I read this morning in the news that France is warning the UK that if we leave the EU they may well remove the barriers to migrants wishing to travel to our country. Can you blame them? My daughter has witnessed 1st hand how dangerous it is/was around Calais and the Tunnel having driven hgvs over to France and back. She wasn't hurt/lorry attacked but knows plenty of other drivers who have experienced trouble. This situation has been going on for years not just recently when the press decided to cover it. While I haven't made up my mind whether to vote to leave or stay in the EU I don't blame the French as I can't see why they should effectively continue to deter migrants who wish to travel to the UK if we decide to leave the EU. They would find it much easier to "open the door" and let us deal with the situation ourselves. If it should happen that France stops migrants wishing to get here I for 1 am very glad I don't live too close to the likes of Dover!
I'm trying to imagine the consequences of them taking away the barriers. I suppose we can easily make threats as well. We would fence off the tunnel and no traffic would go through. The migrants would then be free to roam around the French countryside. Which country does it hurt the most? I don't think that the French have bothered to think it through - as with most of the silly talk that's still being bandied around.
The problem with fencing is that they just cut straight through it as they have the tools on them to do it.We would have to block off the tunnel entrances with concrete and they won't roam around France etc because they will pay some idiot to put them into flimsy boats to cross the channel to get to our country that way and what lives will be lost then. When these people get to Calais they ought to put them on ferries pretending that they are bringing them to England and then take them straight back to where they got on those flimsy boats in the first place and drop them off My Grandfather and my dad would turn in their graves if they could see what is going on as they fought hard and long to keep out foreign invaders.Some of these young men ought to be standing up and trying to fight instead of running away but then again that is ok for me to say that as I have never been in their position but as said before they will keep coming as they have been told that if they get to the UK they will all be given houses,jobs,benefits,etc which will mean that me and loads of others of the wrong age will Definetley never see our state pensions
I don't do politics on the internet, but some very interesting points on here which I have been following. There is certainly already a lot of spin and very biased 'information' being pushed out from the politics and press which of course have an agenda of their own. My one hope is that there is lots and lots of proper, fact-based, information available over the coming months that is presented in an unbiased and easy-to-understand manner as it is a very important decision for us all. I'm doing my own researches and do a lot of fact checking (yes it is tedious, but I think worthwhile). There's lots of info out there. I have found this one useful for proper data from offical souces like the ONS. https://fullfact.org/economy/ Hope it is of use. It is going to be a long embattled few months ahead... p.s. I, like some of the expats on here (@noisette47 I'm sure there are very many who share your concerns both abroad and at home), am looking with great interest to the potential fallout from a possible Leave victory as we are in the process of looking for/buying a home in Spain (so many implications with property buying rights, health care etc). So all is in limbo at present ... GG
Just a further point re UK border in Calais. The agreement about us having our Customs and Immigration in Calais for the migrants has nothing to do with the EU. It's purely an agreement between the two countries. It was decided that it is the best thing all round for the control to be in France. This avoids clogging the tunnel. That fact remains the same whether we are in or out.
That's interesting shiney, I didn't know that (not well informed these days, used to be before I got disillusioned with ALL political parties!). Whether France keeps the agreement going if we leave the EU remains to be seen.
They will need to look at the full implications of what it would mean. What would they actually do with the migrants? Where would they go? How would they get there?
The boss of France is warning of "consequences" if we leave. Who is he to threaten us? Has he forgotten that twice in recent history Britain has fought their corner and given them back their country after it was taken from them? My decision has just been made a whole lot easier. If France or any other member us going to try to threaten and bully us, I can't vote to kowtow to that. What if we vote in now? That would be literally the same as voluntarily giving up your sweets to the school bully. We'll be the underdog victims forever.
No moo poo Sherlock! There will be consequences if we stay and there be consequences if we leave FOR BOTH SIDES: *that* much is a no-brainer What a silly billy he is.
Yes, but now he's in bed with that former bully, so it is politic for him to forget the past and only consider his future
Well done Francois - you've just boosted the out campaign. He's quite right of course, there will be consequences - we stop paying 12.5% of the EU budget - which goes to subsidising French farmers. They'll be blockading his home if he's not careful.
As far as I'm concerned the worst thing that happened was the digging of the tunnel, it has just caused us problem after problem. First it blighted the countryside for years, while they tried to work out what route the rail line would take. Now we have it, the French who appear to own the biggest part of it, close it at a drop of a hat as soon as they decide to all go on strike yet again, or they let the illegals run riot and take over the terminals, and just do the usual "shrug". Surely if they let those in the jungle come hear on the eurostar, we would be well within our rights to put them straight back on the return train in handcuffs? Or would we have the balls to do that? This is nothing new, a mate I worked with lives in Folkestone and his journey to work involved 40miles up the M20 every day. He often said there were dodgy people wandering around on the carriageways early mornings, presumably they had slid off the backs of lorries at the first stop. This was back in 2009, its been going on before that and since.
Ah you decided on Spain, then, GG? There'll be lots of bargains to be had after 23rd June, if GC reflects general opinion in the UK. If non EU nationals are permitted to buy of course... I do hope that your search goes well
I can't imagine Spain banning property sales to non-EUs. A couple of Spanish laws spring to mind that make me think they'd welcome it. Firstly, there's the point about defaulted debt. In Spain, if you are in debt and you sell your home, the buyer accidentally buys your debt. Not just mortgage, any debt. Then there's Spain's alternative to our council tax. They can just demand that people chip in for local works. They can say say, we're resurfacing your street next week, your share of the bill is this. Then there's Spain's relatively recent (last few years) planning law change. They can now revoke planning consent already given. Properties have been demolished under that one. All this would mean, I suspect, that Spain would welcome investment from anywhere, because they know they can just take their money at will.
