'Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?

[gadgetman]

Ask the CEO of your employer how a no vote would impact them and importantly your job.

Even if your employer doesn't do business in the EU, there's a chance it's finance, suppliers or owners are in the EU.

We're more integrated than most people think, and an exit could have the potential for a negative impact on the UK.

[domhnall]

I work in telecoms. The regulatory environment is European. Which means we can and do work across Europe. It would be very bad news for my employer.

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[Mr Grumpy]

Ask the CEO of your employer how a no vote would impact them and importantly your job.

Even if your employer doesn't do business in the EU, there's a chance it's finance, suppliers or owners are in the EU.

We're more integrated than most people think, and an exit could have the potential for a negative impact on the UK.

My employer is part owned by the French government.....my water is 'owned ' by the Chinese, my electric is 'owned' by I think the Canadians, god knows who owns my gas.......

 I am in the fortunate position to not give a flyer what happens with the EU, but I am positive that for my daughters sake, in the long run ( she is 23 ) she would be better off without the burdens that EU legislation imposes on us. it is pointless blaming the current government, but imho, years of labour leadership ****ed us as a country up in ways that will have decades of recriminations. 

Just my opinion, other opinions are just as valid, I suppose..

 I grew up wearing Maggie Thatchers rose tinted testicles, so I am bound to be prejudiced...

[domhnall]

I keep hearing this about the needless regulatory burden. I work in the regulatory environment and I'm really not sure what it is We'd get rid of. What would happen is that EU regulations would be replaced with UK only regulations. So instead of a uniform regulatory environment we'd have different regulatory regimes. If you trade cross border that's more not less regulation. If you don't trade cross border you're no better off.

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[Mr Grumpy]

I keep hearing this about the needless regulatory burden. I work in the regulatory environment and I'm really not sure what it is We'd get rid of. What would happen is that EU regulations would be replaced with UK only regulations. So instead of a uniform regulatory environment we'd have different regulatory regimes. If you trade cross border that's more not less regulation. If you don't trade cross border you're no better off.

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looking at this from a purely war like situation, are we not to a large degree self sufficient ? Could we not just shut the borders and say 'do one' to everyone else ? I appreciate we cannot grow pineapples, and it would be unthinkable really, but would it be possible ?

[gadgetman]

looking at this from a purely war like situation, are we not to a large degree self sufficient ? Could we not just shut the borders and say 'do one' to everyone else ? I appreciate we cannot grow pineapples, and it would be unthinkable really, but would it be possible ?

No.

[Mr Grumpy]

No.

if I knew what lol meant, I would have lolled to that...., in fact I laughed to myself instead....

 In the good old days, we were self sufficient, to a large degree though, weren't we ?, do we actually need pineapples, or quinoia ( ?) or slaves ?

 Actually, slaves would be good, but we don't need African ones, home grown white ones would do...

[Ootohere]

Were we?  When was that?

Did the ships not set sail to inhabit other countries and plunder others wealth and resources.

All the Ports around the UK Coast., importing goods, & exporting what the UK produces to afford what needs imported,

and the Navy trying to keep shipping lanes open in war time.

Rationing in the UK during war time & after.

 

Oil & Gas needs imported, coal and wood and many more minerals.

The UK can not even provide enough energy to power its population.

Edited 15 February, 2016 by GoneOffskiroottoot

[Mr Grumpy]

I have just spent 15 minutes composing a reasoned reply to that, and now it's gone into the ether.....*******s....

[Lady Elanore]

We could grow pineapples in big green houses like they did hundreds of years ago

[gadgetman]

We really past the point of no return started in the 80s somewhere in the early 90s.

Manufacturing was shunned in favour of finance, and big corporations would pay more taxes than little businesses so had money thrown at them to come here.

Modernisation has also killed off most of what was left.

Before we could self sustain we need a government who invests in bringing back manufacturing and a way to sustain ourselves.

