Let's not forget Brexit

Firecracker- reversing your statement -you could argue the UK is interested in paying the least amount of money. Both viewpoints may have some accuracy. Lets face it, in a divorce where one party doesn't want the divorce in the first place - they want to take the straying party to the cleaners- the straying party wants to hang onto as much of their assets as possible.

You're got it right there the EU does want to take us to the cleaners.

I think the EU want us to pay our pre agreed dues. The trouble is that no one in the government expected the Referendum result, it was just a way of a weak PM trying to sort out Tory party divisions. Hence the government was totally unprepared for the situation it is now in. The only constant is a weak PM and a Tory Party at each other's throats!

Firecracker is quite right, the bottom line is money and little to do with citizens rights which can be amicably sorted. Its all about how much the EU can financially wring out of us. As we are clearly very important financially to the EU, its a pity they didn't think of that when they were so dismissive of David Cameron all those months ago. Had he come back from Europe with something even vaguely tangible it could have been a different story. Of course we should pay for 28 ordered drinks, but not to leave the pub!

David Cameron was a weak PM; so weak that, having lost the referendum he scarpered! Annoyingly, the concessions he did get have now been put on the back burner because of brexit [and he did get some, it's just that they weren't very well publicised]. Plus the fact that May could have restricted immigration into this country when she was a useless Home Secretary, but didn't bother to. A weak, useless government with a weak useless PM and a joke of a Foreign Secretary at a time when we need strength and stability.

Totally agree nigglynellie, going back to the pub remark, UK has been paying for champagne but some like Malta, Spain, Portugal, Greece have only paid for fizzy water but are getting champagne ?

Maybot has accepted that we will continue to pay our accepted liability until the end of the current budget.

What has not been agreed because the U.K. is not clear yet, are the areas with which it accepts a liability going forward like pensions, payments towards the continual development of various agencies etc.

Hyperbole that suggests that the EU is wringing every last penny etc from the U.K. exaggerates and nullifies ones argument.

"taking a straying partner to the cleaners" in this context means making sure the UK pays all their dues and doesn't try and wriggle out of them. ( or claim that the other party are being unfair).
The fact that richer countries help out poorer countries isn't seen be everyone as "unfair" either. Most of the wealth of the UK in the 21st century has been generated by the City of London, this hasn't all been spent in London, many poorer regions of the UK (e.g.Northern Ireland) are net beneficiaries. If we were really parochial about this , then maybe London should keep it all and demand independence.

As you say Firecracker for donkeys years we have diligently paid our way even with the rebate, to the benefit of poorer countries without a murmur, put up with the distain and arrogance ( a small cold damp insignificant island off the northern coast of Europe) of the Commissioners, put up with the astonishing waste of money spent on grandiose projects by the EU and put up with our own ex ministers stepping, sometimes with family members into jobs on the well oiled EU gravy train. (god forbid their pensions may be affected!!!) So it's hardly surprising that a lot of everyday people had seen and heard enough, and when asked if they want to remain in this illustrious club said NO.

' put up with our own ex ministers stepping, sometimes with family members into jobs on the well oiled EU gravy train. (god forbid their pensions may be affected'..at least they probably turned up and did the job unlike Farage who was so busy complaining about the EU he hardly bothered to turn up unless he wanted to stir things up. And yes, he'll get a pension for it so he can b*****r off abroad in his Volvo with his French lover....

'I spoke at length to a man in his mid thirties (I'm now kicking myself that I didn't get his name) who approached me while I was leafleting passers-by during the speeches. He told me that he had met his Italian wife due to freedom of movement, and that now they didn't know whether or how they were going to be able to stay together. Would she be able to get residency in the UK? Would he be able to get residency if they moved to another EU country? At the moment, they simply don't know. On top of which, both their careers are here, but his wife is increasingly feeling she doesn't want to stay in a country that appears not to want her - to resent her presence no matter what she does, just because she didn't happen to be born here.

He went on to explain that he is employed at the University of Nottingham, and has been working on an EU-funded joint Anglo-French-Italian research project. He has just found out that he has lost his place on that project as of the end of this year because he will not be eligible for EU funding right to the end of the project and therefor the research team has had to replace him with someone from another EU state. Not only does Nottingham University loose out on being involved in that stream of research, it also looses the £80,000 per annum funding direct to the university from the EU.

That's the reality of Brexit right there. We haven't even left yet and already families are being torn apart. Piece by piece we're loosing our involvement and influence in co-operative international projects and the regions of the UK are loosing the funding they currently enjoy from the EU - funding which I don't think anyone seriously believes is going to be replaced by the UK government; and all for what? Has anyone ever heard a Brexiteer give a single example of an actual concrete benefit that will come to us from all this pain? Certainly not to my knowledge'
This is what's happening to people all over this country at this moment in time; does any brexiter have any empathy for people like this? Or are they so happy in their little bubble that they don't care ...

* without a murmur*?????? really?
Eurosceptics have been slagging off Europe for years -all those laws about cleaning up beaches, workers rights, health and safety etc. Complete travesty.
Distain and arrogance - sounds like Ukip attitude to johnny foreigner...

Yes Nigel Farage has seen first hand the EU gravy train and the money that is wasted that's why he wanted Brexit, unlike some MEPs who just want to stay on the train because all they are thinking about are themselves.

So has Nick Clegg and, strangely enough he has a slightly different opinion. I know which one of them I believe.

Brextreemists don't care Tegan. They don't care if their own children loose their jobs ( I heard this from one such ) as long as we pull up the drawbridge.

Nigel Farage was convinced of his own message before he became an MEP. He hardly ever turns up or votes so he can't actually see much of what goes on. ( he draws the salary and huge expenses though)

You know, nellie, when you were debating, pre referendum, you were quite balanced and fair about both sides of the debate (in fact I've even seen one of your posts where you said you probably wouldn't vote because there was so much to say for each side). I often wonder what has turned you into someone who is so bitter against the EU.

The whole point of supporting the poorer members of the EU is to help them to grow their economies so that they can benefit from an improved standard of living, have more to export (and can import more; it's a two way process) and, by increasing their GDP, be able to contribute more to the common EU budget.

Whether this latter benefit would mean that all members would pay proportionately less as the poorer countries contribution increased or whether the bloated and grasping (and illusory) entity that is the EU would grab more money to spend on vast extravagances, nepotism and jobs for the boys is a matter of speculation as no-one here actually knows which way it would work out.

If he had any decency he'd give his wages/pension to charity #pigsmightfly

Yes but he wants us to leave the EU he could have just carried on not said anything and carried on getting his MEPs salary. As for Nick Clegg the fact that he lost his seat at the last general election speaks for itself.

Yes Nigel Farage has seen first hand the EU gravy train

What an extraordinary statement! He's been slurping from the gravy train for all he is worth, even misusing EU funds for his own political ends, and will continue to do so as long as he possibly can.

And when Brexit goes tits up he fully intends to bugger off to live abroad. He's contemptible.

I thought you agreed with free movement ?

This is one of a series of tweets today from a former leaver, Tim Neale.
“Unless there’s a dramatic change of course - EEA/SM/CU/Euratom, no one with a grasp of reality can continue to support Leave.”

Farage has tried to be elected as an MP and lost 7 times. So he beats Nick Clegg there.

I am rapidly coming to the opinion that Brexit is dead but simply wont lie down.

He also says,
“‘It’ll be alright on the night’ won’t wash. Entire sectors and millions of livelihoods are at stake.
No one who loses their job will give a monkeys about the ECJ and the budget. This is obvious but apparently escapes some Leavers.”