Half of Brits want EU exit (From Worcester News)

Exit if from the EU? See the price of Imported food and goods rise including fuel, it won't be cheap.

Strange that our MPs dont appreciate the hugh negative and cost of doing business with the EU. As members EVERY business/ organisation in the UK has to obey and follow EU rules and regulations. This is daft , trade with the EU is responsible for less than 9% of the total GDP of the UK yet the remaining 91% who have absolutely nothing to do with the EU still have to implement them at a significant cost to the economy . The big multinationals can afford it but what about all the local small businesses e.g printers , caravan manufacturers , garden centres . The EU is a hugh deterrent to entrepreneurs.

In reply to outside-edge the reverse will happen,cost of food and fuel will go down . One of the hugh costs of the EU is the Common Agricultural Policy . This means we the ordinary taxpayer are subsidising the big landowners in the UK and farmers in France and the other Med countries. It is estimated that if we left the EU and could buy food freely from anywhere cost of food would go down by about £500 per year for the average family.
Fuel costs are affected by EU's green policies and if we left depending on our Government's approach we could expect fuel and energy prices to go down, a classic example is the financial support given to bio-fuels which even green organisations now accept is totally misguided as it is causing agriculatural land to be turned over to bio-fuels so less food is grown and food prices rise , again virgin forest is being chopped down to cater for growing bio-fuels .

Forgot to say that the EU is also an important trading customer for us. They will tax our exports to them with the inevitable consequences. Free Trade is essential for the UK not Splendid Isolation, we've been there before.
Just remember doing business pre 1975 Referendum.

One of the main things bothering the average voter about the EU is immigration. No mention of that from the local Conservative MPs.

Whatever they try and say, the Conservatives want a big supply of cheap labour. Pity so many on the left cannot see that immigration is a RIGHT WING policy.

outside-edge wrote:
Forgot to say that the EU is also an important trading customer for us. They will tax our exports to them with the inevitable consequences. Free Trade is essential for the UK not Splendid Isolation, we've been there before.
Just remember doing business pre 1975 Referendum.

Sorry to say, but you and Harriet Baldwin are wrong. She has said before that we would be blocked from trade with the Common Market. She seems to be horribly misinformed.

Or do countries like Switzerland and Norway, or even China and Korea, not sell into the EU?

More Tea Vicar wrote:

outside-edge wrote: Forgot to say that the EU is also an important trading customer for us. They will tax our exports to them with the inevitable consequences. Free Trade is essential for the UK not Splendid Isolation, we've been there before. Just remember doing business pre 1975 Referendum.

Sorry to say, but you and Harriet Baldwin are wrong. She has said before that we would be blocked from trade with the Common Market. She seems to be horribly misinformed. Or do countries like Switzerland and Norway, or even China and Korea, not sell into the EU?

Horribly misinformed? What facts do you have to support this?

The Countries mentioned have never been members of the main EU and apart from China, the cost of living is significantly higher in them than here.

China is capable of producing goods/exports at a fraction of the costs we do and therefore can undercut us and the EU.

From the UK Government site:

"Imports from outside the EU (which we would be if we left the EU). You have to pay import duty and import VAT (plus VAT on import duty)" and that my friend adds up to more than 20%

jean shaw wrote:
Strange that our MPs dont appreciate the hugh negative and cost of doing business with the EU. As members EVERY business/ organisation in the UK has to obey and follow EU rules and regulations. This is daft , trade with the EU is responsible for less than 9% of the total GDP of the UK yet the remaining 91% who have absolutely nothing to do with the EU still have to implement them at a significant cost to the economy . The big multinationals can afford it but what about all the local small businesses e.g printers , caravan manufacturers , garden centres . The EU is a hugh deterrent to entrepreneurs.

We need the EU more than it needs us.
Quoted from a leading Economics newspaper:


UK main export markets:

European Union 57%

United States: 15%

Switzerland: 2%

China: 2%

Japan: 2%

outside-edge wrote:

More Tea Vicar wrote:

outside-edge wrote: Forgot to say that the EU is also an important trading customer for us. They will tax our exports to them with the inevitable consequences. Free Trade is essential for the UK not Splendid Isolation, we've been there before. Just remember doing business pre 1975 Referendum.

