How will you vote in the EU referendum?

'Greece With Simon Reeve' is still on BBC i-player. Just type those words into the search box and two episodes will come up. From all the comments above it looks fascinating so I am going to watch it.

The EU doesn't actually cost us that much, it's about £11 billion a year. (You don't seem to be able to put speed bumps in the road for much less than that these days). However, the economic arguments pale into insignificance when the immigration crisis and the issue of political autonomy are considered. We need to be able to make and enforce our own laws without outside interference.

The EU is following and always has followed a policy of ever closer integration whereby our sovereign nation will end as a 'region' ruled by unelected, authoritarian bureaucrats who will take our contributions and spend them on policies which benefit themselves and others. The Soviet Union failed ultimately but it has been replaced by the EU whose aims are almost the same but whose methods are more disguised.

Give me a vote and I will use it for 'out'. Personally, I think that the EU is a snowball that can't be stopped. If the country votes 'out' the powers that be will finagle until they get the vote they want. And it won't matter that much either. Things will stay mostly the same whichever route we choose.

Is the Simon Reeve programme on the BBC i-player? It sounds so interesting and informative.
I was horrified at yesterdays news that apparently the influx of the millions of migrants has been somehow engineered by Russia to weaken the EU and allow criminals and jihadists to proliferate. I was in despair last night at the prospect of the Islamicisation of Europe with only Trump and Boris to save us. Think I'll stop reading the news!!

Princess Mary of Teck was the wife of George Vth and grandmother of the Queen. Prince Phillips mother was Princess Alice of Battenburg who married Prince Andrew of Greece.

Do you mean the programme about Princess Mary of Teck? We've downloaded it, but not watched it yet. If I was able, I would go on holiday again to Greece. Tourism is one way of showing support and thank goodness plenty of people are still choosing Greece.

I did laugh at the seat belt clip. The estimate of over half a million unregistered guns was scary, although it explains all bullet holes in the roads signs. And 75% youth unemployment is storing up trouble. I also remember seeing houses everywhere that looked unfinished because of the metal poles sticking out of the roof, as if another floor was to be built. Our guide mentioned something about owners not having to pay the equivalent of what is now our council tax and I realised watching the programme it was about tax evasion. One of the properties we stayed in was on the outskirts of the town and it was bordered by fields. One day we realised people we're living the shack in the middle of a field. The family living in the converted container and the Bangladeshi workers reminded me of that shack. At least the migrants at Calais don't have to slog away day in day in high temperatures.

I find it sad that countries like Greece which once had a great civilisation should end up so backwards in this day and age. Egypt is the same. The gap between the haves and have nots is just so wide.

Wilma

Yes it was an eye opener in places. The governments of Greece have undoubtedly suffered from corruption and the people have some part to play in it's problems, not paying taxes etc. etc. The seat belt clip and not wearing helmets are typical of the country and made me have a wry smile as that is how I see the Greeks, very independent people. It is very sad to see such depravation in parts of a European Union country and I think the program didn't show the state of the welfare system enough which is in a very bad way.

I think perhaps we all have fond memories of wonderful holidays and the warmth of the people . Did you see the t.v program The Queens Mother In Law (about the Duke of Edinburgh's mother). Very interesting . I may come over as anti Greece but that is farthest from the truth .

POGS we watched the Simon Reeve documentary (he's such a good presenter) and I remember thinking the first part was one of the most depressing things I'd watched in ages, it was terribly sad. The second part put the fear of God into me hearing about the causes of the financial crisis, the civil unrest in Athens, the desperate state of the economy, the military spending, the fighting between the Greek Orthodox Church and the gun carrying priest and shepherds, etc. There were lighthearted moments, but it was a real eye opener for us. We've been to Greece at least 5 times, including once to the mainland, but it was before Greece joined the Eurozone. I probably learned more from those two episodes about the background to the financial crisis than I did watching months of news and current affairs programmes. It was very unsettling and I think the country will be lucky to avoid some kind of revolution or civil war.

