However, one wonders why sticking a financial transactions tax in there which will screw money out of Britain’s economy has to be part of the deal. Could it possibly be a further power grab that actually has no effect on the vast amount of money countries owe and how, economically, they are rapidly heading down the toilet? Could it be a little bit of payback for Britain’s failure to kowtow to Brussels and join the Euro? Could it also be Merkel, Sarkozy and crew looking for someone to blame –Britain – when it all goes tits-up as it inevitably will?
Nice to note the BBC telling outright lies too. How the financial sector is just an insignificant part of Britain’s economy when it actually accounts for 10% of national income. Meanwhile the reporters all looked like they wanted to be wearing black arm bands as they promoted doom and gloom about Britain not going ‘Baaa!’ with the rest of the sheep. They then delayed for as long as possible before letting Cameron put his side of, ‘We’re not in the Euro, these changes are against our national interest, so I said no, okay?’ Of course I’ve no doubt that later that ‘no’ will become a sort of ‘no’ and eventually slide into being a ‘yes’ because Cameron is as big a europhile prick as most chiselling politicians.
Update:
Incidentally, what are these sanctions they're talking about for profligate governments? It hardly seems logical to financially penalize a government that's overspent: Hey, I find you guilty of shooting yourself in the foot. I am, therefore, going to punish you by shooting you in the other foot.
18 comments:
Regardless of what Cameron did, if the Euro folds we have problems, from both a trading point of view (40% is often quoted for our levels of trade) and from a british banking debt point of view.
Yes people will still need to trade, but it's the financial instability that the Euro folding which will cause the UK harm.
Ho hum, should be an interesting couple of weeks. Lets hope the markets ease off on the high interest rates they are imposing on italy/spain/greece.
He was right to say no, the whoke thing is totally undemocratic and a waste of money.
The BBC is completely biased and is not providing a sensible, independent viewpoint which is what it is being paid to do.
Why should we be afraid of standing on our own and make our own way in life?
Will no longer watch BBC news after this.
i'd like to know what germany will tell france as not only do they live well outside the 3% level they still have large state-owned interests in companies, something that was supposed to be outlawed in the 'new' europe.
as for your summations - i believe something of all of them may be true, the transaction tax in particular would kill the city of london as the financial centre of europe - central powers would relocate to brussels, whilst all the private companies would relocate the the far east, as HSBC has already threatened. double-whammy and no downside to the EU as it stands.
perhaps cameron should have told france where to stick the uk's contribution to the CAP?
Neil, I think that 40% covers the goods we sell to Europe, while they sell even more to us, but don't quote me on that. Unfortunately there is no easy get-out of this crisis, and the europhiles just have their eyes closed and their fingers in their ears. The longer they hold off on letting Greece etc default the worse its going to be when it inevitably happens.
Andrew, but surely we're getting a bargain for that 50 million a day we're throwing at the EU?
Daniel, we need to send Jebel to Brussels to sort 'em out. Cameron will be sliming back up with the Merkozy soon enough.
What do these successful financial centres have in common: Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York...? Answer: they are not part of an over regulated, over bureaucratic, over taxed country with a bloated public sector and employment laws that prevent anyone ever being fired no matter how useless they are. London shouldn't fear not being part of the Eurozone.
That wasn't just a quote from some random blogger is was from a a guy called Terry Smith the CEO of a FTSE 250 money broker called Tullet Prebon. So an opinion of note.
the BBC is horrifically biased and has been for years.
the only significant risk to the UK from leaving the EU is an increase in trading costs through duties (our goods don't attract levies in the EU free market). But we import more than we export to the EU so they'd be proportionately worse off.
The Frogs want us out. Why not give them what they want?
I do like this summing up over at
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/
"But, behind the scenes, nothing at all will have changed and, waiting in the wings is a reality that cannot be denied. The euro is on the ropes and nothing can be done to save it. For want of anything sensible, we are being treated to a phenomenal display of "workers' playtime" which knocks Nero's attempts to provide musical entertainment in similar circumstances firmly into the shade."
As at Sept 2011 Europe was selling £3bn more to the UK than we were selling to them.
I for one, cannot believe that the businesses of Europe would want increased tariffs on a standalone Britain as it would hit Europe harder than us.
I think the BBC et al like to sound off like this to scare people. European leaders are in my opinion fairly pragmatic and would still want to keep the UK as close as possible whatever happened.
Ah Matt, I am getting so sick of the BBC. It's telling that I have to switch over to Russia Today to get some balance in the reporting. Anyway, I reckon Sarkozy is pissed off because we don't think much of French wine anymore.
I saw a guy from one of the big private banks say that there are a minimum of six entirely toxic countries in the Euro that need to be ejected, that was sometime in June, he was let off the leash because he was a CEO (can't remember the bank), he was poo poo'd by the next interviewee.
I was off sick at the time recovering from back surgery, so I watched a shitlaod of news, and over the following six months I've watched this guys predictions bear their fruit. I think Mr Cameron has done the right thing regardless of political leanings.
Why on earth would anyone right now want to get deeper into the Euro zone, when there is no guarantee that there will even be a Euro this time next year? The guy from the bank also said that once the toxic nations were ejected that the swing to there traditional currencies would be the stimulous for a boom because the field would balance, exchange rates would be favourable for the poorer counries and that deals for the common man (tourists) would good once those counries were free to set their own prices.
I sit in eager anticipation of the day that his prediction comes true.
I've also read that the whole of the Eurozone would be better off if Germany would leave because then they would be free to print money to back fill the gap. Essentially ALL Euro countries are weak except Germany. They'd have to deal with inflation but things would otherwise be stabilised. Germany won't go because the weak Euro keeps German products artificially cheap therefore upping its export figures.
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein fuhrer.
Oh dear I seem to have tipped us into Godwins Law territory. Fuck it, it's Monday and my brain is struggling.
Graeme, that's certainly be the case for the holiday industry in Greece. While I've been on Crete it has been steadily going down the toilet but, when I ask at what point it started going that way the answer is always the same, 'When we changed to the Euro.' If they get out of the Euro and devalue things will certainly be cheaper for me, but annoyingly the beaches will start filling up again.
Olaf, there's always a money motive somewhere.
Godwin's territory is difficult to avoid, especially in Greece where they're burning EU flags with swastikas painted on them and refering to the EU as the Fourth Reich.
Of course, the Nazi reference may actually be even more relevant to the current events in Hungary...
And even Prof. Krugman is calling this a depression...
BTW I am reading Iain Bank's "Surface Detail" and I see some similarity between the way both of you depict the rule of AIs in the future. Any collaboration or discussion between the two of you?
None at all, Mike. We both just venture into the same territoy, though I have to admit that reading his books is partly what set me on the path. I guess it stems from a deep cynicism about how humans rule themselves.
The Euro is intrinsically flawed, how can you have a whole bunch of countries of hugely disparate sizes and economies all using the same currency with no ability to control the interest rates in their own country?
I know that and you know that, Huan. I think the politicians know it too and that the only way it would really work is with total integration and the idea of 'a country' being scrubbed out.
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