But they're northerners....

What is the advantage?
Most UK citizens dont travel outside the UK often, so Schengen wouldn't make things easier, unlike many EU states where people travel to work across borders daily.
Frankly having to show a passport occasionally is no big deal.
As for the supposed boost to "our" economy by bringing in cheap labour, if a boost means losing your livelihood or working for less, you can keep it.
Perhaps the "economy" referred to is the poster's own.

So...you get your insights from soap operas? That explains a lot. ;-)

Yes and the Tudors were on last night so i'm learning 'proper' English history.

Good one! That's one soap opera I will admit to watching. :-)

Whatever else you're learning from The Tudors, Pal, it's not 'proper' history. Fun, I grant you, but it's definitely more in the style of Die-nasty.

Patrick:

Yeh i know that or suspect it from reviews i've read about the Tudor soap but still it brings places i've been like Hampton Court vividly to life. As for Corrie - be sure i know that does not represent average English life.

<<< As for Corrie - be sure i know that does not represent average English life. >>>

Apart from the Devil Child it still is pretty typical of life in some areas of the UK

Especially now that Norris is no longer Prime Minister of Australia (well, have you ever seen them in the same room?).

Flanner, please wipe the froth from the corners of your mouth. It´s not an appetizing sight.

"Most UK citizens dont travel outside the UK often" - no Zippo, that's the US you are thinking of.

"some say" ...witness the US isolationist policy.

CDT (Cheap Debating Trick) Alert!

"Some say" the US isn't isolationist enough.

altamiro: flanner's froth is a permanent condition.

Flanneur brags about more jobs created in UK than all of EU or some such Blarney

but what kind of wage jobs are these?

In the U.S. there has also been many jobs created but at wages much lower than the jobs that were lost

What's good for business types is not always what's best for the average worker bloke - judging a country's fortunes by GNP and other cold financial figures is cold often - look at the average wage increase or decrease and similar with buying power

What's great for wealthy folk with investments oozing out of the arses in the Cotswolds is not always the best for working blokes in Liverpool IMO

My bottom line is very different from what flanneur's seems to be (and indeed wages and buying power may have improved and to be honest i'm judging by the similar American experience where each has declined for the average worker whilst the rich have gotten rich and the accumulation of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer exacerbated)

New Labour perhaps is really not anymore interested in the interests of true labourers - the ones who really do the work that business types then pay themselves huge salaries (or speaking fees) to take credit for.

As for the insular nation of UK and reason for its fortress border mentality i think Italy and Spain for two have lots of coastlines and relatively short land borders

And Ireland is to be trusted to carry out the necessary scrutiny and not Italy? Last i knew the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland was totally open - indeed cows have been known to have been shifted back and forth in the past so that each country counted them for their ample EU subsidies.

I think "Yes, Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" offer more penetrating insights into the British bureaucratic mindset than any pap you're likely to see on ITV (even if it HAS been running for seeming centuries).

http://www.yes-minister.com

Flanner inside the EU, not just Schengen every EU citizen has the right to work and live where they please. Germany is no exception.
The Netherlands, and many other "old" EU countries have plenty of "new" EU citizens working in them, with the same problems as the UK experiences - pressure on schools, emptying of fishing lakes etc etc.
The Netherlands has never had so many people in employment, nor so many jobs available as now.
We also have more than our fair share of illegal immigrants. The UK is not the only dream destination for these people you know.

Should the rabid anti Europeans get their way and the UK leaves the EU you will see a great many jobs drainng from the UK at record speed, not to mention all the subsidies that the UK gets will vanish, financial institutions will reconsider having London as a base etc etc.

I don't agree with everything the EU decides upon, or would like to do, but I don't understand the hatred of "Europe" expressed by so many of my fellow Brits.

Oh and PalenQ the Tudors was made in Ireland in co-operation with the Canadians!

hetismij wrote: "I don't agree with everything the EU decides upon, or would like to do, but I don't understand the hatred of "Europe" expressed by so many of my fellow Brits."

It's simple, really. UK policy is determined by an Australian-born US citizen who happens to dominate popular media.

Paddy: why doesn't Ireland ditch the U.K. and join Schengen like they did the Euro Zone?

any sentiment for this?

Because then there would be border controls between Britain and Ireland, which makes things complicated.

Also, perhaps Ireland is of the same opinion as the UK, that the Schengen countries do not effectively control immigration. (?)

waring wrote: "Because then there would be border controls between Britain and Ireland, which makes things complicated."

That's the beginning and the end of the explanation.

Waring also wrote: "Also, perhaps Ireland is of the same opinion as the UK, that the Schengen countries do not effectively control immigration. (?)"

I think popular sentiment in Ireland is pro-Schengen, mainly as a matter of travel convenience but also because we tend to identify more with the EU than do British people. What our politicians believe is a mystery. We won't find out in the foreseeable future because of the importance to us of maintaining the common travel area with the UK (which is tied into the aspiration that many hold to have a united Ireland).

On 24 October 2007 it was reported that the UK intended to introduce passport checks between Britain and Ireland from 2009 onwards, as part of a proposed electronic border control system, thus putting the future of the Common Travel Area in doubt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_...ture_prospects