UK told to pay £1.7bn extra to EU

[ab6262]

As you well know, I'm hard to fool!

 

not really:hihi: but no welcome back??

[Stan Tamudo]

not really:hihi: but no welcome back??

 

I don't need to welcome you back because you've never been away.

[Mecky]

Treasury figures show that the nation would in fact be £8 billion better off each year if we left the EU. It would also be able to claim back its territorial fishing waters, scrap caps on limits to the number of hours people can work per week, free itself from the EU’s renewable energy drive, and create a freer economic market. This would turn London into a “freewheeling hub for emerging-market finance—a sort of Singapore on steroids”

 

 

But don't believe me. I took that from the Economist.

 

I reckon £8bn would soon be absorbed into the cost of living. Another cod war would be on the horizon. 40 hours work a week is more than enough for anyone. Renewable energy is a must at some point and we would still have to comply with global emissions programmes anyway. It wouldn't create a freer market, it would dry up the market unless we are prepared to pay over the odds

[tzijlstra]

You probably need to go back to school and study your maths. Import duty is actually charged and retained by the importing country. We don't pay a tax to china for all the crap they export to us.

So the EU would lose far more than the UK in an imports tax war.

It costs 10 times more to haul goods across the EU than stick them on a boat and sail around it.

 

Next.

 

The UKs biggest export partner, by far and than some is the EU. Next.

 

You were the one who said it was a free market...

 

It is a free market, that doesn't mean access to that market is free, does it?

 

Bolded bit - I don't read the Daily Mail, or any newspaper for that matter, but as I understand it, there have been years when NO final accounts have been agreed, at any point, pre- or post-amendment.

 

If there are I would like to see some demonstration of the fact. This argument gets put forward A LOT by EU-sceptics and the simple truth is: it is nonsense. But if you can convince me otherwise than yes please. Of course, when you do, I will provide proof that the UK books have not been signed off in a similar manner, ever.

[ghost rider]

I wonder if it is just coincidence that both the UK and Holland want to renegotiate their terms in the EU.

[RollingJ]

The UKs biggest export partner, by far and than some is the EU. Next.

 

 

 

It is a free market, that doesn't mean access to that market is free, does it?

 

 

 

If there are I would like to see some demonstration of the fact. This argument gets put forward A LOT by EU-sceptics and the simple truth is: it is nonsense. But if you can convince me otherwise than yes please. Of course, when you do, I will provide proof that the UK books have not been signed off in a similar manner, ever.

 

Tim, we will just have to agree to disagree on this matter. I understand you think the EU is a wonderful open market (with problems), I think, and always have, since the inception of the EEC, that it is a huge, unwieldly, undemocratic organisation, which is why I voted against the UK joining it when Ted Heath steamrollered us in.

[SaferSheff]

Whats frustrating is that its not uncommon for people in this country to work 50-60hrs per week as times are hard and the economy is in trouble.

 

But when you go to places like Spain, have a better quality of life and work about 35 hrs a week but their country is struggling so we have to bail them out.

 

Unfair as we are the hardest working people in Europe

Edited October 24, 2014 by SaferSheff

[tzijlstra]

Tim, we will just have to agree to disagree on this matter. I understand you think the EU is a wonderful open market (with problems), I think, and always have, since the inception of the EEC, that it is a huge, unwieldly, undemocratic organisation, which is why I voted against the UK joining it when Ted Heath steamrollered us in.

 

We agree on disagreeing

 

There is still a lot of misinformation around the EU in this country though, another popular one is that 'we never voted for it' which you dispel quite nicely here

[hauxwell]

I think it is disgusting asking us to pay extra money, and not even given us much notice to pay it. They probably want more money from us to help bale out other countries.

 

The Anti-EU right wingers in Cameron's own party want to push for a referendum on EU membership before the next general election.

[RollingJ]

We agree on disagreeing

 

There is still a lot of misinformation around the EU in this country though, another popular one is that 'we never voted for it' which you dispel quite nicely here

 

Not quite how I read it, but again I respect your right to believe that we voted for what we have now, but don't expect me to agree.

 

I know your response will be along the lines of 'but all organisations change/mature', but my personal opinion is that the EC has mutated, and not in always beneficial ways. Just my opinion.