Leak! What the official government is saying.

[xxMATTGxx]

Then why didn't you hold a new one? thought so.

But yeah, really shows that the importance of a leaked government memo is now to be judged on whether or not it's trending on Twitter or how many people are talking about it on Twitter. Really intelligent responses.

If it's being talked about on social media then it means people are aware of it and would be considered important. At the moment no one is talking about it on social media (at this moment in time) so the interest is quite low and you could say no one gives a ****. If it starts coming up onto twitter and facebook over the next few days then you can say people do actually care about what has been said in the leaked memo.

Drone strikes are talked about a lot on twitter = So there is people in this world who would consider them as important.

[-:Undertaker:-]

If it's being talked about on social media then it means people are aware of it and would be considered important. At the moment no one is talking about it on social media (at this moment in time) so the interest is quite low and you could say no one gives a ****. If it stops coming up onto twitter and facebook over the next few days then you can say people do actually care about what has been said in the leaked memo.

Drone strikes are talked about a lot on twitter = So there is people in this world who would consider them as important.

It's being talked about on John Redwood's blog by guest posts along with the Telegraph dear (which is where I found it from), but if you only have a limited news feed that's confined to the likes of Twitter and Facebook then I can see where you are coming from.

Maybe you both ought to branch out a bit you know? the internet is a big place.

[xxMATTGxx]

It's being talked about on John Redwood's blog by guest posts along with the Telegraph dear (which is where I found it from), but if you only have a limited news feed that's confined to the likes of Twitter and Facebook then I can see where you are coming from.

All I was saying is that social media is a big part of peoples lives and that is where people often find such stories or stories that you wouldn't find on one of the big news sites if it was being shared quite a lot and trending. It's how these things work these days

We never know, it could have a lot of attention over the week. Just have to wait and see.

Maybe you both ought to branch out a bit you know? the internet is a big place.

Indeed but no I don't need to branch out. The chances of normal people reading John Redwood's blog out of the blue is slim. Reading it on a site such as a newspaper site or the BBC, twitter or facebook = There's a bigger chance. Basically, it needs to be shared/talked about on a site where there people will find it. Not saying the blog is a bad place but if people share it ---> The interest goes up.

I never said it wasn't important. I'm just saying twitter is more than Justin Bieber

[-:Undertaker:-]

All I was saying is that social media is a big part of peoples lives and that is where people often find such stories or stories that you wouldn't find on one of the big news sites if it was being shared quite a lot and trending. It's how these things work these days

We never know, it could have a lot of attention over the week. Just have to wait and see.

Yes it is, but it doesn't apply to every story.

If you think this story isn't important then post why by using some logic or other historical documents which contradict its importance - which we can then discuss, rather than subjecting me to a pointless argument on the fact that people talk about things on Twitter in varying degrees of interest.

I never claimed this leaked memo was going to be massive news or a hit with Twitter, nor should you suggest I did.

[xxMATTGxx]

Yes it is, but it doesn't apply to every story.

If you think this story isn't important then post why by using some logic or other historical documents which contradict its importance - which we can then discuss, rather than subjecting me to a pointless argument on the fact that people talk about things on Twitter in varying degrees of interest.

I never claimed this leaked memo was going to be massive news or a hit with Twitter, nor should you suggest I did.

I added this to my post:

Maybe you both ought to branch out a bit you know? the internet is a big place.

Indeed but no I don't need to branch out. The chances of normal people reading John Redwood's blog out of the blue is slim. Reading it on a site such as a newspaper site or the BBC, twitter or facebook = There's a bigger chance. Basically, it needs to be shared/talked about on a site where there people will find it. Not saying the blog is a bad place but if people share it ---> The interest goes up.

I never said it wasn't important. I'm just saying twitter is more than Justin Bieber

[-:Undertaker:-]

Indeed but no I don't need to branch out. The chances of normal people reading John Redwood's blog out of the blue is slim. Reading it on a site such as a newspaper site or the BBC, twitter or facebook = There's a bigger chance. Basically, it needs to be shared/talked about on a site where there people will find it. Not saying the blog is a bad place but if people share it ---> The interest goes up.

I never claimed otherwise, that was mrwoooooo who claimed that something not being talked about on Twitter made it not important or that people didn't care. I claimed the opposite and made the point that Twitter isn't a political hub for talking about matters concerned with European integration or the FCO. It being confined to the Redwood blog doesn't mean it's not important or that people won't care when its brought to their attention.

Something I attempted to do, but which lays in ruins now really. Thanks a lot.

I never said it wasn't important. I'm just saying twitter is more than Justin Bieber

Glad we've come to agreement.

[alexxxxx]

i don't keep up to date with euro politics much anymore but this type of email barely surprises me.

everybody's fighting for cash in government to keep their projects growing. believe it or not but there is much less cash around for many vanity projects. so as the EU is a project-funding vehicle, it's not surprising they want to keep good relationships eh?

and btw been reading some posts earlier today and it's pretty much a dead cert that if the UK left the EEA, most car-manufacturing will move outside of the UK due to the inevitable increase in import duties. a lot of countries want us in the EU due to our wishes to keep everything relatively laissez-faire.

i imagine the germans will grow to be our best mates in europe a long with the netherlands, sweden, denmark and norway (in a limited capacity). merkel today came out with a statement saying it's the end of european-style socialism.

oh and twitter is an excellent method to spread these kind of stories, don't kid yourself dan.

i haven't posted on here for months but it appears to be the same guys on here that were posting years a go. I'm 20 now! scary stuff eh?

