I actually looked at the stats the other day. Apparently there are around 4 million EU nationals living in the UK, and only 70,000 are claiming benefits. That's substantially better than the native British population.
While unemployment is high there are apparently lots of low paying vacancies and Eastern European workers are filling those vacancies.
Funny how you no longer hear from the pro-eu faction who were urging us to join the
the euro before the current shambles.
Ask the people of greece,italy,spain and the poor states of southern europe
how they feel paying the price for the political folly of fiscal
integration.
Sure the banks are to blame but just as guilty are those politicians who bent the rules to open up the eu to countries which then used their new status to borrow at a bargain
basement rate.
Worst thing is still nobody has a real clue what'll happen next!
(btw i hate all politicians equally so don't label me a ukip sympathiser pl. )
Just as aside, I used to have a MEP come into my office. He used to complain that all the MEP's did was rubber stamp what the bureaucrats in Brussels had decided. They weren't allowed to propose legislation and they weren't allowed to modify what was put before them. It does sound very undemocratic and not what was signed up for when we joined the EU.
Immigration is an important source of labor and has always provided people to do jobs that the locals find beneath them. I'm not sure that anyone 'steals' jobs but often the immigrants are willing to work at a lower rate than many of us would be happy with. One guy came into my office and complained that he was asked to teach foreign workers how to do his job (small contractor) and then was told he was no longer needed once they could do the things he had taught them. He is a skilled journeyman and the people now doing his job are unable to make judgments as to the safety of the work they are now doing. It's tough to know what's best. We need these people but there are no longer protections for people who would normally be doing the same job here. How do people feel about being replaced by someone who is not going to be given the same rights and protections by employers that they would expect themselves?
I don't know what to make of UKIP but I do know many people are tired of the lies that come out of the mouths of politicians and perhaps this is the protest. The New Labour chant about corruption was followed by Labour members pocketing expenses and having constituency offices built miles away from their seats (eg Luton MP had something built for her leisure down on the south coast). The Conservatives are just as bad. The Lib Dems are... welll the Lib Dems which is damning in of itself.
If all UKIP does is make the other parties start to be more responsive to the will and needs of the populace then maybe they aren't as bad as we like to think. Still only time will tell. I hope that they aren't in a position to do any damage but then again the other choices have already done enough damage all by themselves.
You think the Euro defined British politics for a decade? Which decade was that? Because it wasn't the 80's, the 90's the 00's or the 10's thus far.
The Tory party was hardly split. There were a few fanatics on both sides of the debate that made a lot of noise, but the party as a whole was largely willing to just let the Labour government deal with it.
What has been more politically significant in the last ten years than the whole euro crisis
and the fact that the uk retained its monetary and fiscal independance ?
While that's not a very productive way of going about it, it's not undemocratic. He/she can always vote no. I'd imagine the amendments issue is to prevent the American style ridiculousness which in Europe could be a massive headache. You'd imagine that any changes would be made at the lobbying stage anyway.
Their reason for supporting civil partnerships and not same-sex marriage: "Civil partnerships in no way impinge upon the lives, beliefs, conscience and faith of other people."
Any time someone starts using faith as an excuse for opposing or banning something, I start to look for my weaponry.
It is un democratic because elected representatives don't get to choose policy, only vote on what is put before them by unelected business leaders and bureaucrats.
And that's markedly different to here because?
And like I say, something of a non issue as without the European legislature you'd get the same effect but with no vote and little oversight.