EU head Juncker: "Deserters will not be welcomed"

Seriously? What a pig. This shows the pure arrogance of the euro elite. There's no room for us to say to the EU "Thanks for the last 30 years or so, we don't think this will work for us but we genuinely wish you well". They're coming across like an abusive spouse; "If you leave me, I will make your life hell".

The problem for Juncker and the EU elites is that they are between a rock and a hard place; ideally they want to make life very hard for us to punish us for leaving and as an example to the others. The problem with that is the UK will be the EU's largest export market, Based on the proportion of trade and export, massively pushing up tariffs against the UK would force German auto manufacturers to lay off tens of thousands of workers.

What do you think the average German auto worker who has just been laid off will think when the Commission says, "Yes we know you are losing your job, but it's for the greater good because allowing you to keep your job will undermine the 'European project'". If anything that will enrage Europe against them.

In any case, the Japanese and South Korean governments (who are extremely deft in managing their trade interests) will be happy to sign a free trade pact with us so Nissa, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia can fill the gap left by the German. If anything those manufacturers will be happy to give us a large discount in order to establish themselves and eat up some market share from the Germans.

It's because of crap like this from Juncker that caused me to switch to Leave about a month ago. We are a proud, fierce nation and we won't be pushed around by some third-rate failed Euro politician.

I said "barriers". Being removed from a single market, exiting a united labour market where there is free movement of workers, exiting a system of common regulation.

you're the only one of us who has even mentioned tariffs. You don't require tariffs to damage trade, nor are we looking at the specific concerns of one sector of the economy in one country: this is a far broader question.

I'm afraid I'm a bit beyond silly personal insults.

This guy is usually drunk

I expect Europe to behave in an adult and logical fashion. Juncker's spiteful threats simply demonstrate how this is, for the Euro elite, an emotional issue. They are incapable of conceiving that someone might prefer not to continue as part of the union and are incapable of genuinely wishing such a country well. He comes across more like an abusive spouse than a head of government

Though of course it doesn't matter in the end. Britain will get a trade deal because Europe is still economically weak and can't afford to put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk just to spite the British and deter others from leaving.

PRSOM

Seriously? What a pig. This shows the pure arrogance of the euro elite. There's no room for us to say to the EU "Thanks for the last 30 years or so, we don't think this will work for us but we genuinely wish you well". They're coming across like an abusive spouse; "If you leave me, I will make your life hell".

The problem for Juncker and the EU elites is that they are between a rock and a hard place; ideally they want to make life very hard for us to punish us for leaving and as an example to the others. The problem with that is the UK will be the EU's largest export market, Based on the proportion of trade and export, massively pushing up tariffs against the UK would force German auto manufacturers to lay off tens of thousands of workers.

What do you think the average German auto worker who has just been laid off will think when the Commission says, "Yes we know you are losing your job, but it's for the greater good because allowing you to keep your job will undermine the 'European project'". If anything that will enrage Europe against them.

In any case, the Japanese and South Korean governments (who are extremely deft in managing their trade interests) will be happy to sign a free trade pact with us so Nissa, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia can fill the gap left by the German. If anything those manufacturers will be happy to give us a large discount in order to establish themselves and eat up some market share from the Germans.

It's because of crap like this from Juncker that caused me to switch to Leave about a month ago. We are a proud, fierce nation and we won't be pushed around by some third-rate failed Euro politician.

If you want to put it in terms of romantic relationships the expectation that the UK will get the benefits of being in the EU with no perceived negatives is like dumping your partner because being in a relationship is 'too much trouble' and then expecting that they're still gonna have sex with you. It's not gonna happen. You dumped them. It's over.

Why can't we become friends with benefits with the EU?

I expect Europe to behave in an adult and logical fashion. Juncker's spiteful threats simply demonstrate how this is, for the Euro elite, an emotional issue. They are incapable of conceiving that someone might prefer not to continue as part of the union and are incapable of genuinely wishing such a country well. He comes across more like an abusive spouse than a head of government

Though of course it doesn't matter in the end. Britain will get a trade deal because Europe is still economically weak and can't afford to put hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk just to spite the British and deter others from leaving.

Not having free movement of workers is not a trade barrier.

It's not an insult, it's a fact. It's so characteristic of the more provincial and parochial Europeans to sneer at Asian manufactured cars and to sneer at Asia in general, and overstate the importance of Europe. If I were travelling through the outback, the desert or the steppe I'd rather be in a Land Cruiser than any other type of vehicle. People from the Middle East and Central Asia tend to look at it that way too