stevie_b

The financial markets hate uncertainty. With Leave, you get a truckload of it. Watch how far the FTSE will fall when the markets open this morning.

I reckon the polling stations will be heaving tonight. Everyone will descend on them after work. Don't leave it until the last minute, folks!

I'm in a similar position to you really. Mine's only done maybe a couple of hundered miles last year.

20 miles of which are probably driving to and from the MOT station .

Some light relief: [ATTACH=CONFIG]212881[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]212882[/ATTACH]

It's been a good debate on here. One of my big fears about referendums in general is that they turn into a charisma contest between the main spokesmen of either side. Based on this thread and elsewhere, this thanfully hasn't happened, people are trying to digest the issues, and not the personalities.

Not quite, see here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36430504 The EU specifies a minimum rate of 15% (there are some exceptions that have lower rates, but this is the main one). The UK currently has a VAT rate of 20%, so the UK govt could lower it if they wanted to.

Our MPs can already do most of these things, can't they? Immigration - there are EU rules we have to abide by if we stay in the EU. But if we leave, it's extremely likely the EU will insist we have free movement of people between the UK and the EU anyway, in return for untariffed access to the single market. Travel, schools, hospitals, police - how does the EU impose their controls on us for these things? Are you blaming the EU for issues that can be (but haven't been) addressed by our MPs? All these hospitals and schools that I keep reading about (in Leave flyers) we'll be able to build if we leave the EU and stop coughing up our £170m/week in EU fees (after rebates etc). £170m (= £8.8bn/year) is 0.5% of the UK's GDP. Will that make enough difference to build these hospitals? That's uncomfortable reading. He's one of the many things I don't like about the EU. But Juncker isn't the EU, and I am convinced the UK won't be pushed into joining the single currency.

That doesn't stack up. £2billion over 6 years is £333m per year. That's almost the UK's entire contribution to the EU, before we get any money back in rebates, grants, etc. If this money has been spent on Turkey, then we're not paying anything to keep the rest of the EU going. I doubt that. I think there's a side of this the Sun aren't telling us. The Currant Bun never lets the truth get in the way of a good story.

The author also wrote "The Eurosceptic's Handbook", and "Myth and Paradox of the Single Market". I wouldn't trust his opinion as being unbiased. THe first thing I do when reading things like this, is try to find out if I'm reading propaganda: scroll to the bottom to see who the author is, or what the website tries to achieve. If I am (from either side, I've got just as little time for Remain propaganda), I take it with a pinch of salt.

Nie ma za co

It's a good question, but it needs a complicated answer: We're imagining a hypothetical UK, which until today has not yet joined the EU. If the hypothetical UK economy is like it is today (there are problems, sure, but it's OK depending on the sector you work in), then I would probably vote to remain out of the EU. If the UK was an economic basket case, I'd probably vote to join the EU in the hope that membership would help trade etc. If we're assuming the hypothetical UK is doing as well as (or better than) the real UK of today, then it would mean that my biggest fears about Brexit will not come true. But that's a big assumption. Let's imagine for a moment, an alternative scenario: The UK has never joined the EU, it's once-strong financial services industry has been hollowed out by big companies having moved their European HQs to Frankfurt in the mid-1980s (you can use a Bloomberg terminal from anywhere in the world, and the banks find it cheaper to deal with EU countries by being in an EU country). There is a brain-drain of skilled workers moving to USA and Europe, leaving an ageing population dependent on less and less tax revenues for their pensions. The government has subsidised the coal and steel industries, but cheap imports flooding in from China mean it's cheaper to import it than to make/mine it here. We don't make anything or provide particular services in big enough quantities to make it attractive to export it. We're reliant on trading with mainly France and Germany, but are hampered by tariffs slapped on our goods by the EU, making a lot of things uncompetitive. How would I vote then? Probably to join the EU. However..... any country wanting to join now, IIRC has to join the single currency as well. So the relationship we've got with the EU at the moment cannot be resurrected. If we leave and have another vote in x years' time to rejoin (something that I maintain is extremely unlikely to happen for 25+ years), it won't be on the same terms as we have now. Joining the single currency is a no-no for me.

True, but I'd put significant money on the government following the recommendation of the people.

Re the MP's murder, people need to leave the politics of the referendum out of it. There are nutters in every group in society. The referendum shouldn't be postponed. That would be a victory for the nutter (disruption was probably what he wanted, and disruption is what he's achieved), and (I'm on risky ground here) I doubt that would have been the wish of the MP.

Would that depend on the nature of the trade deals that a post-Brexit UK strikes with the EU? I'm not sure how VAT works internationally, and how it compares to tariffs and other duties. My gut feeling is that a Brexited UK wouldn't be in a position of power when bargaining with the EU. When you leave a club, the terms you deal with the club in future tend to be on a "here's the deal, take it or leave it" basis.

I'm pretty sure my 1.8 petrol Ford C-max has sticky/knackered piston rings. This causes a moderate level of oil consumption, and I think clogs up the intake side of the engine with oil vapour from the EGR system. I'm considering doing a kerosene flush. I've heard it can work on these cars, but I don't know the dangers. I'm guessing dislodging carbon deposits that then get stuck in a vital oilway is one such danger. Anything else I should think about? Do you think it's a mad idea? What's the chances of it making things worse?

I'm after some pre-facelift front seats in VGC. I don't need the seat frames, but if someone wants to sell the whole seats then I could buy those and take the bits I need, depending on price.

I'll be refurbing my plastic lenses soon. I'll be using Meguiars headlight polish kit, and then applying some UV protection: http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/optimum-opti-lens-advanced-uv-protective-headlight-coating.php The UV stuff is expensive but it's reckoned to be genuinely permanent.

I didn't know this. Timely advice as I'll be replacing my cam cover rubber gasket soon. I've already got the gasket, but didn't know I need sealant as well. I presume any automotive gasket sealant will be OK?

It's a shame you're leaving, but all the best for the future.

Oh wow. Where abouts are you emigrating to?

You jammy git!

I would be completely against ditching the pound, and always have been. I would much prefer the EU reverts back to the EEC type thing it once was (trading partnership, not political union). One size does not fit all, and that especially applies to currencies. If I thought we'd be sucked into a single currency, that would be a deal-breaker for me and I'd move to Camp Brexit. As j_jza80 said, I think the Euro is too toxic for anyone to consider joining it, and will be for maybe 20 years. After that, I trust that people will have long enough memories to remember the recent single currency difficulties.

See posts 754 and 757 for more about this. The referendum question will be whether we should remain in or leave the EU. It's not clear if that also means whether we should leave the EEA (single market) or not. But Norway and Switzerland are (AFAIK) in the EEA but not the EU. So they must be different beasts. Therefore going Brexit doesn't have to prevent us from being in the EEA. What's not clear is if the people vote for Brexit, do they think they're also instructing the UK to leave the EEA? For those who favour Brexit on here, what do you think you are voting for regarding EEA? Boris has (IIRC) said that Brexit does mean leaving the EEA as well. Nigel Farage has said in the past that he favours a trade-block style EU like it used to be, not political union as it has become. But a Brexit (if Boris' vision is the one that's used) would mean he will get neither if Brexit occurs.