Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

lib/dems really do seem to have collapsed completely .... we could be back to the days when their whole representation could fit in a telephone kiosk

ukip really do not seem to have any sensible policies, and i'm far from convinced that staying silent for weeks and months at a time really does them any favours, though i suppose farage is hoping that the others will all hang themselves

For Europhobes like Hays and Manuel,

EU has a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants,[22] or 7.3% of the world population,[23] the EU in 2012 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 16.584 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 23% of global nominal GDP and 20% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity, which is the largest nominal GDP and GDP PPP in the world.

The UK has a population of about 65 million and approximate GDP of 2.435 trillion.

----------

The UK with its present political leadership is becoming and more and more insignificant irritation to the EU, with many of the "partners" getting fed up with grandstanding by the Euro-phobes, who are mainly from the looney tory right and UKIP little Englanders.

If the UK was to leave the EU it would not lead to a breakup if the EU, but probably ease a greater political, economic and legal integration, leading to increased cooperative military development and scientific research amongst the remaining members.
(It would be likely that there would be a brain drain to Europe, or elsewhere as the "independent UK fiefdom" would be unable to afford the costs of "serious" R&D, etc.)

The UK be sidelined as an off shore island, which it is and trade deals and regulations would be slanted in Europe's favour.

Banking and tax regulations would be improved, and centrally supervised and gradually enforced.

(London may remain the a centre for money laundering, as many already see it, but to a lesser degree. This may suit some.)

Investment from outside the EU would be into EU more and more directly and through the UK.

The "financial services" would gradually move to Central Europe giving others who need the services direct exposure to the EU and Euros. This would be a matter of convenience.

The Euros won't collapse, as has promised by euro-sceptics since it conception.

The collapse has been continuously sort after by some, especially for the last 18 months with its imminent death being forecast at 2-3- 4 or so months.

Yet, it is as strong now as any other time and the EU is being referred to as recognisable entity as GB is becoming less important.

=========

Cameron and some of his cronies recognise this and in spite of all his present blustering and posturing, would if the crunch came, acclaim he has got "concessions" from his fruitless negotiations and canvass to stay in the union.

Fauxpage, wouldn't do so, but he is already beginning to look a busted flush.

-------

It may be sensible to examine some of the more wealthier protagonists financial reasons for getting out of the Union.

The views and reasoning of the BNP and UKIP minions are less interesting.

Just the usual nonsense.

We will see.

It depends on whether you want to live under the Pax Germanica.

Happy new year to all capitalist running dogs!

Hays.

What I want is for my children and grandchildren and all others to be healthy, to live at peace, with respect for themselves and all others. With comfortable standard of living and opportunities to enjoy the careers they map out for themselves.

Whether that occurs or not is within the realms of possibility.

A news reporter dressed up as a priest to attempt to gain access to Michael Schumacher’s hospital room where he is currently battling for his life after a skiing accident, the Formula One champion’s manager Sabine Kehm revealed.

You haystack, are becoming more irrelevant with every post you make.


Have you completely lost the plot?

And who the fucking hell are you Max? Nobody so fuck off not to put to fine a point on it! Copy and paste, soft daft cartoons straight from that left wing rag laughguardian. Go and peddle your left wing shite where it may be appreciated. Happy New Year you tosser!

MaxK
This is not a political discussion. It is really apropos of nothing.

Published at 12:01AM, January 1 2014

David Cameron takes a swipe at France today as he vows to make 2014 the year that Britain starts turning into the world’s “post-Great Recession success story”. In an apparent gibe at President Hollande’s handling of the French economy, the Prime Minister urges voters to reject any shift towards “more borrowing, more spending and more debt” by urging them to look at countries following that approach. “They face increasing unemployment, industrial stagnation and enterprise in free fall. The opposite of what’s happening here,” he writes in an article for The Times. “Our recovery is real, but it’s also fragile, and there are more difficult decisions ahead. A return to that economic madness would devastate this country.”

Morning Chris, I see you had a good night :-)


Morning Haystack, you should have been included in the Nu Years honours list for selfless efforts on behalf of the Nu tories.


In any case, happy new year to all, regardless of political leanings.

