Tidgy

well in this case europe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11641023

every country out there is reducing spending etc, yet these muppets are demanding more money, how about we sve the country alot of money and get the **** out and worry about our own problems

DCI Gene Hunt

It's the old case of exactly how much are we paying in annually - weighed up against the tangible benefits to the UK.

Lee247

Could someone please tell me the benefits of being in the EU.
They seem to say, jump and we say how high.

SJ_Skyline

Lee, I'll have a go at a couple:

Free Trade: Trade with the EU accounts for some 60% of the UK's trade. In real terms, this is something like 3 million jobs.

Regional Aid: South Wales & North East England have both received grants to help develop and attract business (The Nissan plant in Sunderland being a prime example).

Lower Prices: Free trade drives down prices - personally, I don't agree with this claim as I've not seen much evidence of it.



I often wonder why the media are keen on telling us how much EU membership costs in financial and compliance terms but so reticent to discuss the benefits?

Lee247

Thanks for that. I just never seem to see anything positive about being a member. That explains some of it

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Free trade is important as it means you are "free to trade" in another country. Otherwise, lets say France may decide to impose a tax on goods you bring into their country, or a cap on the amount of items you are allowed.

Clarebabes

Doesn't seem to be too much trouble for Switzerland to not to be in the EU....

Leslie

We would be much better off if we had a trading agreement similar to Norway's.

Why should we be financing their gross overspending on themselves and also when they have not been able to get a successful audit of their accounts for over 14 years! Where does all that lost money go I wonder! Why did Billy Liar and Flash give up the rebate that Maggie negotiated for us in lieu of the lesser services we get in comparison to the others? We need another strong person like Maggie!

Why do the politicians always do exactly what they tell us to do?

At the risk of repeating myself many times. it is time we got out.

Les

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

To be honest, I just don't know enough about what is going on to have any real clue as to what we should do. The press do not seem to cover the EU issue in a balanced way, and all the other political parties just call foul over what the others are doing. It does not matter what the gov in power does, the opposition always says its wrong, which is hardly the bedrock for a decent discussion.

I suppose that is the main benefit of a coalition. At least there is some debate within the gov that we can get to hear that is genuine. Anything from labour is just slinging mud hoping that some of it will stick.

dpb

Because there are none ?

the only reason it exists at all is the idea of clubbing together to fend off the chinese / yanks