Would this harm Britain?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6128060/Special-relationship-at-risk-over-bomber-Brown-warned.html

Hey! That\'s the best bit of news I have heard today.

All we need now is to throw off the yolk of Europe, and we can once again become an independant country in our own right.

[Gromit]

And then become a third world country.

Who would we trade with?

[jno]

Fredian slip there, aog - throw away the 'yolk' - so you'd just have the whites, eh?

[jno]

Fredian, hmmm... I blame the tiny type on these new panels

[R1Geezer]

"who would we trade with?" Anyone and everyone even the EU. We can still have trading agreements and general cooperation can't we? Do you think the EU would not want access to our market? Or are you saying they'd engage in some sort na na nana na, we aren't playing with you anymore attitude?

[anotheoldgit]

jno

Yes very easy to make a Freudian slip is it not?

I also made a spelling mistake, as you were only too quick to point out, YOKE easy isn't it?

But once again you could not miss the chance to bring colour into it.

[anotheoldgit]

Couldn't have answered Gromit any better R1Geezer,

Except to say hasn't Gromit heard of New Zealand Lamb or Argentine Beef, fruit and other food stuffs from all corners of the Earth etc, etc. That's before we mention the goods we trade from India and China.

What will Europe and other countries buy from us, well take Rolls Royce Engines for a start, plus Machinery, chemicals, Rail equipment, Oil and petroleum products, and medicines all are Britain's largest export earners.

Bought and traded in many countries even if Europe or America were to put a block on trading with us, which of course would never happen.

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

The UK is the sixth largest exporter in the world, and over 50% of those exports go to EU member states.

The EU is designed to be a market place for member countries, and trade agreements favour member states above non member states. If we were outside of the EU, then import duty would be added to the things we exported to Europe making them dearer than the EU made equivalent.

Do you think it would be easy to find new markets for 50% of our exports, and if your answer is yes, why are we not exploiting those markets already?

[Gromit]

anotheoldgit/Laurel

New Zealand Lamb or Argentine Beef, fruit and other food stuffs from all corners of the Earth etc are all imports!

It is who we sell our exports to that matters. What do we export to Argentina? New Zealand? India? China?

We have to sell things, and we have to have a marketplace to do it in. When we had a n Empire, that was our marketplace. Now that has gone, we need the EU.

Manufacturing businesses are not calling for us to withdraw from the EU - can you workout yet why not?

[R1Geezer]

The we would add export duty too! So foriegn goods would be dearer here so the sale of British goods would increase. We do not need to be swallowed in the corrupt EU amor[horism to have trading links.

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

So the things we enjoy like Televisions and DVDs and Japanese Motorbikes would all be much much dearer, but there would eventually be a British made equivalent once we had caught up with the technology.

The reason we import televisions from communist China is because they are better and more advanced and cheaper than anything we can make.

[anotheoldgit]

Not a well thought out answer Gromit, of course they are imports as I pointed out, but you failed to mention our exports, and trading is a two way affair.

What will Europe and other countries buy from us, well take Rolls Royce Engines for a start, plus Machinery, chemicals, Rail equipment, Oil and petroleum products, and medicines all are Britain's largest export earners.

What do we export to Argentina? New Zealand? India? China?

I think you will find most if not all of what I have already pointed out, and many, many more besides.

Incidentally we also provide India, China and others with vast amounts of technical knowledge, this we do not give away free.

We may not have an Empire but we still have a Commonwealth.

[jake-the-peg]

A commonwealth? But I thought you only liked the Canadians, Australians, and Kiwis!

Seriously making the case for the EU on trade alone seriously misses the point.

There are now dozens and ozens of things that need standardising across the entire group of developed countries and the infrastructure and will just isn't there to do it on the G8 or G20.

If everybody makes their own regulations on everything from Bankers bonuses to safety regulations in motor car manufacture there would be the most gigantic mess.

Do you want to throw away European arrest warrents that allow our police forces to co-operate and go back to "costa del crime"?

Do you want all our businesses to have to find out about and prepare seperate products for each european country.

All because some people have a particular idea about an arbitary area of land that they call a country.

Together we are stong - apart we are weak.

This day of all days 70 years since all the independant European nations went to war its worth remembering that

[R1Geezer]

When did China and Japan join the EU then Gromit, must have missed that!

[Gromit]

R1Geezer

We can buy from whoever we want to, TVs from China or crappy motorbikes from the Japs.

It is who we can sell to that matters, do the Japanese want to buy our quality motorcycles?

If we lose over 50% of our customers we will end up a third world country.

[R1Geezer]

I was just referring to your earlier statement of Jap and Chinese goods being dearer. I don't know why you made the leap of illogic that you have, I'm trying to nail that down at the moment. You seem to have taken up an obtuse stance, trying to get me into an argument re motorbikes. Could this possibly mean that the penny has dropped Gromit? I ask again why would our trade with non EU countries be any different to what it is now? Are you perchance making a further leap of europhile illogic by suggesting that we would have 0 trade with the EU and as such would need to take up the slack by flogging motorbikes to the japs?

[Gromit]

It would be different because they would slap and big dollop of duty onto our goods being imported into their market making them more expensive than the EU equivalent and therefore harder to sell.

[Quinlad]

Can he, though?