moonraker

No it is not. The Council of Ministers (Elected) and the Parliament (Elected) decide policy and legislative priorities, the commission (non-elected civil service) draft and frame legislation As the Civil service does in the UK) to deliver the Councils policy and priorities. In the EU context the term propose means to respond to the Elected Representatives objectives with a legislative proposal. There is also the European Council, The Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of the Regions who are advisory only bodies each with a specific area of interest.

Juncker is effectively a Civil Servant, we do not elect our UK Civil Servants unless this is an unannounced Brexit policy. The Council of Ministers (democratically elected) hold the real power.

Oh dear, I have read your link, it is a generally well written, if not a little self indulgent, personal analysis. Interestingly against all of the Remain Evidence that very strongly points to significant difficulties in securing individual trade deals this Graduate paper concludes something very different. The Author had obviously determined the conclusion before he commenced writing the paper, he then presented and interpreted the evidence to suit his pre-determined conclusion. If this the kind of thing people are using to help them decide on Europe then I really am worried.

At the beginning of this campaign the leave line was we would renegotiate access to the single market if we were to leave. Now the arch brexiter Wes tells us (assumes) if we did this there will be severe repercussions? Why, because this is really a single issue campaign, immigration and you can't access the single market without free movement. You may not like those nasty Johnny foreigners telling us what will happen if we leave , but it would be arrogance of the highest order to ignore them.

Hardly arogant to have a different opinion. You are correct there is no historical precedent and yet you are the one who invoked the Poll Tax riots, make your mind up.

Your argument seems to assume that the majority of leave voters would vote UKIP in a General Election if we left the EU but remained in the Single Market, this is a rather ambitious assumption. The Government will have to abide by the letter of the referendum, that does not preclude the Government agreeing to remain in the single market and all that entails, we are not voting on the single market. Evidencing the reactions of electorates in other European counties is not very enlightening. British culture is not one of extremism, the majority of our electorate shun extremist parties and extremist action. The Poll Tax riots are a better example of what might occur. But it needs qualifying as the two issues are not truly analogous. The Poll Tax had an immediate and direct impact on individuals, times change, the riots occurred during a period when Left Wing Socialism had far more influence and support , the All Britain Anti-Poll Tax Federation was set up by the Militant tendency and were the main driver for the London Rally that resulted in the biggest riots. As the big beasts of the leave campaign are almost exclusively on the right of politics but never likely to align with extreme right wing entities such as the EDL or the less extreme UKIP such influence and support is lacking. Like, as you are oft quick to point out in relation to economic assessments, a repeat of the Poll Tax riots whilst not unfeasible, is an ill informed assessment of an unlikely outcome conceived to support your strongly held opinion.

But that’s not the question on the Ballot paper is it. We are being asked to vote stay or leave the EU not do you want stay in or outside the single market. Perversely the leave campaign started out by claiming we would renegotiate admittance to the single market in response to stay claims we would suffer out side of it, leavers really must make their collective minds up, what it is they actually want, and please can they do it before the vote and publish a coherent post Brexit manifesto.

I see a paradox in your argument. If as you claim there is a groundswell of anti Federalist sentiment across Europe then what the UK does or does not do will not change that. My take is that Eurocrats and EU politicians are starting to acknowledge, albeit grudgingly that the federalist USE dream is loosing its wheels in the face of increasing EU wide campaigning and protest. For me staying in and driving reform from the ground up is preferable to exiting and watching from the side-lines as the EU gets it act together.

Is that a fact; based on evidence, an opinion, a possible scenario based on self selecting assumptions or wishful thinking? I try in the main to avoid xenophobic, it is to extreme for the majority of leave supporters however my perception is that many leave supporters believe that the ‘British' our abilities and culture are superior to our European cousins, at best misguided at worst arrogant, it is this perception that leads many remain supporters to understandably but incorrectly label leave supporters as xenophobic.

The more important figure is how many peoples livelihoods are to some degree directly attributable to their employers ability to access the single market. There are businesses and businesses, the vast majority of SME’s, sole traders, etc. exist to serve local needs. The single biggest complaint of these entities is EU red tape and employment law. If we dismiss the truly fanciful Euromyths that Eurosceptics use to deliberately mislead the public e.g. straight bananas, the two areas I see most commonly sited as over burdensome are: employment law and product labelling. If one cared to actually research and understand the background and rationale for most of these directives they are based on sound reasoning, broad consultation and a desire to improve peoples lives and better inform, something I am sure leave supporters would still wish for. In fact in the case of employment law it is often sited that UK employment law is far more favourable for employers than many other parts of the EU. So I am truly interested to know what will actually change if we leave the EU and how would it improve our lives

We wont need all those hospitals and schools if we keep Johnny foreigner out. Perhaps we could spend it on something else, like negotiating and administering all our own trade deals, funding the staff to run the visa system, employing more border staff to ensure the new system works, paying benefits to the unemployed MEP's, repatriating our own citizens and making up for a likely reduction in GDP.

