Discussion Thread: Hold a referendum on replacing the pound with the euro

This is an archived discussion thread for the "Hold a referendum on replacing the pound with the Euro" voting page. Voting, and this discussion thread, have now closed. 

krisuk and 5 more liked this.
Be careful here. As an example When Germany adopted the Euro the then current prices ALL went up (rounding up).
tThe cost of living rose so quickly that a a protest of a NON-shopping day nationwide was organised and took place where NO businesses whatsoever took in a cent that day. I was there !

Stuart Neyton 1 month ago

3 people liked this.
We should have joined the Euro at the beginning. One of the reasons for the fact that Britain has been more affected by the economic crisis is having a different currency. It doesn't matter in the least to me whether interest rates are set by Frankfurt or London, they're both as out of touch from the real world as each other. Euro membership will benefit tourism, trade and alleviate some issues in Northern Ireland.

TGH 1 month ago

7 people liked this.
We only need a vote on the Euro AFTER we have had a referendum on Europe. None of the parties are going to give us that. They fear the outcome.

Geof B 1 month ago

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I have a suspicion that, were UK to join the eurozone, people would discover how poorly we compare in many finacial respects (pay & prices, for instance) with our neighbours. This might account for the anti-EU stance of much of the media. 

The problem with this proposal (if you believe we should join the eurozone) is that press barons would probably ensure it was resoundingly defeaed.

Ethel 3 weeks ago in reply to Geof B

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I agree that we compare badly with many European countries for many things.Our education system,welfare system, transport system to name but a few.

europhile 2 weeks ago in reply to Ethel

1 person liked this.
Not just on these but also on democracy. The French are absolutely appalled when I describe our voting system and local government

Pete Osborne 1 month ago

krisuk and 8 more liked this.
Seems to me this organisation is led by people who support the e.u.
So we all campaign for people power in Britain,when the ultimate aim of the e.u is to give all of it to Brussels and have no countries called Sweden,Britain etc,just one called Europe.BRILLIANT!!!! It is a fact that Brussels does not recognise soveriegn states.It only recognises regions of Brussels.Why do you think Prescot was promoting regional assemblies? Would the leadership of this group please let me know if they are Brussels lovers,so that I don't waste my time supporting this movement.
peteosborne@cooptel.net Check out a book called The Great Deception and learn how Monet (who's idea the e.u was) himself admitted that his scheme would never work,if people were told it's aims upfront. Any eu supporters planning on emailing me,please don't waste your time.I drink French wine and support co operating with anyone. Just don't like being lied to.

David. 1 month ago

krisuk and 9 more liked this.
I disagree with this idea, as it fails to address the fundamental democratic question of whether the people of Britain wish to remain a part of the EU, which will inevitably eventually become the United States of Europe. In this situation Britain, as such, would cease to exist. I have read about the EU's plans to divide Europe into small "regions" this includes England alone, being divided into 9 EU regions (as it already has been, directly against the democratic vote of the people of North East "region." No other "region" was given a vote after this "negative" response). Then different regions would be subsequently merged with different parts of Europe. The people of Britain should be given a vote via a referendum to see if they want to remain as a member of the EU in the first place. If they do, then after this fact has been established, this would be a fair question to ask of the British people, via a further referendum. However it must be remembered that historically speaking, no country that has given up its currency for that of a foreign power of any type, has remained an independent country ten years later. The British people are not being fully and clearly informed about what is happening with regard to the European "Project" and its consequences for them. They should be fully and clearly informed of all the consequences of remaining part of the EU as soon as possible. Only then be given a referendum to see if they want to remain part of the EU. Otherwise all this talk about more democracy for Britain, is utterly pointless as we would be ruled from Brussels, not the British Parliament.

Ethel 4 weeks ago in reply to David.

