£1 = € 1

[scotjimland]

Now that the pound has fallen to £1 = 1 Euro, it is hard to see it falling much further. Some foreign currency dealers are still pessimistic about the Pound, so in the short term this may continue to push the pound lower.

This is really bad news for those who are going abroad next year, if the present trend continues it may well become non-viable for some on a tight budget.. :Sad:

Where will it all end.. we should have joined the Euro when we were in a position of strength .. too late now I fear..

 

[Castaway]

I agree that we should have joined the Euro years ago but we're both wrong as obviously the Government know best and have the country's interest at heart. NOT!

 

[Kon tiki]

As somebody going away on the 1st Jan. we are thinking of doing the opposite to what we normally do & stock the van with as much food & drink before we go & come back empty. This goes against everything we have ever done before, we would normally take just enough food & drink to last for the journey down & then fill every nook & cranny for the return trip

 

[haganap]

The Euro

GBP/EUR= 1.072
Updated every 15 minutes | View disclaimer

actually the pound is now recovering. With the french showing they Are in reccession And Auchan about to reveal a profits warning this will devalue the euro, the pound will rise steadily from the ashes. the economists predict it will be slow but progressive.

the best way to do your money us with a naionwide card, they give you the exchange rate for the day you purchase.

wont stp me going, its still in parrity cheaper on the continent, just, oh:

 

[Jim]

I am not really clever enough to know what the real benefits or disadvantages of joining the Euro are. But I would vote against joining. Why? I don't really know, I would vote against even if it meant being worse off.

I just like the idea of being different, I am a proud to be British I have never felt "European" I travel extensively on the continent and when I do I am a Brit abroad, I am a visitor, I feel like a visitor even when made most welcome like we almost always are.

Having our own money, our own law makers and our own sense of pride and identity is fundamental to me. Long live the £ and the lb and the penny

 

[GJH]

Looking at it a slightly different way.

If people are discouraged from going on holiday abroad then more money should be spent in this country - helping our economy.

Graham

 

[hereford bull]

i feel jim there are far more powerfull people further up the ladder that are plotting against everything you just said.Any way im going to tenerife on boxing day and the first few days ill be spending the eoros i brought back from last summer at 1.25euros after that ill start moaning

 

[Braunston]

I would second that, only problem seems to be we have to import nearly everything so that is going to put pressure on prices if the pound keeps falling.

Looking at it a slightly different way.

If people are discouraged from going on holiday abroad then more money should be spent in this country - helping our economy.

Graham

 

[Road Runner]

I am not really clever enough to know what the real benefits or disadvantages of joining the Euro are. But I would vote against joining. Why? I don't really know, I would vote against even if it meant being worse off.

I just like the idea of being different, I am a proud to be British I have never felt "European" I travel extensively on the continent and when I do I am a Brit abroad, I am a visitor, I feel like a visitor even when made most welcome like we almost always are.

Having our own money, our own law makers and our own sense of pride and identity is fundamental to me. Long live the £ and the lb and the penny

That sums it up for me perfectly:thumb:

 

[Reveuse]

This is really bad news for those who are going abroad next year

Yes but you can take consolation from the fact that it's far worse news for those who live here but whose savings still live in the UK! N'ere mind eh, at least the aires are free

 

[Ralph-Dot]

Yes but you can take consolation from the fact that it's far worse news for those who live here but whose savings still live in the UK! N'ere mind eh, at least the aires are free

But food, fuel and beer are not.

Ralph

 

[hilldweller]

I just like the idea of being different, I am a proud to be British I have never felt "European"

I think that is caused by 26 miles of water.

When I've worked in offices in EU and see people pick up a phone and switch Belgium/France/Germany instantly ( not to mention chatting to me in perfect English ) my jaw drops. But that is how they grew up.

French/German in 50s teach was "Learn all the verbs on pages 5 to 10 for tomorrow OR ELSE". Naturally I failed French and German. This wasn't a method of teaching a language it was a method of deterring people from enjoying anything foreign. I hope they do it better today.

I'm not proud to be British. We *were* great once but fought two world wars, got greedy and lazy and now we simply are not at all great.



Brian.

 

[Reveuse]

But food, fuel and beer are not.

Ralph

no funnily enough i'd spotted that too

 

[N Luyetund]

I am not really clever enough to know what the real benefits or disadvantages of joining the Euro are.

me neither Jim but I'm very clear about my identity... I'm English!

