Thought I'd start a new thread as this is going to be a major talking point this year...have not made up my mind yet...(unlike bucksfizz)....but thinking of voting for an exit as Europe is not doing Britain any good at all it seems....

I like most of the immigrants I talk to and my wife and I do talk to quite a lot of them.

Most are quite hard working and have come over here to try and get a better life for themselves and their loved ones. 95% of them don't mind working hard and know and believe this is how to make their lot in life a much better one.

I particularly like the Polish ones. And 'watch out, Hilary!', because the standard of 'ladies legs' has rocketed up this last few years. In fact, 'leg quality' is how you tell whether girls are EU immigrants or not, IMHO.

"Great legs = from Eastern Europe"

It's not the EU workers that are the problem Far from it. Most have a work ethic and are thankful to be out from under the thumb of the soviets and in the case of the Poles, the German influence and their mate Tusk.
Immigration. legal and not, from Africa and the Asian sub-continent, where corruption is endemic, is the real issue.

Hi Martini,

I totally get that, but the UK sets its own interest rates and sets its own monetary policy.

Really, are there any EU laws that adversely affect UK residents' way of life and standard of living? I know folks get the hump because the UK couldn't deport the terrorist with a hook for a hand a few years back, but wasn't he very much a one-off that the Currant Bun latched on to?

But what about the good EU laws that have standardised mobile roaming charges, and brought air fares down? And isn't it nice to have properly labelled food, breathe clean air, and to swim in a clear sea?

iturama,

The UK government have always had the power to limit immigration from those places you mention - it's not EU related. Strange they haven't done so in the last 30 years, doncha think? Maybe they need the tax revenues and social security contributions of a young labour force to cover the welfare costs of an ageing population? Just a thought.

Doc,

I'm sure the Eastern Europeans you talk to are nice, and aspire to greater things. That's easy to understand of anyone who's spent 8 hours a day for 20 years queueing for a loaf of bread. Certainly, I've never encountered any hostility from the natives whilst living abroad, and they've always been very polite (except the local bike shop owner, who I called a peasant for not cleaning up his dog shit).

However, a 10% population increase also means 10% more houses, 10% more schools, 10% more hospitals. You get the drift... Governments can't just take their money, and fail to invest in infrastructure.

The bloke who has a wife with a gob that looks like a pillar box, and the one-eyed Scottish moron that took his job, have got a lot to answer for!

Hilary

I believe the direction of travel is for more centralisation of monetary policy,we only avoided the Euro by the skin of our teeth. Thank you Gordon Brown for that.

All the other stuff we could have done on our own. did we need the EU to clean up our beaches and label food for us? And as for, breathe clean air, have you been in a UK large city recently?

I am happy to pay more for phone charges or air fares if sovereignty is back with us. That could be easily covered if we did not have things like the restrictive practises of the common agricultural policy hiking up food prices.

No I wish them well on their path to The Unites States of Europe but Europe is not like America and even they struggle at times to unite the Nation and make America Great again ( Where have I heard that phrase recently?)


M

I think you're probably right in terms of greater monetary policy centralisation within the EU, Martini, and I don't think it can ever work all the time you've got a two-speed economy with an industrialised north and a lazy south. The habits and lifestyles of Club Med have been founded over generations, and they're not about to change anytime soon. However, the UK are outside of all that, so I'm not entirely sure how it affects your Brexit choice.

And the stuff the UK could've done alone? Well they haven't.

Taking clean air as an example, it was only February this year that the European Commission were threatening to fine the UK for failing to meet pollution targets. After the initial 'How very dare they?' harumph, isn't improving the life quality and expectancy of its electorate actually something that all governments should be doing as a matter of course, regardless of political persuasion? And in answer to your question as to whether I've been to a large UK city recently, I was last in London for a couple of weeks in January. Gotta say, it wasn't too pleasant and I'm not exactly rushing to go back.

Off to sniff some pine trees. :o)

EU is a fricking disaster unless your German. One currency suits them down to the ground. 1 euro the equivalent as a one from Greece!!!!. Those old enough to remember Drachma, Lira, et al know dam well that every independent central bank printed it for fun to stay competitive. Long before QE became the only way forward. Now we have a human land fill site, to keep up demand with no productivity to support it flooding in from all over Africa and Middle East.

Hmmm. An interesting and intelligent observation.

You understand the currency markets and economic subtleties like GDP?

Yep

Sure do

Lets assume we are clueless hilly, and give us a rundown in laymans language.

And talking of 'fresh air'....

Thank you so very much, Hilary, for asking a few questions and bringing a bit of it to this thread. :-)

It's been very nice talking with you and also reading everyone's various answers and comments.

Exec re Polish , I totally agree.

