Tonight's BBC Question Time: Nigel Farage vs Russell Brand

[-:Undertaker:-]

Yeah I know, I just know that Dan likes to point out lefties and their affiliations all the time so it's good to have some balance!

I know Ukip does it too now, read it discussed between members. We kept getting attacked by Labour plants as well as Tories, so the purples have done it now too: what they do is have people apply as Ukip members and others apply as Labour, Tory members etc. As I said above, completely ruins it.

[RockyTown]

I dont know where the line is drawn with Russel Brand. I agree on almost every point he makes, although the thing that annoys me is that I believe he is someone who needs an audience in order to be motivated.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I dont know where the line is drawn with Russel Brand. I agree on almost every point he makes, although the thing that annoys me is that I believe he is someone who needs an audience in order to be motivated.

You agree on taxing the financial services to the hilt which will simply drive them away to Hong Kong, New York and Frankfurt?

We've been here before in the 1970s with insane taxation and anti-business measures. It does not work.

[The Don]

You agree on taxing the financial services to the hilt which will simply drive them away to Hong Kong, New York and Frankfurt?

We've been here before in the 1970s with insane taxation and anti-business measures. It does not work.

So a bit more tax will drive them away but leaving the EU wont? You do make me laugh dan

[-:Undertaker:-]

So a bit more tax will drive them away but leaving the EU wont? You do make me laugh dan

Correct.

Leaving the EU does not stop financial services from making money or trading with one another, hence why London is the top financial centre of the WORLD and not just the European continent: London trades with Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Durban - everywhere. It's done over computers and phone calls sweetpea, and is helped by major trading nations sitting down in the WTO and G20 and agreeing not to erect taxes and trade barriers.

Now last time I checked, Singapore/Taiwan/China/Japan and South Africa were not a part of the EU. Let that sink into your head for once, please.

[The Don]

Correct.

Leaving the EU does not stop financial services from making money or trading with one another, hence why London is the top financial centre of the WORLD and not just the European continent: London trades with Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Durban - everywhere. It's done over computers and phone calls sweetpea, and is helped by major trading nations sitting down in the WTO and G20 and agreeing not to erect taxes and trade barriers.

And they'll all leave to places like Frankfurt (one of your examples) which have higher tax rates than the UK?

[-:Undertaker:-]

And they'll all leave to places like Frankfurt (one of your examples) which have higher tax rates than the UK?

If you slap taxes on them (like you are suggesting) that make it more profitable to move to Frankfurt then they'll move there, yeah.

Lower taxes and lower regulation will keep London competitive. It really is that simple.

[The Don]

If you slap taxes on them (like you are suggesting) that make it more profitable to move to Frankfurt then they'll move there, yeah.

Lower taxes and lower regulation will keep London competitive. It really is that simple.

Hey i'm not suggesting that we do, i'm playing devils advocate here. I agree that lower taxes attract more companies, the same way that I agree being in the EU makes us more attractive to companies than the uncertainty and potential years of sorting out FTA's with other countries if we left the EU.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Hey i'm not suggesting that we do, i'm playing devils advocate here. I agree that lower taxes attract more companies, the same way that I agree being in the EU makes us more attractive to companies than the uncertainty and potential years of sorting out FTA's with other countries if we left the EU.

What is this uncertainty argument we always hear of? It's very simple, there's a process for leaving that spans over two years according to Lisbon and even if FTAs are not concluded in the time we expected (which would be unlikely considering our Civil Service and the FCO are probably the best in the world thanks to our imperial legacy) we wouldn't be blocked out of anything as WTO intergovernmental agreements forbid the erection of huge trade barriers or tariffs. If tiny Switzerland can do it, we as the 6th largest economy can do it so stop being so damn pessimistic about this country, its abilities and its future.

Besides, any financial services nation wanting to block the City of London out of the financial world would literally be insane.

[The Don]

What is this uncertainty argument we always hear of? It's very simple, there's a process for leaving that spans over two years according to Lisbon and even if FTAs are not concluded in the time we expected (which would be unlikely considering our Civil Service and the FCO are probably the best in the world thanks to our imperial legacy) we wouldn't be blocked out of anything as WTO intergovernmental agreements forbid the erection of huge trade barriers or tariffs. If tiny Switzerland can do it, we as the 6th largest economy can do it so stop being so damn pessimistic about this country, its abilities and its future.

Besides, any financial services nation wanting to block the City of London out of the financial world would literally be insane.

It's rather simple. If we leave the EU and are instantly handed a FTA from Brussels, one of the massive benefits of it, then other countries might follow suit. If you think we can simply pick the best bits and not play ball with the others then you're sadly mistaken. Reminds me of Salmond promising Scotland that they would 100% keep the pound if they left, it sounds nice but it's uncertain. Companies won't risk losing out on uncertainties when they can just move across the channel to Continental Europe.