New high-speed rail plan unveiled.

[You]

I don't mean they are wasting money by expanding the airports. It is a wise move to do that but bigger airports, mean more frequent flights. Whereas relaying tracks for the railway is a waste, especially when it'll take up to 20 or more years to do. The current lines can easily be adapted to have trains run up to 140 or even 160mph in some parts. Higher line speeds means quicker journey times and more frequent trains.

Although, nothing usually seems to be done right the first time and if it isn't done right the first time, they are wasting money, as within a few years, it'll have to be done again.

[StefanWolves]

AFAIK on the train system, I've heard quite frequently on TV that the rails are getting older, and sooner rather than later that would need to be updated (not to mention the many train crashes that have happened in this country within the last 15 years), why avoid it further? just do it and get it out the way IMO.

[UKIP]

It isn't wasting money, all these things need to be expanded, the population has got bigger, it is getting bigger, peoples needs to go abroad is getting bigger, numbers travelling to the UK for holidays(god knows why)/for business meetings/trips, ect, are getting bigger.

Over all, our needs on these services (trains, planes, motorways) - are getting bigger, so in turn, they must get bigger, which they need to.

It is wasting money, their isn't a demand for a high speed rail service and the chances are that flight charges will be put up when the rail is built just to get people to use the train line. The population is getting bigger, however that doesn't mean we need more public transport especially when the country is in debt and cannot afford basic military needs whilst at war.

The train lines were much bigger and expansive in victorian times, why? - because they didn't have car or air travel back then, hence why the Beeching Report closed many lines which were making a loss (although some lines are being considered to be worthwhile reopening now).

[You]

AFAIK on the train system, I've heard quite frequently on TV that the rails are getting older, and sooner rather than later that would need to be updated (not to mention the many train crashes that have happened in this country within the last 15 years), why avoid it further? just do it and get it out the way IMO.

A lot of the lines are perfect for high speed running. Most of the train crashes in this country in the last 15 or so years lead to the point i made before, of jobs not being done properly. There has just been a 8bn upgrade done to the WCML, they could easily take advantage of that, which the lead TOC on the WCML wants to do but the government are stopping them.

[GommeInc]

Loads of airports don't need expanding. If you follow the news alot of airports are cutting down the number of flights therefore requiring less runway time therefore reducing the need for expansion The population is growing, yes, but the cost of travel is rocketing up.

[alexxxxx]

No, you don't understand what democracy is. How is it democracy when the European Union is making the Republic of Ireland vote yet again, despite it saying no and other governments around Europe refuse to give their people a referendum on it. You do not understand democracy, nor appreciate it.

they are not voting on the same thing, ireland has managed to fight for more things in the treaty for themselves and now they are voting again and is expected to pass.

This was achieved by NATO and the aftermath of World War II onto the Cold War. Italy is unstable to this day with governments collapsing all the time, along with half of Europe being under the thumb of the Soviet Union for decades, with only NATO standing in the way.

Security was done by NATO, which many of the EU countries are members of. Economic stability and growth was stemmed

The movement of goods has been going on for thousands of years, long before the European Union was even thought of by the corrupt left wingers in Europe. Have you not heard of individual trade agreements?

'corrupt left wingers' ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah ahahahahahahaha good one mate nice for use in an argument. individual trade agreements often have exceptions and a blanket agreement makes it easier and less complicated.

Why is having no sovereign control over our own borders a good thing (especially with criminals and terrorism being so rampant across Europe), have you totally lost the plot?

Infact, if we were in the Schengen area we would have more information on foreign criminals. We are not currently in the schengen area and criminals and terrorists being so rampant is just not true. On the mainland, it's easy for criminals to cross borders without checkpoints. We have an advantage of being an island.

This isn't worth the billions we pay the European Union every year.

This alone doesn't warrant the billions we contribute, no.

These laws were not made or formed by the government of the United Kingdom, just like the laws across the USSR were made back in Russia. This, again, is not worth billions every year when we could quite easily do this ourselves. The Human Rights act is only their to serve criminals so they can have a nice time, but then again, the left have only ever cared about the criminals/minorities.

Daily, daily, daily mail. Daily, daily, daily mail. Daily, daily, daily mail, cause that's the rag you read.