The Scottish independence campaign focused on the ability to self sustain with a healthy oil market. Currently North Sea oil is almost worthless and getting on for 4x more expensive than it sells for last time I heard prices on the news. A number of rigs are being shut down because of this.

[Ootohere]

World Wide prices down and the revenue into the UK Treasury is down.

But luckily the Oil & Gas is right where it is for extracting in the future, even if more difficult, but there is new technology.

 

So rusting hulks of Platforms & Facilities are being retired and scrapped as they should being 30 to 40 year old and 

no longer efficient or economically viable to maintain.

 

So lots of decommissioning work to be done, and UK yards need to win that work and get investment to win the contracts.

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35512217

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-34570232

 

The future looks good if Scotland needed to be self-sufficient in Oil, Gas & the generation of Electricity it can be, 

plenty on shore and offshore wind farms and turbines,

(Population of Scotland less than that of London and the Country is 1/3 of the land mass of the UK.

so lots of resources and manufacturing and productivity to provide for under 6 million people)

the only thing being that it needs to sell the surplus energy and electricity to fund other imports required for manufacturing, 

and obviously to prop up the UK income with Taxes & Duties from the resources off the coast of Scotland, 

including fish / seafoods.

(Then the extraction facilities, pipelines and the Refining and transportation is owned by Corporations around the world, China, Russia, USA, France etc etc none really UK owned)

 

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-35516144

http://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35520575

Edited 16 February, 2016 by GoneOffskiroottoot

[swedishskoda]

looking at this from a purely war like situation, are we not to a large degree self sufficient ? Could we not just shut the borders and say 'do one' to everyone else ? I appreciate we cannot grow pineapples, and it would be unthinkable really, but would it be possible ?

 

Nah. Englands, and Britains wealth (however unevenly distributed) has always depended on foreign trade. Export during the middle ages (wool), during the 18th and 19th centuries (textiles, industrial products). But without imported raw materials such as iron, copper, cotton, UK industrialisation would never have taken place. Your Royal and Merchant Navies have been dependent on Swedish and Finnish tar, and without pitprops from Scandinavia coal mining would have been difficult.

Edited 16 February, 2016 by swedishskoda

[cheezemonkhai]

Ask the CEO of your employer how a no vote would impact them and importantly your job.

Even if your employer doesn't do business in the EU, there's a chance it's finance, suppliers or owners are in the EU.

We're more integrated than most people think, and an exit could have the potential for a negative impact on the UK.

My employer is based in the EU, we have a fully independent UK Ltd company and already have plans to operate post brexit if it happens.

General opinion in the company is it's up to the people of the country.

My previous employer was based in the EU and had a similar set up.

At the end of the day it won't fundamentally change things that much, short of a few staff may have to get 1 year or two year business visa.

(I somehow doubt we'll force visa requirements on all of the EU if we did exit).

[Llanigraham]

looking at this from a purely war like situation, are we not to a large degree self sufficient ? Could we not just shut the borders and say 'do one' to everyone else ? I appreciate we cannot grow pineapples, and it would be unthinkable really, but would it be possible ?

 

 

if I knew what lol meant, I would have lolled to that...., in fact I laughed to myself instead....

 In the good old days, we were self sufficient, to a large degree though, weren't we ?, do we actually need pineapples, or quinoia ( ?) or slaves ?

 Actually, slaves would be good, but we don't need African ones, home grown white ones would do...

 

No to both!

Just thinki about what car you drive, for a start.

Edited 16 February, 2016 by Llanigraham

[Scribbler]

We really past the point of no return started in the 80s somewhere in the early 90s.

Manufacturing was shunned in favour of finance, and big corporations would pay more taxes than little businesses so had money thrown at them to come here.

Modernisation has also killed off most of what was left.

Before we could self sustain we need a government who invests in bringing back manufacturing and a way to sustain ourselves.

