I wouldn’t say it is common sense, simply the expression of an opinion related to the EU argument. I don’t see how common sense has anything to do with it.

But leaving that aside I was not aware that, apart from being the major contributor to the IMF and therefore participating in lobbing millions in Greece’s direction, the US is directly involved in the EU’s fiscal mess.

Thank you alertken, although sad to hear that. I half hoped one of the Classic Wings Dragons might have been an Island Services one.:)

The referendum case is usually justified for changes to our constitution. The referendum being proposed for Scottish indeoendence is just such a case. Our constitution is totally unaffected by our membership of NATO and the UN. Even UN resolutions committing us to deploy troops in anger are debated in Westminster.

Our constitution has already been affected by our membership of the EU in that a large percentage of laws and regulations which affect the day to day lives of all of us are not debated and made in Westminster but determined in Brussels.

60% of our trade is with EU and we would contibue to trade with the EU just as Norway and Switzerland do.

I don’t share the argument in your second paragraph, although it is frequently trotted out.

Why should any nation “not be interested” in trade. That’s an odd concept. If we want to buy more fromn New Zealand, for example, and they would like more from us, why not? We are already exporting £30 billion or so to China, India, the Middle East and Australasia.

They have plenty of spending power though 😉 loadsa money and perks …I doubt if many people know the true cost of the European trough :rolleyes:

They sure have!!:mad:

The key decisions are made by the unelected Council and Commission. The elected MEPs have little or no power at all.

No, indeed it is not and there is strong evidence that, given the opportunity, many electorates would have voted against the Euro. But that is not the way the undemocratic EU works, unfortunately.

I think the political leaders of the member countries are more to blame than the “officials” although of course they are more than happy to run with the flow as they participate in the largesse the EU bestows upon them.

Exactly so. Isn’t a cultural problem? The Greeks, the Italians and to a lesser extent the Spanish and Portuguese are raised into a culture of avoiding tax at every opportunity. Added to which in Greece and Italy the degree of corruption at the highest levels of public and private life obscure the realities of life.