Thanks to Nationwide I'm not at the mercy of the money changers otherwise there'd be a strong incentive to vote euro

I don't need the £ or the inch etc. ...I'm still English! :thumb:

Other Euro countries don't seem to have a problem with their nationality... the French are certainly no less French

 

[Reveuse]

Francs may be long gone but they're not forgotten, supermarkets always (or nearly always) give the franc equivalent of the euro price on the shelf labels and at the bottom of your till receipt tells you what you spent in francs. Maybe they're still not quite convinced the euro is here to stay or not

 

[Munchie]

That sums it up for me perfectly:thumb:

And me :thumb:

 

[Wildman]

I'm English, grew up with LSD, feet, inches, pounds and ounces. I am NOT comfortable with the metric system, I refuse to embrace it, my workshop is full of imperial machines, micrometers imperial as are my taps and dies, naturally I have some metric but pref ro work with what is ingrained into me. When the govenments plan to devalue the £ succeeds in parity with the euro we will accept it and lose billions of pounds off our assets overnight. Thank goodness I have nowt to lose. God help those of you who are reling on savings. I under stand MPG, LPM does not compute nor does L per 100 KM, roads are in miles signage in miles speeds in miles, all we currently have is a mixed system that is neither fish nor fowl. It does not work. We will be expected to drive on the otherside of the road next. an internationally recognised MOT would be a usefull step forward but too easy and usefull to ever happen. Rant over.

Happy Christmas everyone.

 

[N Luyetund]

. I under stand MPG, LPM does not compute nor does L per 100 KM, roads are in miles signeage in miles speeds in miles, all we currently have is a mixed system that is neither fish nor fowl. It does not work.

Oh Yes it does!



I'll try and remember to tell when it's safe to take your head out of the sand

 

[Wildman]

Oh Yes it does!



I'll try and remember to tell when it's safe to take your head out of the sand

So how many miles per litre do you do? was is 17stone in modern measurement.
it is not a case of head in the sand, I can see it, just don't like it. It is change for the sake of it without good reason. why is timber sold in 2.4 not 2.5 lengths, because the timebermills still cut it to imperial lengths. Our measuring systems and Language are part of our national identity, it is what makes us who we are, awkward, yes, belligerent, yes guilty as charged but not head in the sand, more Custer's last stand, hee hee.

 

[Bulletguy]

This is really bad news for those who are going abroad next year, if the present trend continues it may well become non-viable for some on a tight budget.. :Sad:

Where will it all end.. we should have joined the Euro when we were in a position of strength .. too late now I fear..

Well we did join Jim. But it was never going to work out as long as we kept on picking and choosing which 'rules' we were willing to accept, and ditching those we didn't like. First thing 'brits' soon picked up on was the price of booze 'n fags across the Channel and started 'shopping' big time.

So in steps the State and starts confiscating "illegal imports" off "smugglers" coming back into the UK, not to mention stealing their vehicles as well.

Actually it wasn't that the prices were cheap in Belgium....just that UK Government had slapped so much damn tax and hiked up prices over here making it prohibitively expensive. Like most things in the UK.....bloody expensive.

Then of course we are also subservient to the USA and constantly sucking up to them all the time. They have a geographical problem with Europe in that most don't even know where it is, let alone it's existence. So basically we are torn between the two.

Could we have coped without joining the EU? Look to Switzerland for your answers.

 

[haganap]

I think that is caused by 26 miles of water.

When I've worked in offices in EU and see people pick up a phone and switch Belgium/France/Germany instantly ( not to mention chatting to me in perfect English ) my jaw drops. But that is how they grew up.

French/German in 50s teach was "Learn all the verbs on pages 5 to 10 for tomorrow OR ELSE". Naturally I failed French and German. This wasn't a method of teaching a language it was a method of deterring people from enjoying anything foreign. I hope they do it better today.

I'm not proud to be British. We *were* great once but fought two world wars, got greedy and lazy and now we simply are not at all great.



Brian.

Well sorry you feel like that, but personally I disagree,
I am proud to be a PERSON first, but then am an extremely proud BRIT, but more so Proud to call myself ENGLISH.
We are still great, and if we were not so intent on whallowing in our bad bits, recognised our good bits and realised just what a lucky, hardworking nation the majority of us are/were then you too could feel as proud as I do. :thumb:

RULE BRITANIA , I say, and nether forget.

 

[N Luyetund]

So how many miles per litre do you do?

9+ in the car, 6 or 7 in the van.... wots that in English I hear you say (fee fy fo fum,,,) multiply by 4.5 to mpg (a true Englishman always has a stratgem or two)

was is 17stone in modern measurement.

Did you mean wass ist Roger?

Either way, the answer is obese

...Custer's last stand, hee hee.

