[Update] Cameron promises EU referendum by October 2017

is there an election due in a couple of years because that's usually when politicians bring the issue of European membership to the forefront

Voters should be "in no doubt" they will be offered a "real choice" on Europe at the next election, the Prime Minister has said.

"at the next election" does that mean that somewhere buried in the manifesto there will be some reference to possibly getting some obscure piece of EU legislation changed that won't really change anything ?

David Cameron said any vote would happen within five years but refused to be drawn on whether a poll would include the question whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union

Maybe the problem is that it is too difficult a question to ask so i thought of a way to do it .get a piece of paper and on that paper write "do you want the UK to remain in the EU" and then put 2 empty boxes on that paper so a small tick can be placed in 1 of them ,then print about 50million of them and distribute to the general populace .simples

He said the Government was currently reviewing which powers should be repatriated back to Westminster, claiming the EU working time directive should never have been implemented.

Yes dave ,that will do for a start ,of course it is largely ignored anyway by workers and employers and we had almost identical legislation in place in this country before so won't actually make a difference .


http://news.sky.com/story/1034081/vo...oice-on-europe

[Taf]

It's his first attack against UKIP... and it won't be the last. AFAIC the political drift will be away from the main 3 parties towards UKIP, and there is no way he wants to be in a situation where he will need UKIP's backing in government.

[Osem]

Yeah we'll have a choice. We can either vote 'yes' to stay in the EU or we can vote 'No' and be asked again until we get the 'right' answer...

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by martyh

Maybe the problem is that it is too difficult a question to ask so i thought of a way to do it .get a piece of paper and on that paper write "do you want the UK to remain in the EU" and then put 2 empty boxes on that paper so a small tick can be placed in 1 of them ,then print about 50million of them and distribute to the general populace .simples

That would get my vote if a party had the balls to do it.

Mod Comment - thread title amended to reflect actual story headline.

Originally Posted by Sirius

That would get my vote if a party had the balls to do it.

Problem is though if we left the EU who would the government blame when their ineptitude leads to financial/social disaster ,no longer will they be able to say "we where forced into it by the EU"

---------- Post added at 17:32 ---------- Previous post was at 17:29 ----------

Originally Posted by Hugh

Mod Comment - thread title amended to reflect actual story headline.

Cheers hugh ,i suppose there is a difference between "real choice" and an actual vote ,in politician speak anyway

Definitely - if you read the story, he weasel-words around whether there will be an actual vote on in/out of Europe, just waffle on how the Conservatives will be different (therefore being a "real choice", apparently...).

[Dai]

Originally Posted by martyh

when their ineptitude leads to financial/social disaster ,no longer will they be able to say "we were forced into it by the EU"

I think you'll find that has already happened. At the moment the government is frantically spinning and borrowing just to pay the 'leccy bill etc.

The important question to me as a citizen is whether we would recover faster inside or out of the EU.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by martyh

Problem is though if we left the EU who would the government blame when their ineptitude leads to financial/social disaster ,no longer will they be able to say "we where forced into it by the EU"

---------- Post added at 17:32 ---------- Previous post was at 17:29 ----------



Cheers hugh ,i suppose there is a difference between "real choice" and an actual vote ,in politician speak anyway

The sooner we are out of the EU the sooner we can work out the answer to that question.

[deadite66]

it is true he will give us a real choice, if you vote conservative, labour or libdem you get Europe.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by deadite66

it is true he will give us a real choice, if you vote conservative, labour or libdem you get Europe.

I had said i would not vote at the next election, however i have now decided to give that vote to UKIP and hope it makes a difference.

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by Sirius

I had said i would not vote at the next election, however i have now decided to give that vote to UKIP and hope it makes a difference.

I might have some of that too.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Mick Fisher

I might have some of that too.

The Economist had a good article about the benefits to the UK of the European Union a while back: http://www.economist.com/news/leader...ld-be-reckless

Worth a read. We rarely get the case for in the this country and we'll be making a big decision:

Yet these gains would be greatly outweighed by the costs of a British exit, which would dent trade with a market that accounts for half of Britain’s exports. The carmakers that use Britain as their European operations base would gradually drift away, along with large parts of the financial-services industry. Britain would have to renegotiate dozens of bilateral trade deals from a much weaker position than it enjoyed as a member of the EU. It would cut a greatly diminished figure on the world stage. It would have bought some sovereignty, but at an extraordinary cost to Britain—and its partners.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Damien

The Economist had a good article about the benefits to the UK of the European Union a while back: http://www.economist.com/news/leader...ld-be-reckless

Worth a read. We rarely get the case for in the this country and we'll be making a big decision:

Oh great so we get some trade and a few car plants, in return the EU to all intents and purposes control what we can and cannot do as a country. Sorry but i prefer for us to be able to control our own laws not some unelected bureaucrats in Brussels who probably hates us as well in between fiddling his expenses paid for by us. .

Damien you probably get the drift i hate the EU with every fibre of my soul and would vote if we ever get the chance to get the hell out of it. I feel i am not alone in this regard