What now? EU

BlondeHeadOn

Is anyone else amazed that David Cameron actually stood up to the EU and said no - I honestly never thought he would.

For some reason, I feel strangely proud to be British this morning.....

Mind you, the UK will now probably be blamed for eveything that goes wrong with the Euro-land from now on - "It would have all worked, but Britain broke it!"

BlondeHeadOn

Mmmm. Just been reading the comments on the BBC website, and here's a few quotes:

"The UK is now really in trouble. The remainder of the EU countries will negotiate a deal to suit them, and the tiny island nation will be left out. Europe can live without the UK, the UK, however will be a fish dead in the water without the EU."

"The foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's opposition Labour Party, Douglas Alexander, tells BBC Radio 4 he "regrets just how badly David Cameron's negotiation strategy has let Britain down" and the UK is more isolated today than at any point since it joined the EU about 35 years ago. "The outcome is not a sign of strength but a profound weakness," he says. "

But my favourite so far is:

"The UK is "as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed" following treaty veto, says Terry Smith of the money brokerage firm, Tullett Prebon on BBC Radio 4."

As they say in those exam papers from discredited examination boards:

"Discuss"

manchesterred

The failure to get the financial services protocol inserted leaves the UK with no mechanism to stop the EU (through majority voting) emasculating the City. Having failed to get that protocol, and with it being very clear that France would rather the UK was not in the EU, I see no way we can remain in the EU.

Really2

Not surprising Labour are moaning considering what they gave away when they were in power.

I would have thought a TOBIN tax on just the Euro using members would drive out their financial services to other european countries that don't charge it?

I can't see that he has handled it badly

A) Why give away a massive slice of our tax revenues so plunging ourselves further in trouble.
Had he agreed there would have to be a referendum, that would likely be a no to the change.

noodle_doodle

I'm surprised to find myself agreeing to Cameron. The discussions seem to have went along these lines...
EU: "We have stuffed up our stupidly naive single currency which we crowed and crowed about and mocked you silly roast beefs for not joining. Would you like to give up lots and lots of money?"
UK: "Errr..... no"
EU: "HOW OUTRAGEOUS!"

Mrs_Bones

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

Mmmm. Just been reading the comments on the BBC website, and here's a few quotes:

But my favourite so far is:

"The UK is "as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed" following treaty veto, says Terry Smith of the money brokerage firm, Tullett Prebon on BBC Radio 4."

As they say in those exam papers from discredited examination boards:

"Discuss"

I like the quote above.

Just because we don't want to all drown on the same ship doesn't make us isolated. If they want to go alone, let them, but can they also agree to sort out their own mess and not keep coming to us and ever tom, !!!!!! and china to help bail them out with money.

This fiscal union should have been sorted when the Euro was born, it's trying to shut the stable door now after the horse has bolted. It will not solve the debt / money problems, restore growth or help with unemployment. If countries can not devalue and compete then they are still heading for that iceberg.

As to us needing EU more than they need us, where this this myth originate from? They export more to us then we to them, we are one of the largest contributes money wise and don't get back what we put in the pot in equal measure. There is a whole big wide world to trade with and Europe business will not want to stop selling to us, so they won't stop buying from us. Business is business, it will probably work better if the politicians keep out their nose out of it.

jjlandlord

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

For some reason, I feel strangely proud to be British this morning.....

Fascinating.
He managed to make everyone forget that the UK had to nationalise several banks to prevent them from going bust and that the UK is actually the most indebted industrialised country (hey no. 1 at something!)

As for the City, one thing must be clear: Its only way to remain a major player is to be an unregulated tax heaven because it is not backed by a major productive economy.
It's like Las Vegas: People go there because they can freely gamble.

So instead of putting on a face-saving show, we should seriously get to work and stop consuming beyond our means.

Mrs_Bones wrote: »

They export more to us then we to them

The Eurozone is the main export market for the UK, so in any case we cannot afford to let it go down the drain.

As for selling to the "rest of the World", great.
But let's face it, the main thing we sell to e.g. China is university education for the children of their new middle class... Ah but we want to limit entry visas.

Wookster

I take Labour's comments with a pinch of salt, after all they would have had us in the Euro were it not for Brown's stubbornness.

Good show to Cameron for this, it is really clear that the Eurozone leaders just don't understand how markets function, they think they can legislate and that markets will follow.

drc

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

Is anyone else amazed that David Cameron actually stood up to the EU and said no - I honestly never thought he would.

For some reason, I feel strangely proud to be British this morning.....

Mind you, the UK will now probably be blamed for eveything that goes wrong with the Euro-land from now on - "It would have all worked, but Britain broke it!"

"Peace in our time" and all that.

Degenerate

I strongly suspect a blame-shifting agenda behind the whole shenanigans. Put forward proposals that would obviously be unacceptable to Britain, as they would disproportionately affect us, then blame us for the failure when we veto it. They need a handy cover for the fact that they are out of ideas and are doing absolutely nothing to address the current problem.

Merkel's "Fiskal Union" is nothing of the sort, merely an attempt to more rigidly enforce the self-defeating austerity agenda that has brought us here in the first place. I think the British veto will ultimately prove irrelevant, as I don't believe they'll even be able to reach agreement among the 17 for the sort of sovereignty grab they are pushing - if offers nothing but further misery for the weaker nations, without any sort of viable rescue mechanism in return.

All they are doing is pontificating about the future shape of a currency union that won't even be there in six months time if they don't pull their finger out. Never was the expression "rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic" more appropriate. They're standing around discussing how to redecorate the house whilst watching it burn down.

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

But my favourite so far is:

"The UK is "as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed" following treaty veto, says Terry Smith of the money brokerage firm, Tullett Prebon on BBC Radio 4."

Priceless. And totally on the money.

The_White_Horse

it's amazing how the leftys have done us over during the last 20 yrs or so.