New world order

[SimonGiles]

Come again?

You might want to explain that one, you may be quite wrong there...

My understanding is if the current UK governing party pisses the people off sufficiently then we vote them out at the next general election. In this situation the opposition has the ability to promise the the public what they want, and thereby win the vote.

However, once any decision making power is handed over to Brussels, that's pretty much it - there's no going back and there is not a lot the UK public can do about it. Our own government can wash it's hands of all responsibility. Although we can vote for a different MEP, lets face it, that will be pretty much irrelevant. That does not seem very democratic to me.

Please correct me if I am wrong ?

 

[Buddha 3]

Yes, you are wrong. (sorry )

You personally get a vote on who represents you in Brussels.

Besides that, it's not that the European Parliament has full control over its member countries.
For the record, I'm not an advocate of the EU, far from it. In fact, I hate it, particularly its urge to expand eastwards. But people have a lot of wrong "facts" about it though.

Know your enemy.

 

[SimonGiles]

You personally get a vote on who represents you in Brussels.

But does that really make the blindest bit of difference ? In the two party setup we have in the UK at least you can vote for the other party. In the EU there is no opposition.

 

[Buddha 3]

That makes all the difference. If you claim to be a democracy, the two party set up is a joke, you can't call that a democracy. Holland is more democratic than that (for the record, I'm not saying that's better in my opinion, as it has many flaws, but at least it's more democratic). The problem with the British (and essentially Dutch as well) way of running things is that the country is governed by a majority vote in the house. So whoever is in charge gets his way, as his party has the majority vote. We all know that voting against the party line is bad for your carreer and so gets done very VERY little.

At least with the way the EU is set up, you have to come up with some damn good arguments if you want to get something done, as you have to convince at least half the representatives of you being right. That's probably as democratic as it gets. So in essence, there is nothing BUT opposition.

I can't believe I'm defending the EU... Again, not a fan of them. In my humble view democracy is very much flawed.

Nice discussion by the way.

 

[cookie_834]

At least with the way the EU is set up, you have to come up with some damn good arguments if you want to get something done, as you have to convince at least half the representatives of you being right. That's probably as democratic as it gets. So in essence, there is nothing BUT opposition.

you say that but in our media coverage gordan brown is a god in the EU and the G20 summit

its frickin ridiculous. anyone who watches sky news will know what i mean

our news coverage is so one sided when it comes to these things

 

[SimonGiles]

So in essence, there is nothing BUT opposition.

I take your point. I shall have to be a little bit more open minded.

 

[Buddha 3]

you say that but in our media coverage gordan brown is a god in the EU and the G20 summit

its frickin ridiculous. anyone who watches sky news will know what i mean

our news coverage is so one sided when it comes to these things

Funny, over here Gordon Brown (and the UK as a result) is never really presented as the real serious EU member.
Sort of like the crazy stepbrother you would deny having.

 

[Buddha 3]

I take your point. I shall have to be a little bit more open minded.

No need to be as far as I'm concerned. Like I said, I'm no fan of the EU, so I can relate with the sentiments. I made a point of researching it a little, in order to see if my opinion was based on something.
After the research I like the EU even less...

 

[Robbo]

Funny, over here Gordon Brown (and the UK as a result) is never really presented as the real serious EU member.
Sort of like the crazy stepbrother you would deny having.

I look upon brown as a tumor ......

 

[Matski]

I like how Brown talks about the "Credit Crunch" like it's an alien from out of space which the world has "united together" to destroy. I can't decide which part is the most ridiculous... he's the one-eyed alien's mother for a start.