[Flipside]

My sentiments exactly. Oddly enough, Italy has a rule for work visas that require that the job be advertised locally for at least 3 days before looking further afield, once again, not good, not bad, just the way things are, firms cannot bring in a non-native workforce without attempting to hire from the local pool first.

Thing is, a few hundred jobs here or there are not going to make a difference, what is needed is not jobs, it's stimulus, it's the growth of industry that has spent the last 50 years being obliterated by our Governments, the jobs are a side effect of growth, not vice-versa as many of these strikers seem to believe.

Yes, from a personal point of view it's bad for the workers, and I feel for them, but in the long term, the prime objective of just about every country should be to stimulate growth, regardless of the nationality of the workforce, if that mentality could be applied across the board, then that nationality would not mean a thing.

[redsniper]

We need another space race.

[vyper]

We need out of the EU, is more like it.

[IPAndrews]

When our currency is soon likely to be worth less than the Euro I'm not sure that is a good idea.

[vyper]

We can potentially weather this financial situation better than the eurozone countries for that very reason. Individual economies need individual currency adjustments.

I'm not sure it'll end up worth less anyway, and even if it does - woohoo, export market improves.

[karajorma]

Given that France is doing much better than we are I don't know if less European integration is the right answer. Sounds more like a chance for Europhobes to come up with a proposal for a quick fix that won't help the country at all but sounds good cause it blames Johnny foreigner for the problem instead of concentrating on the mistakes we made ourselves.

[Janos]

Given that France is doing much better than we are I don't know if less European integration is the right answer. Sounds more like a chance for Europhobes to come up with a proposal for a quick fix that won't help the country at all but sounds good cause it blames Johnny foreigner for the problem instead of concentrating on the mistakes we made ourselves.

"hmmm the eu area is our biggest market and most of the policy dealing with europe and eastern atlantic sea is done in eu. quick, let's get out of the eu! wait why aren't you listening to us baaah"

I'd really like to see someone really pull out of EU (well we do have Greenland but..) just to see what would happen and how it would work. Removing a large net payer would make a dent in EU's cashflow and force it to change policies, but willfully isolating yourself from the very organizations that shape the policy that affects you is not a good idea.

[vyper]

Given that France is doing much better than we are I don't know if less European integration is the right answer. Sounds more like a chance for Europhobes to come up with a proposal for a quick fix that won't help the country at all but sounds good cause it blames Johnny foreigner for the problem instead of concentrating on the mistakes we made ourselves.

Oh I never said it would fix this problem. It just seemed an opportune moment.

[karajorma]

An opportune moment to do what? **** ourselves in the arse?

[Janos]

An opportune moment to do what? **** ourselves in the arse?

.. in the name of Britain!

[BloodEagle]

An opportune moment to do what? **** ourselves in the arse?

.. in the name of Britain!

God save the queen.

 

[Mobius]

Alright, that's one hell of a weird ending. How are they going to pay those additional 100 British workers? What should the others say?

Speaking of EU intergration, there are good and bad things. It's good to benefit of someone else's progress, but it's damn bad to be forced to adapt your economy to EU standards. That's why Poland doesn't use the Euro - their system, made ad hoc, is the only one they need to ensure growth without any bad, external influence.

[peterv]

Well, if Poland (or any other country) considers  EU's pollicies as an external influence, they better stay out off it for good.

[Mobius]

I'm refering to certain economical influences that relent a given country's economical progress instead of helping it. It's only a little drawback.

[Janos]

Alright, that's one hell of a weird ending. How are they going to pay those additional 100 British workers? What should the others say?

Speaking of EU intergration, there are good and bad things. It's good to benefit of someone else's progress, but it's damn bad to be forced to adapt your economy to EU standards. That's why Poland doesn't use the Euro - their system, made ad hoc, is the only one they need to ensure growth without any bad, external influence.

EMU and EU are not the same thing, though. The political decisions made (theoretically) for the entire EU are not always kind to individual countries, that is a given. Britain does exert considerable muscle in EU institutions, but is not part of the EMU as in using Euro as a currency. However, the market climate cannot be discarded out of hand: individual countries' decisions whether to adopt Euro or not are, after all, heavily dependent on the circumstances, as well as political will and capital to move certain amount of economic self-control into other institutions - although one might argue that with global markets and such closely-knit economic area as EU, the control of one's own market and monetary policy is just an illusion.

[Mobius]

Right. I was refering to the EMU, not the EU. That's why I mentioned Poland(which is in the EU but not in the EMU for the reasons I explained above).