Daily Mail has reportedly polled that 144 Conservative MPs and the Mayor of London will vote against David Cameron and his EU brokered arrangement!! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3456924/At-144-Conservative-MPs-defy-Cameron-vote-leave-EU-including-candidate-London-mayor-Zac-Goldsmith.html)

Should Britain leave the EU? Why or why not? What will be the fate of the EU if "Brexit" turns into reality?

Vote - http://goo.gl/vJfuOS
Results - http://goo.gl/mbGeZ5

Yes, Britain should leave the EU. That will trigger a domino effect and reduce the EU into a much smaller entity.

Make Britain Great Again!

Sure leave the EU!

Lose scotland all together, the economic advantages you have and start being discriminated by any european nation for the rest of the century.

Be our guest.


Sincerely, an eu citizen that doesn't give a damm about britain staying in the EU or not.

Why would the UK leave the EU? Is it able to sustain its own economic currency?

Britain should just join the EFTA or something like - the EU is a good concept, but implemented bad and clingy.

Edited 2/22/2016 02:02:22

the Eu is a corrupt, self-serving, independence-stifling leviathan that destroys Europe through its immigration policies and economic dependence. Leave. Now.

^

I think it's likely we will leave...

First of all, David Cameron is a dick head. He sees most of the public the same way he sees a dead pig. He uses these negotiations to appease his back benches and to suck up to the city of London's tax dodging banks rather than fix any real problems in the EU. There was nothing in those negotiations about stopping throwing dead fish back into the sea because of quotas from the common fisheries policy, there was nothing about making the European commission accountable by making it directly elected and there was nothing about stopping large multi-national companies abusing the EU to dodge tax.

Anyway, onto the referendum itself. I'm voting to stay. Although, the isn't perfect, it's still better to be in than out. I personally intend to use the free movement of people as a back up for when the tories fuck everything up. Our economy is reliant n the free movement of goods, services and people that we get from EU membership.

Also, no one who want to leave can answer what will happens if we leave. Do we end up like Switzerland and Norway where everything remains the same, but we have to do everything the EU says without any say in the decision making process, r do we end up like Canada or South Korea, who spent 7 years negotiating a trade deal to have a small reduction in tariffs? Both of those options sound pretty shittiy.

Lose scotland all together

If Scotland leaves the UK as a result of this is largely irrelevant. If a majority of people in Scotland decide they want to leave, then that entirely up to them. However, I'm more concerned about the future of Gibraltar than Scotland. Spain could use it as an excuse not to negotiate a trade deal or EEA membership unless we let them steal it against the wishes of the people of Gibraltar. They've shown twice through referendums that they have no intention in joining Spain. Forcing Gibraltar to leave against their wishes is not something I would agree with.

Britain should just join the EFTA or something like - the EU is a good concept, but implemented bad and clingy.

No, that would be the worst of both worlds.

f Scotland leaves the UK as a result of this is largely irrelevant.

Yes you only lose 16.9 billion in GDP, 5.295 million citizens, and a lot of international prestige. Leaving the EU gives Scotland an excuse to declare their independence. However, as it currently stands UK is giving up substantial policy making capabilities to Brussels. A vote to leave would be the ultimate sign of national sovereignty no?

Do we end up like Switzerland and Norway where everything remains the same, but we have to do everything the EU says without any say in the decision making process

I fucking hope so

Yeah, it seems to be working out pretty damn well for the Swiss

Brexit... well I'm totally agreeing with what an Italian journalist said today: "if they want to leave, let them go, since the first day they entered the EC then the EU they just slowed down and blocked the process of integration in Europe", the real goal of the EU being to be something like Victor Hugo in the 19th century envisaged "A united states of Europe", not only economical but a political federation, with a strong voice intentionally. The British politicians (or at least the English ones, if we consider Scotland as mainly europhile) wanted only the economical benefits from the European common market that helped them to save their country from the dire situation they were in during the 70s (this was before the miraculous discovery of oil fields in the North Sea near Scotland).

But let me tell you something, as long as you join a community you have rights and also some duties.

Now Cameron had some guarantees from Europe last week, so Britain has special rights compared to other European nations, which is against all the very principles the founding fathers of Europe were fighting for. I would rather prefer England out instead of England having preferential treatments rather unfair since other European nations do not benefit from it.

The French can take their shit baguettes and fuck off.

Europe has been greatest when nations have competed among themselves. Crushing national pride and attempting to force together literally dozens of ethnic groups into one nation is destined to fail. They have been separate for hundreds of years. How do you support the EU and Basques at the same time, Koala?

Leaving the EU is fucking stupid for Scotland.

I don't give a fuck about England, if UK leaves then Scotland gets an easy majority. There won't be the people who think "what if we don't get in the EU?" because, even if Scotland doesn't get in the EU (which it WILL; but this is for sake of argument) then we wouldn't be any better off with England?

The EU is the only reason people in Scotland voted "No", at all. The guarantee of the EU is the only thing England had leverage over, and if they fuck that over it may as well be 100% "Yes".

Also, when I walk down the street, I still see "Yes" stickers. All the "No thanks" stickers are gone, because that is not a popular view anymore. The "No" voters are either a) dead, b) moved back to England or c) changed their mind. It's that simple.

General did you read the thread about Spain? The Basques alongside Catalonians and Scots are mainly europhile and want a greater integration of their future states into a federal Europe. Is that difficult to understand from an American? Then imagine Scotland as something like Virginia inside the US, this is really close. Europe's founding fathers were mainly Germans and French, because they wanted a peaceful Europe no longer suffering from wars such as ww1 and ww2: today is the 100 years anniversary of the battle of Verdun, one of the bloodiest battle that occurred in contemporary Europe with unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. 100 years is not that far,and instead of fighting about Europe and destroying it we should remember about this day that saw the atrocities committed due to European nationalism, Europe was created because of this, strengthen European values and culture, and encourage peace. We as Europeans do have similarities, and I really hope to see a federal Europe created in the near 20 years.

+1 Panda. When Scotland is separated from England I'm all for Eurification.

as long as England isn't involved.

Hold up. I am not really understanding. They want greater integration into Europe, but less into Spain/UK? Why do they think Brussels would understand them better than London or Madrid? At least English come from the same isle, and not from Poland. I get that they want freedom, but don't see how joining the EU would get them that.

Peace is ok, but honestly, industrialized nations with modern technology are never going to fight (do you actually believe Russia and the US would ever go to war?), and the EU is just taking away freedom and national determination, while flooding the Continent with 'refugees'.

Sincerely, an eu citizen that doesn't give a damm about britain staying in the EU or not.

"if they want to leave, let them go, since the first day they entered the EC then the EU they just slowed down and blocked the process of integration in Europe"

I think the U.K is being a bit undervalued here. Here's just some of what the EU will lose if Britain leaves:

-London, one of the world's foremost financial centers on-par with New York City and Beijing.
-One of Europe's largest militaries, plus nuclear stockpile.
-A permanent member of the U.N security council.
-A G8 member.
-2.6 Trillion GDP

Not to mention, Brexit would severely damage the EUs image. To spectators this event would make the EU appear as weak,dysfunctional, and unable to satisfy its membership. The loss of the U.K quite likely will encourage other EU members with high Euro-skepticism to leave as well.

The Basques alongside Catalonians and Scots are mainly europhile and want a greater integration of their future states into a federal Europe. Is that difficult to understand from an American?

Yes, because those states are already part of their respective unions. From an American perspective it would be like Maine splitting off and joining Canada, you're leaving one union for another which totally destroys the point of gaining independence in the first place.

Then imagine Scotland as something like Virginia inside the US, this is really close.

If we're going to use this analogy with the EU being a "United States of Europe" than the U.K would be equivalent to Virginia with Scotland as more akin to a massive county.

we should remember about this day that saw the atrocities committed due to European nationalism

You speak of nationalism as an evil thing, yet the independence movements you cherish are based on nationalism. That's why some of us are confused, your views seem really inconsistent from an outsider perspective. How can you support nationalist independence movements while simultaneously denouncing nationalism and encouraging a federal union?

Violent nationalism is terrible. Peaceful protesting, like the "Yes" campaign is brilliant.

For example, locking Nigel Farage in a pub in Edinburgh. That was some cool, peaceful protesting :D