Morris Minor Owners Club

The UK will thrive if we leave, Made in Britain will become a badge of pride for sellers. It amazes me that no government of any flavour has revived the Buy British campaign that was popular when 'ahem' most of us were young. Without the UK the Euro will probably collapse, Sterling will remain strong, mainly on it's long history.

The EU policy on classic cars will ruin our hobby, modifications will become impossible.

I'm voting out.

TDV102 wrote:The UK will thrive if we leave, Made in Britain will become a badge of pride for sellers. It amazes me that no government of any flavour has revived the Buy British campaign that was popular when 'ahem' most of us were young. Without the UK the Euro will probably collapse, Sterling will remain strong, mainly on it's long history.

The EU policy on classic cars will ruin our hobby, modifications will become impossible.

I'm voting out.

What's actually MADE in Britain nowadays?

Some of you may remember the "Export or Die" slogan - but if the "product" isn't owned by the country its exported from.....10k Nissan Juke's to Sweden is hardly going to transform the economy....

Who's this "we" reference.......?

We----- more than one. Often quoted on restoration posts!

Nissan, Honda and other 'Asian' vehicles that are classed as British are all very well but the profits from the all go abroad.
Why do we include them as Britain's car manufacturers?

Alan

alanworland wrote:Nissan, Honda and other 'Asian' vehicles that are classed as British are all very well but the profits from the all go abroad.
Why do we include them as Britain's car manufacturers?

Alan

Exactly, and if one of these manufacturers pulls out, TATA steel an example, 4k workers could be made redundant.

Fail to see how brexit would make "us" thrive again - don't think it would be via UK car production, Morgan and Lotus....

Exporting rubbish, literally

Profits may get transferred, but the tax paid on it generally can't and that goes straight into UK PLC's bank.

Nissan, Honda, Toyota all said they would move into the Euro Zone if we didn't adopt the same currency as France and Germany. Well that turned out to be porkies. Would they leave and move into Euro zone now if we left? Maybe, maybe not. I think it more depends on how efficient and the profit that can be garnered from a product once it's sold, dictates whether they stay will or not. That will be down to the government, when out of Europe we could be free to subsidise an exported product as at the moment it is illegal under European law. Europe would be free to tax it of course, but would they? UK PLC could tax imports on BMW's in oops I typed a naughty word for tat, the UK is one of BMW's biggest markets.

We are Europes second biggest market, the world fifth biggest. Lets not let Europe talk us down and keep us under their thumb.

If anyone wants to return their EU propaganda leaflet,the address is:-
FREEPOST
RTHS-TLXL-XKXK
The Conservative Party
4,Matthew Parker Street
London
SW1H 9HQ

SteveClem wrote:If anyone wants to return their EU propaganda leaflet,the address is:-
FREEPOST
RTHS-TLXL-XKXK
The Conservative Party
4,Matthew Parker Street
London
SW1H 9HQ

Or West Oxfordshire Conservative Association
Waterloo House
58/60 High Street
Witney
OX 28 6HJ

The issue with a buy British campaign as suggested is that manufacturers wish to be location neutral, this is a trick managed well for instance by ford, who don't want the buyers in Britain of the fiesta, best selling car in Britain, to know its not the cuddly little home brewed product they think it is or that its actually made in a country with no history of making vehicles at all.
Its made incidentally elsewhere in Europe to avoid import taxation.
Also, buyers in Britain number very few when compared with overseas numbers, British buyers prefer German cars, Mercedes BMW etc, culturally Brits want value and status, the aforementioned seem to offer people that, we are our own worst enemy in that case, "Buy British" wouldn't work.
As far as promoting British built overseas,
Nissans largest importer of the Qashqai is Russia, who recognise Japanese quality, they don't need to be reminded that actually its made by Brits, the enemy in Crimea.
Arab nations adore Toyotas, they also don't want to be reminded they are made in some cases by Brits, we are not that popular.
The comments on profits going overseas would hold water if it were true, units manufactured here are exported in the main, profits are necessarily ploughed back in to the plants that produce those products, if not they would in very short order go bust, without constant redevelopment and re tooling they would fail, witness ex car plants in the uk.
Even if a Bill Morris were to appear and save us all, how would you stop him once again ploughing all his profits in to the Nuffield and not his car plants, and would you want to?
A small nation populated by just half Japans population, or Germanys for that matter, would not figure large on the world stage unless they have trading partners or are part of something larger, knee jerk reactions to immigrants, like Alec Issigonis for instance, are not sensible reasons for casting the nation in to a trading wilderness.
All these plants employ people who pay taxes, mortgages and increasingly education fees for their children, as well as health, some think this is just about independence but its much more than that.

That post made my head ache,----- and to think we've got another ten weeks.

I don't recall hearing that our exports were in a state before we joined the EU but I have heard recently that exports are down and that is while we are a member. Work that one out with all we are being told at the moment about how leaving will affect us.

I have no strong feeling either way whether to stay in or out. I'm currently leaning towards out as there is one thing that gets under my skin. When someone is found guilty of a crime and a UK court finds them guilty, they can then go to a European court and get a different result and ours gets quashed. That annoys me.

Most have made their mind up, but if you haven't, my advice would be, if you want out due to immigration, forget it. Once out, we will still need cheap foreign labour to keep prices down. Also skilled labour to keep growing our GDP.

Secondly don't get any advice from politicians, do some googling and get some real facts. There are stats out there.

International UK businesses manage instability every month (sales, purchases and currencies) while planning their manufacturing cycles. So don't let that sway your vote.

I'm still undecided. I've never been a fan of the EU, in my opinion we should have left 25-30 years ago. The problem is I believe that we may be too far into it now, and an exit may be too much of a gamble.
I just wish that someone from either side of the argument could actually produce some facts so I can make an informed decision. All I'm seeing is opinions, scaremongering and negativity from both sides.

moggiethouable wrote:The issue with a buy British campaign as suggested is that manufacturers wish to be location neutral, this is a trick managed well for instance by ford, who don't want the buyers in Britain of the fiesta, best selling car in Britain, to know its not the cuddly little home brewed product they think it is or that its actually made in a country with no history of making vehicles at all.
Its made incidentally elsewhere in Europe to avoid import taxation.
Also, buyers in Britain number very few when compared with overseas numbers, British buyers prefer German cars, Mercedes BMW etc, culturally Brits want value and status, the aforementioned seem to offer people that, we are our own worst enemy in that case, "Buy British" wouldn't work.
As far as promoting British built overseas,
Nissans largest importer of the Qashqai is Russia, who recognise Japanese quality, they don't need to be reminded that actually its made by Brits, the enemy in Crimea.
Arab nations adore Toyotas, they also don't want to be reminded they are made in some cases by Brits, we are not that popular.
The comments on profits going overseas would hold water if it were true, units manufactured here are exported in the main, profits are necessarily ploughed back in to the plants that produce those products, if not they would in very short order go bust, without constant redevelopment and re tooling they would fail, witness ex car plants in the uk.
Even if a Bill Morris were to appear and save us all, how would you stop him once again ploughing all his profits in to the Nuffield and not his car plants, and would you want to?
A small nation populated by just half Japans population, or Germanys for that matter, would not figure large on the world stage unless they have trading partners or are part of something larger, knee jerk reactions to immigrants, like Alec Issigonis for instance, are not sensible reasons for casting the nation in to a trading wilderness.
All these plants employ people who pay taxes, mortgages and increasingly education fees for their children, as well as health, some think this is just about independence but its much more than that.

'knee jerk reactions to immigrants'..i don't think so mate.look what's happening in Germany and other EU countries.is that what we wish on our children and grand-children?