**** me you an arrogant ****. The complaint is about numbers, migrants who come here work, therefore they are needed, how would you manage it, in or out it is supply and demand, no work no migrants.

It seems that immigration is the key isssue leading many to vote Brexit. Confusingly when it is raised that many jobs would go unfilled or that indigenous people would not accept the wages offered, Brexit supporters opt for immigration, my question is what level of immigration is accepatble (number please) to ensure jobs are filled. Additionally if there were surplus jobs in one region and high unemployemnt in another what policy would leave supporters advocate to motivate people to move for work and thus reduce the need for migrants.

You are right about IP and wealth, gernetaed from a knowledge based economy. Leaving the EU will do nothing to addrsess the issue of accepting the low standard employment regulations and that our own low paid jobs are predominantly in the service industries and we find it incresingly difficult to recruit indigenous workers to perform these roles.

Except Dyson moved production to Malysia in 2002. Dysons UK jobs are high end design and develpment based in Malmesbury Wiltshire.

But a yes or no means little. The lies on each side cancel one another out. The questions you have to ask yourself are: Is it more or less likely the UK will be better off economically out side of the EU? Will leaving the EU significantly reduce immigration? Will the EU be more or less secure and safe from terrorism outside the EU? Will our Westminster Governments govern the nation more effectively, fairly and competently outside the EU? Will the UK survive in its current form outside the EU? There are no definitive answers to any of these questions, individuals must assimilate the information evidence and analysis and form their own views. Unfortunately it seems hearts are ruling heads and a misplaced vision of some imaginary utopia of the UK before the EU is fuelling the leave campaign.

From 2014-2020, the ESF and European Regional Development Fund are investing around €11.8 billion across the UK to reduce inactivity among young people and the long-term unemployed and to improve training and skills and invest in education and lifelong learning. This equates to £38m a week, will a post Brexit UK still fund these vital initiatives? To date all I have heard is vague statements that the money saved from EU contributions will be spent on the NHS.

What exactly about the coalition was a mess, when say compared to the present government?

Why cant you do this with the EU Parliament? The problem is lack of EU wide political will not the institutions. It is the very fragmentation of the EU Parliament that I beleive will ensure we do not end up as a USE or admit any new members unless they meet the requried standards.

None, not the point she is Head of State. Paradoxically I am a constitutional monarchist as I cannot abide the idea of some has been politician as President and the head of state in a parliamentary democracy should I believe be above politics so a monarchy works for me.

What about the upper house and head of state, we have never ever voted for those.

Interesting opinion piece by a declared leaver for a primarily anti EU think tank almost exclusively patronised by Eurosceptic Tories plus a few notable non-Tories. Somewhat surprisingly it finds against the EU. There are some very good selective quotes, interesting interpretations of history and absolutely no commentary of the lack of democracy in our own Parliament. He states “For instance, despite being one of the biggest EU member states, Britain’s decision making power within EU institutions like the Council of the European Union (representing national governments) and the European Parliament, is extremely limited. British representatives only control around 8% of the total votes” or my dads bigger than yours. We have the same level of representation and influence as those arch EU Federalists Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Its not unlike the UK Parliament where constituency size varies enormously. As to the size of the anti EU vote in the EU elections, I would argue there were 2 key reasons for this: one it was a PR system and therefore much fairer; 2 The anti EU vote was more motivated to vote and I must hand it to the UKIP campaign for mobilising its support. No lies are acceptable, and I do not support any party or politician, my opionon and referendum intetions are based on my own analysis of the evidence, quality of comment, and lastly and of least importance I think the leave ‘frontmen’ are far more dishonest than ,sot of the remainians. PS. Norman Tebbit is I note president of the Bruges Group, the man who recommended getting on our bikes to find work, unless you are a EU national then bloody stay where you belong!

I was not making a judgemet on which system is worse. It is Brexit who claim that the EU to be undemocratic and one of the resosn for leaving. The system they champion is in my view no more democratic and therefore it is a non argument. Ironically the Brexit Tories and right wing press were happy to campaign to retain our un-democratic FPP system a few years ago.

Mordants blatant lies and misrepresentation of the truth was breath-taking. For UKIP, the right of the Tory party and the right wing tabloid press this referendum has only ever really been about one thing, immigration. They have lost the economic argument, the un-democratic argument is flawed when we have first past the post , an unelected second chamber, and an unelected Head of State, all they have is immigration and leaving the EU will not change that significantly. While I am sure that the vast majority of leave supporters are not outright racists or fascists it is these attitudes and ideology that leave is founded on. The irony of Bumbling Boris’s analogy with past dictators, despots, empires and tyrants wanting to create a centralised Europe fails to acknowledge they were all essentially Right Wing extremists.

Altough my mind is made up, this sums up the campaign perfectly.