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© 2013 AFPJapan warns Britain to stay in EU or suffer job losses
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© 2013 AFP
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Shankun
Where's that 'warning' from the title? It's just cool-headed analysis...
Alex80
Indeed, if Britain will decide to isolate itself from the EU, following nationalist tendencies, it will hurt her own interests. But as I told in another thread, populism and nationalism are spreading across the world, sadly.
JeffLee
That's what people, many on the left, said about euro membership back in the 90s. The stance by Thatcher and then Major to reject the euro was a case of brilliant insight. Otherwise, UK taxpayers today would be obliged with constantly bailing out Greece and all the rest of its profligate and irresponsible euro chums.
JeanValJean
Britain would be wise to extricate herself from the Etats-Uni. Not joining the failing euro experiment has also been wise.
nigelboy
I'm mixed on this. A country has the right to prioritize their own economy first.
Alex80
Typical nationalist way to think that is bringing Europe to collapse, and worse, to nationalist crap. Anyway, anti-european countries can leave. They never learned nothing from history.
JeffLee
Having a single currency, whereby widely varied economies are forced to share the exact same monetary policy, is what is "bringing Europe to collapse." "Nationalism" makes a nice target that panders to the emotions of the economically-illiterate, but the true reason is technical in nature.
Thomas Anderson
The whole Euro crisis was actually caused by the banking crisis in North-western European countries just like in the US, but they tricked countries like Greece into cleaning up the whole mess. The supposed laziness of Greece is generally not true.
Alex80
They learned nothing from history.
Indeed Europe lacks of a common political direction, and they must work properly together to improve. But nationalism is growing up in many countries, and I see the ghosts of very sad old times. Do you want Europe become a nationalist mess like the current East Asia? I don't.
hackney
Japanese companies love the UK because they get massive subsidies from the government there. The money would have been better aimed at helping British entrepreneurs build up their own industry. The Japanese companies also love the lax employment laws in the UK which make it so easy to fire/lay people off much more easily than other EC countries. There used to be several Japanese companies in my hometown in Scotland (including huge concerns like NEC and Mitsubishi). Now there are none. They suddenly realised that it was cheaper for them to open factories in eastern Europe. They say there's no sentiment in business, but it was particularly heartless for NEC to send several hundred workers letters over the Christmas holidays to tell them they had closed the factory and that they had lost their jobs.
OneHapa
Ironic that Japan is making this type of economic advice when there is a very real possibility our country will isolate itself from the other Asia-Pacific countries by messing up the TPP discussions. All due to the self interest of the farmers that make up a fraction of the economy.
Japan's politicians and bureaucrats should heed their own advice.
nigelboy
Japan already has FTA or EPA agreements with Asia Pacific countries participating in TPP. TPP is essentially a defacto EPA/FTA between U,S, and Japan.
nath
I think Japan "advised" would be a more accurate description.
YuriOtani
The government of the United Kingdom needs to do what is best for its own citizens and not Germany or Japan.
spudman
Hear hear Yuri. But everyone tells Japan what is best about TPP etc.
ohayo206
No cohesive plan in Europe. I don't blame UK for wanting to jump ship.
InControl
I'm from the UK but haven't lived there for over 20 years so my views are largely based on news (Sky, BBC, flipboard of various UK newspaper sites). From this I get the impression that the mass general public have an extremely negative view on EU immigration issues (eg thousands of Eastern europeans pouring in, taking jobs and/or leeching off welfare) and the EU court of human rights permitting the multi-year, multi-million pound (tax payer funded) farce of deporting the terrorist, hate speaker Abu Qatada (who was also living on welfare benefits whilst espousing hate language against the UK government.
Because of EU membership, the government is seen to have no power to deport a foreigner who gives street sermons about killing British in jihad and cannot properly control the mass inflows of unskilled, potentially criminal people from other member countries.
When they hold an in-out referendum I think many many people will be thinking of these negatives and not considering higher-brow economic reasons.
Personally I think we should remain as part of the EU, as the positives far outweigh the negatives. But try to negotiate more favourable terms whilst reforming immigration and welfare.
billyshears
I think you've hit the nail on the head there InControl. I'm not British but often read the Mail online. This site seems to make an effort to antagonize its UK readers with exaggerated stories of things like a supposed uncontrollable influx of Romanian pickpockets and other Eastern European immigrants flooding into the country merely to sponge off the state welfare system. It also appears that the flood of immigration into the UK in the 1990s has changed the cultural make-up of some of the big cities and an increasingly popular nationalistic and anti-EC political party, the UKIP, has sprung up to pander to a pervasive fear among the British white population that traditional British culture is being eroded.
Steven C. Schulz
Turnabout is fairplay: UK urges Japan to accept TPP unconditionally.
The same argument was made when Britain rejected the Euro, yet there was no significant shift towards the Continent.
Even if Britain decides to withdraw from the Union, they are important enough to the European economy that negotiation into the EFTA (European Free Trade Area) is a foregone conclusion.
