UK, Ireland /
No job unless you're Polish [201]
The UK parties all supported it in 2001 and 2005. Support for the EU was implicitly a vote in favour of Nice and thus EU expansion. Let's not forget that the UK (and Ireland) could quite easily have prohibited Polish workers from working in the UK - and still could, up until May 2011.
We rejected Nice 1. After that we were told that we were xenophobes and only 2,000 eastern euros would arrive per annum. Millions were spent on an advertising campaign depciting poor eastern europeans and for us to remember our history. Now, they said, it was our time to give. The EUnuchs pulled on the heart strings of the people, knowing quite well that we are one of the most charitable nations in the globe(we spend more on foreign aid, per capita, than any other nation. We donate more to charities, per capita, than any other nation.) Nice 2 barely scraped through. The turnout was down on the previous referendum, thus the EUnuchs won. Similar to Lisbon 2. Whats the point in voting, if your vote is ignored?
Put it to the people, ala Switzerland. Do you wish to leave the borders open to the citizens of the accession states or do you wish to see a work pernit scheme introduced.
We live in a democracy, right?
As for Scotland - pretty much all parties recognise that Scotland badly needs more immigrants to pay for an aging population. There was actually quite a big fuss because the UK government attempted to stop a Scottish initiative to attract more talented non-EU citizens.
Grand. When the immigrants age, who will pay their pensions? More immigrants?
Quite a few actually - who do you think many Guardian readers are voting for?
Actually, the last immigration poll conducted by the guardian showed us that their readers also support much stricter restrictions.
It's also worth noting that UK immigration is harder and harder these days for non-EU nationals. Even those from First World countries are finding it difficult.
I suggest you look up the numbers entering the country in 2009.
I don't know what to say to opinion polls - as far as I see it, people will often adopt a more dramatic tone in opinion polls, but then when it comes to the crunch, they won't vote for a party which promises to change things. Just look at the UKIP vote in the EU election vs the UKIP vote in UK elections!
Quite the oppossite. In todays PC world it is difficult for people to admit to the poll conducter that they want a restriction on immigration. People walk on egg shells in an attempt to avoid being labelled as a racist.
As I see it - 2010 is the perfect change for people to elect a government with a mandate to leave the EU. Will it happen? No chance.
The EU will be a distant memory in 25 years.
