Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Believe it or not @pete there are some EU officials and MEPs who are honest and work hard and do their best for what they believe to be the best way forward for members of the European Union as a whole to ensure its social and economic security and they are now waking up to the need for a united defence ploicy too.

Thanks to the EU there are improved standards of working hours, pay and conditions; better standards for animals in agriculture; better standards for crops (levels and types of pesticides, herbicides and no GM); better standards of manufacture for consumer goods; better standards and goals for public transport from buses to trams, trains and airplanes; improved infrastructure and housing in poor areas (lots of the UK benefitted from that); and much, much more including 75 years of peace between members.

All of this would not be achieved if they were all just freeloading and Farage voted against all of it.

 

No, but T'other Half says it is better. They are accurate every time. No more estimates.

 

I think we are all free to believe whatever we hear or read, and I dont doubt that in some things the EU are doing good, but they are not the best thing since sliced bread in lots of their policies and its a very costly set up.

I really dont think their farming policies are for the good, they still treat animals badly, especially France and east European countries, and its the old story of they all agree to something but then we all go away and just carry on if we dont like it.

It was where the UK always fell down, they just wanted to stick to all the rules while half of Europe was justs paying lip service to them and ignoring them.

Its easy to just pick on Farage because you dont like him, a few home truths are spoken about the system that goes on and has for years with no one challenging it.

I'm under no illusion that farage is some kind of saint, but then I'm yet to see any politician who is, even those fantastic MEPs.

As for defense, well, yes just waking up????? only because Trump told them they were free loading, and he is thinking of pulling out of Europe to some extent, I dont excuse the UK of that one either.

The EU is a protectionist bloc that squeals when Trump puts tariffs on them, at least its just tariffs rather than complete exclusion which is how the EU operates.

 

Think of it as a United States of Europe @pete and it's no more protectionist than the USA with a similar sized geographical surface and population.

There are all sorts of policies in place now across the EU that would never have happened in some countries on their own. As it is, the UK opted out of the working time directive and now suffers/benefits from some of the longest working weeks and zero hours contracts.

Note also that I'm actually living here and seeing how it has benefitted rural and industrial communities as well as investing in transport links so that central EU countries like Austria have decent road links to Atlantic and Channel ports to export and import goods and tourists and poorer countries like Spain and Greece get pulled up by their bootstraps to have better infrastructure and improve their economies.

When Brexit was first mentioned the Liverpool Echo did an article asking what the EU had done for Merseyside. 17 things European funding has done for Merseyside

The 17 points listed were so comprehensive from social projects to infrastructure and historical buildings that Merseyside voted remain. There was similar EU investment in Wales, Cornwall, the north east etc and all at higher rates than any UK govt had ever bothered to spend outside London and the south east.

 

EU investment, now I wonder where the EU gets it's money?
Presumably from the countries membership fees.

So it was probably our money in the first place, the EU just decided for us where to spend it.
We were one of the few net contributors to the EU, got less back than we paid them,and one good reason to make leaving so difficult and drawn out.

 

Maximum weekly working hours

For most workers, no more than 48 hours on average. Individual workers can opt out, but the employer can't opt out. It had quite an impact on the NHS.

"Before the implementation of the Working Time Directive (WTD), which was introduced in the UK in 1998, UK doctors often worked significantly longer hours with fewer restrictions on weekly maximums, daily rest periods, and break entitlements. The WTD established caps on average working hours, such as the 48-hour average weekly limit, and mandated rest provisions, like 11 hours of continuous rest between shifts and minimum break times. While the WTD aimed to protect doctors from excessive hours and prevent medical errors, it also brought significant changes and challenges, including potential impacts on training and complex scheduling"

 

I remember when that working time directive came in.
My employer at the time tried a fair bit of arm twisting to get us all to sign out of it.

 

Didn't know of the working time directive, i worked all sorts of hours even some 36 hour days when some one rings in sick, most day were 15hours and 7 days a week

 

When I first started work we had a terrific (paid) overtime culture. You were looked at with suspicion if you only did your straight hours and when we were trying to get a delivery out weeks of 90 hours plus were common. I'm still at the same company (after a couple of takeovers!) and the culture is completely different. It's understood that working very long hours is detrimental to both our own physical/mental health and the quality of the delivered product.

 

My parents were newsagents for many years and an 80-90 hour week was normal. Bit different if you're self-employed of course.

 

Yes, and the government website I linked to points that out with a list of exceptions:

• where working time is not measured and you’re in control, for example you’re a managing executive with control over your decisions

 

And, of course, they had no paid holidays and, in reality, only able to take one week a year.

 

I always think running your own business is way overrated. Hospitality probably the worst - I know people involved in restaurants and it's really stressful. And all their relatives/friends expect to get stuff for free.

Happy to have just been working for wages all my life! 5 weeks paid holiday plus bank holidays, still get paid if I'm sick, no having to deal with the public and a decent pension plan.

 

I would have to diagree to a point, why, some times it keeps your mind going, i'm retired and boy it's harder than ever to do things, i worry but everything and if nowt to worry about i'm worrying, so it's not good for me!!!!
I worked for a haulage company and had to load and unload 50 trailars a day(100 trailars)

 

Well we worked in writing very complex, mission critical software. That's not good to attempt with a tired brain, when you create two new bugs for every one you fix!

I do agree that you need to keep your mind busy ... but probably not for >50 hours a week!