TwoPints

Lol... I knew were going to ask that... but maybe I'll answer your question (the answer to which is fairly obvious though) when you answer my question. Oh, and by the way, feel free to continue with the personal attacks, it really does weaken an argument when people have to resort to such.

That's fair enough. For those that want a referendum then I think UKIP have done a good job at achieving that. Personally, I don't see or feel the disadvantages of being in the EU and the arguments against being in haven't convinced me otherwise so I will continue to vote as I always have done as it makes no difference to me. What does worry me about UKIP is the hidden agenda so I'm just hoping this is just a one off protest vote.

What I took from the interview (reading between the lines as you do) is that he didn't sound as though he had any concerns about MoPo signing (although the proof is in getting the signature of course). Whilst talking about the successful season we had, he mentioned the players we have in the England Under 18 and Under 21 teams but also said we would have had 4 players in the England Squad too .... he didn't say may have had he said would have had (had Jay Rod not got injured) ... does that mean that Roy has told him Lallana, Shaw and Lambert are all going I wonder? I also got the impression that Lallana was off as in reply to that question he mentioned that other clubs have deeper pockets that us. I've therefore resigned myself to the fact that Lallana will be going, not sure about his intentions for Fonte or Cork and that hopefully MoPo will be staying.

Typical scaremongering and twisting of words. I have merely listed a number of the achievements of the EU, I haven't for one minute suggested that we would have stood still without the EU but it is safe to say that a number of these initiatives that we have benefited from were opposed by the government at the time. Maybe you could answer my question about how you have been adversely affected by immigration from the EU as it seems to be a question that people dont have an answer to.

Looking forward to the game today. Hoping to give Man Utd a good going over to finish the season on a high. COYR

Good morning! OK, let's take this piece by piece: 1. I'm not sure it's reasonable to call Williams an 'extremist' just because she doesn't happen to share your view. 2. If you don't think people should take notice of what Williams said, then why are you quoting her in your arguments? If you discount what she said then your argument falls away. 3. Are you really saying that people shouldn't vote for any of the 'major' parties because of what you were told 40 years ago? It would be nice if people voted on the whole spectrum of a party's policies rather than focus on one policy however I get the impression that that's not going to happen in the European elections. 4. No-one is denying the British public a say on Europe. If you want to stay in, vote Labour, if you want a referendum, vote Conservative or Green (I believe) if you want out vote UKIP and suffer the consequences. Throughout this thread I have asked people to explain how they have been adversely affected by the open border policy with the EU. I'm not looking for things that people have read about or hearsay (people I know say that things aren't good for instance) or quoting dodgy statistics, I'm really interested to find someone who can say, immigration from the Eu has been bad for me because.... I've yet to find anyone and therefore cannot see the argument.

Maybe if you'd taken as much notice of the rest of Williams words rather than just pick out the soundbite that suits your purposes, then you might have a more open mind.

Interesting that you're so offended when you perceive people are accusing UKIP voters of being racists (when most of the time they're not) but you're happy to call someone that may be pro Europe a 'nutter'. Yes any of those things could have been achieved outside of the EU but they weren't were they? Only when we joined the EU did they happen.

Most of this came from a guardian article called something like 'what has the EU ever done for us' but a few bits are from the FT. The Farage comment was from QT this week with some general enhancements from yours truly putting my own point of view to all this.

I'm not sure I would trust British MP's to make better decisions to be honest, so I've been having a look on the googlenet at the pro's and con's of being in the EU and what laws we might have benefited from , so Pro's: Providing 57% of our trade Structural funding to areas hit by industrial decline Clean beaches and rivers Cleaner air Lead free petrol Restrictions on landfill dumping A recycling culture Cheaper mobile charges Cheaper air travel Improved consumer protection and food labelling A ban on growth hormones and other harmful food additives Better product safety Single market competition bringing quality improvements and better industrial performance Break up of monopolies Europe-wide patent and copyright protection No paperwork or customs for exports throughout the single market Price transparency and removal of commission on currency exchanges across the eurozone Freedom to travel, live and work across Europe Funded opportunities for young people to undertake study or work placements abroad Access to European health services Labour protection and enhanced social welfare Smoke-free workplaces Equal pay legislation Holiday entitlement The right not to work more than a 48-hour week without overtime Strongest wildlife protection in the world Improved animal welfare in food production EU-funded research and industrial collaboration EU representation in international forums bloc EEA negotiation at the WTO EU diplomatic efforts to uphold the nuclear non-proliferation treaty European arrest warrant Cross border policing to combat human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling Counter terrorism intelligence European civil and military co-operation in post-conflict zones in Europe and Africa Support for democracy and human rights across Europe and beyond Investment across Europe contributing to better living standards and educational, social and cultural capital. EU wide Data Protection legislation to protect our personal data throughout Europe; However all of this is nothing compared with the greatest achievements of the EU which has for 60 years been the foundation of peace between European neighbours after centuries of bloodshed. It furthermore assisted the extraordinary political, social and economic transformation of 13 former dictatorships, now EU members, since 1980. Cons: Nigel Farage feels uncomfortable listening to foreign languages when travelling on public transport (I assume he'll ban tourists coming into the country too in that case unless they're fluent English speakers)! Hearsay (with no direct evidence) that UK jobseekers are losing out to immigrants who will work for less (even though we have a minimum wage!) even though an article in the FT earlier this year stated: 'The number of European migrants in the UK is almost exactly balanced by the number of Britons living elsewhere in the EU'. Summary: IMHO the (negative) impact of immigration in the UK has been exaggerated out of all proportion by the tabloid press with very little balance given to the vast benefits the UK has gained from immigration from the EU although I'm happy to be convinced otherwise.

Fair 'nuff

And another thing :-) I think it unlikely that UKIP will disclose their other policies this side of the European elections which means their only policy going into the election is coming out of the EU, which can't be achieved by MEPs so I'm really not sure what people are voting for here.

I used to be a contractor for a while. The best tip I could probably give you, certainly in the early days is make sure you get a good accountant, preferably one that is recommended by other contractors. My accountant was s **** and it was several months before he decided to tell me that I should be paying dividends to myself rather than a salary. There's a certain amount that you should take a s dividends to maximise the tax benefits. Apart from that work hard and good luck.

When I first read this and saw the photo I thought we'd signed a player called Veho. :-)

Ps I used to live in Shirley about 20 years ago and it wasn't so great then either!

Just to reiterate my point. There is a lot of hearsay, immigration is being blamed for all the wrongs of the country and whilst the people you know from Shirley are saying things that are 'not good', have any of them lost a job, been unable to buy a house etc etc etc as a direct result of the immigrants living in the area or are they just concerned by the number of people now living there that happen to speak a different language? I don't have any issue with people voting for whoever they want, I'm just trying to get to the bottom of whether there really is such a massive problem as we're being lead to believe by certain elements of the media. I personally have seen no detrimental effect of immigration but that may be because of the particular area I live and/or the nature of my employment.

I suspect that's true. I would imagine that if someone shouts expletives or offensive comments then that would be edited out. You can imagine the types that would turn up if it went out live. It would be carnage :-)

FWIW I haven't read it and didn't even know there was one until you mentioned it.

Well I'm pleased I've saved you the effort of looking.

I think it's correct about preaching to the converted. People already have their view on what they believe /agree with and what they don't and I don't think anything said on QT will change their minds. There were a few over 60s there but by no means the majority.

As I said it goes out pretty much as recorded. The recording doesn't stop to allow any of the panel to think about their answers or to correct anything they've said etc. I suspect they record it for two reasons being to ensure that there are no loonies in the studio intent on disrupting the show and also to allow the audience to get home at an acceptable time. If it went out live the chap from the Isle of Wight I was talking to would never have got home.

The show is recorded at about 8pm Thursday evening and is recorded 'as live'. There's very little editing involved. The panel do not know the questions in advance but you'd have to be really out of touch not to be aware of the topical subjects that are likely to arise.

Not sure how... What is it that I haven't read or listened to?

That's fair enough, but what are their concerns about immigration, that people are being denied jobs that are being taken by all the foreigners? when our unemployment is decreasing at the fastest rate in Europe? People may have such concerns but I have yet to find anyone who can justifiably say they have been negatively affected by immigration from Europe. Not sure anyone's done that in this discussion.