The EU isn't as bad as we think

All we are objecting to is this silly idea that only the US and the UK are fighting the good fight, there is far more to it than that but few realsie it.

 

:tennisclap:

or make a smiley for flag bashing (all nations), like it's such smooth subterfuge.

 

I love the expression Slon! Back to Europe. Just one example: the Euro. When I travel to the following countries I keep the same currency:

Holland, Belgium, France Germany, slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Luxemburg, Finland, Portugal, Greece (we can also add the micro states =Vatican, Monaco, San marino) . Many other countries accept the Euro (Bosnia, Kosovo etc...) you can also pay with Euros whne you shop at some touristic shops in London.

Other countries have applied too , epsecially the Czech Republic , Poland etc.... Only Sweden Denmark and the Uk need some extra time, but that will change in a few years.

The Strong Euro may be bad for our exportations, but it slows down the impact of oil inflation , it also brings monetary stability and is good for Europeans who wish to travel abroad. New York has never been so cheap since the Euro was introduced.

 

You see I'm in two minds about the Euro, I mean I think it's only a matter of time before we accept it but still, I'll be loathed to get rid of our good old Pound Stirling. Who knows, maybe one day

Don't worry, not Iraq, more Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan

 

I perfectly understand, some years ago I said exactly the same thing, now I'm glad we switched. It's nothing but national pride, hard to swallow but we can all do it. If you start a poll here in the streets, as well as in other countries, people will probably say it was better before with their old currecny, because these have been their standards they grew up with. But for the younger generations, businessmen, people who travel, things are so much easier now. The Euro will be more and more imortant in the world economy. I wouldn't be surprised that one day it replaces the dollar for oil transactions.

 

This is why I'm emotionally attached to the Pound (excuse the history lesson!). The largest and purest lump of Silver ore ever found in the UK came from a mine at Alva in the Ochil Hills, Clackmannanshire, on what was then the Sterling estate. This was 92.5% pure, and because the Pound was based on the Silver Standard, it became the Pound Sterling.
Now Alva is about 10 miles from me, and the abandoned mine is still there and part of one of my favourite walks in the Ochils.

 

Nice story, thanks for gining the details, this is like the Monn stone story. I'm certain each country has its own, but remember every nation has their national side on the Euro coins. (The Germans have the oak leaves + the Brandenburg Tower, the Irish the Harp, the Belgians and the Dutch their Royalties, the French their Marianne and the Sower, the Greek have their Mythology + Independence heroes etc.... So this aspect has been taken into account . Yes the Franc was over seven hundred years old, but other currencies too. It's a step to take once, like leaving a house you grew up in.

 

True. I actually have an example of the proposed British Ecu ( remember those?!); the obverse has Britannia, but the whole coin looks like a cheap nasty copper fake!

 

Thats the thing, I'll support us adopting the Euro when it stops looking like toy money!

 

So there is hope to take the fortress after all.
I think the bills look cool, they have each their own size, have braille and each has a different colour. It's not like dollars, which all more or less look alike. It is very logical: the smallest value = 5 euros is the smallest bill, then you have the ten which is a little bigger and has a different colour , then the twenty etc..

 

The Ecu floundered because it would translate rather badly in Portugeespeak, something like "it's a bum" (posterior, I mean...)

At least 'we' don't use coins with funny angles, all are honest to goodness round ones as should be.

 

...
hang on..'a nation's right to determine its own policy' ....like the Slovakians, Bosnians, Ukranians, etc etc .... you've been saying all through this that we have to unite ...while all these other European nations are busy seeking independence..

as for the € ..the Euro & the pound will soon be at parity on the exchange rates ...nothing to stop us joining then surely...

& finally Chinese economic power is exaggerated..... they are nation of importers and assemblers for re-export; low wage structure makes them attractive for western companies, distance from markets doesn't..
see Will Hutton...

 

Unity doesn't mean lack of self determination, simply a commonality of effort to as great an extent as possible.

Anyhow, if you read what I was saying it concerns a nations right to decide whether it is going to war which is a rather more serious issue than whether they are going to eat each others cattle produce isn't it?

 

Stefan it's been a while since England could decide that eh?
You need to ask Gordon and his countrymen if it is ok first.

Seriously

I don't like the EU, and I am not part of it. Norway isn't isolated from he world because of it. So I am good.

As for the coinage, it is probably the last thing that britain will yield. No country has put so much into the protection of the coinage as Britain. Ther was a good story about it on the 'Morachy' series on the discovery channel.

 

Jaeger, you forget, Scotland, England, Ireland, we are all one nation . Just different countries within it (Wales is left off the lsit for a reason ). Anyhow, I thought the Jocks hated Brown, as I recall his parents were both English anyhow.

Very true on our currency though, I was told a while back that the pound is one of the hardest currencies in the world to counterfeit. That said, I've noticed in recent years the colours getting brighter and am beginning to suspect it is an attempt to make them look more and more like Euros to prepare ourselves mentally.

 

True, Stefan. The Nationalists don't have as big a following in the Celtic fringe as the press would have you believe. I'm sure Jaeger is probably as amused by the SNP's slavish adoration of Norway as the rest of us are.
Being British doesn't stop me being Scottish when appropriate...it's called "Cultural Schizophrenia".

 

Exactly, being British doesn't stop me being English when people mount their cultural high horses.

Fun fact for you, both of Gordon Brown's parents were of English decent, Blair's parents were (mother) Scottish and re-patriated Scots-Irish. Weird eh?

 

Blair was born and raised in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh and went to Fettes School.....that well-known state comprehensive.
Brown's a Dunfermline man and son of the manse.
Both seem desperate to lose their Scottish roots.

 

What does 'son of the manse' mean by the way? Saw it earlier and wondered.