Why is Britain in the EU?

gymfresh · 07-03-2009

[Disclaimer -- I hold an EU passport. It's not British.]

Every time I go to England, a country I love, I have to ask myself why on Earth the UK is in the European Union. Britons often decline to say that the British Isles are even part of the European continent. They want nothing to do with the Euro, they actively resist EU directives on everything from food standards to consumer safety, they drive on the other side of the road, they refuse to fully adopt SI (miles, anyone?), their plugs don't fit on the continent (even if their mains system is brilliant and far safer than anyone else's), they claim it's impossible to join Schengen, they maintain and justify a double standard for professional workers and unskilled workers from EU countries, and there's constant bickering between the political parties about how much they want to have to do with "Europe". I'm sorry, is there another continent option?

As near as I can figure it, Britain is in the EU for a few simple reasons, none of which really justify it staying in. They shouldn't leave; they should be sent packing. Hey, it'll save them a boatload of crowns, shillings and pence.

1) It would kill the British to see Europe sit around a table without them at it. Come to think of it, the Brits felt the same way about India, Hong Kong, Iraq, the Sinai, Palestine, South Africa (esp once gold and diamonds were discovered in the Boer lands), and a few dozen other places.

2) For competitive reasons, the Brits are desperate for Euro talent to work in The City and certain other professions and, conversely, want to keep it effortless for their citizens to retire to Provence, Tuscany or Marbella.

3) For the first time, there is more than boiled meat, 3 veggies, and Indian food to eat.

My dad marveled till the day he died about a headline he saw while studying in England in the 1950's: Cable Under the Channel Accidentally Cut; Europe Loses Communication. Well, that just about sums it up, doesn't it?

PS - I love the Scots, too, and realize that they're often at Whitehall's mercy on stuff like this.

BikerBear · 07-03-2009

I, for one, wished we were NOT in the EU.... UKIP all the way baby!

Drifterwood · 07-03-2009

We stay in just to piss off the French.

Rugbypup · 07-03-2009

The Scotts, hate the English, as do the Irish and frankly no one really likes the Welsh. We've been fighting each other for near dam a thousand years then politically we become on nation. (Northern Ireland that is)

Then on top of that, we've been fighting the Germans, Spanish and French for just as long then bam, yet again, politically we become one union.

Factor in the English have been beaten down with the mamby pamby, political correctness shite to the point where it's seen as racism (akin to Nazism) to call yourself an English man, or even celebrate St. Georges day. Despite the it being an acceptable statement of national pride to call yourself Welsh and celebrate St. David's, Scottish and celebrate St. Andrew's or Irish and celebrate St. Patric's.

In short, the English need to reconnect with their own national identity before we are pushed and pulled into yet another identity that is not our own.

England, the perfect host, a bitch of a mother, may you find yourself before you become a Muslim state for refugees and butt fucked into obscurity by worthless chavs or European nationalist lining their own nests at her expense.

Sigh.

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

^ feel better for that ? :-)

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drifterwood

We stay in just to piss off the French.

Cheese eating surrender monkeys

Rugbypup · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldham_Tightly

^ feel better for that ? :-)

A rhetorical question from a Mancunian, whatever next.

Rugbypup · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldham_Tightly

Cheese eating surrender monkeys

Agreed.

Rubenesque · 07-03-2009

I think the problem is the EU doesn't want anyone who won't surrender it's identity and become a generic European nation.

I for one am utterly against that.

I'd be happy for us to be part of the EU if it were more like a family (we're all different with our own defined identities, who support each other and stand together in times of need) but sadly it's more like a cult (brainwashed to conform and no expression of own character allowed).

History tells us that Britain (all nations of the British Isles) is not a nation of sheeple. We stand up for what we believe in and we surrender our lives for those beliefs, and we do not need guidance on how to live our lives thank you very much Europe. So kindly stick your Euro up your arse (situated in Brussels I believe)

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rugbypup

A rhetorical question from a Mancunian, whatever next.

But was it?

Rugbypup · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldham_Tightly

But was it?

I was playing matey, no offense intended.

As you ask, I do bare a degree of resentment toward England, I think it's become a rather ugly former shadow of itself in as little as the past 15/20 years.

I'm glad I emigrated, not only as I felt grossly penalized for being English, but also because I could no longer live in a country where I felt removed and detached from.

Do the English have a cultural identity any more? I fear it's lost. I think also this is something nations like the US find hard to believe due to their defined sense of national identity.

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

I'd like to see an England where we can celebrate being english without fear of the P.C brigade saying "no, no, no, according to subsection c of article 247a, flags cannot have an overall surface area greater than 1.245m and that flag is clearly 1.246m its going to have to come down, and disposed of in a suitable manner such as an ecologically approved flag burial machine go accordance with article 24 subsection q1.9"

P.C jobsworths can go to europe and treat themselves to mountains of paper work they created. Then England can say sod you EU. If people want to work in the UK your welcome, come on in and have a cup of tea. But if your coming go for hand outs bog off. We have scousers doing that already.

Most of that is me rambling. Most won't make sense. To condense that - The EU can go fuck itself.

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

I know you were messing. Time for a cuppa i think. Currently doing a delivery at McVities biscuits in stockport. Might see if i can cadge a packet of chocolate digestives

Catchoftheday · 07-03-2009

I think we just like being in a gang

European Economic Community - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oldham_Tightly · 07-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catchoftheday

I think we just like being in a gang

European Economic Community - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So did gary glitter and look how he ended up.

Why is Britain in the EU?

[Disclaimer -- I hold an EU passport. It's not British.] Every time I go to England, a country I love, I have to ask myself why on Earth the UK is in the European Union.