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Say Yes 2 Europe
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Leavers construct delusional Matrix, but the referendum is about today’s reality.

I find it disturbing that there are a lot of people who still don’t seem to see how ludicrous the Leave campaign is getting. Brexit was a dodgy proposal from the start, but now large numbers of people seem to be embracing the sensationalist nature of the Leave campaign.
Every week for some time now the news seems to be about how a Remain campaign/Pro-EU person or statement is accused of being a liar, corrupt or biased by the Leavers. You’d think these people were living in the Matrix, everything around them is a lie and everybody is in league with the machines. To me the level of delusion present is staggering, they seem to believe the UK has never been in direr straits and that the entire world, from President Obama to Mr Cameron, is out to destroy them, their way of life and everything else that matters.
Personally I think if some of these people were made to speak their mind to a psychiatrist, they’d be locked up in a rubber room. They accuse us of anything and everything that suits as long as we’re made out to be the worst people on the face of the planet. In between the predilection of some leavers to call us Nazis, those who say we’re all taking money from Brussels and the others who call us traitors, it’s amazing we haven’t been labelled the Anti-Christ yet.
Posted in brexit, reflections
Tagged brexit, personal account
Some founder members of the Conservative Friends of Turkey – Boris Johnson, Douglas Carswell, Daniel Hannan?
Listed among the founder members of the Conservative Friends of Turkey are Boris Johnson, Douglas Carswell, and Daniel Hannan.
OBJECTIVES
Promote strong Anglo-Turkish relations
Help to foster bilateral trade and business relationships
Build links between the Conservative Party and Turkish counterparties as well as the academic and business community
Increase awareness of the Conservative Party within the Turkish community in the UK
Support parliamentary candidates in marginal constituencies
Support Turkish local politicians and promote greater political involvement of the community
Lobby in favour of Turkish membership of the EU with a stress on Turkey’s role in the bloc, the region and its strong ties to Western institutions
Facilitate access to information on Turkey: its culture, political orientation, economy, and its progress towards EU membership
EU Referendum – Less yah-boo politics and more on the great principles which are at stake.
By Stuart Wilson, a member of one of the SY2E – Remain in the EU groups.
There is less than 4 weeks to go in the EU referendum campaign that sometimes seems as though it will never end as it is forever going round in circles. I write as a passionate supporter of the REMAIN cause but my criticism’s also extend to the BSiE effort. Staying in is the right thing to do not so much for my generation but mainly for those following. However, I despair at a campaign that has become trapped in a never ending round of claim and counter claim.
There are lies told that would make your eyes water if they were in any other context and the Leave campaign is the worst offender. They simply refuse to correct the most repeated of their lies which states that if we leave we will save £350 million per week. That figure is plain wrong and it has been proved to be a lie in so many different ways on a regular basis. The true figure is very much lower than that. Come on, it’s time to confess and bin that ridiculous claim. Whilst on the subject of Leave they also need, somehow, to paint a realistic and truthful picture of a post-Brexit Britain – they have continually refused to do that and the reason is clearly that they cannot do it. They seek a vote for a leap in to the unknown. Even admitting that would go some way to raising the standard.
REMAIN is not immune from dodgy campaigning with some over-played claims on the economic front all designed to underline the cost of leaving. You have won that argument and got the message through. I do not say that there should not be reinforcement particularly in the run up to the vote BUT surely we could have some more honest passion particularly on issues that have not so far been covered and where Leave is also weak. The opportunity to travel and study along with the wonderful Erasmus scheme has hardly had a mention. This will play well with the young and also any parents or grandparents who really care about the future rather than hark back to a past that never existed, I know I was there for some of it.
Can we please have less yah boo politics and more honesty ranging over the great principles which are at stake. Whatever the result we have to live with it and therefore we owe it to ourselves and the following generations to make an informed and honest decision.
Posted in personal account, reflections
Tagged personal account, reflections
Churchill – the case for a wider view of sovereignty.
The Movement for European Unity must be a positive force, deriving its strength from our sense of common spiritual values. It is a dynamic expression of democratic faith based upon moral conceptions and inspired by a sense of mission.
In the centre of our movement stands the idea of a Charter of Human Rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law.
It is impossible to separate economics and defence from the general political structure. Mutual aid in the economic field and joint military defence must inevitably be accompanied step by step with a parallel policy of closer political unity.
It is said with truth that this involves some sacrifice or merger of national sovereignty. But it is also possible and not less agreeable to regard it as the gradual assumption by all the nations concerned of that larger sovereignty which can alone protect their diverse and distinctive customs and characteristics and their national traditions all of which under totalitarian systems, whether Nazi, Fascist, or Communist, would certainly be blotted out for ever.
Some reasons why UK citizens will find it more expensive living in the EU post Brexit.
By Mike Meade a member of one of the SY2E – Remain in the EU groups.
It will depend on personal circumstances but for most it will become more expensive to live in the EU after Brexit.
People legally working in their host country will be earning local currency and paying into that country’s national health system, so their problems are fewer.
