Yes or No

[brooklyn77]

I realise this is probably the wrong place to do this, but i dont care. I will try anyway. I also dont know if this question is really the right question to ask or not, but i will ask it anyway. Q: What will you vote in the euro referendum (if it happens) Yes or No. Please respond with a Yes or No, followed by a brief reason why afterwards if you so wish. It will be interesting to see what people think. I realise there wont be a huge response. But all polls count.

[brooklyn77]

NO. - I dont want my country to be run by any country other than ours. And voting yes will be the start of a European Super State and Britain losing its own way of life for good. It will be our biggest mistake ever.

[andy hughes]

NO - I have an inherent distrust of beurocracy - absent beaurocracy sounds an even worse idea. There are cultural differences whcih are not erased by the notion of a few suits who spend time eating and drinking in luxury in Brussells - let's consider the future more carefully, for all of us.

[Gef]

Now, I don't pretend to understand the economic implications but if the Government of the day supported it I would vote yes. After all does it really matter whether we use Euros or pounds? (OK I know we will be ripped off in the conversion just as we were with decimalisation but all prices are "fixed" anyway). To reply to brooklyn, we are already, in many respects, run by Europe (litres for petrol, kilos rather than pounds) but having recently visited Ireland and Spain, I did not find them to be any less Irish or Spanish than I expected. The EU brings common standards in many things but would not bring about the UK "losing its own way of life".

[lisaj]

No. I'm polish, I've lived here since I was born, and I know how unstable Poland's economy is. With eastern european countries that have no financial stability joining Europe you can bet the farm the Euro will destabalise and I hope Blair & co. have the good sense to stay the hell clear of it all. The pound is strong, works well for us, we already accept the Euro transactionally... so why become solely dependent on it? On the flipside, if our economy were to devalue and we were on the Euro rather than the pound then the rest of Europe would cushion the blow. On a more practical note, I was in Ireland just after they'd jumped over fully to the Euro. People didn't want to devalue or mis-value their products and services so they did a straight exchange rate. You imagine living a life where things everyday items cost Eu6.31 and where the bus costs Eu1.37 (exact fare only). It just didn't make sense anymore!

[woodpam]

If the issue was strictly the Euro I would vote yes as long as we had the right to decide on issues affecting our own economy. My reason is that it would benefit business. However, if we were tied to an agreement which meant that other countries could dictate conditions affecting our economy I would vote no. My reason is that if we can't vote the decision makers out we have lost control of our own country. We seem to take the EC a lot more seriously than the other major participants in that we implement everything even if it's not in our best interests whereas other countries ignore the bits of legislation and procedure that adversely affect them. Having said that, the employment and human rights legislation have been a definite step in the right direction for ordinary people who earn their income. So my Euro vote depends on what is tied in with it.

[Nelli]

Yes! :-)

[kahunabean]

YES. Free trade makes the world go round and the Euro is a strong boost to free trade. Any attachment we feel to our current currency is emotional/nostalgic.

[OnlyMe]

Yes. Britain is obsessed with this - somewhat dilusory - idea of independence and, consequently, always fails to see, or simply ignores, the inevitable tide of history and finishes up missing the boat. Consequently it sits between several stools, the USA, Europe and the Commonwealth, and loses out as a result. Moreover, the world needs a stronger Europe as a counter-balance to the over-powerful USA.

[DavidUK]

NO. The Euro is one more step towards a European Super State that will give the opportunity of even more power to corrupt and unaccountable leaders.

[Miss Zippy]

I say 'No', but say it knowing that it is like trying to bolt the stable door after the horse has bolted. I don't fully appreciate the economic ramifications of adopting the Euro, but know that the UK lost its sovereignty many years ago and everything we do is now subject to being compatible with European law etc, so don't really see what difference adopting the Euro would make.

[Cathy]

No - I just don't understand how we could properly control our economy. If someone could explain that then I wouldn't mind and would probably vote yes.

[darth vader]

Yes - business trade is being stifled by being out of it, we still have to exchange currency (and line the banks' pockets) when we travel to europe, we are still being charged twice the european mortgage rate.

[brooklyn77]

Just an update on my opioion, the two people who mentioned about 'business suffering' and 'trade' well, i assume those people own businesses that deal with the continent. Because it makes no difference to the average joe bloggs on the street. Business in the UK is awful at the moment anyway and has been for years but yet the UK is still such a strong market and continues to prosper over such wonderful countries such as Germany which seems to go through economic problems all the time. And before anyone says "but we are heading for a recession" well yes! but so is the whole flippin world. Thats not down to us per say. But our economy can prosper without being part of a European Super State.

[froggequene]

I would vote no, simply because most English people of my acquaintance haven't a clue what the EU is about and have no interest in finding out unless it suits them. The notion that Britain would lose it's culture and it's way of life is utterly ridiculous, these things only happen if you allow them to, in case you didn't know there is a special fund from the EU to help countries promote and preserve their cultural heritage. I'm no EU scholar myself but growing up in Ireland I have seen the tremendous benefits that belonging to the EU has brought to my country. Ireland has consistently embraced the EU but it has become no less Irish nor has it surrendered it's sovereignity. As for notion that any country would lose control of it's parliament, do you think such proud nations as Germany or France would seriously hand over control of their nations to anybody?

[rekstout]

YES - we are already drowning in bureaucracy which is imposed by successive governments. All we are doing is isolating ourselves politically and commercially - british industry is in decline as we a re no longer preferred trading partners due to our isolationist stance. We will adhere to brussels dictats irrespective of whether we are members of a "super-state" because will and do have our hand forced every time. Stop being xenophobic and accept reality you lot!

[darth vader]

Brooklyn77 (why 77?) - to say that Euro referendum makes no difference to Joe Bloggs and son on the street is a bit naive - consider that a group of Afghani extremists crashing planes into towers in the USA caused the UK stock market to tumble further than a Porto goalkeeper - just cos a particular business doesn't directly sell sausages to the Germans, doesn't mean it is immune to the proposed changes.

[brooklyn77]

Response to FROGEQUEEN : Germany and France will run the whole flippin show. So of course they wont lose power of their own countries.

[brooklyn77]

Response to Darth Vader: Not sure if i misunderstood your point or wether you are missing my point. Just want you to know that I know it will make a difference to everyone, but most people , i think, in a negative way, the only people who will really benefit are European Traders, businesses who have an interest abroad, but my point is that those businesses are getting fewer and fewer by the year but yet having little effect on our economy. You only have to look abroad (Germany for EG) to realise that just cos you are in the Euro it does not guarantee prosperity. Look at Switzerland, they are coping very well. Just like us.

[brooklyn77]

Response to Einestein: Hmmm....did we not dicover america?? Anyway that aside (before i start an arguement) what is so bad about america (apart from its guns and obeisty) and what is so good about Europe? America = Strong nation, wealthy, democratic democracy, fun, interesting, etc.. etc.. Europe = Recession (Alah GERMANY) rifiling unemployment, more poor countries than ...than... i dont know.. illegal asylum seekers...oh no...there are definatley more of them than rats in London. I know who i would rather be allied with.