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.

ah yes; i'd forgotten about NF in france
but of course NF will have it's own problems as if it just wants "out regardless" like ukip, then it will probably find itself marooned, though i confess i'm unsure how these internal "cliques" work in eu set-up

You say 'out regardless' like we have a choice in membership. The EU isn't like the AA whereby you can pick the level of cover required for the year. If it were I'm sure it'd function far better..!

Prime Minister David Cameron, whose Conservative party lost seven seats, said it was clear voters were "deeply disillusioned" with Europe and that the message was "received and understood".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27579235

You gotta laugh, us voters are "deeply disillusioned" with Europe, I'd put it to Mr Cameron and his party that they were in fact the ones "deeply disillusioned"...

that remains to be seen
if DC can get no proper concessions, then for sure any referendum will vote "out"

"can't get concessions"?
you don't know until you try and there is a good likelihood there'll be quite a lot offered either willingly or through duress
EM and his wet chums certainly couldn't get anything, but then of course labour is uninterested in even trying

Tony Blair has taken a swipe at UKIP, saying beneath the facade lurks something "pretty nasty and unpleasant".

could say similar and worse about blair

For me I just don't see any positives in being in the EU in the first place. I see only cost to being in the EU, they say trade and agriculture benefits the most but I really don't see how. Our farmers I think would be better off out of the EU and as for trade Sterling strength is by far the biggest driver.

i want to listen hard to the arguments from both sides and assuredly don't wish to be bulldozed into getting out by the likes of ukip or staying in by labour

I'm not 100% lets get out either, if there is a valid reason to be in the EU then I'm all ears. It makes you wonder what the real if any Pro's are though, so far I've yet to come accross any that aren't easily disputed or in reality are just not relevant to me and my life!

generally we just hear the headline stuff
certainly we don't hear of any will to change the "cosy clique" in brussels, but i hope that is about to change

Well Cameron seams to be publicly showing that he's listing to voters and demonstrating he's in touch with concerns. A PR stunt maybe, but all the same it'll earn him trust points as long as there is an end result and it doesn't fizzle out.

Milliband s reaction yesterday was the people dont like whats going on in the country with this government he completely missed the point even when asked again ,typical arrogant Labour .

EM is DC's secret weapon :-)

I don't do protest votes ,i think they are stupid and dangerous but i did vote UKIP last week thinking that many others who have just about had enough of immigration would do the same , it turned out i was right.
Plus i think Farage is a decent guy , you can not compare him to the idiots in the BNP.
I for one have had enough of Eastern Europeans flooding in to this country.

jimmy - however, you also need to recognise that, as it stands, eu citizens have a right of entry, just as "we" do in the other direction

where it can be tightened significantly and even within eu law i am sure, is when it comes to claiming assorted benefits and also refusing entry for known criminals
to refuse entry for say bulgarians because their own country's gdp or average wage is too low, probably doesn't stand up, and indeed i am not sure that should be a criterion

Max,

Don't go along with Milliband on all policies, but at least he seems to be thinking rather than shooting his mouth off and bribing the gullible with U-turn or fragmenting policies.

I will wait an see what happens over the next 6-9months, but this lot of tories are an elitist self serving bunch relating back to previous periods in history.

I didn't and don't like Blair, but thought much of what he was saying about the EU was common sense.

Interesting for me, coming back from France through Dunkirk I was amazed at the amount of heavy transport lorries crossing and carrying from the Poland, CZ Germany etc.

If we are outside EU we will have to pay a price!

as a dedicated non-voter fred, why should you care and indeed do you even have a right to care?
an oft repeated statement i know

cynic , i know this is a bit basic but originally the EU was made up of member states that could have a round robin of immigration without tipping the balance , all the Eastern block states came on board later , how many of us will be going to work in Romania or Bulgaria ? compare that to the hundreds of thousands coming here .
Our schools and hospitals and infrastructure can't take it .

you're right insofar as the eu has grown like topsy, but leaving aside all the usual political nonsense, how does one create and then impose sensible rules regarding free movement across borders by member citizens?

And what price might there be to pay for heavy transport lorries coming into the UK, if we leave the EU?

Don't have free movement across borders simples.

Shortie i was in international transport until 10 years ago ,we always paid a lot more to move trucks abroad than they paid here . That is why a lot of UK hauliers started to register UK trucks in the Netherlands .