Has the UK become so desperate

[accyman]

Has the UK become so desperate to try and get europes forgivness for the iraq war that it has resorted to taking advantage of the elderly to win the eurovision song contest or at least bump up the amount of votes we get

first they drag ingelbert from wherever it was they found him and convinced him he stood a chance of winning because women still desire him hes guarenteed to get the female vote and now they have dragged out bonnie tyler from retirement.

its kinda sad and i feel sorry for there poor elderly souls who have either had their egos built up with lies about reliving past glory or are too far gone with demencia to know what tehy are getting into.

thank god Elvis was american because this lot selecting UK representation would probbably have his rotting corpse and a karaoke machine dumped on the stage.

GET US OUT OF THE E.U AND SAVE OUR ELDERLY STARS FROM THIS ABUSE AND NEEDLESS SUFFERING.

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by accyman

Has the UK become so desperate to try and get europes forgivness for the iraq war that it has resorted to taking advantage of the elderly to win the eurovision song contest or at least bump up the amount of votes we get

first they drag ingelbert from wherever it was they found him and convinced him he stood a chance of winning because women still desire him hes guarenteed to get the female vote and now they have dragged out bonnie tyler from retirement.

its kinda sad and i feel sorry for there poor elderly souls who have either had their egos built up with lies about reliving past glory or are too far gone with demencia to know what tehy are getting into.

thank god Elvis was american because this lot selecting UK representation would probbably have his rotting corpse and a karaoke machine dumped on the stage.

GET US OUT OF THE E.U AND SAVE OUR ELDERLY STARS FROM THIS ABUSE AND NEEDLESS SUFFERING.

You forgot about the needless suffering on every bodies ears as well

[davebtelford]

I'm not sure how the entry gets picked - is it some sort of public vote via TV? Anyway I think the UK has twigged that the whole thing is a rather stupid pointless joke and is being ironic by entering no-hope coffin-dodgers. Effectively we have no chance of winning because we are unpopular with other EU countries - it's not about the song - (& we don't want to win 'cos then we would have to stage the next year) so here's our sure-fire losing entry. Go Bonnie - prove me wrong!

[GEaston]

Get us out of the EU? You do realise that 60% of all UK trade is one with the EU, so like it or not we will be dealing with them. Thankfully John Major kept us out of financial union with them (probably his only achievement, but an achievement nonetheless) so we currently have he best of both worlds, just doesn't feel like it.

If we cut ourselves off from he EU our country would be on economic par with North Korea. We'd be left with financial services (poison chalice if ever there was) and cutting hair.

Don't bank on an independent Scotland revitalising either their economy or ours!

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by davebtelford

I'm not sure how the entry gets picked - is it some sort of public vote via TV? Anyway I think the UK has twigged that the whole thing is a rather stupid pointless joke and is being ironic by entering no-hope coffin-dodgers. Effectively we have no chance of winning because we are unpopular with other EU countries - it's not about the song - (& we don't want to win 'cos then we would have to stage the next year) so here's our sure-fire losing entry. Go Bonnie - prove me wrong!

What's betting she comes very nearly last, it ain't a song contest anymore and hasn't been for a long time

[DtheP47]

Originally Posted by accyman

first they drag ingelbert from wherever it was they found him and convinced him he stood a chance of winning because women still desire him hes guarenteed to get the female vote and now they have dragged out bonnie tyler from retirement.

.

Nowt wrong with fancying Bonnie ......................

[accyman]

Originally Posted by DtheP47

Nowt wrong with fancying Bonnie ......................

maybe not 20 years ago

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by GEaston

Get us out of the EU? You do realise that 60% of all UK trade is one with the EU, so like it or not we will be dealing with them.

Norway thrives outside the EU, and exports 71% to EU.
Norway Trade, Exports and Imports | Economy Watch

[accyman]

Originally Posted by MargaretR

Norway thrives outside the EU, and exports 71% to EU.
Norway Trade, Exports and Imports | Economy Watch

a company a fiend of mine works for trades mainly with the united emerates ,India and america amongst others that aren EU and is thriving

[Less]

Originally Posted by GEaston

Get us out of the EU? You do realise that 60% of all UK trade is one with the EU, so like it or not we will be dealing with them. Thankfully John Major kept us out of financial union with them (probably his only achievement, but an achievement nonetheless) so we currently have he best of both worlds, just doesn't feel like it.

If we cut ourselves off from he EU our country would be on economic par with North Korea. We'd be left with financial services (poison chalice if ever there was) and cutting hair.