The Scottish independence campaign focused on the ability to self sustain with a healthy oil market. Currently North Sea oil is almost worthless and getting on for 4x more expensive than it sells for last time I heard prices on the news. A number of rigs are being shut down because of this.

 

Manufacturing would be fine, we don't need government support we need less restrictions and Red Tape from the EU. I should know I work for one of the few remaining Manufacturers of structural Steel products in England. We just need less intervention from the EU crippling our competitiveness. I have just heard that The MEP's can reverse any Proposals agreed to by David Cameron so as meaningless as his 4 Targets are they aren't worth the paper they are written on anyway. Lets get out. All I hear is negative people have no enthusiasm that's what makes Britain great. Our ability to rise from hard times and meet the challenge head on. We still lead the world on inventiveness and development of new products we just don't support fledgling start ups or protect them from Industrial espionage from china and India. We need to be more protectionist Enforce our copyrights and intellectual property and force local authorities to buy local products rather than cheap Chinese tat.

[gadgetman]

Given how much of UK businesses China own, and Russia, buying British won't be happening anytime soon.

I'd imagine most if not all of your steel comes from abroad, or if it doesn't yet it will do soon. That or the company will fold like most steel & coal companies have unable to compete with cheaper imports.

If you want to see how impossible self support is or would be, try a week of buying only British from only British companies.

Let us know how you get on with that.

[Mr Grumpy]

Given how much of UK businesses China own, and Russia, buying British won't be happening anytime soon.

I'd imagine most if not all of your steel comes from abroad, or if it doesn't yet it will do soon. That or the company will fold like most steel & coal companies have unable to compete with cheaper imports.

If you want to see how impossible self support is or would be, try a week of buying only British from only British companies.

Let us know how you get on with that.

I see your point, I would be able to eat, but I would be sat naked, in the dark, without any heating, surrounded by empty bottles of malt whisky...( what a way to go.....)

[Llanigraham]

Manufacturing would be fine, we don't need government support we need less restrictions and Red Tape from the EU. I should know I work for one of the few remaining Manufacturers of structural Steel products in England. We just need less intervention from the EU crippling our competitiveness. I have just heard that The MEP's can reverse any Proposals agreed to by David Cameron so as meaningless as his 4 Targets are they aren't worth the paper they are written on anyway. Lets get out. All I hear is negative people have no enthusiasm that's what makes Britain great. Our ability to rise from hard times and meet the challenge head on. We still lead the world on inventiveness and development of new products we just don't support fledgling start ups or protect them from Industrial espionage from china and India. We need to be more protectionist Enforce our copyrights and intellectual property and force local authorities to buy local products rather than cheap Chinese tat.

 

Really?

Do you honestly think that coming out of Europe will stop things like industrial espionage?

Enforcing copyright has nothing to do with Europe.

 

And if you are so strongly against the EU why do you drive 2 Skodas?

[Lady Elanore]

I see your point, I would be able to eat, but I would be sat naked, in the dark, without any heating, surrounded by empty bottles of malt whisky...( what a way to go.....)

You could grow Pineapples and clean up in the market for them. By the way if you have no car, you will save an awful lot of money and not have to worry about drink driving, therefore you should  have lots of Malt to keep you warm and happy

[Scribbler]

Really?

Do you honestly think that coming out of Europe will stop things like industrial espionage?

Enforcing copyright has nothing to do with Europe.

 

And if you are so strongly against the EU why do you drive 2 Skodas?

 

I'm not strongly against anything that would require far to much of my time to invest in being strongly against something. Being outside the EU doesn't mean we aren't European. They wont slap a huge import tax on Skoda's coming into the country after all it must make up a big percentage of Czech Republic GDP. Same with VW, BMW and Mercedes. We will have individual Case by Case trade agreements which will be more favourable to the UK economy if anything. Most economists agree that the effect will be negligible in either direction and its all scaremongering like I said. It just boils down to who you want to be governed by either Locally or Remotely. It amazes me that certain areas of the country want Fiscal autonomy from London.(Not a bad idea) and Other power centres such as Manchester Nottingham etc. But these same people are non-plussed at having a collection of faceless foreigners who have never been to the UK decide the big decisions.