Britain's competive advantage is its 'half-in' attitude towards the Union. With decision-making being consolidated into the Eurozone proper, whether in the EU or EFTA won't significantly change that advantage.
billyshears
Got to disagree there. There seems to be an implicit warning that if the UK leaves the EU, then Japanese companies will also leave and take their jobs with them.
Redcliff
Will Britain Foreign Policy be dictated by Japan demand?
Thunderbird2
The new immigration rules for non-EU people is a nasty piece of work, and hits the wrong people... if, for example, I married a Japanese woman and wanted to live in the UK she would either need to have a job here, earning more than £18,600 a year, or I could support her on my own wages. (However, someone from Rumania can come here without a job and beg on the streets... you see quite a few of them here in Glasgow.)
Back on topic and it would seem that Japanese companies see the UK as a factory, with Europe being the market they want to sell to without any hurdles in the way... a conduit if you like. Is it a threat, or just a piece of advice thinly veiled as a threat? However, the referendum will only take place if the Tories win the next election, and before that there is a Scottish Independence vote, which could complicate matters even further...
keika1628
The Chinese gateway to Europe has been established in Ireland . Japan desperately needs Britain to stay in the Zone for obvious reasons.
parsboy
What no one seems to realise is that Britain will leave the EU but then join EFTA ( European Free trade agreement ) like countries such as Iceland , Norway and Switzerland ! As far as trade is concerned there will be no change ! What the Japanese should also realise is that when Britain leaves we will be followed by other countries demanding a free vote ! The EU is loved by politicians but hated by most people in Europe ! Britain first then Germany then its bye bye to the EU !
Nathaw
Being the member of EU is a burden instead of joyful member. Germany is footing the bill of low performing members. Japanese Inc of Britain will still employ 130,000 people. However Britain has to employ ten times more people from broke EU members. Germany is not only footing the bill of Greece, Spain and Portugal. It has to accommodate the imported unemployed people from that nations. The question is how many people Britain can afford to employ?
timtak
How about if Japan joins the EU? If Russia does, one day, then Japan will not be much further from continental Eurasia than Britain.
nandakandamanda
The UK is a perfect base for Japan. That's why they supplied the machines and pushed the tunnel through when the UK itself was not quite so enthusiastic.
Knox Harrington
England is as much a shimaguni as Japan is. Always have and always will be. In all fairness, though, let them leave the EU if they want. They won't be missed.
Thunderbird2
Knox... when you say England are you referring to the UK, or just England? Going by your 'anti' attitude I would assume you are American? How about I refer to America as the Colonies?
Anyway, back to the main topic... and if Nissan, for example was to pull out of northern England then there would be a massive black hole formed. The plant in Sunderland is one of the biggest in the UK, and with the local and wider suppliers reliant of the plant it could suck away those jobs like some mad black hole.
Yes, the UK needs some distance between ourselves and the effects of the Euro's problems, but we need Europe. We always have done and always will. I hope that, as the UK nudges out of recession and the success at sport recently doesn't blind people to the truth... we need Europe, and we need Japan to continue to invest in our country, conduit or not.
Azzprin
The UK has already put money into the rescue of several of the euro currency countries, even thou we are not a member of the euro.
Main problem with the euro is different countries need different tax rates etc. A low tax rate may be good for one, but not another.
The euro is good in theory, but in practice all of the countries need to be able to survive with the income from taxes, etc. To be able to pay for government employes wages, pensions, armed forces, health and all other costs.
Say one needs a 10 % while another would need 15 %.
The people of the 10 % would not like their tax to be increased to 15 % and would probably kick their government out at the next electrons.
The people of the 15 % would not like the cut backs on services as their government tries to survive on 10 %.
Till all of the countries in the euro sort out their taxes and costs, the euro will remain on shaky ground when members of it struggle.
Any country not able to cope with the euro should be warned and if they still fail to meet the requirements of being in the euro. They then should be dropped from the euro till they can meet the requirements.
globalwatcher
Well, UK needs to decide its own fate while its unemployment is a double digit high. This is actually nobody else's business. Good luck to UK.
Thunderbird2
@globalwatcher... UK unemployment rate for June was 7.8%, not double-digit.
Open Minded
Europe = 70 years without war and assimilation of million people from the former undeveloped east block. It is an on-going process with still a lot of weaknesses and issues to fix. But overall, this is one of the most remarkable success to put together people who used to fight for centuries.
hatsoff
I wouldn't have a problem exiting the EU if it was in our best interests to do so, but I'm not sure it is. The Little Englanders are willing to cut off the UK nose to spite its face by throwing the toys out of the pram rather than fight for more influence by rallying other countries, many of whom could be persuaded to vote for cutting back on the excessive euro-laws.
The UK would do well to take into account how the USA and Japan view the situation (from the perspective of enlightened self-interest), especially as there's talk of a Free Trade Agreement between the US and the EU.
sf2k
they're just upset they'll lose their subsidies. Ironic considering the subsidized businesses in Japan. Proof once again that irony isn't translated properly