Lord Heseltine - "The UK will join the Euro... if it survives" - Polidicks

please don't use the Euro I don't want to feel like I'm trapped in an episode of the Mighty Boosh

[QUOTE=Atlascore;35608635]Currency is a stupid thing to consider part of your "past", if you sent someone a hundred years back in time either that currency wouldn't exist or it would be almost worthless and look so different you'd have to tell them it's said currency. If the Euro was stable it would be a good thing to change to, each country having it's own currency only complicates things involves cash between two countries, especially when one country's currency is worth much more than the others.[/QUOTE] Well, considering that the pound has been around since before the creation of the UK, and is actually the oldest currency in existence... Yeah, it is part of our past. Also, the Bank of England was established in 1694 - and from then on all notes were made clear to be pounds. So yeah, you would be able to tell what currency a 100 year old note was. And again, I reiterate that the Euro doesn't work, so your argument is somewhat irrelevant.

I hope that the Euro recovers well enough to the point that Britain will join. It'll bring us closer to a universal currency.

All I'm getting from this is that the EU are Borg

[QUOTE=Teddi Orange;35608651]The pound is worth more than the Euro. That reason in itself is why we shouldn't join the Euro. [img]http://old.bbservers.co.uk/screenshots/Screenshot-2012-04-17_17.57.09.png[/img][/QUOTE] Isn't the Pound one of the best currencies at the moment in terms of exchange rate?

Fuck the euro. The pound is part of britain and we should damn well stick to it.

You guys still have lords? That's awesome.

[QUOTE=Atlascore;35608446]Why does everyone hate the Euro? I think it was a pretty good idea, especially in a place like Europe where there's like fifty different currencies..[/QUOTE] It's a terrible idea, one country can cause massive damage to it's value. [editline]17th April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Sobotnik;35609000]I hope that the Euro recovers well enough to the point that Britain will join. It'll bring us closer to a universal currency.[/QUOTE] What's the point in a universal currency?

I can't see this happening, the majority of the population are opposed to changing our currency... and there's no need to do so. It's a proven fact that if we'd been using the euro when the financial decline happened the country would have had even more deficit. Changing to the euro is entirely illogical. I personally believe currency is one of the defining features of a country, a solid part of it's history and unique identity. I'm not against the European union but a unified currency has no benefits.

[QUOTE=Atlascore;35608974]Where did I say anything about only the pound? I was talking about all country's currencies. Why doesn't it work? So far the only problem has been with Greece, the EU should have only let stable countries use the Euro.[/QUOTE] Well considering this is a thread about the pound... I've already explained why it won't work, and saying "only let the stable countries in" is terrible, because no economy can ever be guaranteed to always remain stable.

Fuck off heseltine, I'm keeping my pounds.

I didn't protest during the occupy movement. I didn't take part in the riots. But you take my national currency away, one of the last remaining pieces of the United Kingdom and I'll sure as hell kick up a fuss about it. And by that I mean I'll sit on the internet and make a big ranting post. But seriously they can't do this.

[QUOTE=David29;35608509]2. The Euro crisis. The whole thing demonstrated that the Euro concept is like Communism - great in theory but not viable in practice. The problem is that because it causes all the members to be financially linked together, if one country has problems then it impacts all the other countries - imagine a load of ships tied together and one of them starts to sink...[/QUOTE] This is like saying the US dollar is a failure because an issue in New York will affect California. If your argument is that it's bad because being financially unified means that you'll be affect by other unified areas, then that's a pretty poor argument. [editline]17th April 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=ViralHatred;35609821]But you take my national currency away, one of the last remaining pieces of the United Kingdom and I'll sure as hell kick up a fuss about it.[/QUOTE] So you're going to sit there, cross your arms, and be a nationalist about it then?

[QUOTE=Megafan;35609993]This is like saying the US dollar is a failure because an issue in New York will affect California. If your argument is that it's bad because being financially unified means that you'll be affect by other unified areas, then that's a pretty poor argument.[/QUOTE] Why is that a poor argument? It's a fantastic argument and the #1 reason we're not in the Euro. It's absolutely nothing like the USA.

[QUOTE=Bobie;35608220]but its not democratic if you cant screw people over with money[/QUOTE] Oh no, where will our precious democracy go? How will we redistribute wealth against the will of the people?

[QUOTE=Megafan;35609993]This is like saying the US dollar is a failure because an issue in New York will affect California. If your argument is that it's bad because being financially unified means that you'll be affect by other unified areas, then that's a pretty poor argument.[/QUOTE] But that is a bad comparison, since you are comparing a single country - which operates under a single government - to a collection of countries which all operate differently.