Remember when we joined the ERM? What a fiasco that was, it cost a fortune to extricate ourselves from that mess.
When we did not join the Euro, industry bosses bleated about that as the Euro was strong against the pound, then they went remarkably quiet when the positions were reversed
When the Southern European countries fell into financial difficulties through being tied to stronger currencies they were not allowed to let their currencies float to find their own levels and were treated like naughty chidren and dictated to about how they must run their economies.
If we sink or swim it will be our problem and our policies will not be dictated by the United States of Europe

I keep asking myself the question, 'when did we get so scared?' Every day on the BBC news website there is another assertion that Britain would be much worse off out of the EU. It seems coordinated, Monday Osborne says something, Tuesday someone else, Wednesday Obama sticks his nose in Thursday, Corbyn has his turn. I'm almost disappointed if the there isn't a fear story on BBC news.

But propaganda (& advertising) works like this, not on logic or reasoned debate but on a steady stream of catchy sentences and fear. So when one thinks back in June, our collective memory associates a sense of unease & discomfort with voting out. So one votes away from the fear rather than for something one truly believes in.

I've even seen examples of doublespeak - best one so far, some General or former general saying it's unpatriotic to vote to leave the EU - reversing the definition of patriotism.

Still, though, how have we become so scared about a so-called unknown? Britain seemed to do okay before the EU. If we are such a weak country, which I don't believe for a minute, the last place we should be in is the EU given the examples of how Ireland and Greece have been treated

like Boris said 'it's like someone has opened the cage door,but people are afraid to leave the cage'.what a lily-livered nation we have become
as for the lame-duck president of the US sticking his nose in..

sid wrote:as for the lame-duck president of the US sticking his nose in..

and the threat to move UK to the back of the queue when negotiating trade deals

mike.perry wrote:

sid wrote:as for the lame-duck president of the US sticking his nose in..

and the threat to move UK to the back of the queue when negotiating trade deals

Hardly a nation to give advice since they, together with the backup of our former "middle east peace envoy", caused the migrant crisis in the first place - wouldn't be so bad if they LEARNT by their mistakes...but nope, its time to invade Lybia...

EU okay when things going good, banks printing money expecting it to solve financial woes....basic economics will tell you....blah blah

Well, I am not allowed to vote this time being a Swedish citizen living in Sweden. Would you care to read my point of view? Please don't leave us! When the Swedes were about to vote for or against joining the EU in the mid 90's I said no because I thought Sweden was doing quite well on its own. Then somebody gave me a shower of propaganda and I ended up voting yes. One important fact (in my opinion) is that no member countries have been at war with each other since they became members of the EU. That happened a lot before the EU. Lots of people from Britain have moved to Sweden and lots of Swedes have moved to Britain during the last 20 years. We can do that just because we want to and we don't have to ask for a permission. As long as we can support ourselves we can live wherever we want in the EU. I think that is great. Lots of elderly people from Northern Europe move to Spain after they retire. That's great, I think and I believe being an EU resident makes it a lot easier. When I need car parts (and other stuff) I often buy it online. Most of what I buy I buy in Britain since the prices and shipping prices are good and most important since you are members of the EU I won't have to pay any import taxes in Sweden. The Swedes drive lots of British cars although they think these cars are German or Japanese. I don't know for sure but I believe the importers would have to pay higher import taxes if these cars were to be imported from a non-Eu country and because of that they would chose to import cars manufactured in the EU. The EU makes a lot of weird decisions and that is my fault. And yours. It is up to us to vote for the politicians that would turn EU into the paradise it should be. Since the EU is democratic our votes could turn the EU into a communist continent if we wanted to or a super capitalistic continent if that's what we wanted. Or something else. I want all of Europe to be a nice place to live and I (did I listen too much to that propaganda 20 years ago?) think the EU is the best solution. Lots of Swedes want to leave the EU but I don't. It would be interesting to see if any of you would be kind enough to write a few lines to tell if you agree or disagree with my thoughts.