I doint think that comes into it myself, we just need to have our own control on who enters the country and who doesn't, and it should be decided by the people we elect to run the country. Not the EU. The benefits side of it is just spin.
Well I voted to come OUT of it when we had the vote and I believe the age for voting was dropped from 21 to 18 so that more of us could vote I looked at it that if we had managed from not being part of the Common Market as it was known in those days to trading with other countries without anyone else's help then I thought we should carry on as we were. The problem now is that we have been in it for so long I am not sure if it would be easier to be out of it and nowadays I think you need a degree in European matters to make head nor tale of it all.I sometimes think that Cameron isn't the right person for the task and no one seems to have any confidence in what he is trying to negotiate if the papers are anything to go by. I don't mind people from other countries coming to this country to work and pay their dues but I don't think it is right that some of them are over here to claim the child benefits for half a dozen kids that don't even live in this country,and how is it that a lot of them can get jobs easily in this country whereas those of us that have lived here all of our lives have to have qualifications etc just to get a simple job At the moment I am undecided how I shall vote this time round as I just don't understand any of it anymore
That is actually quite complex. I remember taking my lads on a Butlins weekend away a few years ago. A bulb shattered in the room and I got talking to the guy who came to replace it. He had qualifications, up to Masters level, from his home country but even with that qualification he couldn't get paid employment which would match that of minimum wage at Butlins cleaning and care taking rooms. A year or so later, I went on a short college course (funded by the EU) and met some wonderful people. Of those, one woman was a highly qualified engineer (from her native country) who taught at University level there. Her husband was an anaesthetist who found work over here and brought his family with him. What work did she get here? Classroom assistant! So, from University Lecturer to classroom assistant in a primary school here: why? Simply because her level of qualification from her home country is not recognised over here. More recently, when working for a car company, there were many migrants working there: cleaning and valeting cars. They worked hard, in all weathers and all the time I was there, they never missed a day. Now, I do not know what they were paid, or even if their pay was completely on the books either; but, it is not unheard of for them to be earning below minimum wage and not be on the books at all It's not all as straight forward as some media reports like to protest
I'm still undecided. However, I am absolutely certain of one thing: We can't blame the EU for everything that annoys us, and leaving the EU won't make Britain suddenly Utopia. Whether we stay in the EU or not, Russia will still be silly, IS will still be evil, China will still price our manufacturing industry out of existence, Europe will still dictate trade terms, the banks will still decide how much the cash in our pockets is worth, and our politicians will still fight over how best to milk us. None of that will change no matter what happens in the referendum. Its up to each of us to decide which way to vote, but in deciding, maybe don't expect a return to the 'glory days' of the British empire if we leave.
It's just been confirmed - 23rd June referendum. Got to give Dave some credit - he did put in some effort - but alas to no avail. All those who have commented on the BBC website want out. Interesting times ahead.
I have just finished reading this book ,heavy reading but well worth the effort Mrs Thatcher ‘That such an unnecessary and irrational project as building a European super-state was ever embarked on,’ wrote Lady Thatcher, ‘will seem in future years to be perhaps the greatest folly of the modern era. And that Britain . . . should ever have become part of it will appear a political error of the first magnitude.’
I think what you are saying there "M" is that EU policy of importing people to do the jobs we dont want to do, (because we all went to university,and those jobs are now beneath us, or those that cant get out of bed in the morning),is creating a form of modern slavery. Import engineers etc. that can earn more washing dishes here than doing the job they trained for back home. The whole world is being run on cheap labour.
The latest UK employment statistics show 48% of all new jobs going to non-UK nationals, which some might say is fair enough as UK nationals have the same rights to obtain jobs elsewhere in the EU. But then I thought hang on a minute, there would surely need to be something seriously wrong with the UK if 48% of us needed to go elsewhere to find employment.
Just as a rough guide (Assuming that all those jobs went to EU nationals):- As there are 27 other countries in the EU then that would average 1.8% per country. Doesn't look so high now How many jobs does that 48% represent? The latest figures, published by the government in order to make them look good , were an increase of 780,000 new jobs over the previous year. So that's (if you believe their hype) approx. 375,000 jobs went to non-UK nationals. I would guess that a large proportion of those jobs were ones that our people don't want to do and that means that 405,000 went to our people that did want to do the jobs (or were coerced into doing them). The latest yearly available figures for UK citizens going to work abroad is 154,000. What do these statistics show? Absolutely nothing! For them to be of any use we would need to,first, believe them and then have the breakdown of what jobs were taken by non-UK nationals and what jobs were taken abroad by UK nationals. The reports say that our people went to take skilled jobs but don't say what sort of jobs were available here.
I wonder about the source and accuracy of such stats, but let's take it as true. Would that not mean that in 48% of new vacancies, there were no suitably qualified UK nationals that applied? If that's the case, who is at fault? The immigrant that worked hard to make himself employable and then showed such determination that he actually left his home country to find work, or the UK national who didn't really bother?
From our own government's Office of National Statistics, so obviously not to be trusted. Yes, plus retirements, deaths, emigration (AKA migration), plus all sorts of other stuff, plus all the jobs required by school/uni leavers, job losses, those returning to work for various reasons, etc., so why don't we get a proper breakdown to show what's really happening?
I heard on the radio earlier that Michael Gove is going to campaign to leave. My opinion of Gove is such that I believe that if he thinks something is brilliant, it is probably terrible for ordinary plebs such as I, so I'm now leaning slightly more towards voting to stay in.