To the rest of the world, England is one of the few european countries to not join the euro and basically we still have our currency. Should we give it up and have the same currency as virtually the rest of Europe?

England is being stubborn because our currecny is our heritage ad bullshit like that.....who cares!

Also, the public should vote on it!


I think we should. I mean, why not? What u all think? Plus when u go to europe, their would be no more fresnchman ripping me off!

Definitely NOT!

Why? it seems pointless not to. Infact this issue should not even be a big deal but England has such a history etc.....fuck that!

Steadwood said:

Yes, it isnt about the heritage as thesexofit lamely argued..

We will get a shit deal out of it.. and other countries will cream our profits..

I guess you weren't old enough to witness what it did to other countries.
Wait till the stores will rip you off because you're not yet used to the new currency.
[Edited 12/13/04 4:19am]

[/quote]



Hmmm, Iam kinda ignorant on this, Iam only 18 after all (no excuse though but anyway).....But surely we won't get taxed as much anymore? Geez I'm glad I did not take politics for a level.I havn't a clue really. Iam out of my paddling pool of depth!

No way!

REDFEATHERS said:

Agreed... and its not about the 'heritage'. It's hard to see how the Euro would actually be better for us as a nation.

Purely playing Devil's advocate here but I'm all for joining the Euro. Our financial system should never be speculated to undermine the steady efforts of commerce and industry.We need to use our sovereignty to provide a stable environment for our busineses, in the same way that we have used our sovereignty to provide a secure defence within NATO. What sort of freedom is it to hike interest rates so high to defend your exchange rate that you drive the economy into recession? What sort of freedom is it to float your exchange rate and price hundreds of thousands out of work? Our present financial system is not sustainable.

We can move back to a world where free movement of capital and even of trade come increasingly into question. Or we can ensure the benefits of greater international integration by adopting the euro. The pound's days are numbered. The euro is our future. Opposition to the euro in the right context can be changed. They have shrunk from that, losing the country the chance of its enrichment and Europe the possibility of closer cohesion at a crucial juncture in world affairs.
[Edited 12/13/04 5:31am]

thesexofit said:



Hmmm, Iam kinda ignorant on this, Iam only 18 after all (no excuse though but anyway).....But surely we won't get taxed as much anymore? Geez I'm glad I did not take politics for a level.I havn't a clue really. Iam out of my paddling pool of depth!


OOHHHHH .. "only 18 " NOW i undestand alot more




.
[Edited 12/13/04 5:36am]

YES DEFINATELY!!

Then our wages will b up 2 the same level as the rest of Europe!! Right now even the ex-Eastern bloc nations are surging ahead and acquiring a better standard of living than the UK is!! Our wages here are the lowest in Europe and theres never any increase 2 go with the cost of living!! Very soon this country will b a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!! Employers just dont want 2 pay workers anything!!!

Also it will invite more trade with the USA because the USA is doing more trade with other European countries than it is with this country!!

This country is slowly sinking into its own shithole!!!

Gold319 said:

You're kidding right!? Tell that to the McDonalds ques in Red Square!

We dont need it. It wont harm us to stay away from it. Dispite all predictions that our economy would suffer if we didnt adopt the Euro, the opposite has actually happened. There is no point in even trying. The excersize itself of switching currencies is an expensive venture... Things are expensive enough under the £, the Euro will just make things worse...

I was living in Italy when they switched over from their Lira... All your day to day shopping and general needs went up in price. But because you were trying to compare thousands of Lira to a few Euros, it was well disguised...

Gold319 said:

You really have no idea what you are talking about do you? You speak utter drivel mate...

Jon said:

REDFEATHERS said:

That probably won’t happen though. As far as I know (but I could well be wrong) the strike price was set for the original 15 member states some months before the currency changeover. If Britain ever does join the Euro, it is the price that was set then that will come into effect, which basically means that if Britain's economy suddenly starts to do very well, then it'll be an unfair price. But Britain's economy hasn’t outperformed the rest of Europe since the introduction of the Euro, it’s been trundling along more or less in line with the rest of Europe which means it wouldn't be a bad deal.
Where you are going to feel it, as mentioned by Heavenly and Jon, is that every bastard in the country is going to try to rip you off in the months following the changeover, on the basis that you'll have a tough enough time converting from new to old so that you won't even notice the odd 5%, 20% or 50% price hike here and there.

The year we switched to the Euro, I reported a few shops whose products had suffered from a 'badly calculated currency conversion' to the Consumers Association of Ireland. It worked, they readjusted their prices down to what they should have been after getting nasty letters threatening legal action from the CAI. But, I guess, you have to be bothered enough to report these sods, and you have to be able to prove that they're ripping you off. It shouldn't happen, but no doubt it will do.

But that's the only disadvantage I can see if Britain does join the Euro. In terms of Britain's economy it'll make fuck all difference.

I got used to the Euro fairly quickly, and now I quite like it. The advantage of being able to go to so many countries and not have to worry about exchange rates and different currencies, and to always know exactly what everything costs without doing some quick mental arithmetic, is in itself worth a lot.

Of course, the European country I visit most often is England, and quite honestly, it is a pain in the hole having to buy sterling and then be left with a fortune in currency that I can’t spend anywhere else, and that I forget to take with me next time I’m going. If it was up to me, Britain would have joined long ago. So don’t be afraid, come, join us!

thesexofit said:

i can tell youre english, youve missed out scotland, wales and n.ire, they all use the pound as well you know.

thesexofit said:

what about Scotland,Northern Ireland or Wales too
or is England the only country in your UK?

muirdo said:

England, N.Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Denmark and Sweden... All outside of the Eurozone... Plus all the new entries into Europe...

Apparently the UK will be using the US Dollar.

Steadwood said:

You're talking about decimalisation?

The Euro is something TOTALLY different. It involves a whole barrel-load of other issues, not just the fleecing of customers too lazy to use calculators


I suggest everyone check out this site:

http://www.theeurodebate..../index.htm

It's very informative (non-biased) and has a section on pros and cons for each socio-economic issue (i.e. political, economic, consumer and business/trade), explains precedents (the US example), and gives links to pro/con sites. It doesn't go into the issue of monarchy though, which is maybe a wise thing. It's a really complex issue and I still can't decide what's best...the problem is it's hard to decide what is best because a lot of the pros and cons are forecast predictions which might not necessarily happen/be possible. I do believe that sitting out is a good thing, despite how much some of the larger companies are moaning...the only understandable thing that is making some folks impatient about joining is that they fear we are being 'left behind'...which, however way you look at it (political, economical), is not the case.

What we need to happen is have Germany suddenly crash and go into mega recession, and see how that effects France for example, which would test the majority of major cons.

Taureau said:

Well...If the Euro does come along we will see what happens

muirdo said:

Thank you Muirdo. And they wonder why the rest of the union find them arrogant!

doctormcmeekle said:

The smaller counties like Rutland, Cheshire, Scotland don't count Doc!

senik said:

(strikes Senik from the Christmas card list.....)

doctormcmeekle said:

~Strikes McMeekle from..... across the room with a greeny gob of spit!~

senik said:

(strikes a match, but can't get it lit because it's all covered in spit...)

Taureau said:

Hang on ......

.....You're From France ........

....You got a vested interest in this ..

senik said:

Strikes.