EU - to leave or to stay
whatever fossy may think i think, though actually i think he thinks i don't think at all, i am currently very undecided as to which way i would or shall vote come a referendum ..... tories i am sure will hold one; labour appears unwilling to do so; however, this is a matter of such importance that i think a referendum is more than warranted, at least for those who bother to vote (which de facto excludes fossy)

needless to say, it is very difficult to find a sensibly balanced opinion ..... however, i think that the present EU set-up needs a pretty drastic overhaul - and that is leaving aside the self-serving, gargantuan army of bureaucrats for whom we all pay handsomely (uglily would be better) for small return

i know i don't like the way uk, for many many years, has adopted every single diktat from brussels and then added bells and whistles to the country's detriment ..... other nations seem to adopt in part or in full those bits that they like or at least think are acceptable, and ignore the balance

very specifically, i think our kow-towing to the european courts with some its insane rulings is appalling when the judgements are clearly against uk's sovereign interests .....
this equally applies to the nonsense open-door immigration which a number of other nations also think is preposterous, and they therefore effectively do not allow it .....
i hate the idea of more and more federalism being foisted upon us, often through the back door, as all too often, this is not in our sovereign interest .....
finally, in this simplistic summation, i fail to understand why the "nebulous eu" is insistent on allowing more and more and more semi-bankrupt countries to join the "club" .... if these countries want to join, then let them first raise their "living standards" or some other sensible or realistic measure

on the other hand, i don't think there is any question that "europe" as an entity carries far more international clout than each country speaking from its own corner

the main economic plank for leaving seems to be that uk would lose a huge slice of export market
i remain to be convinced

meanwhile, i think DC's attempt to renegotiate certain key aspects and elements, using the threat of a "no vote" in a referendum is a very real and valuable weapon ..... without that threat, the other members can easily and totally ignore any demands

on balance, i hope DC gets some meaningful concessions - and without having to concede too much in return - so that the country can be persuaded to stay within the union

i see no intent to renegotiate let alone weapons within the labour party's thinking

Welcome to blighty, come on in, everything free.



Romanian Big Issue seller called the 'benefits teacher' is urging families to follow her to Britain
Firuta Vasile, 29, is claiming £28,000 in UK benefits
She is now passing on her knowledge to friends and family
Best friend Nadia Porojan, also 29, now hopes to move to Oldham
She came to UK last year in order to give birth to make claiming easier

By Arthur Martin

PUBLISHED: 00:23, 1 January 2014 | UPDATED: 00:48, 1 January 2014


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532002/Big-Issue-seller-called-benefits-teacher-urging-families-follow-Britain.html




Hundreds of thousands from outside EU could head for UK in passport loophole
Bulgaria and Romanian offering passports to non-EU citizens
Romania has offered citizenship to four million Moldovans
Meanwhile Bulgaria has handed 90,000 Macedonians passports
All will be able to come and work in the UK under EU rules

By John Stevens

PUBLISHED: 23:42, 31 December 2013 | UPDATED: 23:43, 31 December 2013





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531995/Hundreds-thousands-outside-EU-head-UK-passport-loophole.html

the trouble with rags like the Mail is that their reporting is partisan at best so of very debatable if any true value

All the rags are partisan in one way or another.

But the mail has more readers than the so called quality papers put together.

Below is the current state of the House of Commons:

Nearly all MPs are members of political parties. The list below details the current composition of the House of Commons, based on the number of MPs in each party. If an MP is not a member of a political party, they are known as an 'Independent'.

Party.......................Seats
Conservative.............303
Labour......................257
Liberal Democrat.........56
Democratic Unionist.....8
Scottish National........6
Independent..............5
Sinn Fein...................5
Plaid Cymru................3
Social Democratic & Labour Party...3
Alliance.....................1
Green........................1
Respect.....................1
Speaker.....................1
Total number of seats...650
Current working Government Majority......75
Speaker: John Bercow. Deputy Speakers: Mr Lindsay Hoyle, Dawn Primarolo and Mrs Eleanor Laing.

Note: The government majority is calculated as Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs minus all other parties. This calculation excludes the Speaker, Deputy Speakers (being 2 Labour, 1 Conservative) and Sinn Fein.

Now it is widely thought that UKIP will do well in the next European Parliament Election, which is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 22 May 2014.

If they do.......then it raises some interesting possibilities....

Let's suppose the Lib Dems get virtually wiped out at the next General Election.

Q. Will UKIP make a massive headway in a GE next time round?

Now Farage hates Cameron (and vice versa) so no prospect of a UKIP-Tory alliance there then?

Q. But what if Boris Johnson steps up to the plate?
Q. Would Boris make a good PM?

Now I think he falls short.

