with holiday homes in America and Turkey, who have no more "problems" as opposed to those with homes in Spain. Same with tourism, we seem to be able to attract American and Japanese tourists and I've never seen any real difference when I travel abroad - we still have to cope with passports, security, etc whether we fly to France or Turkey. I've clients who import/export all over the world, and they don't break into sweat at the thought of an Australian customer or a Chinese supplier - they certainly have no preference to deal only with EU countries, in fact, these days, the paperwork/reporting/VAT for EU transactions is actually worse than for non-EU trades despite the supposed "benefits" of open borders (which simply doesn't exist). As for inward investment from overseas firms, I see that Google, Amazon, yahoo, paypal, ebay, etc have all set up their EU subsidiaries in countries other than the UK - typically Spain, Jersey, Ireland or Switzerland - why aren't they located in the UK if being in the EU is so beneficial for the UK? In these cases, I'd say that being in the EU is counter-productive - the US firms want to trade in the UK as it's probably their biggest single country/market in Europe, but the EU rules allow them to base themselves in another EU country, giving them access to UK customers without the liabilities (i.e. taxation, employment law, etc) - the worse of both worlds, I think!

From a personal pov I found it great that as a teen I could go to France on spec and just find a job there like I could with London. No visa, very little hassle beyond getting a carte de sejour. I could shop in France and Belgium and not worry about how much I was bringing back and if I was going to have to pay tax.

The UK has done very well out of inward investment. That every single multinational hasn't decided to have it's European base in the UK is hardly evidence of Europe's failure although it is interesting to note that the examples you give have only or mostly achieved prominence since 1997.

If you want to leave the EU you have a vote and I suggest you use it wisely.

StevieJ

I suppose if you were about to retire to Spain with a pension being in the euro would be an advantage, oh dear, wonder when that will happen

leveller2911

Generali wrote: »

If you want to leave the EU you have a vote and I suggest you use it wisely.

Generali,
If the political elite have any respect for the electorate they will give them the vote.Do you honestly believe people WON'T use their vote wisely???....

Or do you think we are too thick to understand the EU???

Generali

leveller2911 wrote: »

Generali,
If the political elite have any respect for the electorate they will give them the vote.Do you honestly believe people WON'T use their vote wisely???....

Or do you think we are too thick to understand the EU???

It was just a carelessly chosen phrase.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

leveller2911 wrote: »

Or do you think we are too thick to understand the EU???

I would say the general public is definitely too thick to understand the economic complexities and political and trade implications of EU membership. The vast majority will base their opinion on nonsense stories about vegetable shapes in the Daily Wail and Jeremy Clarkson making hilarious jokes about the French being smelly on Top Gear.

I don't know much about economic theory at all, and my modern history and politics is pretty weak. If I were to vote on an issue as important as this I would read up all I could on the subject. Most people wouldn't though, and I honestly think something as critical as this should be decided by those who have actually looked at the facts (ie what our elected representatives are supposed to do on our behalf).

leveller2911

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I would say the general public is definitely too thick to understand the economic complexities and political and trade implications of EU membership. The vast majority will base their opinion on nonsense stories about vegetable shapes in the Daily Wail and Jeremy Clarkson making hilarious jokes about the French being smelly on Top Gear.

I don't know much about economic theory at all, and my modern history and politics is pretty weak. If I were to vote on an issue as important as this I would read up all I could on the subject. Most people wouldn't though, and I honestly think something as critical as this should be decided by those who have actually looked at the facts (ie what our elected representatives are supposed to do on our behalf).

This is where we have the problem.The political elite NEVER tell the truth and spend all their time trying to get one over the opposition.The vote would be far too important and all parties SHOULD stick to telling the truth, but this sadly wouldn't happen.I would agree it should be left to elected representatives to decide IF they had any moral standing and general honesty.
The whole political system is flawed,especially given the fact that so few people vote,no one party has a mandate to govern.....

You will always have people with little or no inteligence in any society but that doesnt mean the rest of us shouldn't get to vote.