Got 3 Polish guys living near me all in their early/mid twenties who are three of the hardest workers I've ever met and put some of the lazy locals to shame. One once told me after hearing someone moaning about the state of this country on TV that if they didn't like it they should bugger off to Poland for a year and then they might appreciate what they have here.

British holidaymakers heading to Europe for this weekend’s big getaway are being offered what may be the worst ever foreign exchange rates at British airports – in one case, just 88 euro cents for every pound they hand over.

The 88 euro cents offered at Cardiff airport followed a difficult week for the pound on the foreign exchange markets, where sterling fell to its lowest level for eight months to €1.11.

Travellers flying out of Gatwick, Luton and Birmingham on Friday were all being offered less than a euro for each pound, unless they had pre-booked their currency.

Wonder how many of those taking 88 cents were leave voters? Sterling would be up over 1 € 50 if they'd voted to remain.

But hey, if they take 88 cents on offer they're idiots. The should get a Revolut card instead.

Thanks for that, Hils. I'd never heard of it. I think I'll tool myself up with one.

This is what they have to say about the Revolut card on MSE:

The prepaid Mastercard from Revolut works using its app and gives perfect interbank rates (the rates banks give each other – far better than bureaux de change) for most currencies, including euros and dollars. The only exceptions are Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian hryvnia – here Revolut will give you the best rate it can find at the time, so check rates in the app.

There are no spending fees but, unlike the Monzo card, free ATM withdrawals are limited to £200 per calendar month – a 2% fee applies above this. Revolut also charges for delivery – £5 for standard delivery and £12 for express delivery.

Need-to-knows
You need a smartphone to use it as it's managed via an app, meaning you can load, exchange and withdraw funds with the touch of a few buttons. Once you've loaded cash, you can spend anywhere in the world where Mastercard's accepted.

You can hold 16 currencies including pounds, euros and dollars on the card, and exchange between them instantly. So, if you have cash left over after your holiday, just swap it back to pounds, and use the card here in the UK.

You can spend in more than 120 currencies (not just euros, dollars or pounds). When you spend, the card automatically exchanges from your balances at the interbank rate for that currency, except Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian Hryvnia where you get the best rate that Revolut can find, though it may not be the interbank.

Revolut applies a small mark up on its rates at weekends, when the markets are closed. It takes the interbank rate at midnight on Friday and adds between 0.5% and 1.5% depending on the currency until 11.59pm on Sunday.

You need to request the card in the app once you've signed up – it won't arrive automatically.

To be safe, only load cash on the cards if you'll use them soon.

The card takes up to nine working days to arrive.

Revolut's card provider Wirecard Card Solutions is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, meaning money you deposit is ring-fenced (in a Barclays account), so in the event there are problems with Revolut, the money's safe.

Application fee: None, but standard delivery is £5, express is £12
Monthly fee: None
Exchange rate: Perfect interbank rates except for Thai baht, Russian roubles and Ukrainian Hryvnia (see above)
ATM withdrawal fee: None up to £200 or equivalent per calendar month, 2% after that
Loadable currencies: euros, US dollars, pounds, Australian dollar, Danish krone, Romanian leu, Swedish krona, Hong Kong dollar, Israeli new sheqel, Norwegian krone, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Turkish lira and South African rand. | Spendable currencies: Euros, dollars & 118 others
Top up: Free via bank transfer or UK debit card
Replacement charge: £6
Fee for spending in different currency (eg, in dollars on a card loaded with euros): N/A (all exchanges are done at the interbank rate)
Any freebies? None

Once a year Holiday makers to Benidorm do get ripped if they fail to plan. In my experience the only folks getting currency at Airports are those with a business account with the company they work for.

1 to 1 with Euro cant come quick enough on a selfish note.

Doc,

They're very good, you do it all through your iPhone!

However, be aware that they won't work in every pay at the pump service station, and there's the odd autoroute toll booth where they won't work either. The merchant needs an internet connection for the authorisation, and some places don't have.

The other good thing about them is that you can either upload funds and convert the money to the local currency when you feel the rate is good, and then spend in the pre-converted local currency, or you can leave your deposit in your native currency, in which case only the amount you actually spend will get converted at spot at the point of sale. If the rate's a bit iffy, it's often better to do that.

Oh, and finally, if you're buying something from a multi-national company, it's worth checking their prices in different currencies, as you can often get a better price paying with your Revolut card in a different currency. For instance, Ryanair flights are often cheaper if you buy them in euros than in sterling. Ditto, the ferry companies and Eurotunnel.

Thanks for that extra stuff, Hils. Much appreciated. :-)

I use Caxton for the same purpose. Which if either is better I have no idea.

Still got a holiday worth of Euro spending on it from March this year.