 

We buy our steel from Caparo in Wales by the way its specialist grades like I say we can still lead the world In technical areas. But Poland do offer much cheaper alternatives and the Local Authorities are more than happy to cut corners on the specification if they can buy it cheaply for their PFI's.

 

I mentioned Industrial Espionage because that's the biggest threat to our economy not in or out of Europe. I didn't Say or infer that coming out of Europe would fix it. However in the UK we have better security than say our eastern European partners and its shared Content that's normally accessed by say Russia or China from these servers. If we can't get a handle on protecting our intellectual property and research then Europe referendum is a moot point.

[Ootohere]

Caparo Steel went into Administration last year and Liberty Steel took it over.

Is there much Iron Ore Mining done now in the UK, or Coal Mining?

[Dubturbo]

_{From an outsider's view (I'm from Ireland) it's really interesting to read the views here, untainted by media bias etc}

 

_{When it comes to trade, to keep it relatively free, the UK would need to continue to play on a level playing field with the EU, such as EEA states and Switzerland must do through their bilateral agreements. That would seriously dilute the comparative advantage the UK would have by not being bound by EU directives and regulations. A failure to do so would result in more trade being restricted, and while that would hurt both sides, it would hurt the UK a lot more than the rEU. So to really free yourselves from European regulation without big economic shocks, you'd need to seriously diversify your trade away from the rEU to other sources. Difficult sure, but not impossible.}

 

_{In terms of movement of people, which is a controversial question there, whatever measures the UK would implement, it can expect the same in return from the rEU – so for example, if the UK were to place restrictions on the right of Bulgarian of Romanian people to live or work there, the rEU would most likely place similar restrictions on British workers throughout the union, and not just in those states. It may sound drastic, but freedom of movement is one of the core principles of the European project, and restrictions on one member state would be considered restrictive against all.}

 

_{From our perspective here in Ireland, the EU has on the whole been a very positive experience. While the economic boost of EU structural funds helped us improve our infrastructural deficits relative to other EU members, that money was more than wiped out by losses caused by membership, with the lost fishing catches to EU fleets being an example. And of course we have the debt overhang from the economic crash caused by cheap Eurozone credit that we've been busy dealing with for the past few years. However the economic advantages of free trade with our nearest neighbours and - for all the flaws of the eurozone - the fiscal stability of sharing a common currency with our biggest markets, have more than outweighed all of these in helping us to realise our full economic potential, at what is a relatively small cost of shared sovereignty. For us, negotiating with our partners to achieve our goals is a very small price to pay.}

 

_{Ultimately, whatever choice you make, the sky won't fall in. The doomsday predictors are selling you a pup - pragmatism always kicks in with these things, and if interim agreements on trade, or movement of people or capital, need to be devised in a hurry, then they'll be devised in a hurry. Your trade with the rest of the EU will still continue, just as Norway or Switzerland trade with us reasonably freely now. More gradually though, as years pass and more permanent agreements are made, the UK’s relationship with the rEU would have to change very significantly to take full advantage of being outside the club. If that’s something the electorate is prepared to do, then it’s a valid option to consider.}

[jlwah]

And if you are so strongly against the EU why do you drive 2 Skodas?

I'm not sure your choice of what car you drive is directly related to whether you want to remain in the EU or not.

 

If applied to other things then I would be actively campaigning to join a trade block comprising solely of Australia and New Zealand as I drink loads of their wine    

[Scribbler]

Caparo Steel went into Administration last year and Liberty Steel took it over.

Is there much Iron Ore Mining done now in the UK, or Coal Mining?

 

http://www.caparodrawntubes.com/ - We still deal with Caparo currently.