Almost There! Hexus EU Referendum Straw Poll #2

[SeriousSam]

Scotland - We want to be a free an independent country inside a Federal block... rough translation (we just hate the English)

[Michael H]

At the start of the campaign I was open to discussion, but starting in the remain camp.

As the campaign has gone on I have not heard a reputable argument as to why we should leave, and lots of downsides have presented themselves. The leave campaign would not be able to live up to the rhetoric they have effused, and have not been effective if putting forward a remotely balanced or considered argument as to why we would be better off out of the EU, instead appealing to xenophobia and completely misrepresenting the financial cost of EU membership.

The campaign has only convinced me of the general inability of the British public to come to well informed, considered conclusions - instead resorting to a tribal 'us or them' contest where the effects of the outcome are not truly considered.

[Bagnaj97]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06...nish_pasty_eu/
If that's not enough to swing Brexiters over to Remain, then there's no hope!

[SeriousSam]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06...nish_pasty_eu/
If that's not enough to swing Brexiters over to Remain, then there's no hope!

I could write a book on why the EU Protected Food Names is a farce that should never have happened in the first place

[Galant]

Try this?

Why Britons Should Vote to Leave the European Union

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Fed up man takes out full page in The Metro about the referendum:

http://politicalscrapbook.net/2016/0...eu-referendum/

[Bagnaj97]

History of Europe:
War
War
War
War
War
War
War
Arguments about bananas.

To be honest, I'll probably go with banana arguments. #remain

https://twitter.com/pavilionopinion/...72850005118976

[me-yeah]

i'd vote in if i cared enough

[Bagnaj97]

i'd vote in if i cared enough

Whichever side wins, the outcome will affect you and everyone else in the country. If you're unsure which side is best then by all means abstain, but you absolutely should care!

[The Hand]

EU referendum: Trade curbs 'foolish' if UK votes Leave, says German industry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36596060

"A German industry boss has said it would be "very, very foolish" if the EU imposes trade barriers on the UK in the event it votes to leave the EU."

[Corky34]

Would be great if German industry were the only ones we'd be dealing with in a prospective future trade deal, unfortunately Germany, let alone their industry, wouldn't be who we'd be talking too, we'd be talking to a block made up from 27 other nations, some of whom would be down right hostile towards a nation that's just quit the EU, and as the EU makes decisions democratically a single country like Germany couldn't force through something that only advantaged them.

[EndlessWaves]

Here's that image and quote on the wall of the vistor's centre of the EU Parliament in Brussels:

That is all that is good about the EU. Nationalism is the cause of many of the world's problems. To give a recent example, the name of Islamic State is no random choice.

If the EU could genuinely eliminate nationalism in Europe then I'd resign tomorrow and apply for a job helping to bring it about.

I'm not sure that's where the current implementation of the EU is heading though. I still believe it's a useful structure that improves my life though, and that there's not enough cultural pressure that an independent UK would surpass the current situation.

[SeriousSam]

That is all that is good about the EU. Nationalism is the cause of many of the world's problems. To give a recent example, the name of Islamic State is no random choice.

If the EU could genuinely eliminate nationalism in Europe then I'd resign tomorrow and apply for a job helping to bring it about.

I'm not sure that's where the current implementation of the EU is heading though. I still believe it's a useful structure that improves my life though, and that there's not enough cultural pressure that an independent UK would surpass the current situation.

Conflating Nationalism and National Identity into the same thing is precisely the issue with the EU, which is creating a reaction of the former by dismissing the latter as an unwanted aberration. We've been "British" since 1707 and we still argue amongst ourselves based on regional identity. Thinking that they can magically create a harmonious state of "Europeans" in anything less than hundreds of years is deluded arrogance.

[kompukare]

... that discounts both the rebate that Thatcher negotiated for us (apparently she did do something useful during her reign) ...

Not so quick!
Seeing how Thatcher and the UK was one of the early vocal voices for EU eastward expansion, the rebate was actually quite harmful if you think about it.
Sure, it suited the Thatcherite anti-social dogma, but expanding to new states and then not being willing to put money in the kitty to support structural funds etc., showed a total lack of solidarity (no surprise for Thatcher). About the only thing the Thatcherites did do in Eastern Europe was to give economic 'advice' but that was of course totally dogmatic (basically privatise everything, watch the economy contract like crazy, and then hope it eventually recovers).
Not that the rest of EU was much better: the times when structural funds etc. were needed the most was the time when nobody wanted to pay for anything much but the UK rebate certainly didn't help. In an economic union, the richer members have to be willing to contribute (and yes, I realise that like 'development aid' the projects supported by the structural fund is far too often tied in with corruption).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Oxford professor Ngaire Woods on Brexit and the Single Market(already has a million plus views on Facebook):

https://www.facebook.com/StrongerInC...type=2&theater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHFp3-qE_T8

Also worth watching in concert with Professor Michael Dougan says about the law side of things with regards to trade agreements(yes it has been posted before,but the two do go together):
https://www.facebook.com/Universityo...type=2&theater

Edit!!

The FT looks at both the most negative and most positive predictions for a post-BREXIT economy:

https://next.ft.com/content/b23864e8...#axzz4CLBZzQlo

[Biscuit]

After talking with a number of my mates, its come clear to me that a lot of people, who were perhaps neutral, are voting leave for little more than, 'I fancy a change'.

I find this attitude understandable, but misplaced and I guess this is exactly the emotion that many of the political campaigns have been playing on.

IMO, the change we need in the UK wont come from leaving the EU, but from a reform of our own political system.