Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
18 December 2008
19:5711155I see on tv tonight that the booze traders in Calais are hitting dire trading conditions. On a report on Newsroom Southeast it showed these great wine warehouses completely empty, deserted, that traditional tumbleweed blowing aimlessly though the empty ghost town car parks. Unheard of in previous years. The standard Christmas bargainhunting trek for Brits to Carrefour and Cite Europe or whatever is no longer happening.
There is no longer value for money. With the Pound worth roughly one Euro or near as dammit, all the bargains have vapourised, just like Santa does himself on Boxing Day.
If the pound continued in such vein and who's to say it wont, there could be a huge reduction in ferry travel particularly off season . No need for ferry travel, no need for jobs. In a weird way the warehouses being empty in Calais could seriously hit employment levels in Dover.
Should we feel sorry for these Warehouses which exist for the British market only. They gave us great bargains before and now we have deserted them??
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
18 December 2008
20:0811156i think that the opposite is the case paul.
i do not think that the loss of the booze cruise business will hurt the ferries that much, french prices have been rising for some time, due to taxation.
the low pound against the dollar and euro means it is like birthday and christmas rolled into one to the majority of our overseas visitors.
let us not forget prices in our shops are falling too
as an aside i notice that a large number of jobs on the ferries are with foreign nationals.
Unregistered User
18 December 2008
20:2211160Paully, the £10 non lander booze cruise is very competitive pricing & they load up for you.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
18 December 2008
20:5811163We did CiteEurope at the weekend and it was heaving !
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 660- Registered: 14 Mar 2008
- Posts: 3,205
18 December 2008
21:2911167More French Visitors arriving at the Station now then there were a month ago/Christmas or 1£ = 1E?
If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
18 December 2008
23:3311171I with you on this howard.
Locking our currency into the Euro would be a complete economic disaster. There was a simple explanation of this published by the Adam Smith Institute recently.
Rather than try to explain in my own words this is a small extract from the paper that explains it simply.
"You can only have one interest rate in a currency area, so if we joined the Euro, we would have handed the control of interest rates over to the European Central Bank. Their interest rates have been lower than ours: indeed, one of the 1990s arguments for joining used to be that we'd have lower interest rates so mortgages would be cheaper. In other words, if we had joined the Euro years ago, we'd have had an even bigger (but equally fake) boom than we in fact had, house prices would be even more astronomical, and the inevitable bust would have been even more painful than it's now going to be.
We're lucky not to be in the Euro, because at least we can let our exchange rate take the strain of the adjustment we now need to make.""""
If interested to read more use this link:
http://www.adamsmith.org/blog/tax-and-economy/no-time-for-the-euro-200812182608/Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
19 December 2008
07:5611183that sounds like a bias statement barry very anti european i must say.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
19 December 2008
08:5711194But it's factually correct Brian.
Roger
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
19 December 2008
10:5611207Brian it is true that we have been better off out of rather than in the euro.
The European Central Bank has been much slower to react to the global recession than the Bank of England and when it has reacted it has been indecisive, this would have been disastrous for our economy. Whatever we think about the EU it is important to recognise that our economy operates to a different cycle to that of the eurozone and therefore there remains a need for the UK to maintain its freedom of fiscal and economic action to behave in the best way for the UK.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
19 December 2008
11:0111209Of course its biased Brian, since when have I (or the Adam Smith Institute) ever suggested to be anything other than anti the EU.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
19 December 2008
17:0211236i am glad you admit that barry.joining the euro would not nessasary hurt britain but might advance us to a better deal in the long run.soveringety is not an issue in this case nor is the fiscal or policy making which has nothing to do with brussels or any where else you care to mention.all those in the euro zone have all there own ways of doing things,brussels rules and regulations are only guidelines for the eu.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
19 December 2008
18:4111248Brian - the Euro is very much an issue of sovereignity, it is an essentail stage on the way to a Federal Europe. It never was an economic project it was always a political one.
The Euro is dangerous to us, what happened in 1990 demonstrates that. The currency is in danger of collapsing right now under the strains of the recession and is more likely than us joining it.
Our economy is structured very differently to the rest of Europe and, as Ross said, on a different cycle. It will not work for us and may not even work for the EU longer term.
We are better off out of the Soviet Socialist European Union anyway.
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
19 December 2008
19:0611251On the top of a tenner it says, 'I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds', what does that even mean anymore?
Like it or not we are very much a part of Europe, so much so that the 'big picture' regeneration of Dover is tied in with being a part of a new Euro region, look at the Dover Pride literature. Even I hate that as it means giving up a lot of our heritage in favour of a cross channel economy but it is what we are getting and it would be better to lead it by the nose instead of being dragged along by the collar.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
19 December 2008
19:3511253Barry I was with you until the last sentence - never mind.
Chris, yes some of our future prosperity is tied to the EU, it has been for 40 years, as they are our largest trading partner, however; I struggle to understand how this means we will give up our heritage. Do you mean someone will move the castle to France?
Brian it is about sovereignty and the ability of our government, the BoE and FSA to take the necessary actions that are best for the UK - if we were in the Eurozone the ECB would take these decision, but they have to take the same action for all member states; of course what is good for us may not be good for the Poles or Italians or Portuguese etc.
Chris is of course right that as members of the club we can only change it by taking ourt position at the high table and leading it
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi