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Greece's 'erratic Marxist' Varoufakis advises Labour Party, Corbyn saysYanis Varoufakis, the self-described "erratic Marxist" who alienated his euro zone colleagues during his time as Greece's finance minister, has secured a new role advising the opposition Labour Party.Jeremy Corbyn, who has sought to take the party of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown further to the left since he became leader in 2015, said Varoufakis would advise Labour in "some capacity" due to his experience from dealing with the European Union."I realise we’re not in the euro zone but it's a question of understanding how we challenge the notion that you can cut your way to prosperity when in reality you have to grow your way to prosperity."I think the way Greece has been treated is terrible and we should reach out to them."Corbyn, who voted against membership in 1975, has said he will campaign to keep Britain in the EU in a June 23 referendum, arguing that membership is the best way to improve social and employment laws.
EU referendum risks British expats’ pensions, health care and public servicesBritons leaving on the continent may lose a range of specific rights that are only guaranteed because of EU law The lives of 2 million UK citizens living, working and travelling in the other 27 Member States would be affected if Britain was to leave the EU, according to an official government’s paper.Britons leaving on the continent may lose a range of specific rights that are only guaranteed because of EU law. These include the rights to live and work but also access to pensions, health care and public service, the Cabinet office warned in his first official report into the impact of a future Brexit."There would be no requirement under EU law for these rights to be maintained if the UK left the EU. Should an agreement be reached to maintain these rights, the expectation must be that this would have to be reciprocated for EU citizens in the UK," the report said.George Peretz QC, an expert on EU law said... "UK citizens would lose their EU law rights to work, to set up a business, to buy property, to bring family to live with them, not to be deported for trivial offences and so on."
I wish each side would just explain the positive consequence of their position, rather than this current spate of scare stories re. the consequence of voting for the opposition.
EU referendum: How British expats in Spain feel about the vote"We did not vote for federalism, we voted for a common market," protested one.Richard Tildesley, a man with his ear very much glued to the ground when it comes to political opinion among expats... believes that living on the European mainland has put many people off the EU, however cosmopolitan their lives.They are not impressed by how EU funds are spent, he believes, thinking the money is wasted on unnecessary projects while neglecting problems that badly need sorting out. Tildesley also argues that expats see the EU as destroying the very aspects of Spanish life that originally drew them to the country."What they perceive being created at the moment is a rather bland, pan-European homogenised culture."Given the strength of opinion on this subject, it is perhaps surprising that so few expats in Spain have actually registered to vote.
And of course British ex-pats would be adding to the authentic Spanish way of life that drew them to the Costas. And they might even vote for Brexit as there are "too many foreigners" in the UK! Ex-pats in Greece are very different IMHO.I'll get my tin hat now! Tony
Just a short set of figures for anyone mad enough to want to stay in the EU.In 2015, the UK paid in £13billion to the EU coffers.We received in return subsidies, grants etc which amounted to £4.5 billion.So overall we paid in £8.5 billion more than we got back, or £23 million a day.Imagine what we could do with £23 million every day from the end of June. That's every day for ever not a one off!Imagine the benefits to businesses and the public alike when we can remove or reduce VAT.Imagine what having that extra money in everyone's pocket will do for our own economy.
Some words I have copied from a post on Facebook, so I cannot vouch for the accuracy.
Imagine what having that extra money in everyone's pocket will do for our own economy.
