TwoPints

I think this is a fair point ... I counted all of 23 people (excluding Nige) in that photo out of 2,234 candidates as quoted by Nige in the article ... that's just about 1% ... clearly representative of the UK population rather than a token gesture. I wonder if any of them are from EU countries by origin? I'm not sure you're helping your cause much here Mr Mash.

Has he signed yet?

So you don't actually disagree with any of them then? Are you seriously suggesting that there are 'millions of youngsters' on the diole purely as a result of immigration from the EU? Have you seen the latest unemployment figures and the direction they're going in and compared that the the pre open-borders levels taking into account that we have been through a world wide recession in the meantime? This is exactly what I mean when I say that the consequences have been blown out of proportion when the reality is nothing like as dramatic as you make out. I'm not sure how many times I have to explain this (I think this is the third time now and my explanation around this appears to be the only line you haven't quoted from my text above). I am not for one minute suggesting that you can only have an opinion on issues that affect you and nowhere have I said this. My rationale for asking the question is to try and guage the level of impact that people have had as a result of immigration from the EU not that you can't have an opinion on it. We're not just talking about immigration from Romania are we, we're talking about immigration and emmigration from and to EU countires, with whom we have trading agreements, open borders etc etc etc. I understand that you don't recognise the benefits of being in the EU but those in Government at the time did, hence the reason for accepting this immigration policy. You may recall we allow certain types of people from China into the UK or example that we don't allow from elsewhere as the Government of the day (rightly or wrongly) percieves that here is a benefit to the UK in doing so. Yet again an insult 'EU nutters' to end your argument. presumably the definition of nutter is someone with a different opinon to you?

He's the dogs is our Rickie. Brilliant news for the club and the individuals. After the last world cup where the press were banging on about how playing for your country wasn't as important to premier league players these days, SRL has blown that myth out of the water and that's why the whole country (barring the blue few) were so pleased for him after his England debut. I hope all three have a great tournament and come back to start preseason with the mighty Red and Whites.

In what way has the EU antagonised Russia? I'm not an expert on the whole Ukraine issue but from memory, their leader at the time changed his position from wanting closer ties to the EU/West to having closer ties to Russia. The people (mainly of Kiev as I recall) weren't best pleased about this about turn and unceremoniously ousted the man at the top. Now, clearly in the East of Ukraine they have different views on matters and Russia seems to have taken it upon itself to annex Crimea as a result and claim it as Russian. Some might consider such action as an invasion and therefore inappropriate as the EU do. Is that antagonising Russia? Now if the EU had gone into Ukraine and militarily decided that parts of it were going to form parts of Germany then I would grant you that such action might antagonise Russia but in no way has that happened. Maybe you could expand on how you believe Russia has been antagonised by the EU in this scenario.

No it wouldn't. If I'd said 'Yes' you'd have called me a bloody idiot. If I'd said 'No' you'd have asked me what the hell I was talking about then. Where words are easily twisted and misrepresented, I find its best to give a full answer.

What I'm saying is that I have yet to be convinced that the issue is as great as it is being portrayed by those that want out of the EU. I have no doubt that there are people that may have been unsuccessful in getting a job because a European immigrant may have been better suited to the role, I also suspect that there are Europeans that have been unsuccessful in a role because a UK citizen was better qualified for the role in their own country. This inevitably changes the dynamic but not to the degree that it becomes such a problem as we're being lead to believe. The message we're hearing is that immigration is out of control, is causing hardship to UK citizens etc etc (when the unemployment rate is as low as it's been in a good while) but I have seen or heard no direct evidence of this. I suspect the system isn't perfect and the better the deal we can get for the UK, well I'm all for it but I am convinced that leaving the EU just to avoid the open door policy (which doesn't appear to be as bad for the country as is being made out) would do the country much more harm than good.

Hi Woah! You lot have been busy while I've been away ... lets go back a bit I was just wondering today, out of the list of new laws that have been introduced by the EU, which one's do you disagree with so much that you want out of the EU as a result? If you don't disagree with any of them then what's the problem? This is the best argument I've seen for open borders! Let me get this right, as a business owner or recruiter, you're happy to be restricted in your choice of candidates and forced to choose employees that, by your own admission, wouldn't have been as good as those that you did employ! How on earth is that of any benefit to the UK if business leaders are prevented from employing the best candidates? So, the answer then is 'No' you haven't been adversely affected by the open border policy (and nor has anyone else I've come across so far) but you imagine that people must be worse off because they might not have been successful in achieving employment when an EU citizen gets the job ahead of them (again without any direct evidence to this effect). Had you considered that maybe the immigrants from the EU also employ people and maybe even UK citizens? By the way, I note that you're again twisting my words as I haven't for one minute suggested that you're not allowed an opinion, if you read my previous posts you'll be aware that I have asked this question to try and understand whether this really is a problem or just a perception based on certain media elements and so far, from the arguments here I'm of the opinion that it's the latter for the reasons I have stated above. Not your best argument. In one breath you're decrying an open border policy and in the next suggesting that if we do it for Europeans, then we should do it for everyone. There clearly has to be a benefit to the UK in having an open border policy (details of which I have explained earlier) which clearly wouldn't apply to the whole world. We have different immigration rules for a number of different nationalities based on the benefits to be gained by the UK in doing so. That'll do for now.

Yep, his distribution and decision making has improved immensely since his return... maybe he returned from his last injury too early? Thought he was good today but I think he'll get better too next season.

The, lights are on and fully functional.... Not for long though as it's work tomorrow, the wines almost gone and MoTD has almost finished. If Shaw goes then so be it, but I find it hard to believe that a club will bid for a player before the new manager has even arrived... or has he already assessed his existing players and all potential replacement left backs (in between his day job) and decided, the minute that the old season has finished that Luke is the man even though he hasn't yet been officially appointed as the new manager. I clearly might be proved wrong eventually but if Luke Shaw goes to Man U for £27m before the World Cup I'll happily concede that I was wrong.

I'm awake!

Good story but you're right, I don't believe you. The club didn't only say they had no bids they also said they had no enquiries.

LOL

In the absence of a response, I'll assume that no-one on this forum has actually been adversely affected by the terrible scourge that is the freedom of movement within the EU which allows British citizens to live and work in the EU and for others to live and work in the UK. No? Didn't think so but best err on the side of caution and make sure we prevent British citizens from having the freedom of movement in the EU though.

Me too

OK... let me explain... The clue is in my original comment. What I said is that I was worried about the hidden agenda... if we knew what the agenda was, it wouldn't be hidden! We'd all be able to give careful consideration to UKIP's policies in the post EU world, but as that is 'hidden' from us, it is something that worries me. Simples. Your turn to answer my question now about how you have been adversely affected by the outrageous (if slightly exaggerated) levels of immigration from the EU.

Ralph did seem to let slip earlier that 3 Saints players were going.

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.