Oh don't stop him, FA. I've had a swine of a day and he is making me smile. Well double up in pleats, actually.

*waves at the butterflies*

And the irony is, he's just accused me of 'rambling'.

I would expect those sort of responses from you -  - the ramblings of an i . . . . . .

I may be wrong but I was under the impression this thread was discussing issues associated with our continuing membership of the EU - apparently not though, according to you it is about the red tape surrounding JSA and disability benefits - as I said, ramblings.

All you are doing is avoidng the issue, smoke and mirrors - exactly the same as almost everyone on both sides of the argument.

There will now be a brief intermission. [Courtesy of Creeky].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWTs9SP3AIc

You know matey, you remind me so much of Ken Dodd. Not his comedy, just the fact that you don't know seem to know when to exit stage left.

I have made enough posts in respect of the EU if you care to look, but since me and almost everyone else is simply throwing up smoke screens - except you of course, no surprise there - there doesn't seem to be much point in continuing. As per, yours is the only opinion that's valid, and everyone else's is inadmissible in evidence.

The spotlight and stage is all yours. Do carry on...

Here's a little story which seems to fit in well with the bureaucratic nightmare of the EU.

This is a story about four people, named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job, Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everbody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

This thread seems to have strayed far from the idea of the original post, namely who is intending to vote in or out. It has been running for more than two months now, should we have another attempt if only to see if anyone has changed their minds? Maybe let this one run and start another and try and keep it to one word posts this time?

That was my original intention but people seemed to want to have their say so I think another thread would only go the same way as this one.

There's no way (on this forum anyway) to have a simple "Yes, No, Don't know" poll so having tried to get a poll going already, I think the same thing will happen.

European Water Framework Directive (EWF)

look at the impact on large parts of the uk.

I've spent a little time looking at the details of the EWF and whilst it seems more appropriate to mainland Europe where rivers cross national boundaries on the face of it the aims stated seem worthwhile.

What are your objections?

Dredging, the rules that hinder it.

http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/ECintheUK/suggesting-that-the-eu-is-to-blame-for-floods-is-completely-with...

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@cee-dee wrote:

Here's a little story which seems to fit in well with the bureaucratic nightmare of the EU.

 

This is a story about four people, named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job, Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it.

It ended up that Everbody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

---

I like this .

In

It looks as if Obama's intererence has not had the effect he wanted.  I'm not surprised.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/664699/EU-referendum-poll-brexit-leave-lead-obama

Yes it does sometimes have that effect:

Bay of Pigs

Iraq

Syria

Afghanistan

Etc.

Etc.

I have been undecided, mainly because of the future of the economy, although I didn't necessarily believe what the Treasury put out.

Some top economists are now backing Brexit, and say a small boost to the economy is possible

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36150191

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1745f3c2-0d16-11e6-b41f-0beb7e589515.html#axzz478AhXl3V

Mr Bootle said the EU had made a series of bad decisions and that too much time had been absorbed by “barmy and unnecessary plans” rather than focusing on the fundamentals of growth. “Whatever benefits there are of the single market they are overwhelmed by other factors, including regulation,” he said.

I must say I would like to say goodbye to a big chunk of the ridiculous legislation, so I'm leaning towards Out.

Still plenty of time yet to think about other issues, even though it is effectively a guess for all of us and so I suppose many people will vote according to their gut feeling after reading the arguments of each side..