The Human Rights were made with contribution with the UK and are really very important and serve everybody.

Iran and Georgia were not solved anyway, therefore no results yet again from the European Union... more to the point, this overrules national sovereignty yet again.

How do you define 'solved?' with Iran? That they internally destruct and cause more instability in the middle east? Or that economic sanctions make it harder for Iran to achieve their goals? This empowers sovereignty, doesn't take it away, the European Union's say is ALOT more than the UK. The UK being a big player in the EU means that they general serve us, france and germany's interests.

This (again) is not worth billions of taxpayer money every year.

This is a very worth it imo. People from Britain often go to Ireland, The Netherlands, Scandinavia for university. My university course will include a year abroad in France, which is helped by the EU.

Co-operation in science occurs all the time, regardless of the European Union being around or not.

The EU organise it. and the JRC in Italy is a EU-led institution.

You mean things such as useless art projects, you also can't call it funding because its our money which they are using on all of Europe and some of it on us, which means our government is surrending sovereign rights over taxpayer money to pay for the rest of Europe while the United Kingdoms roads crumble, infastructure ages, nuclear power plants come to the end of their lives and military is strapped for cash.

it's not appropriate for the EU to spend money on individual's military and to say 'things like useless art projects' makes me think so badly of people like you. Art enriches lives, environments and is important culturally around Europe. Unfortunately as it doesn't seem to create money, it's therefore worthless, in your opinion. I thought you thought that the power should be privatised? or do you just change your views depending on your argument?

This court has no place in the sovereign state of the United Kingdom and should have no place over sovereign courts, the EU may say it doesn't want a superstate but this is just yet another example that is does want it and it will force it down on us.

The European Court is a VERY good idea because it means people who are failed by the UK courts in some areas can go to the European Court so others can hear their case. ie, when innocent people wanted their DNA removed from police databases.

We have been trading for thousands of years without the European Union, if anything it hinders the process because it means the interests of the United Kingdom are being severed incase of conflict of interests with other European nations.

Idiot. Because of this it means UK exporters don't have to pay import duties in France or Spain or Poland or Czech. It used to happen when countries tried in vain to create a false market by making external firms' goods expensive with duties.

The European Union has forced regulation after regulation on small business throughout its existance and like the rest of the United Kingdom and Europe, the European Union is not welcome.

I personally think there isn't enough regulation in some industries.

How is the formation of a European superstate protecting culture and language? - infact as the European Union uses English a lot, its contributing to the spread of English as the world language.

Infact that's the OPPOSITE of what's happening. The EU has laws and rules regarding minority languages including Welsh and Gaelic. In the parliament, MEPs use their own language. There is no 'official' language of the EU, yet dozens of them.

..have governments across the world suddenly lost the ability to protect enviroment? - or has the EU been protecting us all along with its poisenous light bulbs its forcing us all to use?

United standards makes it easier for companies to produce products that can be sold throughout the region, plus protecting things like waters, forests, mountains and rivers which all cross borders makes sure everyone is happy with how the others are protecting shared natural features.

The European Union is not needed for this, just like the United States, Peoples Republic of China (the rest of the world) can give aid as sovereign countries.

We can buy/produce more in bulk and save money whilst saving the same amount of lives

You mean the new KGB/SS?

No. Because Europol isn't a police force. It's just where european countries can co-operate over cross border criminals.

Italy has a right, as a sovereign country to evict gypsies (as we should be doing) who rob from the water mains, degenerate an area and are criminals. Italy hasn't suddenly taken action against them for no reason.

They do NOT have the right to infringe on Roma's human right's of those who are doing absolutely nothing wrong. In your logic we should throw out all the muslims because some have murdered people on the tube.

..as I said at the start of this, the European Union has solved nothing and I still can't see the World War the European Union has apparently stopped? - oh wait, that was NATO.

Wronggg. EU has sewn the seeds of economic stability in this continent which corresponds to security defensively. No wars between EU nations for 60 years? Nice.

GO back to your daily mail and their depressing view on the world that you equally hold.

[StefanWolves]

I'm not going to bother getting into ANOTHER debate with him, I really can't stand him. :/

[UKIP]

they are not voting on the same thing, ireland has managed to fight for more things in the treaty for themselves and now they are voting again and is expected to pass.

