"David French" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
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> "Exit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news
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> > > I'm neither anti nor pro Europe myself - I'm fairly ambivalent about
> it -
> >
> > Surely you should then vote for a party that is ambivalent towards
europe
> > and not one which is recklessly pro and damn the consequences?
>
> No. There is no one party which accurately represents everything I would
go
> for. Lib Dems are by far the closest at the moment. But of course, I
don't
> agree with all their policies.
>
If you don't understand and agree 100% with their european plans you should
not vote for them however much you agree with their other plans as their
european policy involves giving away all sovreignty making their other
policies irrelevant as they will not have the power to implement them.
> > > but one thing I do know is that the vast majority of the British
> > population
> > > are anti-Europe without any actual understanding of the implications
> > either
> > > way.
> >
> > No offence intended but I do tire of this weak argument. The EU has an
> > annual propaganda budget of 200million euros which it uses to promote
its
> > largely unelected self. This money comes from mine and your taxes. No
> money
> > whatsoever is provided to those who wish to challenge the euro
superstates
> > undemocratic dictats. If any part of the electorate is badly informed
> about
> > the EU this is why, not because The Sun occassionally runs a daft
> headline.
>
> So, what are the implications then? Your op focussed on emotive
statements
> rather than an analysis of what the outcomes would be.
>
A simple glance at the markets will tell you what the implications are.
Compare the UK economy with those of euroland. Compare euroland levels of
tax. Look at the euroland pensions crisis - they have only a fraction of the
pension funds necessary to maintain their current pension levels, the UK has
huge pension reserves the EU is desperate to absorb towards the euroland
pension deficit. Compare current UK unemployment levels with those across
euroland.
The real implication of the EU is communism - what is commonly refered to in
EU circles as 'harmonisation'. Harmonisation in reality means taking an
average. This is great if you live in a country which is in the bottom half
of the EU - you can expect your standard of living, social security and
pensions to rise. If you live in the 4th largest economy in the world (the
UK) you can expect the inherent wealth of that economy to be used up to
bring the poorer countries of the EU up to the average, while we are dragged
down to the average. That is harmonisation.
> Just calling my argument "weak" doesn't make it so. Are you telling me
that
> the majority of the British public are anti-europe because they've
> understood the pros and cons, analysed the results and made an educated
> decision? Or is it more likely because of the tabloid press playing the
> "Germans are going to replace the good old British Pound with monopoly
> money" card?
>
Your argument is weak because the EU only fund the propaganda for one side.
In the UK it is electoral law that all parties who poll above a certain low
level are granted free access to party political broadcasts so that the
electorate may see all sides. The EU is undemocratic and does not support
this fair access for all and thus people only see the EU message or believe
the tabloids by your example. This is the fault of undemocratic practices
within the EU propaganda machine that under UK law would be illegal. If you
want an educated electorate campaign for our taxes to be spent fairly to
give both sides, not kept by the EU and spent on one-sided propaganda. If
you are not stupid enough to believe the tabloids, it is very patronising of
you to assume that most others do. You evidently believe yourself to be far
more intelligent that the poor mass of tabloid reading fools who believe
everything they read. Perhaps people like yourself should be given several
votes to make up for all the electoral dunces who aren't as bright as you?
;-)
> > It's a knee-jerk reaction for most people. I'm not implying this is
> > > the case for you, Julian, but it sure as heck is for a large
percentage
> of
> > > the population.
> > >
> > Ones own reasoning is always fair, the opposition are always knee-jerk
> > reactionaries. This is the same flawed reasoning that sees 90% of
drivers
> > rate themselves as above average - the mathematical contradiction is
> > obvious.
>
> Not necessarily. The "opposition's" opinions may or may not be knee-jerk.
> In this case, I think they are. Taking other examples, such as education
> and healthcare, I think most people have taken time to weigh up the
options,
> whether or not they agree with my opinions.
>
You think anti-EU opinions are knee-jerk because you don't agree with them.
You have already made it clear you think you know better than much of the
electorate - whereas you can see through the nationalistic knee-jerks, the
rest of them just drink it in as gospel. I don't have such a patronising
attitude towards the electorate, as any successful politician will tell you,
the british electorate have a remarkable ability to spot the bull**** and
underestimating them has been the downfall of many a politico.
> > > As for a referendum, I agree it's a good idea, but realistically, if
the
> > Lib
> > > Dems were to get voted in, I think it would be a pretty fair sign that
> the
> > > population was pro-Europe. The election would in a way stand for a
> > > referendum. But I see your point here.
> > >
> > Fortunately they won't, though the biggest problem is apprently the
large
> > number of the electorate who don't realise just how keen the libdems are
> to
> > hand any power they gain in an election immediately over to the
unelected
> > franco-german superstate. They really should be made to wear jackets
with
> > yellow EU symbols on the back so we can spot them easily in the street.
..
> .
>
> So what party are you going to vote for then Julian? 
>
Like you, there is no one party that fully represents my views, but the
possibility of our loss of sovreignty via short-sighted, expeditious
politicians means that I must put the european question above all others at
the coming election. Currently this will lead me to vote Conservative, but I
will speedily swap that vote to whichever party gives me the best chance of
allowing my country to continue to decide it's own tax, defence and
financial decisions in perpituity.
God save the Queen! ;-)