Should the UK pay up? UK told to pay £1.7bn extra to EU

[micknew]

OK back on track.
I see that over the last few days the government have been claiming that
A This comes as a surprise
B The EU are using this as a stick to beat Britain with
C (Ok this one isn't a claim but) Cameron is using this as an opportunity to play Mr Tough Guy.

So, some questions have to be asked.
How did the EU come up with this figure of £1.7 billion?
Well the treasury is required to come up with figures on GDP and GNP which are then sent to the EU who then base their financing requirements on them. This happens for all EU members.
How long ago was this done?
At least 6 months ago.
Why does it then come as a shock to the government?
It bloody doesn't! It's a perfect opportunity for Cameron to act the big man, he saw it coming and is milking it. If it does come as a shock then it's further proof that Gideon is unfit for purpose.
NB If this was happening under a Labour government I'd have said exactly the same things.
Don't believe the hype people.

Yes Trev that's exactly what Farage predicted yesterday, because £1.7 billion is an estimate.
When the true cost is decided he'll claim the glory for getting it reduced..

 

[trev]

Yes Trev that's exactly what Farage predicted yesterday, because £1.7 billion is an estimate.
When the true cost is decided he'll claim the glory for getting it reduced..

As Mike said, he said he won't be paying on 1st December. He said F all about the 2nd though.
A pound to a pinch of pig poop says it'll be paid.

 

[dingledong]

Hum. You guys have ruined my thread.

As above

 

[Darkwood]

OK back on track.
I see that over the last few days the government have been claiming that
A This comes as a surprise
B The EU are using this as a stick to beat Britain with
C (Ok this one isn't a claim but) Cameron is using this as an opportunity to play Mr Tough Guy.

So, some questions have to be asked.
How did the EU come up with this figure of £1.7 billion?
Well the treasury is required to come up with figures on GDP and GNP which are then sent to the EU who then base their financing requirements on them. This happens for all EU members.
How long ago was this done?
At least 6 months ago.
Why does it then come as a shock to the government?
It bloody doesn't! It's a perfect opportunity for Cameron to act the big man, he saw it coming and is milking it. If it does come as a shock then it's further proof that Gideon is unfit for purpose.
NB If this was happening under a Labour government I'd have said exactly the same things.
Don't believe the hype people.

Which ever way you interpret this, if he refuses then legal challenges will ensue and guess what we have an election so he only has to deal with it if they win again ...plus yes agree this is a set up to show a acting tough nature...total balllcocks

 

[Maddison]

I'm with you tell em to sod off we pay enough already.

£55m a day apparently

 

[dingledong]

55 million in. £20 notes stacked up is supposed to be as high as Nelson column a man on lbc radio was saying today

 

[UNG]

To be perfectly honest there isn't much of that left, we import 50 million more than we export, 1980s britain say no more,I don't want to upset the Thatcher fans here lol, I'm done, enjoy yourselves.

Yes 1980's Britain Scargill and Red Robbo did so much to drag the country down one killed the coal industry and the other the car industry in Birmingham

Cameron has a few choices here. Not pay at all and cop a MAXIMUM 200 million Euro per year fine (Much better than 1.7 billion lol) OR ask for the payments to be deferred and taken out of future rebates ect (This will probably appeal if he/they believe that Labour will win the election so it will become their problem and the Tories would get to blame someone else).
My 3rd option is in the cospiracy theory section it goes like this -
The EU top brass have seen that the UK population are ready to walk away.....They don't want this, Cameron doesn't want this, Most other top Mp's in every party don't want this...so this is a staged setup. We get hit with this bill - Cameron gets to moan and demand it be wiped/drastically reduced - The EU relent and say Yes you the UK are correct this is wrong and wipe/reduce the bill.
Then the EU get to say look how accommodating we are to the UK...please stay in. Cameron gets to say look at me im a big player in the EU....and farage gets kicked into touch come the election to the delight of ALL the other parties.
I suppose there is a fourth option - we just pay up and shut up.
As much as I am a supporter of the EU (Like others here) I just can't see how they can justify this. It would be with a heavy heart that I would be forced to vote for out if we continue to be treated in this manner.

The current calls of the EU for money from the UK shows how bankrupt the EU would be should the UK vote to leave. I believe the EU is playing games and is hoping for a more pro EU UK government come May 2015 and is trying to gauge reaction by throwing this in

Firstly,Something beloved by kippers.
Secondly, I've worked in Saudi mate and things don't get much more Islamic than that place as a few on here can bear witness to. I have never met a Muslim who wanted to kill me.

