# Will The UK Exit The EU in 2016? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 7, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414 "2016-01-07T13:44:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/41 "2016-01-08T13:32:04Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > -the UK should not get stuck with bailing out Greece any more The UK is not part of the Euro Zone, and as such has not been bailing out Greece, and is not stuck bailing out Greece if it stays in the EU. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/42 "2016-01-08T13:36:47Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > Oh dear the spelling and grammar police again. You are missing the point entirely. You do not speak for any one else. It makes you seem odd that you would assume otherwise, not least because you have no constituency and people do prefer to speak for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/43 "2016-01-08T13:41:00Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > The refugees are just that, refugees. The facts are obvious, anyone can see what is happening in Syria. Sorry to burst your right wing bubble, but you lost all credibility by insinuating that they are easy economic migrants. meh. Sorry to burst your left wing bubble, but it’s an established fact that a very large percentage (a majority in fact) of the migrants which came to Europe in 2015 were not from Syria. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria have been other large source countries. It is another established fact that a very large percentage (30% according to German numbers) of those claiming to be from Syria are lying. That you are unaware of these simple facts lost you all credibility on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/44 "2016-01-08T13:43:52Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > The UK … has not been bailing out Greece [That’s not correct](http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/greek-bail-out-loan-pushes-uk-nearer-eu-exit-1-3834137). > [@](#): > > A SENIOR Tory has warned George Osborne that he helped push the UK to the European Union exit door with his U-turn in agreeing to help bail out Greece after first pledging that no British money would be involved in the eurozone crisis. > > The shot across the bows from Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman came as the Chancellor defended an £850 million loan from the UK to Greece as part of the bailout fund. ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/45 "2016-01-08T13:49:19Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Ah, the battlecry of the UKIPper - “It’s not _our_ fault! The media makes us look bad by reporting things we say!”. In reality the “leftwing BBC” is heavily responsible for the rise of UKIP, having given Nigel Farage a disproportionate amount of free television appearances in the year before the election. You ought to write them a nice note of thanks, really. > > That’s the party line (which I note you’re toeing) but in practice it does tend to be “FOREIGN PEOPLE BAD”, whether they’re riding the bus or keeping the NHS from collapsing. > > Net migration is currently around 330,000, which admittedly is at the highest point over over ten years - two years ago it was half that rate. I’d be interested to see where your figure of 350,000 economic migrants comes from (and if it’s the Daily Mail, don’t even bother - when it comes to immigrants they’re about as reliable as the Guardian is on proofreading). > > Then you must love the Labour Party right now. > > Anyhoo, to link this back to the main topic, here’s [some bloke from that paragon of the leftwing media the Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11832744/Britains-economy-would-be-lost-without-immigration.html): I think that at 330,000 we are both agreed the figure is far to high and needs to be brought under control. You failed to comment on my statement that by reducing the number of economic migrants we could do more for Genuine refugees I love what is happening to the Labour Party it shows that they are evolving into a party in opposition for far to long there has been no debate within Labour which has contributed to much of their problems, I think that they will elect a new leader by the end of this year and that some workable socialist policies will emerge, some of the idea’s flying around at present are un-workable but that is where the debate comes in ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/46 "2016-01-08T13:54:06Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > meh. Sorry to burst your left wing bubble, but it’s an established fact that a very large percentage (a majority in fact) of the migrants which came to Europe in 2015 were not from Syria. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan, Nigeria have been other large source countries. It is another established fact that a very large percentage (30% according to German numbers) of those claiming to be from Syria are lying. That you are unaware of these simple facts lost you all credibility on the subject. So are you bursting his bubble by saying people coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria are indeed just economic migrants? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/47 "2016-01-08T14:06:18Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > I think that at 330,000 we are both agreed the figure is far to high and needs to be brought under control. Where did **Gyrate** say that? ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/48 "2016-01-08T14:06:29Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > So are you bursting his bubble by saying people coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria are indeed just economic migrants? Sadly this is a proven point they are not settling in the first safe country that they come to. France is a safe and prosperous country Why do those in the so called Jungle camp keep insisting on coming to England when they can register in France? ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/49 "2016-01-08T14:08:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Ah, the cutting of red tape. This reminds me of something I read in the FT a while back: > > \*Financial sector, pre-2007 crash: “The FSA is too intrusive! It’s stifling growth! It should stay out of our business!” > > Financial sector, post-crash: “Why didn’t the FSA stop this from happening?”\* > > While legislation is always fraught with inefficiencies and implementation issues, there is an argument for infant retention during bathwater disposal protocol implementation too. > > . To be honest I was not necessarily advocating the cutting of red tape. My point was that Brexit will probably be neutral to the City of London. What it loses in one way it will likely gain in another. Where that gain comes from no-one yet knows. I simply used cutting red tape as an example of theoretically how greater profits can be found from a Brexit. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/50 "2016-01-08T14:11:07Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > Sadly this is a proven point they are not settling in the first safe country that they come to. France is a safe and prosperous country Why do those in the so called Jungle camp keep insisting on coming to England when they can register in France? If France is prosperous how is your fact proven that they are economic migrants in wanting to come to the UK? ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/51 "2016-01-08T14:46:49Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > If France is prosperous how is your fact proven that they are economic migrants in wanting to come to the UK? If they are already in a safe country where they can register why haven’t they? By not doing so they have categorised themselves as economic migrants ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/52 "2016-01-08T14:51:30Z")
Think a little harder and try again. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/53 "2016-01-08T15:04:36Z")
LOL. Don’t encourage him. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/54 "2016-01-08T17:32:02Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > That’s both true and false. Different parts of the BBC have different biases. Parts of the BBC have been very biased against the Tories. Parts have delighted in the rise of UKIP. Parts have even been pro-Labour. I went to the BBC Big Debate in Stonehaven last year and there was no Tory on the panel (nor UKIP), despite the Tories being the second party locally. Let’s not forget that, before Nigel, Boris Johnson also rose to prominence due to BBC overexposure - most notably on “Have I Got News For You”. And at the moment the “funny conservative politician of choice” of HIGNFY appears to be Jacob Rees-Mogg. Name a Labour politician who’s had that sort of bump. > [@](#): > > A question for you: when was the last time the BBC produced a drama that centred on and showed the Tories in a positive light? I…have no idea what this would look like, unless you mean something like “The Gathering Storm”. Give me an example of a drama that showed some other party in a “positive light” for comparison so I know what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/55 "2016-01-08T17:45:37Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Let’s not forget that, before Nigel, Boris Johnson also rose to prominence due to BBC overexposure - most notably on “Have I Got News For You”. And at the moment the “funny conservative politician of choice” of HIGNFY appears to be Jacob Rees-Mogg. Name a Labour politician who’s had that sort of bump. > > I…have no idea what this would look like, unless you mean something like “The Gathering Storm”. Give me an example of a drama that showed some other party in a “positive light” for comparison so I know what you mean. I think you are subtly misrepresenting the career of Boris Johnson and his early relationship with the BBC. Johnson was for many years a journalist not a politician. It was as a journalist he began to get regular, and successful, gigs on HIGNFY. ---
**Author:** ![nicky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f0a364/32.png) [@nicky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicky)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/56 "2016-01-08T19:02:15Z")
Ukip = tea party Daily mail = fox news Britain will stay in the EU. Its the small c conservative thing to do. Also Corbyn. by putting some distance back between the parties, he makes the moderating effect of the EU more attractive. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/57 "2016-01-08T19:41:59Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I…have no idea what this would look like, That statement itself speaks volumes. > [@](#): > > Give me an example of a drama that showed some other party in a “positive light” for comparison so I know what you mean. I don’t watch much TV. One example I do recall: an episode of the Archers (I was visiting my mother), perhaps a decade ago, where they drooled over and eulogised the then Labour government’s just-announced (so the script-writers had the policies before they were announced) agricultural policies. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/58 "2016-01-08T21:08:40Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Yeah, I bet there isn’t even a war in Syria! then why are they seeking rich countries, instead of close safe havens where they can return once the war has ended? These are most definitely economic immigrants, using refugee status. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/59 "2016-01-08T21:54:07Z")
Will Britain leave? It’s hard to say at this point. Doing so will involve a leap into the unknown, to some extent, as no other EU member state has so far done so. Some of us will vote for it anyway regardless of the predictions about what would/would not happen. And some will weigh up the arguments and come to a decision based on their perception of where their better interest lies. The arguments for and against are essentially the same ones as those over the Scottish breakaway vote last year. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414/60 "2016-01-08T22:15:06Z")
“leap into the unknown”? Hardly. From the UK’s earliest beginning to 1973 it was not a member. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-uk-exit-the-eu-in-2016/742414.md?page=4)