If the majority of people in the UK do not like being in the EU?

Question

why does the government not listen to them.As i read through yahoo answers, people do not want to be in the EU

Answer 1

Because the Government do not listen to their people. They do as they please.

Answer 2

Not everyone is anti EU, I for one am not and there are millions more of the same mind. That is the reason the government will not hold a referendum on the subject. We need to be part of Europe if we are to survive economically. Don't come the old story about Europe making our laws for us, they are already. We just obey like the fools we are instead of playing a major part and arguing our corner. How can the rest of the European community take us seriously when we cannot even sort ourselves out.
Believe me, if we do not unite completely with the EU soon, we are going to end up spending dollars and talking with a drawl. Do you really want that ????????????

Answer 3

I'll be straight with you.
The government only needs to 'listen' to the public when it comes to elections - to get elected.

There are many policies that need to be carried out, but are not necessarily favourable to the layman on the street. The government must look to the future and consequences of enactments of policy decisions. Yes, some are really bad bets and some in post-sight have been required.

Look at university fees. They need to be hiked up more, but the majority of university students would object only on grounds of personal finance. The country cannot survive on paying a huge chunk of university fees out of the treasury otherwise it would go into debt.

Privatisations of the 1980s were a necessity. Some may argue to your heart strings about the miners and the loss of jobs, blah, blah blah., but without the tough decisions that leaders make the consequences of inaction would lead to future strife. All because the 'general public' wouldn't understand the long-term principles on why these things need to be done. It is also the role of government to make sure that the real reason is put across - independent bodies could be useful here - politicians themselves have been known to be dishonest.

As for your separation from the EU question, there are a multitude of economic and socio-developmental reasons why collectivism (I am not a communist) would be greatly beneficial. As far as I known, the arguments for separation play at human emotion of sovereignty. I understand the need for identity, but there are some places where individualism cripples the betterment of society as a whole. The laws of our land, for instance, would be a good example. Slippery slope arguments could also be stated: with the separation of UK from EU would it be better Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to separate from England.

United we stand, Separated we fall.

Answer 4

Because the government doesn't have to listen to us, that's the important thing. We don't elect people who say "we'll give you a referendum" we elect people saying "oh we don't like the EU very much" - but when it comes right down to it they won't let us vote. We elect people to REPRESENT us, if these people don't personally believe that we should have a referendum, then we won't have one - end of story.

Personally I think the EU brings massive benefits to the UK. If we left then our economy would be far too closely bound to the US economy, yet we'd have little influence over it. We have a voice in Europe, and can influence affairs with a very strong trading partner. The UK has no voice at all politically speaking in the US.

Answer 5

Lets get one thing straight here. There is the UK and there is Scotland!
The Scots have shown no resistance to membership of the EU because we recognise the fact that our future as a relatively small Nation within Europe, depends on free trade and recognition within the EU.

Answer 6

It's called "democracy at work"

People in the UK have the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to politics. Give it a few months to die down, labour will throw a carrot to the general public just prior to the next election and all the furore over the EU constitution will be forgotten.

Works every time.

Answer 7

Lets face it Labour is a terrible government that doesn't listen to the British people. They know that after the next election the party will be destroyed. So they really dont care about the decisions they make now, they know they wont be elected again.

Answer 8

In all honesty, what real reason is there for a government to listen to the people? The people are, by and large, ignorant of all the nuances of economies and foreign policy. The worst thing a government can do is bow to the demands of the masses. This is why we have politicians; we elect them to make those decisions for us.

Answer 9

The majority of people in the UK probably do not like paying taxes either so where would that leave us if the government listened to that particular short sighted complaint?

Answer 10

Ummmm, because you can't really gauge Yahoo answers as you would a Mori poll for example.
Besides that, since when has the government of this country ever given a hoot what the citizens of it actually want?

Answer 11

The government is making a very big mistake by not listening, they are there to serve the national interest, not party political dogma