I don't really care which currency we use in the end. Clinging desperately to circular pieces of metal seems ridiculous, but on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any reason to change for the moment. No reason that my economically-feeble mind can comprehend. [editline]17th April 2012[/editline] It's funny reading some of the posts in this thread because FP is usually really cynical about Nationalism. In the end they're just little pieces of metal that we push around every day. Who gives an single shits? I wouldn't care if we used pebbles as long as they were functional and/or convenient.

I will never give up my pound sterling credits of the realm

[QUOTE=David29;35608509]Two reasons: 1. It's a form of identity - part of a country's history, heritage, etc. Some people value it for this reason, some people hate the whole idea of heritage (and I could name a few on this forum) and some don't care either way. 2. The Euro crisis. The whole thing demonstrated that the Euro concept is like Communism - great in theory but not viable in practice. The problem is that because it causes all the members to be financially linked together, if one country has problems then it impacts all the other countries - imagine a load of ships tied together and one of them starts to sink...[/QUOTE] If your national identity has to be printed on a coin or piece of paper then you don't really have a national identity. Also the euro hasn't failed, it isn't as strong as it could be because they handed out acceptance to the eurozone without taking more central control of fiscal matters. Also if the euro actually collapses, not just has a few problems, then having a pound coin won't save us as we'll lose most of our trade.

[QUOTE=Thoughtless;35611804]If your national identity has to be printed on a coin or piece of paper then you don't really have a national identity.[/Quote] How does that make sense? [QUOTE=Thoughtless;35611804]Also the euro hasn't failed, it isn't as strong as it could be because they handed out acceptance to the eurozone without taking more central control of fiscal matters. Also if the euro actually collapses, not just has a few problems, then having a pound coin won't save us as we'll lose most of our trade.[/QUOTE] That doesn't negate the fact that the Pound is still in a much stronger position. Also the second part of your argument is a bit crappy, because that's not a good reason to change to the Euro. At all.

Okay Heseltine time to take your pills. because you keep forgetting what happens to a continent wide currency with countries using different rates and getting into huge debts expecting other nations to pay for them.

this senile bastard needs to shut the hell up hes literally the only person saying the UK needs to join this shit currency... why is he talking as if he can speak for the whole country?

The rule Britannia factor in this thread is fantastic.

there's no real reason to switch, but to say that the euro is doing worse than the pound is silly. the pound is actually doing much worse than the euro, exchange rates don't have anything to do with spending power. and the notion that the pound is about identity is uh, strange because me thinking of myself as british has never been about the pound. it's been about the places i lived in as a child, the accent, the manner of speaking, the TV, the food. not the currency, that's just dull.

[QUOTE=thisispain;35613905]and the notion that the pound is about identity is uh, strange because me thinking of myself as british has never been about the pound. it's been about the places i lived in as a child, the accent, the manner of speaking, the TV, the food. not the currency, that's just dull.[/QUOTE] Queens head on all our coins, the imperial/metric debate, the ridiculous EU regulations that have also cracked down on what was "British" too. I go to my local city and I see more immigrants in it than I do British Citizens (40% of the city is polish now). People that are simply over here for agency work and benefits because they're all allowed to walk in because of this "eurozone" rubbish. How can you not have a sense of nationalism? Even if politicians have destroyed our country in the past 30 years.

[url]http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/bank/economics/markets/foreign/further1.htm[/url] - If we join the euro [url]http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/bank/economics/markets/foreign/further2.htm[/url] - Stay where we are

[QUOTE=ViralHatred;35614352]Queens head on all our coins, the imperial/metric debate, the ridiculous EU regulations that have also cracked down on what was "British" too.[/QUOTE] yeah all those bent bananas too. [QUOTE=ViralHatred;35614352]I go to my local city and I see more immigrants in it than I do British Citizens (40% of the city is polish now). People that are simply over here for agency work and benefits because they're all allowed to walk in because of this "eurozone" rubbish.[/QUOTE] the fuck's wrong with polish people now? [QUOTE=ViralHatred;35614352]How can you not have a sense of nationalism? [/QUOTE] because i don't care about race and i don't think britain is about petty pointless shit? if having a sense of nationalism is about bad mouthing poles then it's obviously quite stupid.

Lol, we all know the UK can't join the Euro because it's not even a European nation.

[QUOTE=Scot;35608092]Referring to a ten euro note as a tenner will feel so wrong. A tenner will always be ten pounds.[/QUOTE] because that's the big issue here

Why did I imagine Lord Heseltine putting the Euro through a series of difficult challenges while he watches from an elevated throne with an evil look on his face