But that’s not everyone, and it’s certainly not the case for retirees or others with pensions, UK investments or other sterling incomes.
– no one denies that sterling will go down against the euro. Some (like UK-based exporters) think that might be a good thing. But it’s certainly not good for expats in Europe with sterling investments and incomes.
I remember when the €/£ exchange rate was almost 1.50/1. So if you had £200,000 to spend on a property in the euro-zone you could get a €300,000 house.
Most economists and financial experts predict a movement towards €/£ parity after Brexit. This would mean that your £200,000 would only buy you a €200,000 property.
Same for everything else from rent to your car to shopping or a meal at a restaurant. If your income or savings are in sterling, everything will become more expensive for you in the euro-zone.
Even if parity doesn’t happen, sterling is expected to slide against the euro, at least for a few years so there will be an effect.
– Even more important is the added cost of essentials such as health care. It’s hardly likely that reciprocal healthcare arrangements will endure after Brexit. Why would Britain be the only non-EU country to keep this advantage? It won’t happen overnight but within 2 or 3 years expect to lose any reciprocal healthcare benefits you may now have under EU arrangements, including EHIC rights.
This will mean than British expats who are not legally working in their host country and therefore not paying into the national healthcare system will require private insurance for the rest of their lives whereas at the moment retirees are covered for free under the national systems from retirement age. As you get older, private insurance becomes very expensive indeed. Many will not be able to afford it.
– then there are unknowns like ancillary expenses. Will your UK driving licence still be valid if you are a resident of Italy, Spain or France? Why would it? Will you be able to swap it for a local one or will you have to take the local test in the local language? Swiss and Norwegians do in France, so why not Britons after Brexit? That comes at a cost as will other formalities.
– then there is a whole string of unknowns such as the necessity and expense of getting a resident’s permit. The cost will probably be small in monetary value, but big in frustration.
Things for Brits in the EU can’t go any other way than the way they are now for all non-EU residents of EU countries. Why wouldn’t they?
Posted in brexit, expatriates, post-Brexit
Tagged brexit, expatriates, post-Brexit
EU Freedom of Movement isn’t the universal unrestrained movement that some people think it is.
By Mike Meade a member of one of the SY2E – Remain in the EU groups.
There is a prevalent notion that an EU country (like Britain) must accept the residency of any other EU national (like Romanians).
This is not the case. Those with serious criminal records anywhere in the EU can be refused settlement rights.
An EU country can refuse the right to settle to any EU citizen (except their own nationals) who don’t work and are unable to support themselves.
All Union citizens have the right of residence on the territory of another Member State for a period of longer than three months if they:
(a) are workers or self-employed persons in the host Member State; or
(b) have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence and have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State; or
(c) are enrolled at a private or public establishment, accredited or financed by the host Member State on the basis of its legislation or administrative practice, for the principal purpose of following a course of study
(d) are family members accompanying or joining a Union citizen who satisfies the conditions referred to in points (a), (b) or (c).
So, there is no absolute right to reside in other EU countries but four different ways to gain this right.
Point (a) is for workers, point (c) is for students and point (d) is for family members accompanying another EU citizen who qualifies under (a), (b) or (c) (it’s a derived right).
If an EU citizen doesn’t qualify for either of those, they’re left with point (b) and it comes with a big caveat: they should not “become a burden on the social assistance system”.
In practice, it means they must have resources above the level to qualify for welfare benefits in the host country. That’s the legal basis for France’s treatment of Romas, for the requirements to get residence rights in Spain or Portugal, for Belgium expelling EU citizens, etc.
Why the UK needs to remain in the EU
By Kate Fistric a member of one of the SY2E – Remain in the EU groups
There’s a perception among many Britons that the EU ‘doesn’t affect me’. That, at best, the EU is some faceless machine run by pen-pushing petty bureaucrats and, at worst, is a monster sneaking into our homes at night to steal our 1600 watt vacuum cleaners. But the reality is that the EU does affect us and has enabled us to live safe, comfortable lives for over six decades.
The EU has been responsible for the longest ever period of peace in Europe, but it has also implemented specific legislation that improves our daily lives. Britons can expect to be treated equally in the workplace regardless of their gender or race and not be forced to work excessive hours without adequate rest, thanks to EU legislation. Meanwhile, British children are protected from toxic substances in their toys and can enjoy cultural exchanges with partner schools in other EU countries or, later, study abroad. Families can enjoy affordable European holidays, swim on clean beaches and receive free healthcare in the event of illness abroad. And we can all breathe cleaner air and be confident that hazardous waste hasn’t been dumped into our rivers.
It’s unclear what will happen in the event of Brexit. Much EU legislation is already enshrined in UK law and will remain in place, unless repealed. But Britain needs to stay in the EU because to leave would be to risk our ongoing prosperity and security. The world will not remain frozen in time on 23rd June and future social and environmental challenges are better faced as part of a broad union. It would be a terrible realisation to wake up on the morning of 24th and only then to discover just how affected by the EU we really are.
Posted in reflections
Tagged reflections

