02-06-2015, 05:44
(This post was last modified: 02-06-2015, 05:54 by St Charles Owl.)
I too would be undecided (I won't get a vote though) but the problem for me is we know we are never going to get true information on the real consequences of voting on way or the other. ONe side will highlight the money we send to the rest of the Union and the immigration issues, while the other will talk about the trade benefits and ease of travel, but neither will give us the whole truth about any of it.
Ritchie, as regards the US and China, I think its dangerous to compare us with them with regard to world trade!! They are the two largest economies in the world so pack a much bigger punch than little old Britain does, that goes a long way to securing favorable trade agreements for them, something I think we would struggle to compete with.
My initial thoughts are by pulling out we would defintely save some money instead of having to give it to others, but we would lose all our subsidies on industries such as agriculture. Immigration would be easier to control, but lets be right we have taken in immigrants for decades before we were part of the EU anyway, so I am not convinced being in the EU causes more immigration. Companies that do a lot of business within the EU will definitely suffer as they would be subjected to tarriffs and taxes from the remaining members to be able to sell there, directly hurting British jobs!! Imported products will become more expensive for sure, but on the other hand we could poosibly create jobs in Britain to make or supply these products ourselves. There are so many double edged swords on all types of topics, good on one hand and bad on the other.
My biggest concern, and probably the one that would make mean lean to staying in the EU is that we would go back to being a bit too insular with regard to the rest of Europe, yes we are an island and not acutally connected to mainland Europe, but we cannot go back to the "We are better than you" attitudes we have seen in the past. I don't mind being confident and talking up yourself, but it too easily becomes arrogance and that will hurt us as a country in the eyes of the rest of the world!!
Ritchie, as regards the US and China, I think its dangerous to compare us with them with regard to world trade!! They are the two largest economies in the world so pack a much bigger punch than little old Britain does, that goes a long way to securing favorable trade agreements for them, something I think we would struggle to compete with.
My initial thoughts are by pulling out we would defintely save some money instead of having to give it to others, but we would lose all our subsidies on industries such as agriculture. Immigration would be easier to control, but lets be right we have taken in immigrants for decades before we were part of the EU anyway, so I am not convinced being in the EU causes more immigration. Companies that do a lot of business within the EU will definitely suffer as they would be subjected to tarriffs and taxes from the remaining members to be able to sell there, directly hurting British jobs!! Imported products will become more expensive for sure, but on the other hand we could poosibly create jobs in Britain to make or supply these products ourselves. There are so many double edged swords on all types of topics, good on one hand and bad on the other.
My biggest concern, and probably the one that would make mean lean to staying in the EU is that we would go back to being a bit too insular with regard to the rest of Europe, yes we are an island and not acutally connected to mainland Europe, but we cannot go back to the "We are better than you" attitudes we have seen in the past. I don't mind being confident and talking up yourself, but it too easily becomes arrogance and that will hurt us as a country in the eyes of the rest of the world!!