A great day for Britain

[sasguru]

Well done Dave!
Now we can go it alone and leave Europe to continue its inevitable decline, while we once again face outwards towards the broader world.

[Mich the Tester]

Yes, good day indeed, but I'm not sure about the 'inevitable decline' bit.

[Support Monkey]

About time as well he now needs to stand his ground and put UK interests first everytime, this could well be a defining moment in european political history

[sasguru]

Yes, good day indeed, but I'm not sure about the 'inevitable decline' bit.

Once the engine of Europe suffers its coming demographic timebomb, who will power Europe?
Already they're so desperate for techies in Germany they're taking on any old dross.
Fact is Germany needs more high quality immmigrants but is at a disadvantage because (1) its not English speaking and (2) its not as welcoming to immigrants as the UK for various reasons

[Mich the Tester]

About time as well he now needs to stand his ground and put UK interests first everytime, this could well be a defining moment in european political history

When has he not done that?

[Doggy Styles]

It's about time our government started treating the UK as a nation instead of a region in the United States of Europe.

[doodab]

Britain has been in a decline since the end of the 2nd world war. It's now gotten so bad that the neighbours no longer give a tulip what we think.

If you're going to go it alone you need to have a plan, and for call me Dave (and several governments beforehand) that seems to involve becoming a colony in someone else's empire, whether as an outpost for Japanese manufacturers or a training ground for Indian programmers.

Unless we invest serious money in education and infrastructure to rid ourselves of uneducated, anti-intellectual halfwits, low wage low skill jobs and the get rich quick mentality we are headed for obscurity. We aren't going to end up like Switzerland or Norway, we're going to end up like pre Euro era Greece, full of tourists and tat.

[Mich the Tester]

Once the engine of Europe suffers its coming demographic timebomb, who will power Europe?
Already they're so desperate for techies in Germany they're taking on any old dross.
Fact is Germany needs more high quality immmigrants but is at a disadvantage because (1) its not English speaking and (2) its not as welcoming to immigrants as the UK for various reasons

Well, Europe does indeed need immigrants, and not only highly educated immigrants; if anything, the pain is already being felt at the lower end of the job market, where it's increasingly difficult to find people who'll pick fruit and veg or serve food in restaurants with some degree of motivation or competence (although a freind of mine is now busy with an employment agency for Greek waiters and cooks who want to work in northern Europe).

I think most educated people in Europe realise and accept that there will have to be immigration to sort out shortages, at both top and bottom ends of the employment market. In fact, those are the very people taking advantage of the freedom to work anywhere in the EU. Trouble is we have a big rump of somewhat frightened voters who don't want it, so basically governments have to appear to be strict while actually being quite flexible. Some governments do that better than others.

I'd actually prefer to see politicians telling people quite straight that if you don't accept immigrants now, you can forget cheap food and universal healthcare and you can watch lots of international businesses leave. Very few politicians have the balls to do that.

[Waldorf]

Yes, good day indeed, but I'm not sure about the 'inevitable decline' bit.

This deal has not saved the Euro, I cannot see how it can survive, the German economy is effectively undervalued and the rest over valued, whilst Germany remains part of the Euro, it cannot survive.

[Doggy Styles]

Get with the plan, dear boy, it's about managing decline & all that.

And has been for the last 60 years or so.

I want us to decline in our own way, not as instructed by someone else.

Although as I see it, the UK's decline in my time has increased our standard of living quite a bit.