Off Topic Political Debate

What the average UK voter does clearly understand is the anti democratic antics of the EU. They realise that the proposed ever closer political union, in which we want no part, will likely result in harm to the UK.

They do not understand the workings of the city or particularly care except for the unjustifiable 'banker's bonuses'. They are intelligent enough to realise that talk of state intervention, union power and higher taxes will encourage investors to put their money elsewhere.
You only have to look at France to see the result of awful socialist policies.

 

How often has `the people do not understand`been used in history to justify the lack of democracy ? Do the British people really know about this 'other London` ? Do they know that the 2 Londons have 2 separate City halls - elect 2 separate mayors, who collect separate taxes to fund separate police who enforce separate laws ? Do they know that laws passed by the parliament which they voted for sometimes don't apply to the City of London ? Do they know about this snake within which has laundered money from every corrupt regime on this Earth ? In a democracy they would know about this and all its workings - I happen to be one of these old fashioned people who believe that transparency is inseparable to democracy.

 

There is no transparency in the EU and many of your preferred hard left regimes. I think FIFA and the current set up in the EU have much in common. Very few people share your concerns about the city of London, why don't you concentrate on the rapid deterioration in relations between countries in the EU, especially in the Eurozone, its all falling apart.

 

I find it interesting how you presume to'know' what the majority of British people think. Since the de industrialization of the 80s Britain's economy has been highly unbalanced in favour of London and the South East in relation to the rest of Britain so how you come to presume that 'very few' people share my concern is beyond me - or do you have your own private opinion polls.

 

Very few people share your alleged views on the city.

Most UK citizens, including members of the present government, are indeed concerned about rebalancing the economy away from the areas you describe, which of course is different from your earlier comments.
Osbourne has put great store in creating a northern powerhouse with increased investment. I'm sure that they have noticed a few pockets in the north which are not blue on the political map.!!

 

Aren't you forgetting that only about 25% of the population actually voted for the Tories - what the hell do you know about what the others think ?

 

It is in fact Brussels which, through the plan of a Tobin (or Robin Hood) Tax is best serving the interests of the British people. The financial sector has become a major driver of inequality - the rise in speculation has pushed the volume of financial transactions at 70 times the rate of the World's economy - we are still suffering from the bloated irresponsibility of this sector. A cross border financial transaction tax in the EU. would generate around € 34 Billion a year - just for a comparison 4 billion would tackle child poverty and 5 billion would insulate every house in the UK. that needed it. Britain is one of the most unequal countries in the Western World and would profit disproportionally from such a tax. Imagining a possible scenario - if Britain were to reduce its income equality to a similar level to the rest of the EU the reduction in health and social problems could be worth the equivalent of 35 Billion Pounds per year (WHO estimate).

 

I think you are skewing the figures to suit your argument. 34% of those who could have voted chose not to. Of those who wished to express an opinion 37% chose to vote for the Tories. Even the Liberals who had a major disaster polled twice as many votes as the Greens.

 

The Tobin tax is designed to reduce the effectiveness of the City of London therefore to benefit Frankfurt and Paris. It is another tax on the pensions and investments of UK citizens which will undoubtably be squandered by the unelected spendthrifts in Brussels.

The British electorate should reject membership of the EU if this idea is proposed seriously in any way.

 

Democracy has had its day. Power now rests in the hands of multinational corporations. They don't worry about elections, but they do want to maintain the fiction that elections matter, as that increases their options. Adam Smith was correct in his predictions.

 

This is pure fiction. Shell took a right financial bashing for the gulf of Mexico oil spill.

 

Sorry. you are right Frenchie...I meant of course 25% of the electorate and not the population - in that case it would have been even lower.

 

No they didn't! BP took a hit though.

 

Democracy certainly has had it's day. It's an outdated concept that gives the right to vote without any assessment of the individuals capacity to make good decisions. As such democracy as it stands should be abolished. Left alone the system favors a move towards an eventual government representing those who live the most obscene lives with extensive families uncontrolled numbers of impoverished immigrants end up controlling the asylum just by strength of numbers whilst us WASPs become an ever decreasing percentage of the population punished for our self control.

 

I presume that you consider yourself as being amongst those who should have the vote !

 

I thought we were HORNETS not WASPS!!

 

The proposed Tobin tax is a cynical attempt to damage the City of London and the 'ros bif' (not sure of the plural) by the frogs, ably assisted by the krauts.

It is understandably for those countries within euroland to desire a common fiscal policy on tax and spend but in my view unless the non euro members are protected from further damaging interference in sovereign governance then the EU in its present form is bound to fail.

 

The Tobin Tax is a form of justice in that it emphasizes that the financial services sector should be made to pay its 'fair share`to repair the damage they have helped to cause. It is also designed to decrease market volatility and discourage short term trading. There have been no studies or polls exclusive to Britain on this - but a recent poll of 27,000 people across all EU countries indicated support of 61% for and 26% against. My feeling is that it will not be an important issue in the EU referendum however - which is more likely to be dominated by misconceptions on immigration.

 

I'm not surprised the good folk on the continent want the UK to give them more cash.

The UK electorate would consider the Tobin tax important if fully explained. Immigration and border control will, quite rightly, be a major issue for the people of the UK. It may suit Germany to accept huge numbers of migrants to fulfil its requirements for labour but it was irresponsible of Merkel to 'invite' uncontrolled migration.
Her selfish actions affected other countries, least of all the UK.

 

Look at some recent votes on some policies here - the most significant name on those lists (or missing from the last one) is Ian Gorst, who is Chief Minister. http://www.reformjersey.je/#!who-voted-for-what-/qv5yl

One thing that has yet to be voted on is something that has really annoyed a lot of people, which is the prospect of taking in immigrants when it has already been shown that there is going to be a struggle to have enough housing on the island if the population continues to increase at the rate it has been, which is on average about 1,000 per year in the 19 years I've lived here.