And now we're about to separate Greece from the rest of Europe with the new temporary (?) border, so the thousands of migrants can be processed at a trickle pace. How on earth will this be perceived the Greeks? It will certainly feed into the belief of that priest and his cronies that Germany is out to finish the job the Nazis started during WW2. It did cross my mind that the Muslim migrants could be settled on a temporary basis in Thrace with it's large Muslim population, but I have no idea of how different the cultures are. Nightmare.

www.supremecourt.uk/docs/speech-140212.pdf

Again I have to say that the ' single one sentence' that Caretaker has posted,
"None of us have any right to give our children's or their children's country away to others" has been twisted to suit the narrative of another .

To me that sentence simply means the poster feels that the UK has given over too much power to the European Union , we no longer have the poiwer to determine self rule. I do not argue with that point . That is why the term ' Ever Closer Union ' has been mentioned so often , it is a factual goal for the EU Commission/Parliament.

To call Caretaker xenophobic or a UKipper is out of order but terms that sadly we see used all too often by those who twist posts and dislike others holding an opinion opposite to theirs. It does not mean any less because the words 'sounded like' were used either before it is mentioned. Maybe Caretaker will prove unworthy of my defending him/her at a later stage but I for one see nothing xenophobic in the post recently made.

Very frustrating.

Yes I did mention Greece and solar power. But I did not say it did not use it, nor use it widely!. I may be wrong but I feel there has been a will to misinterpret 'the one only sentence' in my post referring to solar power which simply said " They have all that potential for solar power" .

I was talking about the coal, actually probably should have said lignite, usage and was thinking of the fossil fuel/emissions debate going on in the European Union .

I am not arguing the point Greece uses solar power .

There is nothing xenophobic about Caretaker's post.
Being patriotic doesnt mean hate towards other people.
People have woken up to other people shouting racist as often as they can to shut them up.
Please dont start on doing the same with the xenophobic word. It wont work.

Your answer to janeainsworth may have satisfied her, but my posts still stand.

That's okay, jane, thanks. You weren't the only one.

The reason I wrote that about my children and grandchildren was because of Caretaker's post. My children and grandchildren do not live in mainland EU. They live here, and are fed up of hearing that we should not be members of the EU.
That post sounded to me like xenophobia rather than patriotism. Perhaps a UKipper?

sorry DJ I hadn't noticed that

Good post POGS and I have been watching the programme on Greece, it's a very interesting watch.
Jalima haha, that's what you get in the water if you leave the EU!

The reason I mentioned renewable energy in Greece is because POGS did.
I was just giving statistics.

Interesting, petra

Greece is fifth in the world for solar power per capita using PV.

Interesting, and something which Simon Reeve did not mention in his programme (not that I remember anyway) when he showed the largest coalmine in Europe.

Jalima. It won't surprise you to know that there are still many mountain villages where German tourists are advised not to go.

and wonder what the hell is going into it, in the absence of EU rules and regulations
a crocodile and box jelly fish where I took my DGS swimming

The European Union has clamped down on Greece yet it was the European Union that dragged it into the borrowing and spending spree

Well, this is what the EU does, isn't it POGS, it lends money to poorer countries to bring them up to a certain standard, but then they are in hock to the EU and mortgaged up to the hilt to their benefactors.

Of course, if reparation were to be paid as requested, then that would go a way to helping Greece out of some of its present difficulties:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-31849430

can I reccomend a good BBC, two parter called , 'Greece with Simon Reeve'

I saw that too, and was very surprised at the simmering resentment of some the Greeks he spoke to against Germany and Mrs Merkel.
Not surprising really, history is not easily forgotten in some areas.

Considering how sunny it is in Greece most of the time, it would be odd if they didn't use solar power, wouldn't it?

A word of support for Greece. It remains a holiday destination, tourism is its growth industry and one I want to continue to support

My Greek friends tell me their government lied about finances in order to get into the EU. Yes there was a problem with tax avoidance but loop holes have been and are being, tightened up. I feel for the Greeks with so many migrants/asylum seekers arriving on the islands and heading for Athens. thousands of people sleeping out, whilst the Greeks themselves are struggling to feed their families. Tough and the rest of Europe (and the world) ought to do more to help Greece (and Syrians/Afghans etc - I don't however see Pakistan or a number of the African countries from which single men are seeking asylum via Greece as refugees )

Quick, Jen, find a link. There must be one somewhere.