Q. But how about making him Chancellor?

Q. Could the Tories do some kind of a deal with Farage to get a coalition going? If so, what sort of a deal might he like? The usual spot for the smaller coalition party leader is Deputy Prime Minister

Q. If Boris is given a high position in government, even with Farage as Deputy Prime Minister, would that indirectly help UKIP to then more easily form an alliance with the Tories and thus help keep the Tories in power and allow the economy to keep moving ahead? Hmmm? I think the British public would buy this one and so I think this one is my favourite scenarios.

Lots of interesting questions abound...

Q. How about a Tory/LibDem/UKIP coalition?

Farage is a politician, with all the chameleon and worse qualities that that implies
should ukip get more than say 10 seats - pretty unlikely, i think - then he may be in a position to be a power-broker (breaker?) of some kind
ukip and the labour party are surely diametrically opposed - i'm sure someone will tell me if otherwise - which leaves him little choice other than to cosy up to the tories if he wants any say in pretty much anything


sorry to say, but boris would be a disaster as a front line politician
he's great entertainment and in fact very badly under-rated, but his public persona precludes him being taken seriously in the international arena


a 3-way coalition almost makes one shudder to think about, but realism just may dictate otherwise, though i think not


overall, i cannot see any party achieving an overall majority, and i confess none inspire much confidence anyway

to me, labour look and sound totally ineffectual, with the bogeyman of the unions pulling EM's strings a very real worry and quite possibly a real deterrent for many voters

the tories were known to have inherited a poisoned chalice from day 1
however, they really have made some horrid blunders though there is little doubt (except to fossy and his acolytes) that the tough austerity measures were not only necessary but have brought (are bringing) uk out of this deep recession ahead of all others in europe (including germany)
nevertheless, these measures were and continue to be very bitter for a wide sector of the electorate, with household budgets frighteningly tight for far too many
for sure there'll be smoke and mirrors "good news" before the election, but will anyone be taken in if there is no reality to support same?

europe and immigration are the other two major knee-jerk issues pre-occupying the general public
if the tories are to win back a meaningful number of voters, then assuredly they will need to have actually done something meaningful
however, this is a perilous tightrope to walk without getting or being seen as too right-wing-radical


so you still think the stock market will be happy as election time approaches?

UKIP membership soars by two thirds in a YEAR while Tory numbers have halved since Cameron became PM

Eurosceptic party said it was finishing 2013 with 32,500 members

Contrasts with dwindling grassroots support for established parties
However, Ukip still has only a fraction of members of two main parties

By Leon Watson and Gerri Peev

PUBLISHED: 17:32, 31 December 2013 | UPDATED: 09:44, 1 January 2014

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531843/UKIP-membership-soars-two-thirds-YEAR-Tory-numbers-halved-Cameron-PM.html


The UK Independence Party has benefited from a surge in membership in the last 12 months as Conservative numbers have dipped, it emerged yesterday.

Ukip now has 32,500 members – up from 19,500 last January.

Nigel Farage’s party has been advancing in the polls and has been tipped to beat the Conservatives in the European elections to be held in May.

Conservative constituency membership has almost halved since David Cameron became leader in 2005 – from 253,600 to just 134,000.




Mr Farage said Ukip was re-engaging people who had given up on politics.

He added: ‘Many of our members are those who have never been a member of any political party before, but who see that it is Ukip who is challenging the establishment on issues such as open-door immigration, grammar schools and green taxes.’


If Ukip has a similar surge in membership over the coming year, it could overtake the Liberal Democrats in its grassroots’ support.

The number of Lib Dems is at 43,000, more than a third lower than the 65,000 it had in 2010.
Support for Labour has also slipped back to 187,537, down from when Ed Miliband became leader in 2010.


Ukip chairman Steve Crowther said: 'The narrative in Westminster seems to be that falling party membership is inevitable.


'Well in Ukip’s case the opposite is true: our membership is growing faster than ever.


'In May alone, the month that the council elections were held, Ukip membership went up by 2,500. We will now aim to continue that momentum and growth as we head into next year’s European Elections and the 2015 general election as well.'


Mr Farage - who has predicted a political 'earthquake' in May when his party is tipped by some to win the election - said it was re-engaging people who had 'given up on politics'.


'Many of our members are those who have never been a member of any political party before but who see that it is Ukip who is challenging the establishment on issues such as open door immigration, grammar schools and green taxes.'