Sorry to say, but you and Harriet Baldwin are wrong. She has said before that we would be blocked from trade with the Common Market. She seems to be horribly misinformed. Or do countries like Switzerland and Norway, or even China and Korea, not sell into the EU?

Horribly misinformed? What facts do you have to support this?

The Countries mentioned have never been members of the main EU and apart from China, the cost of living is significantly higher in them than here.

China is capable of producing goods/exports at a fraction of the costs we do and therefore can undercut us and the EU.

From the UK Government site:

"Imports from outside the EU (which we would be if we left the EU). You have to pay import duty and import VAT (plus VAT on import duty)" and that my friend adds up to more than 20%

Norway and Switzerland, even Korea and Japan, aren't low cost manufacturing areas. They all sell happily into the EU.

And that, my friend, is why you and Mrs Baldwin are talking nonsense.

More Tea Vicar wrote:

outside-edge wrote:

More Tea Vicar wrote:

outside-edge wrote: Forgot to say that the EU is also an important trading customer for us. They will tax our exports to them with the inevitable consequences. Free Trade is essential for the UK not Splendid Isolation, we've been there before. Just remember doing business pre 1975 Referendum.

Sorry to say, but you and Harriet Baldwin are wrong. She has said before that we would be blocked from trade with the Common Market. She seems to be horribly misinformed. Or do countries like Switzerland and Norway, or even China and Korea, not sell into the EU?

Horribly misinformed? What facts do you have to support this? The Countries mentioned have never been members of the main EU and apart from China, the cost of living is significantly higher in them than here. China is capable of producing goods/exports at a fraction of the costs we do and therefore can undercut us and the EU. From the UK Government site: "Imports from outside the EU (which we would be if we left the EU). You have to pay import duty and import VAT (plus VAT on import duty)" and that my friend adds up to more than 20%

Norway and Switzerland, even Korea and Japan, aren't low cost manufacturing areas. They all sell happily into the EU. And that, my friend, is why you and Mrs Baldwin are talking nonsense.

Yes they do, but our imports of their products are not as significant as populist belief may think.
From a leading Economics newspaper:

Main source of imports:

European Union 55%

USA: 9%

China: 8%

Norway: 5%

Japan: 3%

PS Please don't lower the tone of this debate with insults.

No insult, just common sense.

And your stats make no sense on their own. You say 'Main source of imports'. Whose main source of imports do you mean?

More Tea Vicar wrote:
No insult, just common sense. And your stats make no sense on their own. You say 'Main source of imports'. Whose main source of imports do you mean?

Simple. Where a majority of our imports come from and exports go to. It excludes the one-off/low yields made by individuals and small companies.

My apologies if you don't follow/make sense of the 'stats' as quoted (not enough time or space for me to elucidate here on such a complex economic model I'm afraid).

However, may I suggest that you do some research with the likes of The Economist and Financial Times. Both are very interesting reads whatever side of the argument one is on, and highly regarded by those in business.
Chiou!

outside-edge wrote:

More Tea Vicar wrote:
No insult, just common sense. And your stats make no sense on their own. You say 'Main source of imports'. Whose main source of imports do you mean?

Simple. Where a majority of our imports come from and exports go to. It excludes the one-off/low yields made by individuals and small companies.

My apologies if you don't follow/make sense of the 'stats' as quoted (not enough time or space for me to elucidate here on such a complex economic model I'm afraid).

However, may I suggest that you do some research with the likes of The Economist and Financial Times. Both are very interesting reads whatever side of the argument one is on, and highly regarded by those in business.
Chiou!

No, all you need to do is express yourself clearly.

I'd imagine we'd go onto EFTA-like terms. Might be a bit of hassle, unlikely to involve crippling import duties. And remember, we are a big export market for many EU countries.

If Switzerland can survive outside, I'm sure we can.

