yay...David Cameron Saves Britain.

[Drew Carey]

Originally Posted by Bibio

i think the people of the UK are struggling to realise that we don't actually own anything any more.

i know of 2 banks we still own, BOE and RBS

i know of one power company we still own, Scottish Hydro

i know of 1 water company we still own, Scottish water

so where does that leave us if the owners of the rest of the banks, power and utility companies decide to pull the plug?

personally i think Cameron is doing the wrong thing. you either join a club or not. i'm sick of hearing ''in Britain's best interests'' what Britain!!!

Why would foreign owners pull the plug? Water and Electricity are expensive in the UK - so foreign owners wont pull the plug as will forever be making too much money from us.

As for financials - they won't pull out as London is still the largest financial centre in Europe. Plus, with all the meddaling the Eurozone countries may now do, would only make being in Britain more attractive.

In fact - if we had joined the Eurozone and agreed to the plans they were announcing - then the Finance Sector would have been seriously at risk of dissapearing due to no longer being competetive. Trust me when I say, that if that occured, we will all be 100* worst than we are now. We would be left with the same level of debt and no way to service it as so much money is generated in our economy by the finance business.

[Drew Carey]

Originally Posted by timwilky

OK, I have to admit I do not know what the purpose of this summit was about. I know from the press that it was supposed to be about setting the financial rules and governance to enable a stable euro land. Bit of shutting stable doors after the horse has bolted.

So, were these rules going to be applied to the UK that is not part of euroland? or were they to be applied as we are led to believe to eec members and therefore rules designed to "protect" the euro would be applied to non euro countries?

I think it a bit rich that an organisation that has wrecked their own currency though their own financial incompetence, should then seek to apply taxes on Britain to stabilise somebody elses currency.

They originally wanted to change the treaties etc that govern the way the EU is run and what member states have to adhere to. That means having all EU members agree to a set or rules and regulation that would be governed by Brussels. As part of this there would be sanctions etc.

One element is the imposing of a EU wide levy against financial transactions. This is something which cannot be agreed EVER by the UK. With the majority of EU wide banking going through London this would have effectively meant all finance businesses in UK would pay for the coffers of the ENTIRE EU. This in-turn would make us un-competetive and so could destroy the finance industry in the UK.

This element has been widely broadcasted in the media and Cameron had stated this could only be done on a Global Level - so that it was a fair playing field for all.

Don't get me wrong - there were good elements, ie around regulation etc - but not worth the bad parts. Hence Cameron said no.

So yes - ultimately, these were rules around protecting the Euro from collapse, with a view that all members in the EU would be impacted if the Euro went under.

[Messie]

Originally Posted by Bibio

i think the people of the UK are struggling to realise that we don't actually own anything any more.

i know of 2 banks we still own, BOE and RBS

i know of one power company we still own, Scottish Hydro

i know of 1 water company we still own, Scottish water

so where does that leave us if the owners of the rest of the banks, power and utility companies decide to pull the plug?

personally i think Cameron is doing the wrong thing. you either join a club or not. i'm sick of hearing ''in Britain's best interests'' what Britain!!!

Phew someone who speaks for the other side and who can explain things in a sensible way.
It scares me stiff that Dave has alientated us from the countries that we need to support our means of wealth production. Although a leftie I never did agree with Brown's decisions as PM although he did show a lot of prudent sense as Chancellor.
Too many people get too uptight about losing the British way of life, when in fact we have been one of the most multicultural states in the last 400 years or so. And that has contributed to some of our status and position in the world.
We need Euroland to be stable and productive and for them to be our friend. Our investments, banking and development relies on it. I can see how the lure of 'we're free from stupid EU red tape@ is a calling card to many, but this goes much further than that.
If we're not part of the EU gang, whose gang are we in, because we are a very small country on our own

[Drew Carey]

Originally Posted by Messie

Although a leftie I never did agree with Brown's decisions as PM although he did show a lot of prudent sense as Chancellor.

Aside from selling near enough the countries entire gold reserves I would agree.

However, although the words he used were not the best - I don't think Cameron has done it to protect some idialistic British way of life. Even they know that ship has long sailed!!

It is about balancing the books - and it is clear if you read any of the economist publications today that we would have been far worse off agreeing to the new treaties.

[Messie]

Cameron may know that but a whole load of the not so erudite voters don't. They tend to see things in very simplistic terms.

[Drew Carey]

This is very true......I certainly agree that his press secretary needs a kicking!!!

Originally Posted by Messie

If we're not part of the EU gang, whose gang are we in, because we are a very small country on our own

Why do we need to be in a gang? Switzerland is the kid in the corner who keeps his sweets to himself yet somehow he also seems to have more than anyone else.

[MisterTommyH]

I see it as the same as handing over control of our budgets to the US so that they could save the dollar.......we wouldn't do that would we.

Does kind of make our position in the EU untenable though.

[Biker Biggles]

Switzerland is not relevant.It has a population of about 17 and does banking and tourism.You cant base a major economy with a population of nearly 70 million on that.We need to look at similar economies to see the way to go.Germany for instance.Surprise surprise,a major European country that manufactures goods on a grand scale and exports them worldwide.Just like we did before the losers took over as our political class.

[anna]

Well I’m not sure why you are all so glad?

Euro will now have their say with the UK sat in the waiting room whilst they make decisions that will undeniably affect the UK.

Why is this a good thing?