Don't bank on an independent Scotland revitalising either their economy or ours!

Why if the EU is so good and essential to us all do you have your head Office way off in China?

Surely if there were real benefits from trade with the EU you would be based at the hub of it?

[GEaston]

The issue is more to do with UK economic decisions from here given where we are in which is based on the decisions taken years ago to get us in the EU in the first place. If we'd taken the Scandinavian route post WW2 and stayed out then our situation with Europe would be very different. But that's also true of spending, use of oil reserves, sale of gold reserves etc. The only big beneficiary of leaving would be the City of London which would be freed of regulations which are put in place to try to control it. Vote for deregulation of London bankers if you wish but I would not.

We didn't stay out though, we jumped in, half in anyway. Now that we are in exiting is not straightforward, nor economically desirable. Like it or not we threw our hat in with these people from the outset. Pull out and they'll close ranks on us in just the same way that we will on Scotland. Our economy is in no position to absorb that.

On my choice of company HQ, that wasn't my choice to make. We are in Singapore because my business partners and substantial financial backers are not British and are permanent residents of Singapore. Individuals who invest multi-millions in your idea for a company get to choose where to base it.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by GEaston

Get us out of the EU? You do realise that 60% of all UK trade is one with the EU, so like it or not we will be dealing with them. Thankfully John Major kept us out of financial union with them (probably his only achievement, but an achievement nonetheless) so we currently have he best of both worlds, just doesn't feel like it.

If we cut ourselves off from he EU our country would be on economic par with North Korea. We'd be left with financial services (poison chalice if ever there was) and cutting hair.

Don't bank on an independent Scotland revitalising either their economy or ours!

You think that the trade with the EU would no longer happen if we left this overblown money-eating organisation?
If you truly do think that then you are deluded.
The EU does us no favours when it comes to trade.
Regulations are passed by the EU bureaucrats and theGB follows them slavishly often to their detriment, the french...well they choose which rules will benefit them and ignore the rest(with impunity).

Nigel Lawson was once in favour of the Eu, and even he is saying we need to get out...and quickly.
The architect of the single currency is now saying it is the biggest detriment to economic recovery...that places like Spain, Portugal and Italy should return to their original currencies, devalue and trade their way out of recession.

When the Uk joined the EEC(as it was then) in 1973, Western Europe accounted for 38.5% of world trade/economy...today that figure 24%, the projections for the future suggest that by 2020 this will fall to something in the region of 14%....so the trade agreement which is what the organisation was about in 1973 has dwindled and so has our share of it....because God forbid if Britain tried to negotiate trade agreements outside the EU(as Switzerland is currently doing - negotiating trade deals with China) the Eu common trade policy forbis us to do this.

Nick Clegg, just yesterday was scaremongering. Telling us that our exit would cost three million jobs...this is balderdash and is based on a report which is a decade old and even the author of this research now says it is wrong.

The EU hates Britain(and Britain has very little influence).......but nowhere near as much as I hate the EU and anything to do with it.

[GEaston]

Trade with the EU is not an on/off switch Marg.

The failure of the single currency is unrelated to the point about the economic effects of pulling out of the EU which in the short term would create significant unemployment - look around we have plenty of that as is.

I agree that the single currency is a failure with only 3 outcomes:

1) breakup to old currencies
2) split into north south block (and argue about where to put France)
3) full political to go with the monetary union

None of those are attractive options for Europe but they are the price EU nations have to pay for allowing countries so diverse from getting together without any genuine economic convergence prior. There has never been a successful monetary union without full political union.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I think that was my point.
The other point I was making was that the EU actively discourages trade outside the EU....this penalises any business which wants to explore other (perhaps more lucrative) markets.
An organisation which was 'sold' to us as a trading arrangement, has, over the years become more sinister and manipulative...taking away much of our sovereignty.

More politicians are coming to the conclusion that the EU is not a good thing at all...especially while dominated by the Franco-German alliance(and to be honest the economy in France doesn't look so rosy).

I cannot see that the failure of the single currency is unrelated to(us pulling out of EU) the economic gloom that is prevalent across the EU right now - we put much more in than we get out of this corrupt institution...which has not had its accounts passed at audit for almost two decades...if a business ran on these lines...how long do you think it would last?
We need to be out of it.......and more people in the know are coming to this conclusion.

[cashman]

Thing is Margaret,only the fiddlers will support such a thing,in my view.