[-:Undertaker:-]

Welcome back, hope all is well & thanks for the intelligent response.

and btw been reading some posts earlier today and it's pretty much a dead cert that if the UK left the EEA, most car-manufacturing will move outside of the UK due to the inevitable increase in import duties. a lot of countries want us in the EU due to our wishes to keep everything relatively laissez-faire.

Wrong, completely wrong. A chinese businessman on the Newsnight actually put it best - that business doesn't care (apart from lobbying concerns) whether we're in the EU or not - a business only cares about the tax rates and regulations, whether the business can make money or not. That's it, its as simple as that. We made cars before the EU, we'll make cars afterwards. Continued success will depend on Westminster's economic policy.

As for potential tariffs, wrong again. We can either join the EEA, ETFA or sign a Free-Trade deal with the EU after our exit. That's also not to mention that even if one of these deals were not signed (which it will, thanks to the withdrawal clause in the Lisbon Treaty), the EU would be restricted by the WTO in terms of tariffs it could impose.

The future is bright and global for Britain, we just have to hold our heads up high as the world's 6th largest economy and do it.

[alexxxxx]

Welcome back.



Wrong, completely wrong. A chinese businessman on the Newsnight actually put it best - that business doesn't care (apart from lobbying concerns) whether we're in the EU or not - a business only cares about the tax rates and regulations, whether the business can make money or not. That's it, its as simple as that. We made cars before the EU, we'll make cars afterwards.

As for potential tariffs, wrong again. We can either join the EEA, ETFA or sign a Free-Trade deal with the EU after our exist. That's also not to mention that even if one of these deals were not signed, the EU would be restricted by the WTO in terms of tariffs it could impose.

i doubt i've been missed. feels like your ukip rubbish and loony blog links have infected everyone's mind.

ya, well big business will have the last word in basically everything the government does. they have too much influence in government (levenson has proved that to some extent).

we made cars before the EU, but you realise that the cars that were made back then are no longer made now, forced out by foreign competition. like I said, IF WE LEFT THE EEA (not the EU). Even though Norway is in the EEA, it still has the ability to charge import duty on some goods to protect its own. I honestly think that the car industry will be done-in by import taxes. Car import taxes are very popular in the world, even with WTO rules. I'm not sure a free trade agreement like with Switzerland would be possible (the EU publicly regret it) - though obviously this would be the best option if we fell out. EEA is just a fax-democracy and wouldn't be suitable for a country of our size.

i'm not sure i care anymore about politics, it's all rubbish. i can't even support any of the parties.

labour - unrealistic
tories - ridiculous
lib-dems - who are they?
ukip - looneys
greens - some good policies but way too left wing
bnp - im not a chav

boring boring boring.

[-:Undertaker:-]

i doubt i've been missed. feels like your ukip rubbish and loony blog links have infected everyone's mind.

Where did that come from? :S that was a genuine welcome back from me there.

ya, well big business will have the last word in basically everything the government does. they have too much influence in government (levenson has proved that to some extent).

we made cars before the EU, but you realise that the cars that were made back then are no longer made now, forced out by foreign competition. like I said, IF WE LEFT THE EEA (not the EU). Even though Norway is in the EEA, it still has the ability to charge import duty on some goods to protect its own. I honestly think that the car industry will be done-in by import taxes. Car import taxes are very popular in the world, even with WTO rules. I'm not sure a free trade agreement like with Switzerland would be possible (the EU publicly regret it) - though obviously this would be the best option if we fell out. EEA is just a fax-democracy and wouldn't be suitable for a country of our size.

Cameron made this fax-democracy claim the other day and it's completely false (The Booker article itself), Norway has a veto on EU legislation and apparently since it joined the EEC has only implemented 5,000 directives compared to our 3,000 a year. The process we have now is legislation by fax. In terms of the Swiss deal, which I prefer or even a free trade deal - it's true the EU would rather have Switzerland within it's belly (all that money) but it doesn't have a choice. If tiny Switzerland can secure such a deal, Britain can secure a much better deal than they can.

As for the cars point, why does it always come back to this? again, business will operate depending on where it can make a good profit. If we simply pulled out of every agreement willy nilly then yes you'd have a point, but thats not going to happen - article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty will guide negotiations when the time comes and we'll be able to sort out an amicable deal with our EU friends.

i'm not sure i care anymore about politics, it's all rubbish. i can't even support any of the parties.

labour - unrealistic
tories - ridiculous
lib-dems - who are they?
ukip - looneys
greens - some good policies but way too left wing
bnp - im not a chav

boring boring boring.

Contructive, but then it's much better not to vote if you feel they're all as bad as eachother. If UKIP weren't about then I wouldn't either.