With the rise of Asia, European countries can easily counter the Asian influence by forming a strong alliance which is stable economically and politically. Europe together is strong economically, perhaps more than the mighty US, by staying out of the treaty UK has not only become isolated, it will also loose its influence on the global scale. UK may have gone for short term gains but stands to loose the most in the long run.
I wouldn't think that the European Union care very much if the Brits agree to the package or not. England is not exactly the most popular country in that area. Mind you they have been steadily making friends with Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Iran, Pakistan etc so that may help them get through the isolation. Good excuse for the Scots, Welsh and Northern Ireland to finally sever the ties.
The Brits never should have joined the EU. Even though they are physically part of Europe, they never have been really connected to the mainland in thousands of years. Basically the Brits are a Protestant country with English Law (innocent until proven guilty) while much of the Continent is Catholic in view with Roman Law (guilty until proven innocent). Merging such opposites is nigh unto impossible and never should have been attempted. The result has been a Britain isolated from Europe and isolated from other countries with a similar view. Sooner or later Britain will make a full divorce from the EU, either voluntarily or by being ejected by the German dominated EU. And Britain will be even more isolated from all of the world and surrounded with openly hostile neighbors. Will Britain break up? Maybe, but I don't think so. Will Britain survive the isolation? Maybe, but I don't think so.
The new bill by the EU would have imposed new taxes on every transaction taken by banks. It would have hurt London which is the UK's largest source of revenue into the country and is largely what keeps this country afloat - even though the media would like you believe they are ONLY bad for this country. I support David Cameron vetoing this. What will it keep us isolated from? Just think about it like this, most EU countries agreed to this deal, where do you think their banks and financial services are going to go to? Britain. - Which is why Sarcozy is so pissed as this deal would require all countries in the EU to sign up to this deal for it to work. In the same token, most of us Brit's don't care whether foreign politicians get pissed at us when we don't agree to a bill which was drafted up by France and Germany. This is the biggest load of tosh I have heard and to me it doesn't make sense. We still trade with Europe and trust me, Europe doesn't want to lose any trade with us and likewise. We also contribute billions per year into the European funds, do you think they want to lose that? Why? lol That has nothing to do with it. The fact is most Brit's including myself don't want regulation to come from Europe. We actually want regulation to come from those we elect in our own parliament. It has nothing to do with morality or religion. I doubt any country wants to eject as large a country as the UK. You don't realise how much the UK contributes to the EU, it would be a huge loss to the EU if the UK left. I don't think hostile is the right word, I'd say just more aggressive than before. But then what does that matter? So what if political leaders of other countries within the EU are more aggressive, they have to play by their own rules and that is essentially EU rules. - They can't really do anything to affect the UK.
No, they were trying to look out for the banking sector's interests AKA the City of London. They did not want a more regulated banking sector. They were looking after the very institutions that have caused this massive financial problem. The banking industry that needed the government to bail them out of trouble to the tune of 500 billion. Looking after your own interests may not be a good thing when the team of people you used to work with now antagonistic towards you, especially if you now have no say in anything and these countries are your main/significant trading partners. Individuals rarely come of best against teams.
You are now on the outside looking in. The countries you used to deal with now know that when crunch time came Cameron put his bank's interests before the Eurozone. Not exactly something that will be taken lightly when it comes to trade deals, nor forgiven easily. Your little island is now light years from the continent, not just across the channel.
It sounds like Cameron estimated the plan would have hurt the banking sector, and in turn, the UK itself. If it were me, I wouldn't want to be part of a "team" that demands we give up our sovereignty, and agree to decisions that don't seem to be in our best interest.
You are making your usual mistake. What does mean "our" best interest? The banking sector interest is not the same as manufacturing section interest. In USA the interest of oil and weapon manufacturer is not the same as consumers or manufacturers of consumer products. While wars push up the price of oil and the profit of the first two, it is devastating to the other ones who lose market and face increase prices. There are no national governments anymore, just a bunch of crooks which work for some groups in the society while trying to fill up their pockets as much as possible.
Yeah, wouldn't want to hurt the banking sector now would we. Case: The Royal Bank of Scotland, bailed out 3 years ago by the UK government and now 83% owned by the government - 27,500 jobs lost. Those precious little darling bankers need all the help they can get, the workers of course don't count - let them suffer. There is no demand for any country to give their sovereignty. The EU is an example of countries working together towards a common goal, a better and stronger Europe but they all still have their own history, culture and language - none of them will ever give that up. It means they trade freely (no sanctions here) and travel freely (no body searches, visas required) across borders. The ultimate freedom. Cameron will be looking for a way to get himself out of the mess he has created pretty quickly.
Hi GWorld, welcome back. I just think the UK should decide for the UK what is in their own best interest -- not France or Germany.
Yes Rebecca, that is exactly what happened, the UK made their own decision. The same theory stands for all countries, all countries should be able to make their own decisions and not have anything forced upon them I guess.
You missed the point again, there is no UK. There is interest of banking sector, there is interest of consumer goods manufacturer, there is a military complex interest, there is politicians interest,.... Many of these interests are in conflict with each other. Government only represents the interest of those who are on top right now. Look at war in Iraq, everyone in UK knew that war was bad for them but Tony Blair knew that by serving USA, he will get rich when he leaves the office and what happened, they went to war and Blair became super rich.
Give Blair some credit, at least he apologised to Iraq and the Iraqi citizens who survived as well as to the families of the UK and international dead and wounded soldiers for the UK involvement. Although it was more along the lines of "apologise or face war crimes".
Give any one fifty million pound and many million pounds every year and they will apologize as much as you like. In fact many people in UK will be more than happy to get only 100,000 pound a year and as their job they can apologize 8 hours a day and for a full year. LOL.
Right. Are you saying Canada doesn't exist either? Perhaps Germany and France can tell them how to run their "non-existent" country too? They don't really exist, only interests do? They don't have a system where every single person in the UK can vote on every decision. They have leaders. Same as in the US. If they're not happy with this decision, they'll probably make changes. I don't know how the majority of people in the UK feel about this. However, looking at the comments of this article, it doesn't appear to be unpopular. Anyway, where I'm coming from, is that I respect the UK. In addition, my viewpoints may lean towards isolationist, and I feel, the idea of being in something like the EU just makes me cringe. I think they should do whatever they want. You have such a dark outlook. Do you actually think Cameron is going to become filthy rich by this, some kind of personal kick back from the bankers? Free checking, special perks, something like that?
Rebecca, you do know that the UK is a team of countries as well as being part of another team of countries - the Commonwealth. They are far from being isolationist in their outlook. Cameron took demands to the table and was told to go away - end of story.
You still don´t get it that there is no national governments anywhere who thinks what is best for the country. Politicians ONLY think about their own interests and what is best for the group in society that they represent. The war in Iraq resulted in about 500,000,000 dollars per day extra profit for oil companies and huge profit for military complex, how did it work out for USA and majority of Americans? Are you enjoying depression, high unemployment and lack of security in general? Don´t worry about Cameron, look how wealthy is Blair and Cameron most likely will be even richer. Do you honestly think that your president candidates spend tens of million dollars of their own money to get a job that pays only 400,000 per year?