EU unveils €700m emergency aid plan for Greece and other nations hit by refugee crisisThis would be the first time humanitarian cash has been used within Europe instead of helping countries outside the bloc
At least 30,000 people fleeing conflict or poverty in the Middle East and beyond are bottled up in Greece after Western Balkan states effectively closed their borders. Up to 3,000 more are crossing the Aegean every day despite rough winter seas.The influx is severely straining the resources of a country barely able to look after its own people after a six-year recession - the worst since World War Two - that has shrunk the economy by a quarter and driven unemployment above 25 percent.After years of austerity imposed by international lenders, who are now demanding deeper cuts in old-age pensions, ordinary Greeks say they feel abandoned by the European Union.A staggering 92 percent of respondents in a Public Issue poll published by To Vima newspaper last Sunday said they felt the EU had left Greece to fend for itself.The poll was taken before the European Commission announced 300 million euros in emergency aid this year to support relief organizations providing food, shelter and care for the migrants. But such promises do little to soften public anger. In mid-February, Greece briefly threatened not to sign off on final agreements at an EU summit on amending Britain's membership terms unless Athens won assurances that EU states would not shut their borders. They did so anyway.How Greece and the migrant crisis are handled may resonate at the other end of the continent in Britain, where voters will decide in a June 23 referendum whether to stay in the bloc.James Ker-Lindsay, a Balkans expert at the London School of Economics, said leftist academics in Britain - a small but influential group typically supportive of the EU - were so dismayed by Brussels' treatment of Greece in 2015 that it would not take much to alienate them completely."If it looks like a double dose harsh treatment, the euroscepticism which is coming in very strong from right-wing parties across the EU could start being repeated on the left, but for a very different reason," Ker-Lindsay said.
MEPs allowed to claim £120,000 in expenses without proof of how money is spentA court heard EU officials don't want to saddle MEPs with an 'administrative burden' which would hamper their freedom
Britain to pay £500 million under EU's grand migrant swap plan for TurkeyThousands of Syrian refugees could be taken from Turkey and resettled in Europe, under "one-for-one" migrant swap deal Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees will be taken directly from Turkey to Europe in a “one-for-one” swap with those on the Greek islands, in a highly ambitious bid to contain Europe's worst migrant crisis since the Second World War.The grand bargain drawn up in Brussels - and agreed in principle at midnight on Monday - is intended to end the deadly Aegean sea crossings and encourage refugees to stay in Turkish camps by offering them the prospect of a flight direct to the EU.British taxpayers will pay £500 million in aid, up from an initial £250 million agreed in October as EU leaders acceded to Turkey’s surprise demand to double its pay outs to €6 billion (£4.6 billion) by the end of 2018. In a basket of sweeteners handed to Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, five new chapters of the long-running talks on Turkey’s accession to the EU will be opened.And from June, 77 million Turks will be able to access to the EU’s Schengen zone for 90 days without a visa under a significant relaxation of the rules. That is four months earlier than envisaged in talks last year. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, under the proposals any attempts by migrants to reach Greece by boat "will land you back in Turkey and at the bottom of the resettlement list".
Spot on TonyD. Even thought of running for the European Parliament? Pays well,full expenses (no daft receipts required ) and generous holiday and retirement package lobbed in !
EU and Turkish leaders agreed in principle on Monday that Ankara would prevent people from leaving its shores for Europe in exchange for more help for refugees living in Turkey, visa liberalisation for Turks visiting Europe and accelerating Turkey's long-dormant EU accession talks....an agreement that has stirred resistance in some countries, not least due to concerns over Turkey's record on human rights and press freedom.EU officials also say Turkey, a country of 75 million, only meets about half of more than 70 technical requirements for visa-free travel with Europe.Under Monday's tentative deal, Turkey would take back all migrants crossing to Europe who are ineligible for asylum as well as everyone - including those fleeing wars and hence eligible for international protection - fished out from the sea before reaching EU shores.But the forcible mass repatriation of migrants to Turkey would be difficult to implement, not least because many will have risked their lives and spent large sums of money to get to Europe in the first place.However, EU officials said just a few returns should be sufficient to convince the migrants they stood no chance of being allowed to stay and to agree to be sent back to Turkey.The interior ministers meeting in Brussels will also discuss plans for a common EU border and coast guard that the bloc hopes to deploy for the first time in late summer.
Turkey's European affairs minister Volkan Bozkir said Thursday his country would take back “tens of thousands” of migrants, “not hundreds of thousands or millions”, and they would “not include the existing refugees on the Greek islands”.
Reality Check: Did the UK lose its sovereignty in 1972?
"a common EU border and coast guard that the bloc hopes to deploy for the first time in late summer" - stable doors? horses?