General Chat

It is not the one we voted to join is it?

As I recall, and I may be wrong because I was only in my early twenties and nor really paying attention at the time, we had to have several attempts at joining in the first place because we needed to be approved by the other nations, (were there six?) and probably had a probation period.

It was kind of strong and exclusive and planned to stay that way.

Over the years it has grown and I am not sure that all those other countries needed to try as hard as we did to be accepted.

Maybe, what we are leaving is the dream we thought we had.

coo Sharron - whatever did you say :-S

What happened to the freedom of speech :-| :-| :-| :-|

What did she say that woke the RR up, and whatever it was yes freedom of speech please.

I saw nothing said to upset anyone.

Emma it probably upset the lot on here wanting to stay in :-D

I said that I was only in my early twenties and not really paying attention properly when we voted to join the EU which was, I think, only six countries which constituted a strong and elite trading force.

They had not really wanted us and we had had to make several applications to join but now it is a huge affair with countries in it that had not had to do anything like as much as we had to prove worthiness for membership.

It was something like that and I didn't think it was particularly offensive.

Nothing offensive at all Sharron, you have the right to make your point as I said free speech has gone out of the window :-|. Now if I put my comments up here about the EU I would be RR'd for sure

Of course it might not be the same EU but we are also not the same UK.

Wasnt it the -- called Common Market then?==cheap butter.
didnt the then new 50p pence carry the emblems.

Was it still the Common Market when we joined?

I remember there being gluts of things like butter and milk and we thought it was just teething troubles.

A ring of hands on the fifty pence piece as I recall, that was something to do with Europe.

Ah, yes!

The butter 'mountains' which were then sold to Russia for about 5p per pound

That's right, they were weren't they?

Did they get a lot of grain at a knock down price as well ?

Probably, Sharron.

The 'mountains' and 'lakes' were part of a process of maintaining prices in the Common Market by storing surplus products, which were later sold dirt cheap to Non-Common Market countries.

I believe that subsidies were also paid to efficient farmers NOT to produce some goods so that inefficient farmers could be artificially propped up

Yes, I wasn't really paying attention at the time, believing what I read in the paper.

The supermarkets have gained a lot of power over our farmland through all that I think. It will be interesting to see what happens there.

I think what we joined initially was the E.E.C. "The Economic European Commumity" a group of 6? countries at that time - as has been said they did not want us then and we fought hard to get in :-(

Rollo would say, in fact he probably has, that the back ground intent was for an 'ever closer union'. Like you, I was young and took things at face value. I voted for an economic union...free trade & all that....not a political one with common social & financial policies.

well, GR obviously didn't believe the RR'er .............thank goodness!!!