Time the Pound to Join the EURO (Debate)

Thu 8 Jan 2009, 22:43

On 2nd January Richard (Site Admin) stated:
"Any discussion of cycling, driving, 4x4 snowmobiles etc. for the next fortnight WILL be deleted."

This missive may not be apparent to all, as it is somewhat hidden in the subject "Insurance Increases"

Also Igor subsequently vowed to give this forum a 'wide berth' - so expect posts addressed to him personally to pass without response.

Sun 4 Jan 2009, 19:14

I don't feel there was any need for that Ken

Sun 4 Jan 2009, 12:42

why not change it to the dollar just for you igor.

Sun 4 Jan 2009, 12:01

Terry Leary in yesterday's Guardian letters page proposes the very clever and tenable suggestion that since there's such sentimental resistance from some quarters to aligning the pound to the euro that the government could pass a quick act making the euro legal tender in the UK alongside the pound. We can then agree with the ECB that the euro and pound trade at one to one parity. Thus the British can to save their pound and their economy in one stroke.
Genius!

Tue 25 Nov 2008, 10:43

Yes, bring back those nice Germans from circa 1935. Now those were people you could count on.

Sun 23 Nov 2008, 13:43

the french our natural enemies the only country benefitting from the euro.screwing us and helping illegal imigrants to walk straight in to the country.

Sat 22 Nov 2008, 07:47

I would not want to be welsh,as if i was like you i would feel that i had let the welsh people down with comments like that.

Sat 22 Nov 2008, 00:06

Well, you could always move to France.

Fri 21 Nov 2008, 19:18

joining the euro would be the end of this country. we have no industry left all manafacturing has gone to china.are we all going to sit in front of computer screens to earn a living.i dont think so this is only the start. global warming seems to have gone out the window now.prepare to meet thy doom no job no car to speed in no house it has been repossed.you have been warned the worst is yet to come. merry christmas.

Fri 21 Nov 2008, 19:05

roger is definately not welsh.mongol i would think.

Thu 20 Nov 2008, 18:23

shes got it right but do you listen.

Thu 20 Nov 2008, 15:59

When in Rome it is said do as the romans do ,when in britain do as you are told ,thats what my wife says .So i do bless her.

Thu 20 Nov 2008, 14:07

Do they permit history books in Charlbury?

I am most certainly not of British, I am an immigrant, son and grandson of immigrants and proud of it; irregardless of the colonisation of America 2 and 5 centuries ago by the British, the French, the Dutch, the Russians, the Portugese and ofcourse the Spanish who owned most of all three Americas for most of its history.

BTW, the term is Native Americans or First Americans; red Indians is a derogatory misnomer left over from colonial times.

Anyway, regardless of Spanish fishing vessals, the EU as a political and economic force has allot more clout than the UK on its own. Will Hutton's argument is that the British would be economically better off by joining the Euro now and leading from the centre.

As it stands, the UK is going to be hardest hit by the impending recession; no other EU nation has compromised their nationalism or patriotism by being politically and monetarily aligned; are the French any less French or the Italians any less Italian for using the Euro?

Does the food or wine taste any different?

I think not, at least last time I visited.

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 15:40

If you choose to go far back enough in time, Roger, then you're probably French, Norwegian/Icelandic, or Welsh!

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 14:16

Igor you are british if you choose to go back far enough in time .The north american continent was only inhabited by the red indians before the brits invaded so be a good boy and stop being petulant .

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 13:39

I think that Roger's point is that over the last few years, the EU has forced a number of policies through that have had a detrimental effect on the UK economy, for example the impact on our fishing industry as the rights to fish UK waters has increasingly been taken away and handed to the Spanish fleets. This view is reflected by the majority of britons and if the government was brave enough to hold a referendum, the outcome would be clear.

Nationalism and patriotism is not something to be disdained (as long as it is persued without recourse to racism) but to be celebrated. I for one am British and proud of it.

Wed 19 Nov 2008, 07:30

The dollar is commonly acknowledged as the strongest currency in terms of the fall back purchase when other currencies fluctuate. The recent economic slump has had investors turning to the EURO instead, thus raising the value of the currency to a number 2 position.

I am unawares of any political structure or voting preference that gives France or Germany more say in the running of Europe than the UK. Nor do I understand how politics in Brussels leads to tractors being stolen in England winding up in Poland.

But I would assert that politically, economically and environmentally we live in a much smaller, joined up and interconnected world than our parents did.

Markets are now global as was just so dramatically demonstrated to us when the US banking crisis had a wipe out effect on the value of the pound.

Likewise, remote conflicts are no longer that remote when the antagonists can bring the war to streets and transport of ones own capital.

I don't think I have to assert that regardless of national borders, we all breath the same air and swim in the same seas.

I don't believe that a focus on ones own backyards and a disdain for your neighbours is a particularly gracious or pragmatic position to assume.

And as far as all those foreigners living in England goes, being one of them, I'd volunteer to head back to my native land as soon as all those scores of British expats living, working and benefiting in my country head home.

I think there are a few French and Germans who might suggest the same.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 17:29

I am interested to know what the strongest currency in the world is (and by what measure!).

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 13:29

Since joining the common market i feel that we have been dictated to by the French ands Germans and the rest of europe enough .As it is we are not allowed to fish our own coastline ,they refuse point blank to import our meat so please enlighten me as to what exactly we are getting out of being in europe.The other night i watched a television programme where tractors are being stolen from farms and land up in Poland ,so please tell me why we would want people who want to steal from us coming to our country because i do not think this would be allowed to happen in other countries of europe.

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 09:09

British national pride could only be enhanced by being at the centre of a powerfully united Europe and joining the second strongest currency in the world.

Actually it's award winning British financial analyst Will Hutton (who lives between here and Woodstock), who recently suggested it was a good time for the pound to stops its free fall by joining the Euro.

BTW, you can always have a portrait of the queen on the flip side of the British Euro.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 23:16

Its called national pride ,but ou would know nothing about that would you being american .You claim everything american is so good ,what are you doing here wasting your time telling us what to do or whats best for us.if you really want to do some good in your lifetime head back home and advise the new man in the whitehouse because he might take ,ore notice of you than we will here.

Mon 17 Nov 2008, 14:00

As the British sterling goes into freefall causing economic havoc as a consequence of years of unregulated financial markets, surely the time has come for the British to get off their sentimental posterior and accept the fact that the EURO is now the second global currency and worth joining.

Surely it's only antiquated notions of isolationism that makes the issue of joining the EURO a political taboo.

If it's in this country's self interest, why not?