From the current situation you would probably only meet one when they intended too or did kill you. Then again there are some whose preaching incites others to do their dirty work

It matters not one jot who first used the word
I am not a supporter of Islam, what I am a supporter of is treating everyone as individuals no matter what their creed, religion, sexuality or colour of skin. We're all human beings.
You want to demonise Islam? Take a look at the bible first because there's a whole load of slavery, prostitution, executions in there mate. All sanctioned by Jesus when he said "I came to confirm the teachings of the old testament" so there's the abrogation argument out of the window.
Incidentally, what you're not told is that immediately after the sword verses there's a bit that tells them that when the aggression towards them stops then they should stop too. That bit is conveniently forgotten by all extreme sides of the argument.

Islam is doing a good job demonising itself with the radicals and extremists although IMO it is hard to accept that all Muslims don't think the same way they prefer the martyrs to do their work

I don't "like them" I like people. I dislike idiots and arseholes. I judge everyone on their approach to me whether they be Christians (plenty of arseholes there) Jews (plenty of arseholes there) Sikhs (once again) Buddhists(again) Muslims(again) etc ad infinitum.
Please name one country which has banned Islam. That highlighted statement may well bite you on the arse Mick.
Here's a few questions for you-
During "the troubles" were all Irish people a threat?
During the 70s were all Germans a threat because of the activities of the Baader Meinhoff group?
Are all Christians to blame for the activities of the Westboro Baptist Church?
If my neighbour who is of a similar demographic to me commits a crime am I somehow implicated in it because we're both middle aged white blokes?

You are correct somewhere in the world all religeons have their terrorists

The koran also tells them to stop when they're not facing aggression any more.

I assume you mean The Quran which in conjunction with The Hadith is used to interpret Sharia Law

 

[trev]

There are a few accepted spellings of the word (koran, quran, qu'ran etc) but yes, I do mean that book.
"I believe the EU is playing games" As I said, it's more that our government are the ones playing games. They prepared the figures that the demand for £1.7 billion is based on.

 

[UNG]

That's a bit of a cop-out. If you state things as fact it's reasonable to expect you to be able to back them up with evidence.

And a number of people are put down by others being told that there source is not true because they read the wrong news stand rag yet they never state or substantiate their sources, so there is another cop out by some

I'm absolutely not wading into this one, but the following link may assist some members.

Putin confused hijab with burqa | islam.ru

A lot of people don't understand the Muslim head dress

so how long are we going to continue supporting a corrupt union of countries that want to become collectively superior to the USA? God put the english channel there for a reason. OUT<OUT<OUT!

I'm with Tel

The EU Commission and it's Commissioners are an out of control group who seem answerable to no one including the elected MEP's and have no grip on reality it is one of the reasons why I believe a UK pull out will see the EU fail into bankruptcy and the threatened export of UK jobs will not happen. The EU operates way beyond it's original remit and with no transparency it is looking for more ways to extend and expand it's grip on all the member states as time goes on, there seems to be no way to reign in the EU commission and any meaningful reform is long since gone the UK may if it pulls out be the domino that topples the lot.

 

[trev]

"And a number of people are put down by others being told that there source is not true because they read the wrong news stand rag yet they never state or substantiate their sources, so there is another cop out by some"
However, if someone makes a statement as fact then they should be able to back that statement up when challenged

 

[micknew]

Brilliant posts by UNG, total common sense reply's.

 

[rapparee]

I am of the belief the eu has become too unweildly but i think there needs to be more intregration not less to overcome the current problems. If the uk decides to isolate itself from the eu it will be turning its back on its biggest export market €275bn a year. Free trade is linked to free movement of goods and free movement of people

 

[dingledong]

Yes your right but no one is going there every one is coming here !

 

[Octopus]

The problem with the EU is the fact that there are so many poorer countries involved now, they will do anything to prevent reform that would mean they would get less money.

this and this alone will hold the eu back for decades wilst the bricks motor on ahead regardless. Europe could well end up being a poor continent in the not too distant future

 

[micknew]

The problem with the EU is the fact that there are so many poorer countries involved now, they will do anything to prevent reform that would mean they would get less money.

this and this alone will hold the eu back for decades wilst the bricks motor on ahead regardless. Europe could well end up being a poor continent in the not too distant future

Totally agree Murdock.