1. The average rebate to the UK was appr. 4-5Billion GBP / year since 1984 when M. Tatcher negotiated it. Hence your net contribution to the EU budget is lower than that of the Netherlands and comparable to Belgium!!! Further deduct the agricultural and other subsidies the UK is receiving and your net contribution is trending sharply towards "0". Please do not post misleading stuff.
There is nothing misleading about the fact that the UK is a net contributor to the EU.
This briefing for the UK Parliament
includes a very helpful table showing the UK's contribution and the effect of the rebate.
In 2015, the UK's gross contribution was 17.8bn GBP, net, 8.5bn. The highest net contribution between 2009 and 2015 was 10.5bn in 2013.7
You speak of subsidies and other money that may come back. Arguably there is some merit to this but it is British taxpayers money which isn't under the control of their parliament and treasury.
The EU offered Cameron an even higher rebate to sweeten the UK stay in the EU, hence the contribution would be virtually "0".
I don't recall hearing about that offer but this isn't a simple economic question but one of sovereignty, of the direction the UK feels it should be going in the 21st century.
2. In which case did Merkel sell out her own people? Please show an example. Posting simple accusations is totally wrong and pure instigation.
Most recently, she has "consented" to the prosecution of a German citizen for "insulting" the Turkish President. That is scandalous but it is incredibly revealling of her mindset. The right of the people who she represents to express themselves freely is secondary to the feelings of foreign leaders.
This isn't how we do things in Europe.
Then there is the mass influx of migration she triggered last year. The events in Cologne at New Year and the often unreported discomfort many Germans are expressing due to this immigration. But they and their views do not matter. This is our future if we remain in the EU. These migrants will get EU passports in years to come and will be afforded the full range of rights that any EU passport holder has.
There is the intention to admit Turkey and many other nations which have far lower levels of prosperity and GDP that much of western Europe has, the effect will be new waves of migration to countries which are already buckling under the strain, impacts on culture and quality of life for those who are already here.
The theory is that you bring all member nations up to the same standard of living over time. The reality is that well developed nations are seeing their quality of life reduce whilst less well developed are seeing an increase. Eventually they will, in theory, meet somewhere in the middle.
Why would the people of any nation passively accept a reduction in their quality of life for a project they have little affiliation with? It makes absolutely no sense to me.
3. Do you really think the UK is that important to the EU??? Do you really think smaller countries and those receiving money from the EU will ever vote for leaving the EU???
I honestly don't care whether the EU institution and its officials think the UK is important to their project or not. I'm more interested in what other European citizens think than faceless mandarins in Brussels! Smaller countries which receive a big benefit from being a member? No, why would they? Larger nations which are more prone to experiencing negative benefits, sure. I think it is only a matter of time before a nation leaves - be that the UK or another. At that point i think a chain reaction will begin and the insitution will change dramatically, if not collapse entirely.
4. Really?? What exactly would you do differently to make it a people's union and hence in your opinion better?
The British people were sold on the idea of the EEC, an economic community, a trading partnership. That's what it should be. Instead it has an agenda of becoming a federal state, subsuming the nations of Europe until all major policy decisions are made for the entire continent, not the individual nations. Given the range of economies and cultures then there will always be winners and losers. Many people in the UK are tired of feeling like the losers.
The people of the UK will never, ever accept a single EU state and are therefore entirely incompatible with the push towards one. This needs to be dropped, much of its legislation repealed, Parliament must be returned to the final decision maker on all matters relating to the UK.
Without this, even a remain vote is simply storing up trouble for the future.
What hard times please??? The UK average yearly income is among the highest in the world, your unemployment rate is 5.1% which is very close to what is called "full employment". Please state what in your opinion is the "hard times"?
It is not full employment. Wages are not rising for many people and haven't risen at the same rate as inflation for most of the last decade. Young people in particular find it very difficult to obtain entry level employment. Losing people from the employment market early in their lives is storing up trouble for the future. Our public services are continually stretched, social housing and the private sector are under strain in various ways.
Measuring our nation against others is pointless to account for the day to day experience of people, to measure their expectations based on what they have experienced in years gone by is more appropriate and it is undeniable that things aren't as bright as they were.
My mind is made up though!
