Will UK leave Europe ?

[Strear]

David Cameron is currently making his European Brexit Tour ...

I don't know how the situation is " globally " perceived (out of lobbying and convinced euroskeptics) on the subject novadays in UK ?

I personnally think they should leave if they wish, and if they stay, they should'nt get ANY other advantage, because I think they have more to lose than by leaving than staying. One thing I'm sure and strongly think from an economical point of view: " If you leave tomorrow, don't expect us to remain " good friends " and to come back next year if you change your mind ".

[Sivick]

I assume you mean the European Union and not that the UK will hike up it's skirt and cross an ocean to get away from the rest of Europe...

[Strear]

Yes of course I wouldn't dare to pretend they could become the 51th US state

[Deleted]

I really have no clue what they hope to gain by leaving. I guess they gain some sovereignty at the cost of some economic restrictions and political influence.

[Strear]

I really have no clue what they hope to gain by leaving. I guess they gain some sovereignty at the cost of some economic restrictions and political influence.

I truly consider UK as a very sovereign, independant country with a strong identity. I think this " Everything is Europe's fault " is basic populism. I don't understand, about the " enquiries " to remain in the Union (European ). Everywhere in the European news, I read that it's the old " I want to have the cake and eat it too ". British have always been strong lobbyists, I don't understand how they can expect something " more ".

[Deleted]

The UK will stay. We simply cannot afford to leave and no amount of propergander will change the fact that economically we are dependent upon the money we take from the EU and despite that rhetoric we wont be able to continue to leech that without been part of the union, it's that simple.

[Noradin]

I do not wish for them to leave but they have to stop this constant manoeuvring for concessions they do not deserve.
The problem is the setup of their political (voting) system. They do not understand consense and solidarity on a political level.
They constantly try to get the better of the rest of what should be their peers. It is toxic behaviour. And it hurts them, even more than us in fact.
Their poiticans constantly use "the EU" as scapegoat for their own shortcomings and sometims just because it is a well used distraction.

They truly do not have any net gain to exspect by leaving, and the ones who take the time to think know it, they are just pretending they think so to get the better of the rest of Europe. (Yes, I resent them for this behaviour as much as I like them otherwise. They aren't team players politically and it hurts all of us, themselves the most.)

[Deleted]

Opinion polls favour leave, but they have been inaccurate recently. The problem is the UK, unlike continental europe, doesn't feel particularly European. The vast majority of Brits have no desire for ever closer union, we entered the EU for trade but it has evolved into something much larger. The problem is immigration, and regardless of what benefits the EU does bring us, that's what this referendum will be decided on, because thats what the british public care about right now. The racist policies of the EU prioritizes EU nationals over the rest of the world. It's frustrating when one of the largest and most influential economies in the world can't manage its own borders.

[Kellhound]

I say the UK should just become part of Canada. Let the Queen live in Ottawa!

[Hooked]

It depends if the uk has the courage to do it. They should absolutely leave the eu in my opinion, merkel has poisoned the well and destroyed the eu in my opinion.

[Deleted]

I do not wish for them to leave but they have to stop this constant manoeuvring for concessions they do not deserve.
The problem is the setup of their political (voting) system. They do not understand consense and solidarity on a political level.
They constantly try to get the better of the rest of what should be their peers. It is toxic behaviour. And it hurts them, even more than us in fact.
Their poiticans constantly use "the EU" as scapegoat for their own shortcomings and sometims just because it is a well used distraction.

They truly do not have any net gain to exspect by leaving, and the ones who take the time to think know it, they are just pretending they think so to get the better of the rest of Europe. (Yes, I resent them for this behaviour as much as I like them otherwise. They aren't team players politically and it hurts all of us, themselves the most.)

The UK will leave without significant treaty changes, and it is up the European leadership to decide if Britain is valuable enough to them. Not every country is equal, the UK offers more to the EU than Romania, perhaps it should get some perks

[Deleted]

I really have no clue what they hope to gain by leaving. I guess they gain some sovereignty at the cost of some economic restrictions and political influence.

sovereignty=returning to the stone age behaving like animals

[Wezmon]

The UK will stay. We simply cannot afford to leave and no amount of propergander will change the fact that economically we are dependent upon the money we take from the EU and despite that rhetoric we wont be able to continue to leech that without been part of the union, it's that simple.

I think you are correct we will stay (or at least hope we do) and it is certainly better for us economically, but you make it sounds as if we get massive handouts from the EU which isn't the case. After the rebate we give the EU around £8 billion a year (up to 20 billion depending on who you ask). Maybe you dont mean it like that, it's just the way you wrote it. I'm assuming as we get closer to the vote we will get some better details of how leaving will really affect us economically and not just people like farage telling us how evil the EU is.

[Deleted]

sovereignty=returning to the stone age behaving like animals

care to elaborate?

[I Push Buttons]

Do all the component parts of the UK agree on the EU situation? I remember a vote a few years ago on whether Scotland should leave the UK...

