I would put that down to the Euro, and the Greeks having a borrowing bonanza on cheap interest rates cos the lenders used Germany, Holland etc, as the interest rate setter. Spain was slightly different, partly corruption, as well as access to cheap money and even poorer bank regulation, too many airports and houses in the middle of nowhere. The Euro doesn't allow countries to devalue their way to competitiveness, the Peseta and the Lira used to have a sub denominations, like our penny, but Spain devalued so much, as did the Italians, that the "penny" wasn't worth counting. Devalue the currency and exports get cheaper. I don't think this blame can be laid at the door of the EU, although without doubt the Euro is a EU project and was "before its time" and so became an unwitting facilitator that exposed underlying problems.
How is it all our money? We keep getting told we are the fifth largest world economy, so we might put in more than we take out, but that's the whole ethos of a union, you put in what you can afford. Which we do easily. You referred to the north east, why not check out the projects in the north east that have benefitted from huge EU funding via the regional enterprise partnerships. https://www.nelep.co.uk/funding/european-funding Do you think that level of funding would have been provided by central government, or more importantly, do you think governments will do so in the future, once EU funding has stopped?
Tbh this place has never been the same since we began allowing them. I think hailfrank and dog gave in reluctantly and maybe they should be banned again. I'm not keen on moderating stuff that just keeps escalating into poorly thought out slanging matches. This is a VW hippie type forum where we like to promote love and peace Man.
To be honest the intial post is intentionally innocently framed but the outcome was clear from the start. Ie that it would provoke the response it has. Im a little bit sorry that ive even contributed to be honest. I know what i think and its unlikely anything will change because i call someone out for being a knobber for not agreeing with me. And yes, i was trolling but its hard not to get upset when you think ignorance and nationalistic furvour has led to a situation that no right thinking person could possibly be happy with. I have an intense dislike for those who think this country is great cos we ruled the world once and take every opportunity to wrap themselves in the flag. Its only their flag by birth. That said some of the guys on here have served under the flag to protect the country we all love and keep the peace. Sometimes that was in our interests but also unfortunately sometimes just as a tool of our capitalist masters. Which brings me to the point. There has been relative peace within western europe for 70 years. The principle behind the original european project was to control the means of production of the major industries and in doing so limit the ability of its members to wage war on each other. Given the mass slaughter of the first half of the 20 century then its achieved its aim so far not only internally but by presenting a block that can resist external threats on our doorstep and beyond. With the rise of nationalism and the potential for conflict then do we really want to be an inward looking outsider as we were prior to the last two world wars? As for nationalism and nationalists then ladies and gentlemen look no further than Northern Ireland to see the outcomes of that.
in cases of threads like this cannot the mods allow the thread to run for a couple pages let people have one or two replies than close the thread They do on other forums
Banning a thread is a form of censorship which goes against our right to freedom of expression. If you don't like a thread, you don't have to read it or contribute to it! I've been following this one and have seen some interesting debate but I have to admit that I am rather tiring of it now. I just hope that those with opposing views will still be able to meet up for a beer and a bit of craic afterwards.
i haven't contributed but have been following it and haven't yet found anything offensive to think about banning - personally i find folk commenting negatively on other peoples for sale threads much more offensive and disrespectful. Normally i'd have more to say on political threads, i haven't on these, not because i'm not interested nor dispassionate, i'm just choosing my battles at the moment - but i do find others views interesting and healthy debate/debunking/ perspectives fascinating; for me, a remainer/ risk assessor (not going in or out of anything until fully researched, imo, brexit wasn't), i think that it's good to try to understand 'the other side' - how else do we learn, engage and know thine enemy!? < very tongue in cheek! Politics, big or small 'p', informs everything we do - how can that be 'banned'? what happens when the inevitable eurovision thread pops up - steeped in politics this year; don't mention the war; brexit, israel, palestine... madonna! I love that this place is a slice of life - a group of folk brought together only by their love/fondness/tolerance(?) of one particular type of old vw (can we ban early/t25's, t4's etc? ) we've all come from different places, backgrounds etc and tlb is richer for it - echo chambers are dull. we'll have opposing views on oil/fuel lines and the current late bay fashions - surely it' how we handle those differences not to ban discussions on them? I have bloody lips from biting them sooooo many times when reading some threads, but self censorship comes in to play, as it should in everyday life when you're a grown up, no?
This is the thing with Brexit it brings out the real thoughts of people. To be unable to debate it (and now unfortunately politics as an whole) without calling someone a knobber is a pity and a sad indictment of how times are. Perhaps political threads are best left to those who can debate without emotion. Perhaps they are not for a VW forum at all.
oh i don't know... i've come close a few times admittedly, i must've missed that bit - shame on them! my eyes and ears bleed when i see/hear swearing, as well you know *polishes halo* *whispers* pm me who it was, did you get a screengrab?
When I started this thread the Brexit party had just launched, I said that I could see how they would appeal to leavers who feel very let down to say the least by the mainstream party’s, I didn’t say I would vote for them, since starting it and as a leave voter I have been called a facist, boring, a jockey and have been the brunt of a predictive text jibe, just another day at the office as being Bazza I suppose
can't deny it's a massive hot potato particularly with the rise in the far right in the uk and worldwide, and their language (and actions; brazil) are emboldening racists, fascists and general dickheads looking for a fight since the 'away days' stopped. When a young asian woman is on her usual commuter train and is challenged and intimidated by thugs whether she has a british passport and told to f*off back to her own country - it got real. That should make us all angry and while we should hold the thugs accountable we should also hold those who are peddling this rubbish for personal and political gain accountable too - they know exactly what they're doing and the impact it will have. Look at the Brexit party logo on a ballot paper - very clever.
diminutive wearing lurid silks? @Barry Haynes i think what i was trying to say was that it's not personal per se, but the current climate is very strained and those feeling the brunt of it the least able to confront it; minorities, vulnerable etc feelings are running very high, but that's what the game of divide and rule is all about