I'd discount that stratagem on the grounds of outcomeoh:

Cue Flanders and Swann: 'The English, the English are....'

 

[Jim]

Other Euro countries don't seem to have a problem with their nationality... the French are certainly no less French

Yes but they are at the epicentre and won't be happy until we are more French

 

[N Luyetund]

Yes but they are at the epicentre and won't be happy until we are more French

Mais Non!

It always amuses me that a great proportion of the English language comprises loadsa words left behind from their last visit...that's one in the eye for you Harold

psst don't tell the Germans about the epicentre bit

 

[PeteH]

Politics and Religion?

Hi

The two things barred in the "wardroom" where politics and religion.!!!

HOWEVER, the ONLY thing I ever remember being asked to actually VOTE for was a COMMON MARKET?. NOT a common currency, not a common parliament, and not EU defence force, or indeed anything else, Just a TRADING arrangement, where we where SUPPOSED to have a "level playingfield", SO I am afraid that UNTIL I am ACTUALLY asked to vote for these (other) things I WILL NEVER BACK THEM!!.

I think that is simple enough for (even) a politicians brain?

PS, how do you know when a politician it lying?. Answer:- The Lips Move.

As for "pound=Euro" . the "conspiricy theory" is that that is what the political establishment who have been "talking down" the economy want!!, when it gets to "parity" "bounce" your in!!, and then as the economy recovers, as it will eventually, they will have "stuffed it to us" once again.


Pete

 

[Belgian]

If the £ equals the €; it's bad for you, but good for us continentals. oh:It will be less expensive for us to visit you. (Mind you it is not an enjoyment for the mishaps.)
Here in Belgium we are certainly not anti-British, on the contrary. In the last hundreds of years we were ran over and occupied by Spain, Austria, the French several times, the Dutch, twice the Germans but never ever by the British; instead they came to our rescue several times.
For us, the EU is a guarantee we will never be ran-over again. Of course, we had to give up something in return; and there are things in the EU which are not what it should be.
Sorry to say the times of 'Britannia rules the waves' are over (and I regret that). Britannia can no longer isolate the continent. The recession affects the whole world not only the UK. And the only way to coop it is standing united, apart from any nationalism(which doesn't mean to give up your own cultural heritage).
'If you cannot beat them join them' And even non-EU countries like Norway, Iceland and Switserland tune in with the EU (Switserland joined 'Schengen'- no border controls)
Enough sorrow:
a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all

 

[Wildman]

Merry Christmas to you Leo, nice to see you back here.​

 

[Bulletguy]

Sorry to say the times of 'Britannia rules the waves' are over (and I regret that). Britannia can no longer isolate the continent.

Britain is now far too busy isolating itself to bother about indulging colonialism and 'empire building'.

....even non-EU countries like Norway, Iceland and Switserland tune in with the EU (Switserland joined 'Schengen'- no border controls)

Yes UK didn't sign up to this agreement as they still want restrictive border controls. We even have one firmly planted on French soil at Calais, interrogating returning dissenters to explain their absence from the Motherland!

Interestingly i'm not so sure you will find Switzerland has relaxed their borders either (though they should have done so). The last time i drove through the Controle at Basel was in 2002 though i have to add the experience is far less intimidating than attempting to re-enter my own country!

As for your borders.....perfectly wonderful. :thumb:
It's an absolute joy and pleasure to visit Belgium and i always feel that i am being made welcome. I shall possibly be visiting again over Christmas. Are the shops open in Adinkerke next week?

 

[Gonewiththewind]

If the £ equals the €; it's bad for you, but good for us continentals. oh:It will be less expensive for us to visit you. (Mind you it is not an enjoyment for the mishaps.)
Here in Belgium we are certainly not anti-British, on the contrary. In the last hundreds of years we were ran over and occupied by Spain, Austria, the French several times, the Dutch, twice the Germans but never ever by the British; instead they came to our rescue several times.
For us, the EU is a guarantee we will never be ran-over again. Of course, we had to give up something in return; and there are things in the EU which are not what it should be.
Sorry to say the times of 'Britannia rules the waves' are over (and I regret that). Britannia can no longer isolate the continent. The recession affects the whole world not only the UK. And the only way to coop it is standing united, apart from any nationalism(which doesn't mean to give up your own cultural heritage).
'If you cannot beat them join them' And even non-EU countries like Norway, Iceland and Switserland tune in with the EU (Switserland joined 'Schengen'- no border controls)
Enough sorrow:
a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all

The Irish have shown their gratitude by flocking here for there cheap booze.
Sounds familiar

 

[Gonewiththewind]

Sorry One And All MERRY CHRISTMAS.:thumb: