Europe leaves Britain?

“Europe leaves Britain?”

Methinks Scotland too. And Ash seems to agree ……

“My nightmare - which I also think quite probable - is that the Westminster closed circuit of parliament, government and press will continue to muddle this country (or what's left of it when Scotland has left) through to the margins of Europe. When the English discover, in five to ten years' time, that Heffer, Bellingham & Co are dead wrong; when the country's self-marginalisation is damaging its standing in Washington, its capacity to project its interests in China, India and Brazil, and the City of London; then it - now just England and possibly Wales - will come creeping back, saying 'please let us in', as Britain did in the 1960s. And then the French, Croats and Scots will decide whether to say 'oui' or 'non'.”

Pax Britannica kaput – good riddance to bad rubbish.

If anyone is deluded then this Professor Ash is in the front ranks. He succinctly summarizes the EU:
“….You do lose some of your sovereignty and independence. In return, you gain influence, scale, clout - and therefore, the ability to secure more effective freedom, security and prosperity for your own people.”
What a load of BS!!!
It interesting to note that Russia is not mentioned by the good professor anywhere here as its part of BRICs, but it’s currently sticking a very sharp stick in the west’s eye and that’s another issue.
I have read and heard so many of these Europhiles, but not one could explain in layman’s terms what are the benefits of being part of the EU and now we have 'one voice representing 500 million consumers is heard more loudly in Beijing, Delhi and Brasilia than 27 separate voices'..As far a China is concerned having one government to deal with makes life very easy, but the Chinese are not averse to dealing with separate governments at all. Look at the investment being made in Serbia alone.
If this is the best this educated man can come out with then I say to Serbia get on your knees and pray that they did not give you the green light to join the EU. It is one the greatest cons of the 20 century.
This man Timothy Ash is supposedly educated but he tells the same story as Tadic or others who see the EU as “the Great and Wonderful OZ”. The Croats are about to join the EU but they expect money trees to be planted which will solve all their debts, and I can tell you they are many. Joining the EU is now worse than in the 1990s – if you walk into the union with the backside out of your pants hanging out then that is how you will live.
The EU only wants to dump their subsided agricultural products in these small countries and use them as cheap labor. The UK has outlived its great days and is only an island at the end of Europe. Whichever way they go it’s all pointing down hill.

This is about a tiff that will pass. The EU is not the Euro. The EU is mainly about common standards for trade. The UK is fully inclusive in that, and that will not change. Whether political union progresses is not the same issue.

The Euro has a problem because the Germans want to trade efficiently but keep poorer over-borrowed countries from escaping debt through devaluation. If the Euro Zone solve that little problem then the Euro may survive, although it looks possible that the poorer countries will gradually withdraw from the currency. In the event that they withdraw, they will effectively adopt the UK's policy of running an independant currency, if they stay, the EU will have survived the current crises and relations will not be so different from before.

The UK role is unlikely to deteriorate as indicated in this article. Already Merkel has taken diplomatic steps to reassure the world that the UK is integral to the EU - and that wasn't just flannel.

If Scotland does decide to leave the UK (and I very much hope that it decides exactly the opposite) it will not eliminate cooperation. This would not be a vindictive separation in any way comparable with the hate wars of the Balkans. The Scots and the English may prefer the choice of locally run government, but there is no deep bigotry. If they part, they part as friends. Already devolution has worked well - it is not an antagonistic relationship.

The defining feature of cooperation is that economics rule - the EU is based of countries realising where their respective breads are buttered. For that reason, I suspect that Serbians will want to join the EU - economic opportunity is what motivates people, and the EU will continue to be the best opportunity available. Likewise for the UK - despite there being many who would want to leave, the reality is that trade and jobs is what will be the final arbiter - not political predudices.

“Europe leaves Britain?”

Methinks Scotland too. And Ash seems to agree ……

“My nightmare - which I also think quite probable - is that the Westminster closed circuit of parliament, government and press will continue to muddle this country (or what's left of it when Scotland has left) through to the margins of Europe. When the English discover, in five to ten years' time, that Heffer, Bellingham & Co are dead wrong; when the country's self-marginalisation is damaging its standing in Washington, its capacity to project its interests in China, India and Brazil, and the City of London; then it - now just England and possibly Wales - will come creeping back, saying 'please let us in', as Britain did in the 1960s. And then the French, Croats and Scots will decide whether to say 'oui' or 'non'.”

Pax Britannica kaput – good riddance to bad rubbish.

If anyone is deluded then this Professor Ash is in the front ranks. He succinctly summarizes the EU:
“….You do lose some of your sovereignty and independence. In return, you gain influence, scale, clout - and therefore, the ability to secure more effective freedom, security and prosperity for your own people.”
What a load of BS!!!
It interesting to note that Russia is not mentioned by the good professor anywhere here as its part of BRICs, but it’s currently sticking a very sharp stick in the west’s eye and that’s another issue.
I have read and heard so many of these Europhiles, but not one could explain in layman’s terms what are the benefits of being part of the EU and now we have 'one voice representing 500 million consumers is heard more loudly in Beijing, Delhi and Brasilia than 27 separate voices'..As far a China is concerned having one government to deal with makes life very easy, but the Chinese are not averse to dealing with separate governments at all. Look at the investment being made in Serbia alone.
If this is the best this educated man can come out with then I say to Serbia get on your knees and pray that they did not give you the green light to join the EU. It is one the greatest cons of the 20 century.
This man Timothy Ash is supposedly educated but he tells the same story as Tadic or others who see the EU as “the Great and Wonderful OZ”. The Croats are about to join the EU but they expect money trees to be planted which will solve all their debts, and I can tell you they are many. Joining the EU is now worse than in the 1990s – if you walk into the union with the backside out of your pants hanging out then that is how you will live.
The EU only wants to dump their subsided agricultural products in these small countries and use them as cheap labor. The UK has outlived its great days and is only an island at the end of Europe. Whichever way they go it’s all pointing down hill.

This is about a tiff that will pass. The EU is not the Euro. The EU is mainly about common standards for trade. The UK is fully inclusive in that, and that will not change. Whether political union progresses is not the same issue.

The Euro has a problem because the Germans want to trade efficiently but keep poorer over-borrowed countries from escaping debt through devaluation. If the Euro Zone solve that little problem then the Euro may survive, although it looks possible that the poorer countries will gradually withdraw from the currency. In the event that they withdraw, they will effectively adopt the UK's policy of running an independant currency, if they stay, the EU will have survived the current crises and relations will not be so different from before.

The UK role is unlikely to deteriorate as indicated in this article. Already Merkel has taken diplomatic steps to reassure the world that the UK is integral to the EU - and that wasn't just flannel.

If Scotland does decide to leave the UK (and I very much hope that it decides exactly the opposite) it will not eliminate cooperation. This would not be a vindictive separation in any way comparable with the hate wars of the Balkans. The Scots and the English may prefer the choice of locally run government, but there is no deep bigotry. If they part, they part as friends. Already devolution has worked well - it is not an antagonistic relationship.

The defining feature of cooperation is that economics rule - the EU is based of countries realising where their respective breads are buttered. For that reason, I suspect that Serbians will want to join the EU - economic opportunity is what motivates people, and the EU will continue to be the best opportunity available. Likewise for the UK - despite there being many who would want to leave, the reality is that trade and jobs is what will be the final arbiter - not political predudices.