Going back into Europe

It would not mean joining the Eurozone. That has already been explained by Maizie

I would certainly support rejoining, probably over a 5-yr period or so, and hope that Starmer will become more decisive about it.
Had not thought that joining the euro would be a deal breaker. We haven't done very well with metrication 🥺.

BlueBelle I was very upset too.. why don’t you think you will be around🤔

I would definitely draw a line at joining the euro, which is what might prevent full membership, but I am very content to work closer and join both the single market and customs union for our businesses to flourish once again.

We might rejoin a form of customs Union in the medium term but full membership not likley any time soon. Currently the consolidation of Brexit is happening, next year you will need a visa to cross the channel.

I would definitely like us to rejoin the EU I feel European and would love free movement to come back.

Michel Barnier has made it clear that the door is always open. As has Guy Verhoffstadt. It’s just that we’ll never get a deal as good as the one we had before. If Labour aren’t careful, though, they’re going to miss the point that the mood in the country has changed. And, if they want to regain Scotland they need to be more openly pro EU.

MayBee70

Michel Barnier has made it clear that the door is always open. As has Guy Verhoffstadt. It’s just that we’ll never get a deal as good as the one we had before. If Labour aren’t careful, though, they’re going to miss the point that the mood in the country has changed. And, if they want to regain Scotland they need to be more openly pro EU.

Yes

Brexit is the biggest mistake ever. I didnt want to leave. I just hope Scotland gets independence as there is such strong feeling the Scots were dragged out against their will. Im still waiting for even one benefit of Brexit.

Liberal Democrats want a way forward which works for Britain - that cuts down red tape, reduces costs for businesses and makes people better off as a result.

Europe represents our closest neighbour and our largest trading partner.

The blunt reality is that fine-tuning and tinkering on the edges of our trading relationship with Europe will not be enough. It will not provide the stability which will boost the British economy.

Today Liberal Democrat members have endorsed a four stage roadmap to establish the UK’s future trading relationship with Europe, benefitting British businesses and families. It starts by acknowledging that ties between the UK and Europe have been deeply damaged by years of haggling and will have to be forged in a new way gradually over time.

The four-stage plan is as follows:

Taking immediate action to improve links with our European neighbours, including building closer ties in education by reforming the government’s Turing scheme.
Further steps to build confidence and establish stronger relationships with Europe, including seeking cooperation agreements with EU agencies, returning to Erasmus Plus and seeking to reach a UK-EU agreement on asylum seekers.
Deepening trade with Europe, including by negotiating greater access for our world-leading UK food and animal products to the Single Market, securing deals on sector-specific work visas and establishing mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
Once the trading relationship between the UK and the EU is deepened, and the ties of trust and friendship are renewed, aim to place the UK–EU relationship on a more formal and stable footing by seeking to join the Single Market.

Liberal Democrats are the UK’s most pro-European political party.

We believe Britain’s best future is at the heart of Europe - and our long-term ambition is to see the UK in that place once more.

www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/rebuilding-trade-cooperation-with-europe

We can but hope it will be sooner rather than later!

To be honest, I don’t know. I voted remain, but now we’re out I think it would be difficult to rejoin. I wouldn’t want to lose our currency though. Overall, I really don’t know.

Maybe its the 'oldies' who want to hang on to the British pound.
As we advance more and more into cashless payments the younger generation may not be so bothered.
The Euro is an extremely efficient currency for the open border countries.

halfpint1

Maybe its the 'oldies' who want to hang on to the British pound.
As we advance more and more into cashless payments the younger generation may not be so bothered.
The Euro is an extremely efficient currency for the open border countries.

It's nothing to do with being and 'oldie', halfpint, it has a very sound economic reason. Losing sovereign control of the currency truly does lead to problems with the dominant economic ideology which controls the ECB.

Greece went through a terrible period when they were subject to austerity because of ECB economic policy. It was not sound economics, it was just ideology. The UK is experiencing much the same ideological 'austerity' now, and has been for 13 years. It's destroying our public services and our economy.

The UK is experiencing much the same ideological 'austerity' now, and has been for 13 years. It's destroying our public services and our economy.

So, I suppose we don't need to join the Euro to punish ourselves, we can do it all by ourselves!


To be fair, I think lots of us who were against giving up the pound would now give it up, maybe not quite "happily", to go back in.

Surely we are still recovering from the financial global crisis of 2008? Only to be hit by the cost of the Covid pandemic, fuel and energy crisis plus war in Ukraine ?

Austerity is a political choice. We do have alternatives when recession looms.

There was no recession after the Second World War.

So there was no need for the Tory austerity measures of 2010 - nor is there need for any now.

Economists are forecasting another global financial crisis for 2023.

But the policies we put into place to mitigate against what is the “natural order” of capitalist systems are political choices.

Don’t think the Uk had any choice in the 2008 global financial crisis? Feels as if we’re sleepwalking into the next one.

ronib

Economists are forecasting another global financial crisis for 2023.

Hadnt seen that.
What sort of "crisis"?Though I have been saying that to anyone who would listen, for months.

ronib

Don’t think the Uk had any choice in the 2008 global financial crisis? Feels as if we’re sleepwalking into the next one.

No! You misunderstand capitalist crises are cyclical and inevitable and there is nothing the world can do to prevent them.

Where we do have a choice is the mitigation we put into place to help ourselves ride them out and get back to equilibrium.

Those choices are political. So immediately after the crash, Labour was still in power and had introduced measures to help mitigate the worst effects of the crash. These included nationalising a number of banks to create stability, and thus ensuring that there was sufficient capital to continue to loan to businesses and households. In other words the economy was not hit by a liquidity shortage which would have suppressed the economy and pushed us further into recession.

So no austerity.

fancythat The Economist Nov 18 2022 ‘Why a global recession is inevitable in 2023’ Zanny Bedford
Behind a paywall though.

Beddoes