2 people liked this.
The problem with "independent countries" is that they do have a tendency to keep on going to war with each other.The more co-operation between countries the better and a single currency is just one aspect of this.The united States started out as many independent states and look at it now

MR 3 weeks ago in reply to Ethel
 
3 people liked this.
A single currency doesn't improve co-operation, it gives away a hugely important aspect of economic decision making to a foreign central bank. Remember, this would mean coming under the umbrella of the European Central Bank, who would then control inflation and deflation of the currency and even set interest rates for us. As far as I am aware, the original 13 American states never went to war with each other and then they became the United Staes and look at it now, they have been in a constant state of war since WW2 because war is an industry in America today. This isn't an issue for us anyway, what's the likelihood of us going to war with any EU state and if that were ever to happen how would a single currency prevent it? The threat of nuclear holocaust stops European states from engaging in any more crazy wars with each other, not the EU.

krisuk 2 weeks ago in reply to Ethel

3 people liked this.
You obviously believe in a lovey-dovey relationship with Europe. Co-operation is one thing, but being political bed-fellows is quite another entirely. You have no idea of the implications of political union, nor of the loss of freedoms that would ensue....we've lost a lot now, think of what would happen if the UK's identity was destroyed entirely. Suggest you get onto the alternative news media sites.....you'll learn more truth there than you ever will from the BBC.
Using the USA as a comparison is ridiculous; it has no bearing on the multi-language and multi-cultural nature of Europe.

stephenbooth 1 week ago in reply to David.
Surely voting on whether to join the Euro or not would be a launching point for whether to join a United states of Europe or not. If we do join the Euro then that's a step towards a USoE, if not then it's a step away. Either way the issue will be out there to be campaigned upon.

aileenmattyahoocouk 1 month ago

2 people liked this.
We are a member of the EU - why try to hang on to sterling?

Mark 1 hour ago in reply to aileenmattyahoocouk
What a ridiculous and extremely simplistic statement "aileenmattyahoocouk [Moderator]".
You really don't seem to understand the implications of the issue. Or as a "moderator"(?) you full well do and are trying to influence opinion to suit this organisations agenda as suggested by Pete Osborne earlier, or as sponsored by the Foreign Office as mentioned by somebody else?

Mrs E Dawson 4 weeks ago

europhile and 1 more liked this.
We should be full members of Europe to influence decisions. Europe is the third largest power in the world and the UK should stop dithering on the sidelines. At present we are just a satellite of the USA.It is absurd to cling to the pound for sentimental reasons.In the present crisis the eurozone has recovered much quicker than the UK.Let us join now.

Brussel sprout 4 weeks ago in reply to Ethel
 
5 people liked this.
Mrs Dawson....We cannot even influence our own Govt. here in Westminster so how do you suppose we could influence Brussels. For a start this country is so politically UNAWARE that we hardly know the names of our own MP's and MEP's. How many people know who to contact in Brussels to comment,complain etc. They are faceless, nameless and as un-elected as our PM, "troughing" to an even larger degree than our own self serving off the planet.
Blair once said we have to be in it to influence it and he gave back a chunk of our EU rebate womn by Thatcher.
Anyone like guess what we get from pouring in £40 M to the Eu EVERY DAY !!

SDP Founder Member (1981) 3 weeks ago
 
1 person liked this.
It is a pity all Power 2010's main recommendations avoid the issue of the European Union. It is the "elephant in the room", along with the bigger issue of the UK's place in a globalised world. Constitutional change in the UK should be seen in the wider context of a wider globalising world. What world role do UK politicians see the UK playing in the years ahead?

Edward Welbourne 3 weeks ago

1 person liked this.
Countries not in the EU get asked sporadically whether they want to join, until they say YES. After that they don't get asked whether they want to stay in; I do think they should be - for all that I probably would vote for staying in. Then again, if my fellow-citizens overall voted us out, I'd respect their decision - and I'd far sooner see the decision made by my fellow-citizens than by a bunch of politicians. It seems politicians systematically favour being in a bigger state - I guess it gives them more room for career advancement. My main reservation about the EU (despite generally favouring being in it) is that it creates a great concentration of power in few hands - which is, to those who would corrupt, like a candle flame to moths.

As to joining the Euro, we've had governments of two flavours giving excuses for not joining but we've not had a full and proper public explanation of the reasons for or against. It is far too easy to suspect that the real reason for staying with the pound has been that vested interests (particularly in The City) like it that way. I think a referendum on whether to join the Euro would compel those on both sides to explain the issues.

