Germany 'Would Accept UK Exit From EU' To Protect Migration Rules

[Purveyor]

Source: BBC

Chancellor Angela Merkel would rather see the UK exit from the European Union than compromise over the principle of free movement of workers, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

Mrs Merkel is alleged to fear that the UK is approaching a "point of no return".

Downing Street would not comment on the reports.

Mr Cameron wants to renegotiate the terms of the UK's continued membership before holding an in-out referendum.

The prime minister said that freedom of movement would be "at the very heart of my renegotiation strategy for Europe", but Mrs Merkel is said by the magazine to have made clear she will withdraw her support for the UK's continued EU membership if he continues to push for migration reform.
Point of no return

This is the first time that Mrs Merkel has acknowledged that the UK's exit from the EU is possible, Der Spiegel said.



Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29874392

[DonCoquixote]

1. That is because

Fraulien Merkel would love to do her own immigration ban, no matter what she says. Some of the anti immigrant posters there are somethign that yes, Goebels would be proud of , such as "kinder Nicht Inder" (Children, not Indians.)

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

3. Unfortunately, the free movement of people

drives down wages, inflates home prices, and strains social services.

How far shall we all go before we are all make two dollars an hour?

The rich gain much, the poor gain a bit, and the middle class gets squeezed beyond relief.

[yellowcanine]

5. Actually it doesn't. That is anti-immigrant propaganda.

While there may be evidence on this in specific sectors, overall the effect appears to be positive for wages and economic growth.
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/2013/08/02-immigration-wages-greenstone-looney

[candelista]

9. Look at construction and tell me that wages have risen.

US workers have been almost entirely replaced by low paid illegals, at least in the Western US.

[ballyhoo]

10. Speakin to the choir here, and if Obama gives amnesty to

millions of people after the election, wages will dive.

[BlueEye]

11. There is a dangerous paradigm that exists when pro-labor/worker's rights populism

morphs into anti-immigrant nativism ("THEY TOOK OUR JOBS&quot . While liberals should always seek to protect the working class, we should not go to such extremes that we further alienate the disenfranchised millions that are immigrants who came to America seeking a better life.

Just my opinion. But since when has DU had a strong anti-citizenship bent? Latino Americans can and should be part of the solution, not classified as the problem.

[ballyhoo]

14. Apparently, you do not know what

"Regression to the Mean" means. Do you even know what immigration laws were designed for? They were to designed to let a few people in so they could be absorbed into whatever culture slowly. Bringing millions of people into a culture all at once reduces the existing culture even that which is partially composed of immigrants themselves. And the most ardent people against a sudden influx of new illegals is Latinoes themselves who KNOW what will happen to their wages and possibly jobs if new potential workers come in to the country. Sudden immigration destroying the working class is a paradigm itself.

[candelista]

20. So all countries should tear down their borders?

Otherwise they risk Nazism?

That is an all-time false dilemma!

[yellowcanine]

23. Yes of course that is what the poster said......

Mischaracterize much?

[yellowcanine]

15. Did you read the link? On average wages actually go up.

Of course some sectors in some regions can be negatively impacted for a while, but the overall economic impact long term is positive.
Slamming the gates shut is not a solution.

[candelista]

21. Here's the key quote from your propaganda-laden link.

For instance, less-skilled immigrants working in, say, agriculture, construction, or household services, appear to improve the wages and earnings of Americans by expanding the capacity of American businesses and farms, increasing the responsibility and pay of American foremen and supervisors, and providing expanded opportunities for higher-skilled Americans, particularly women, to pursue higher-paying careers.

But (1) the studies the author cites do not support this claim, and (2) the theory behind this claim ignores the upward mobility of illegal immigrants.

[yellowcanine]

22. You say the studies don't support it, sorry I respect their scholarship more than your opinion.

Anyway, the premise that an influx of productive individuals will improve the overall economic outlook is a sound one. People who are productive spend money and create jobs for more people, regardless of what level they start at or where they end up. You also ignore the fact that immigrants tend to have a higher percentage of entrepreneurs than the resident population. Entrepreneurs take risks and often create new jobs by starting businesses.

[ballyhoo]

24. Influx of productive individuals? What

are you talking about?

[7962]

19. I see what happens where I live, regardless of some Brookings story

MORE workers for the same number of jobs will not increase wages. It hasnt around here. Especially when most of those workers are low-skilled
So if we let 50 million more people come in wages should REALLY go up? No.

[pampango]

6. If that were true, wages and income equality would be terrible in Europe. They are not. n/t

[quadrature]

12. 25% unemployment ...

50% unemployment for youths

whats not to like about the EU?

[Lenomsky]

17. Where do you get those stats?

[pampango]

18. Strongest unions/middle class, best income equality in the world ...

The fact that Europe is going through tough times, caused by a republican-created global Great Recession, is not a good reason to abandon liberal policies that created middle class prosperity in the first place. To replace these liberal immigration policies with tea party- and UKIP-supported, "US vs THEM" immigration restrictions would be unwise.

[candelista]

7. Excellent post.

The European working class, like the US working class, has fought for well over 100 years to achieve decent wages and conditions of employment. People have lost their jobs, been subjected to violence by police and hired goons, and even been killed to secure these gains. And now all of it is being rolled back by illegal immigration from other countries.

The First World has an obligation to help the working classes of other countries to improve their lives at home, in their own countries, so they don't have to leave their native lands to attain a decent standard of living. But we should not sacrifice everything we have fought for in our own countries to help them out.

[yellowcanine]

4. Merkel = Anti immigrant posters??? How does that work?

Kind of like equating Obama with the Tea Party, don't you think?

[candelista]

8. That's ridiculous.

There was no such "equation" in that post.

[pampango]

2. The French seem to feel the same way. France and Germany want the UK in the EU but not

if continues to pander to the far-right, UKIP, regarding special immigration rules. Freedom of movement is one of the keys to 70 years of peace between France and Germany. It helps prevent the "US vs THEM" mentality from developing as it has in the past.

[roamer65]

13. The UK would be better off outside of the EU.

Negotiate fair trade with the EU and leave it at that level.

[cprise]

16. Tut, tut... mustn't be "isolationist"!

Better to cross borders with machine guns and cluster bombs than with workers.