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Britain could leave the European Union as early as next year as Prime Minister David Cameron is said to be already putting plans in motion to bring forward an in/out referendum by a year.
If Britons vote to leave the EU, this means the country could technically start severing its ties by the end of 2016.
Somehow I don't think the UK is gonna get the same treatment from the EU that Switzerland currently gets. Also, what's this going to mean for all the Brits living in the EU? Will they be forced to return to the UK, lest they become illegal immigrants?
Somehow I don't think the UK is gonna get the same treatment from the EU that Switzerland currently gets. Also, what's this going to mean for all the Brits living in the EU? Will they be forced to return to the UK, lest they become illegal immigrants?
The UK is too big to be ignored by the EU. An arrangement will be made business wise down the line. If our people are told to leave EU countries, then we would return in kind. It won't happen. But, we will put up restrictions on further immigration from the EU. We can't cope with the level of immigration any longer. If we carry on as we are, what will be our population in 20 years? 70 million? More? If this is the case, where are all those people supposed to live? We have no choice, we have to leave. The only way forward would be for the EU to allow us selective immigration from Europe. They will never agree to that. Free movement is a lynchpin of EU membership. I do understand how EU membership is important to business, but free movement of labour was never meant to mean millions moving to one country like we have been trying to cope with.
The UK is too big to be ignored by the EU. An arrangement will be made business wise down the line. If our people are told to leave EU countries, then we would return in kind. It won't happen. But, we will put up restrictions on further immigration from the EU. We can't cope with the level of immigration any longer. If we carry on as we are, what will be our population in 20 years? 70 million? More? If this is the case, where are all those people supposed to live? We have no choice, we have to leave. The only way forward would be for the EU to allow us selective immigration from Europe. They will never agree to that. Free movement is a lynchpin of EU membership. I do understand how EU membership is important to business, but free movement of labour was never meant to mean millions moving to one country like we have been trying to cope with.
Those people would live in housing - if we bothered to build enough to meet demand. I don't know why people obsess over our population - it wouldn't be a problem if we invested in our infrastructure a little more. They manage just fine in Holland.
We're not going to leave though so it's pointless speculation. Most people support more restrictions on immigration buy know that alone is not enough reason to leave the EU.
Those people would live in housing - if we bothered to build enough to meet demand. I don't know why people obsess over our population - it wouldn't be a problem if we invested in our infrastructure a little more. They manage just fine in Holland.
We're not going to leave though so it's pointless speculation. Most people support more restrictions on immigration buy know that alone is not enough reason to leave the EU.
We would never be able to build enough to satisfy demand. If we went on a massive house building frenzy, it would attract even more immigration. I have thought long and hard about this. I just can't see a way round it. We haven't got the land for millions of more houses. Tower blocks would be an answer, but lets face it, many people don't like living that way.
I think we're on our way out of the EU. If we leave, we won't be the last. I don't think the EU will seriously listen to our problems coping with mass immigration. I understand leaving is bad for business. But, surely, we have to think of future generations trying to cope with a massive population on a small island. I believe people here now should be allowed to stay. We need a breather to try and sort out our problems with the present growing population just from young immigrants having families. We are in the middle of a baby boom. More schools will be needed, and our services are under strain.
Last edited by English Dave; 05-13-2015 at 12:47 AM..
Somehow I don't think the UK is gonna get the same treatment from the EU that Switzerland currently gets. Also, what's this going to mean for all the Brits living in the EU? Will they be forced to return to the UK, lest they become illegal immigrants?
The "Swiss option," as I understand it from reading the newspapers, is pretty much seen as a one-time mistake.
I believe that some EU members have already said that in the event of a British exit that there is already another option in place, the "Norwegian option." This would definitely not be what Mr. Cameron would want, and I feel the British business community, which has better eyesight than the prime minister, would want it far less. If some of Britain's business leaders were to do the negotiating with the EU, I feel that things would work out well for both sides. But with Cameron doing the talking for Britain his extremely parochial view of the world will be a big handicap. Britain has like-minded friends in the E.U., but Cameron has alienated them. Very unfortunate.
As for resident British citizens, they would be treated the same way that Americans are, I would presume - as resident aliens. No one would be interested in deporting them, providing they met the same requirements as other non-EU residents, I should think.
.... The only way forward would be for the EU to allow us selective immigration from Europe. They will never agree to that. Free movement is a lynchpin of EU membership. I do understand how EU membership is important to business, but free movement of labour was never meant to mean millions moving to one country like we have been trying to cope with.
Listening to some Brit residents here, there is another way out: Slam the door on immigration from Pakistan, the Caribbean, and Africa., and concentrate on accommodating the good workers from the E.U....not all of whom are not interested in permanently relocating to the UK.
Listening to some Brit residents here, there is another way out: Slam the door on immigration from Pakistan, the Caribbean, and Africa., and concentrate on accommodating the good workers from the E.U....not all of whom are not interested in permanently relocating to the UK.
I think most of the recent immigrants like Polish people are putting roots down here. Opening businesses and buying homes. There has been a large Polish community here of course since the Second World War. The problem is, we can't pick and choose. Yes to Poles, no to Bulgarian gypsies.
My concerns are the growth in population. It has been too fast, too soon. There have been instances down south of immigrants renting sheds to live in at the bottom of folk's gardens. This isn't right, and worries me greatly. We do get educated people from Africa of course, and also refugees from war who struggle in a western society. We have a large sub group of barely educated white English people festering in poor areas around the country. When we have educated Pole's willing to work for minimum wage, who will employ the barely employable?
I have watched this problem get worse over many decades. It got much worse under Margaret Thatcher in the 80s. The immigration accelerated under Blair's Labour government, leading us to were we are today. If we don't slow down immigration massively, I predict real social unrest in decades to come. Under present EU rules we can't do that.
Buying a home is an out of reach dream to many of our people. What used to be commonplace, the buying of a home of your own, is now much less so. I can't see the EU allowing us to limit immigration from Europe. This I feel is essential, so I will vote to leave the EU. Yes, I know this will affect the economy adversely. But a good economy, in a country full of strife for the many folks at the bottom of the pile, is not something I wish to see.
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My concerns are the growth in population. It has been too fast, too soon. There have been instances down south of immigrants renting sheds to live in at the bottom of folk's gardens. This isn't right, and worries me greatly. ...
I wasn't belittling your concerns about population growth. What I was trying to do in an acceptable way was to point out the large element of irrationality that I see when the topic is raised in public.
I will be blunt, when the Brit expats I have known in Cyprus and Portugal rail against foreigners in the UK their number one on the list of parasitic loafers are the Pakistanis, followed by people from other former British colonial areas. I hear they suck the guts out of the benefits system, they don't work, they don't integrate into British society, they do not have the same cultural outlook, etc.
Yet, nothing I read or hear in public forums (internet, newspapers) reflects the complaints I constantly hear from British people about the above groups. Your politicians are mum on this aspect of the immigration problem.
Yet the European immigrants who in large measure share the work ethic and the general cultural orientation of the British peoples are lambasted by Mr. Cameron and the UKippers.
This strikes me as very bizarre. Why not advocate closing the door to all immigrants, not just those from the EU if those from the former imperial territories are bleeding the system as my British acquaintances would have me believe?
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