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....

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.

Hilary,

Welcome back.

I notice your "french" hasn't improved, but the content of your posts are very sensible and applicable to current EU economic "chaos".

I was told about 55 years ago that "they knew that I had it in me" (God knows what!).

Mind haven't a bad run since then.

The same applies to you.

Hope the knee has settled down.
-=-=-=-

Summer reading for the Brexiters.

Jeremy Corbyn has admitted he was "unaware" of the size of the student loans debt when he said he would "deal with it" during the general election campaign. Apparently a pledge is not a promise. Definition of pledge in this context "a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something". Maybe it was the refrain bit he really meant.
So we have a leader of the Labour party whose word is not worth the paper it is written on and was clearly intent on bribing "students" - read the young that can't find a proper job. A shadow home secretary that can't count and has clear mental problems. A shadow education secretary that left school as a pregnant teenager with no qualifications. A shadow chancellor that was too dumb even for Red Ken at the GLC. Very promising government in waiting. Who wants to write a book on them for reading on the beach?

Eat your heart out Fred :-)


Boost for Britain as BMW picks Oxford over Germany and Netherlands to build new electric Mini





BMW's Mini E electric car will be built in the UK Credit: EPA



By Alan Tovey, Industry Editor
25 July 2017 • 2:52pm




Britain’s car making industry has received a major vote of confidence after BMW announced it will build an all-electric version of the Mini in the UK.

The German car giant said the full-electric Mini E will roll off the production lines at its Oxford plant - which is the historic home of the iconic car - from 2019.

There had been speculation that the work could go to BMW’s factory in the Netherlands which currently produces a smaller amount of the fleet or even an entirely new plant in Germany.

However the news guarantees the future of the 4,500 staff at plant, who currently build the bulk of the 360,000 Minis built each year.



Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/25/boost-britain-bmw-picks-oxford-germany-netherlands-build-new/

Trade deficit widened by £2bn in 3 months, now stands at £11.86bn

Manufacturing output down by 0.2%, as opposed to the forecast of a 0.5% rise. This was mainly due to the 4.4% fall in car production, the big brexiteer favourite.

Construction sector down 1.2%, as opposed to forecast of a 0.7% rise.

All painting a rather bleak picture for the UK economy. Well done Brexit.

Hardly bleak Stan. As the report adds:
Trade statistics for any one month can be erratic. For that reason, we recommend comparing the latest 3 months against the preceding 3 months and the same 3 months of the previous year.
When comparing with the same 3 months last year, exports of total trade (goods and services) increased marginally more over the period at 11.9% compared with imports at 11.0%. The value of goods exported to non-EU countries continue to be higher than those exported to EU countries; however the rate of growth has increased at a slightly faster rate to EU countries (15.9%) than non-EU countries (15.0%) over the period.

We haven't left the EU yet and the weaker £ is bound to affect the cost of imports. That will correct with time. The imbalance was due to a rise in imports (rather than a decrease in exports of goods) in particular transport equipment (cars, aircraft and ships), oil and electrical machinery from non-EU countries.

That's beside the point IT, together with all the other bad news and uncertainty that's around these days it just adds to the "race to the bottom" for the majority of people in the UK.. and that's without going into the almost daily devisions in your Tory Government.

Oh dear Stan. Bad news. Flash news to my iphone - UK economy grew by 0.3% in three months to June adding to expectations that interest rates will stay at record low.
The remoaners would be so happy if we went into recession.

IT.

With the effects of devaluation of sterling, one would hope and expect an improvement in exports.

But the value of "the pound in your pocket" for the majority of the people in the UK has gone down, ie, they are poorer.

Also, from the past "devaluation" can be a short term stimulus but costs of "necessary" inputs mute the effects, as you know.

(Useful for a kick start when batteries are low.)

I doubt that many wish "Brexit" if it really occurs in any meaning full way to be an economic failure but my guess is that it will a cobbled together hotchpotch of agreements without the UK sitting at any economic and political management table in the EU.

The results will be an attempt to placate the "voters" and change in practice little.

But at a colossal expense and damaging to "international" relationships.

The UK will have to be grateful for scraps from the table without meeting the cooks.


Many or even the majority of the heroic Brexiters were voting "against" fictitious and relatively small problems with the EU and in favour of their racist tendencies when it comes to immigration.

When it comes to "rule and govern ourselves", as a small independent nation we will be kowtowing to all and sundry and still be obeying international law.

If rules, regulations and laws are wrong, argue for change, but respect when in a minority that the majority may be right or need to be persuaded.

It is no use storming off like recalcitrant teenagers like the UK present negotiators "threaten" to do.

-=--=-=

(Trump and his followers must be rubbing their hands with glee.

I think the thing which Trump and cronies want is international and economic chaos in the hope they can breed advantageously on the dung heap they are creating.

And Liam Fox and May want a closer relationship with this gang, hoping to bolster their own political positions.)