Ethel 2 weeks ago in reply to Edward Welbourne

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You have hit the nail right on the head.Very few people actually know the terms of membership of the Union.We are continually bamboozled by spurious claims of absurd regulations supposedly imposed by the European Commission most of which turn out to be figments of tabloid imagination.There was talk of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty but how many of us know anything at all of what it contains.No Party seems able or willing to give the general public the facts so that it would be possible to make a considered judgment

stephenbooth 1 week ago in reply to Ethel

1 person liked this.
I've often felt that everyone in the UK should be required to watch every episide "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Primeminister" in the run up to every election. There is far more truth in those, to this day, than most people realise. Your comment reminded me of the Sausage episode,

Howard Hollingsbee 2 weeks ago
A referendum on the Euro is a terrible idea! The issues are far from simple, whereas the vast majority who will not understand them will take the hard-of-thinking 'my currency is my sovereignty' line. Far better to vote Libdem, persuade Nick Clegg not to back off from total integration into Europe as a stabilising and civilising influence and enter the Euro as soon as possible. Pity we didn't do it at the beginning - it will be a lot more expensive now that the £ has collapsed!

marycurran 4 days ago in reply to Howard Hollingsbee
I notice your friends the Lib Dems have not included scrapping the appalling ID project in their "shopping list" of reforms, in the event of a hung parliament. Even though they say they are opposed to it.
I would have thought this was vital.

krisuk 2 weeks ago

5 people liked this.
What rubbish is this?! Britain does not need the euro, not now or ever. Stop pandering to the whingers who just want the "convenience" of not dealing with currency exchange rates for their fancy holidays. Our currency is part of our British heritage; it is not sentimentalism. I can never understand why people want us to throw away our heritage for questionable "union" with European countries. As for the financial aspects, it should be obvious to a blind man that staying out of the euro has been an advantage under the current circumstances. And things aren't going to get better, either. I dont know where Power2010 got this idea from; from a democratic angle they are entitled to their views, but I certainly wont vote for this one. Handing control of our finances to a foreign power??? whatever next!? Go read John Redwood's blog if you want to gain intelligent financial knowledge. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the Channel....

Guest 2 weeks ago

1 person liked this.
Like many, I do not know what the consequenses of not joining the EU was to be as not enough information seems forthcoming. What I do know is that the ridiculous movement of MEP`s between Strasbourg & Brussels each month to conduct business is so bizare that I would not consider joining until such stupid practices where corrected

marycurran 1 week ago

5 people liked this.
Joining the euro would deprive us of the flexibility we need to manage our economy. I think it likely that Greece, Ireland and other countries are remaining in the mess they're in largely because they're in the Euro straitjacket and lack the flexibility to set their rate of interest at a rate that suits them, and to lower the value of their currency if they wish. Leaving the straitjacket of ERM in the early 1990's did not, as so called "experts" predicted, cause our economy to collapse, on the contrary it marked the start of a prolonged period of growth. I think a similar thing would happen to Greece if it left the euro. The euro is a political project, not an economic one, it was intended to form the cement to bind the EU political set-up together. The eurocrats probably knew it would cause severe difficulties to member states' economies, but did not care as long as their European dream survived.

Phil B 1 week ago

5 people liked this.
The UK should leave the EU which is the greatest threat to its sovereignty for 70 years. The very last thing that we should do is join the Euro! The UK must fight to return to the freedom of running its own affairs and it could not do this if the Euro were to be used in the UK - neither could it take measures necessdary to protect the UK economy (witness what is happening now in Greece and may happen in Spain and Portugal). Let's use the £45 million per day that the EU is costing us to rejuvenate our indigenous industries, rather than to prop up the undemocratic, autocratic, EU bureucratic EU monolith. All this means that a referendum on the Euro is the wrong referendum to have.

Sam Brookes 4 days ago

1 person liked this.
What a ridiculous and laughable idea! I'm surprised you haven't withdrawn your post after what has happened in Greece, as the Euro is crashing down all in the eurozone. How can a centrally governed currency spread over several countries be beneficial to our economy, when it would set us up in a straight jacket without the ability to set manage our own economy or set our own interest rates? It is just an example of the undemocratic bureucrats in Brussels attempting to bind an entire continent into one country, in a fashion where each state pays for the mistakes of the other. It would strip us of all control over our economy and our sovereignty. And they claim the (only) benefit is that it would abolish exchange rates; well boohoo, however I'd rather pay the £20 or so each way when I visit the Republic of Ireland, when it saves our economic freedom and our democracy.