I am 100% ignorant of the UK's internal politics, but say Scotland favors remaining in the EU, could the UK withdrawing reignite that debate and cause the UK's component parts to break off and rejoin the EU separately?

And speaking of that vote, if it passed, how would that even go down...? Would the UK respect Scotland's choice to leave? Considering there have been quite a few wars about that issue over the centuries :P

[Ravenblade]

They will either make concessions to the UK and we will get a EU a la carte where everyone learned that you can tailor your own membership terms towards your special needs OR they will leave and everyone will learn that you can now leave if you are disgusted with the EU. Either way the EU as a technocratic bastion may be a thing of the past after taking either option.

[Noradin]

I believe the idea behind leaving the EU is that the UK regains parliamentary sovereignty, and as such will be able to determine its own laws, its own borders, and its own trade deals. Many of the economic arguments seem to spit either way. Some claim the UK will ‘lose access’ to the largest market on earth, while others say the UK will be free to negotiate its own trade deals with the rest of the world.

It does seem rather silly to think that the UK would stop trading completely with EU countries. And it is worth noting that many countries trade with the EU without a free trade deal, only paying minimal tariffs.

Many seem to want to compare the UK to Norway or Switzerland, and say the rules that apply to them will apply to the UK. I suspect this is untrue. The UK has a trade deficit with the rest of the EU, is the 5th largest economy in the world, is a leading soft power in the world, and has (in many cases) excellent historic links with its old trading block, the common wealth.

When you throw in to this the much touted figure that the UK would save in excess of 50 million a day by leaving, then the economic case for remaining in is even less clear.

Then add the other perks of leaving, such as actually becoming democratic again, and one can certainly see how some people find leaving the EU an appealing prospect.

All of these points aren't acutally true.

What sovereignty would they gain that they do not currently have? None. They delegated some powers to shared institutions, but they didn't 'lose' it.
Something you cannot give away even temporily isn't something you 'have' it is something that 'has you'.

Yes they will get to guard its own borders and make its own trade deals - they will have to. On their own. They won't 'lose access' but they willhave to pay for it. On their own.

There are other price tags on trading with EU countries besides trariffs. Those the UK will have to pay also, without getting a sayin in those this time (Just like Norway and Switzerland).

Excellent historic links with its old trading block are still present right now, this is not something they will get in exchange for trading from inside the EU. It will not compensate them for leaving, it just means that they won't lose everything. (They wouldn't anyway, not for 'just' leaving, nobody wants that.)

That touted figure is made up by cherry picking which numbers to add and which to omit.

They are currently democratic - unless you argue that the political system of the UK itself isn't really democratic - which is debatable.
Just because the UK choose to stupidly throw away its votes due to domestic political reason doesn't mean they didn't have them.
It is part of the souvereingty that the UK pretents they doesn't have that they can choose to throw away their voting power if they want the pretend 'some evil power in Brussels wants to suppress them'.

[Wezmon]

Do all the component parts of the UK agree on the EU situation? I remember a vote a few years ago on whether Scotland should leave the UK...

I am 100% ignorant of the UK's internal politics, but say Scotland favors remaining in the EU, could the UK withdrawing reignite that debate and cause the UK's component parts to break off and rejoin the EU separately?

And speaking of that vote, if it passed, how would that even go down...? Would the UK respect Scotland's choice to leave? Considering there have been quite a few wars about that issue over the centuries :P

There will be another vote at some point regardless (although they might have to wait a log time for oil prices to go back up). Speaking anecdotally I would say the rest of the UK wouldn't care much either way, there is a general feeling of "just go then if its so bad", which ironically is what the EU must be thinking about us

[Noradin]

The UK will leave without significant treaty changes, and it is up the European leadership to decide if Britain is valuable enough to them. Not every country is equal, the UK offers more to the EU than Romania, perhaps it should get some perks

Define "significant". I do believe they will be significant - in that they will have no say in the matter anymore. They are tiny compared to the rest of the EU.
I see much more value in a team player that contributes what they can than in some solist who pretents everyone is out to get them so he can get a better deal.

[Deleted]

Do all the component parts of the UK agree on the EU situation? I remember a vote a few years ago on whether Scotland should leave the UK...

I am 100% ignorant of the UK's internal politics, but say Scotland favors remaining in the EU, could the UK withdrawing reignite that debate and cause the UK's component parts to break off and rejoin the EU separately?

And speaking of that vote, if it passed, how would that even go down...? Would the UK respect Scotland's choice to leave? Considering there have been quite a few wars about that issue over the centuries :P

You are quite right to think that a vote to leave the EU would cause huge issues internally for the UK, the Scottish National Party who run Scotland have said they will conduct a second referendum if faced with the prospect of leaving the EU against it's will.

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Define "significant". I do believe they will be significant - in that they will have no say in the matter anymore. They are tiny compared to the rest of the EU.
I see much more value in a team player that contributes what they can than in some solist who pretents everyone is out to get them so he can get a better deal.

Britain is 'tiny' is it, the fastest growing western economy which is predicted to surpass Germany within the next twenty years. Ok. If doing exactly what Germany wants give us value then we can do without it.