TwoPints

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.

This reminds me of The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel: "a man hears what he wants to hear And disregards the rest."

This is what I'm failing to understand... What exactly is the 'it' that he didn't get?

I was in the audience tonight (I was the good looking bloke behind the racist and near the drug users). I thought both women on the panel were miles ahead of the rest. Farage, IMHO came across as a nasty dangerous man as the audience member (star of the show) said. Shirley Williams (the old woman) talked more sense and was so much more knowledgeable than the rest and Caroline Lucas (Green) was excellent. Whilst Williams (old woman) eloquently explained the benefits of immigration to the UK, the only negative from Farage was that he didn't like foreign languages on the bus he was on. Everything else was 'this can happen' or 'that can happen' without actually telling us what has happened to the detriment of the UK as a result of open borders with Europe.

It'll be PPI, I get it all the time!

Shame Jay Rod didn't manage to nab an award tonight. I had him for Player of the Season and he could quite easily of got goal of the season too. I wonder how many votes the Osvaldo goal got!

LOL ... He may have been involved prior to the YouTube link. Ed did mention that Ralph had made a speech earlier so maybe they had a round of speeches before we joined? Haven't got round to changing my signature yet using Tapatalk

Sounded like a farewell speech to me but there again before he even sat down he was joking with the people on his table so maybe he wasn't as choked about the question as he appeared when he answered it. Might just have caught him off guard. Didn't look good though all the same. Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

And mine :-(