Not entirely sure what you mean by 'chiou'. A misspelling of the French for cabbage? Interesting, if eccentric way to end a posting, but whatever floats your boat...

Ciao

We could try trading with the rest of the world. (Emerging markets) as we did in days of old without occupying them.
As for the 1975 referendum we voted to join the Common market. Not to be governed by Strasborg. Who voted for that ?.

RobertR wrote:
We could try trading with the rest of the world. (Emerging markets) as we did in days of old without occupying them.
As for the 1975 referendum we voted to join the Common market. Not to be governed by Strasborg. Who voted for that ?.

Good point. It's not even a question of choosing between the US or the EU as some EU-philes try to suggest.

We should trade with EU countries and the rest of the world as a member of EFTA, same as the Swiss do.

Most people in the UK today never got the chance to vote about joining the Common Market anyway. But the fact is, neither Britain nor the EU is the same as back in the 70s.

The EEC had way fewer members, and was essentially a trading bloc. Now it's massively expanded in terms of member countries, and powers. Its leaders are now quite clear that they want a federal state.

And when we joined, the UK was actually rather weak. Now, though the UK isn't perfect, it's in better state than most EU members. In short, the balance of power has shifted. Being in the EU isn't a step up, it's actually dragging us down.

It's time to move on. Be friends and allies of our European neighbours, but not part of the EU in its current form.

As a mature voter and jobseeker, both the present government and the previous one have alienated me - the reason can be summed up in one word - immigration. Who does that leave me with? UKIP next time!

Why not have a look at the Freedom Democrats? They're an exciting new political party who like to blame immigrants for all of our self-inflicted problems just like yourself.

Go on check it out, you might like it.

Here's one of their slogans: -

"WE NEED BRITAIN BECAUSE WE ARE BRITAIN"

Makes perfect sense, no?

When we leave the EU they will not put import duty on the goods we sell to them, can you imagine the cry from BMW, VW, Audi, Renault, Peugot, Fiat, Seat, Skoda when we reciprocate and make their cars even more expensive to buy here in the UK?

No, we can leave and rejoin our partners in the Commonwealth in trading, and they are some of the fastest growing economies in the worl whereas Brussels has mismanaged the EU into desparate financial strits!

When we leave we will then have £56M/week (EU cost) to spend on looking after our own old and sick, rather than see it stolen and wasted by the unelected dictators in Brussels.

That last figure should have read £56M/day, can you imagine the hospitals and care homes and schools we will be able to build when we are free of the unelected bureaucrats?

3 weeks ago they confessed to "losing" another £1.5 billion! You would never voluntarily join a club of thieves, but that is where we find ourselves, and we are told that we dare not leave or disaster will befall us. The only disaster was listening to Edward Heaths lies when he conned the electorate to join in the first place!

It was supposed to be a trading club, and nothing more... now we have unelected dictators demanding details of all drivers in the UK and all DNA records held by our police. We were never given an opportunity to vote for this, we have been deceived in a gigantic way by our self-seeking politicians over the decades.

I will be voting for UKIP at all forthcoming elections, staying in is not a sensible option; we need to be our of this madhouse and regain our own freedom and democracy and start to prosper again.

Never mind the EU, what on earth is chiou???

Chiou is a very popular name in China.

Perhaps "outside-edge" is Chinese and was signing off with his/her real name?

There again, it could have been a failed attempt at spelling "Ciao", probably just as failed as the attempt to make a point about the EU :)

Todays EU outrage:

BRITAIN is braced for a showdown with Brussels over plans to impose anti-fraud justice that could see the EU have power over our courts.

Under the proposals, British citizens could be arrested, jailed and have cars and homes seized by courts in any of the 27 EU member states – even for “offences” which are not recognised in the UK.

They should start by investigating themselves first as last year – for the 18th year in a row – the EU’s spending watchdog refused to sign off its accounts, raising questions over £89billion of spending.

Getting out of this madhouse is the only answer, they are beyond redemption.

I will be voting for UKIP in any forthcoming elections.