If only we had given the yanks representation,ahhh, if only,BUT its too late now.
I don’t think us Brits need union with anyone to be honest, we just need a free trade area type agreement, we could join nafta instead of the eu but doubt it would really work.
Most of the UKs trade is with Europe.
The problem at the moment is that Europe just doesn’t make sense, different currency, different tax laws BUT same overall laws ( we brits HAVE to comply with european laws, honest, its all over for us… ).
A better alternative would be a law saying anyone in the USA or Europe can go live and work in the other area with minimum fuss, no ?
Free movement of goods leads to free movement of people ?
As they used to say ‘the difference between the USA system and the USSR one is that if you live in the USA and don’t like it, you can leave !’.
My girlfriend is French and well, to be honest, I adore french women ! so perhaps a mix of cultures is good for us.
If you take a beach vacation in a resort that caters to Germans, Brits, Scandinavians etc., the sun loungers are reputed to be taken by the Germans who place their towels on them at about six in the morning when the Brits are still hungover in bed.
An advertising campaign for beer was based on this a couple of years ago.
This is a topic that I find very interesting. I have quite a number of friends in the UK, and they are pretty unanimous in saying that EC membership (for GB) has been a mixed blessing. On the positive side, Britain now has access to the continental market. However, under the EC, you are PUNISHED for being efficient! For example, GB has a very efficient agricultural sector-so British produce is priced less than French produce. The result? British farmers pay heavy taxes to subsidize the small, inefficient French farms. Also, Britain has an economy with is more like that of the USA-that is large capital markets, global outlook, and free-trade oriented. The Continental economies are the opposite-the French heavily subsidize their industries, and their capital markets and services are generally closed to foreign competition. That is why you can buy a Japanese car in Britain, and you almost cannot in France. My friends say that GB has paid in MASSIVELY to the EC, and gets very little in return (except for headaches and restrictive trade policies).
And the COST of running the European parliament/government is a huge burden for Britain-and one that adds little if any value to british products (that nifty little “CE” that all European products sport) comes at a high prices!
OK, specific responses to my list of problems have been read, and some have been understood and accepted. Maybe we wouldn’t have to drive on the right; maybe the NHS would survive; maybe a few legal matters could be finessed.
But, first, a majority of the population would have to agree to the union, and secondly a significant minority would fight tooth and nail against it. If you think opposition to European Union (which even at its strongest is only a loose confederation) is strong, the possibility of joining an historic state with non-British ways of doing things which could be enforced by law, would lead to major civil order problems.
It’s a wonderful piece of ‘virtual history’, but is a non starter unless there was a total breakdown of the political system in Britain leading to the UK going cap in hand to the us.
And by the way, British teeth aren’t necessarily bad, the country just lacks a national obsession with shallow image indicators such as artificial looking teeth.
And British food is considerably better than myth would suggest.
If you take a beach vacation in a resort that caters to Germans, Brits, Scandinavians etc., the sun loungers are reputed to be taken by the Germans who place their towels on them at about six in the morning when the Brits are still hungover in bed.
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Damn man, Its true I tell you. SIX 0’CLOCK! How comes those crafty Krauts don’t get hangovers like the rest of us? (no answer required please!)
Not true. The US tolerates dual citizenship, albeit reluctantly and without formal recognition. While the citizenship oath does, I believe, include words to the effect of announcing any other allegiances, in practice you can keep any other nationality you want and it’ll have no impact whatsoever on maintaining your US citizenship. You just can’t use it to get out of any duties your US citizenship requires of you.
Rather than some kind of formal association (this was one of Sherlock Holmes’ few bad ideas), I suggest a few cultural/technological exchanges would be more palatable. For instance, we send you all our Yukons, Expeditions and minivans and you fork over a few classic Triumphs. Or we could ship out all our leafblowers in exchange for those clever British gardening implements and a night on the town with Penelope Hobhouse.
Just keep all that “mad cow” beef out of our burger food chain.
Advantage of union with Canada, from the Brit standpoint:
We already have the same head of state.
Disadvantage:
Driving on the other side of the road.
Advantage:
200+ television channels on the satellite rather then 5 or 10.
Disadvantage:
Getting used to living in a federal state. (This causes my Brit rellies to have kittens for some reason.)
Advantage:
It’s an established federal state with strong democratic traditions.
Disadvantage:
Having to learn another official language for government buisiness. (“Would the Honorable Member from London Centre care to respond?” “Oui. M. le premier Ministre, je crois que le gouvernement du M. Chretien doivent connaitre…”
Advantage:
Lots of elbow room.
Disadvantage:
Most of said elbow room is frozen for four months of the year.
Advantage:
Houses with decent central heating.
Disadvantage:
Mosquitoes the size of chihuahuas.
Advantage:
Closeness to the States without actually in it, so together we can occaisionally snicker and point.
Disadvantage:
The US would still seriously outnumber us.
Advantage:
We’d be outnumbered only 4:1 rather than 9:1…
Gail Andrews: “What’s that funny game you British play?”
Trillian: “Er, cricket? Self-loathing?”
Gail Andrews: “Parlimentary Democracy.”
[sub]snicker[/sub]
From the Brits I know, they would welcome neither union readily.
Eh, Flag Nor Fail, just wanna point out that to those of us who memorize Famous Dates In History, 1789 is generally the date on which we hang the French Revolution. The American Revolution is attached to the magic number 1776.
1789–French Revolution, the guillotine, the Scarlet Pimpernel.
1776–American Revolution, muskets, George Washington.
As a Brit, my personal opinion is that I’d rather be ‘in’ neither. If the question was re-phrased ‘Britain - better economically allied to EU or US’, I’d rather the US. Every time. The US strike me as much more pragmatic - call me naive but I get the feeling that we’d be able to join NAFTA without the US having to sanction (for instance) local changes to VAT (sales tax), unlike the EU. And don’t get me started on the Euro…
You obviously visited a State other than California. Us Californians are bombarded with weird pizza toppings day-in and day-out. The only problem you’d have ordering a pineapple pizza here would be the people rolling their eyes and saying, “Oh, that is just so 1998!”.
Yeah, yeah, that’d be right. UK flussed the original Commonwealth “trade bloc” down the plug hole to secure it’s own place in the European Common Market (the Kiwis are still spitting chips *[or more correctly “sputtn choops”] * about it) and now you want us back to save the Old Dart from Deutschemarks, bratwurst and retsina lakes and Brussels bureaucracy.
Assuming “us” is New Zealand, your backpackers wouldn’t need work permits and would therefore be able to totally dominate the market for bar staff in London :).