The 'red lines' the Irish government is gathering from the European Union will slowly be wiped away by the European Union with European legislation, and by that time it will be too late - The Republic of Ireland, like the rest of Europe will have lost sovereign powers from its democratically elected government, transferred to the unelected European Union.

Security was done by NATO, which many of the EU countries are members of. Economic stability and growth was stemmed

NATO, not the European Union.. so are you actually now admitting the truth, that NATO and not the European Union kept peace in Europe?

'corrupt left wingers' ahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah ahahahahahahaha good one mate nice for use in an argument. individual trade agreements often have exceptions and a blanket agreement makes it easier and less complicated.

Indeed of course they are corrupt, billions have gone missing from the European Unions' finances and so called left wing politicians such as Jose Barroso, Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock & Peter Mandelson all have been/are involved with the European Union - all have large houses and fast fortunes, and holiday with billionares; Champagne socialists.

A blanket agreement is not much simpler, if you think it is then you have no grasp of world trade or economics. An individual trade agreement caters for the two nations involved, whereas a trade agreement for 20+ nations will almost for sure have negative effects on a lot of the members of the agreement - therefore not as beneficial as a single trade agreement.

Infact, if we were in the Schengen area we would have more information on foreign criminals. We are not currently in the schengen area and criminals and terrorists being so rampant is just not true. On the mainland, it's easy for criminals to cross borders without checkpoints. We have an advantage of being an island.

What use would more information on foreign criminals be, when we don't even have control over our borders?

The notion that we can travel around Europe freely is absolute rubbish, when we check in at airports/out you need to show passports and flight cards which in the United Kingdom are scanned, therefore there is no 'free movement' around Europe - its absolute rubbish.

Indeed we do have the advantage of being an island, hence why we haven't been conquered by Europe and have kept our sovereignty from Europe since 1066, until now.

Daily, daily, daily mail. Daily, daily, daily mail. Daily, daily, daily mail, cause that's the rag you read.

The Human Rights were made with contribution with the UK and are really very important and serve everybody.

That is all you have to say, to blame the Daily Mail yet again? - I just find it strange how most of the newspapers bought in the United Kingdom are right wing, or doesn't that reflect what people really think?. Do you read the Guardian by any chance?

The Human Rights Act is yet more useless legislation designed to serve only criminals, just like everything Labour and the left have ever done. Will Ian Huntley like his cell? oo maybe we should give him a Xbox so it doesn't break his human rights - this is the political correct nonsense that Labour and the European Union have engulfed us with.

You couldn't make it up.

How do you define 'solved?' with Iran? That they internally destruct and cause more instability in the middle east? Or that economic sanctions make it harder for Iran to achieve their goals? This empowers sovereignty, doesn't take it away, the European Union's say is ALOT more than the UK. The UK being a big player in the EU means that they general serve us, france and germany's interests.

I don't define anything solved with Iran, i'm just asking what the European Union has solved to this day which is nothing. What did it do to Iran? - told Iran how naughty it was. Iran must be trembling head to toe when the European Union tells it how much it disapproves.

Iran knows what a joke the European Union is, while we sit over here calling Iran a dictatorship which fixes elections, the unelected European Union refuses to even dare give people a say on reform of the European Union, let alone whether we want it or not.

..is this country worse than the USSR in terms of democracy & freedom? - in many ways, yes.

This is a very worth it imo. People from Britain often go to Ireland, The Netherlands, Scandinavia for university. My university course will include a year abroad in France, which is helped by the EU.

It may well be all good for you having a nice time in France, but meanwhile the United Kingdom is in severe debt, roads and crumbling, the military is strapped for cash and people are being refusing life-extending treatments because apparently we have no money.

No money for ourselves but all the money in the world for everyone else.

The EU organise it. and the JRC in Italy is a EU-led institution.

Did science and co-operation not exist before the European Union?

it's not appropriate for the EU to spend money on individual's military and to say 'things like useless art projects' makes me think so badly of people like you. Art enriches lives, environments and is important culturally around Europe. Unfortunately as it doesn't seem to create money, it's therefore worthless, in your opinion. I thought you thought that the power should be privatised? or do you just change your views depending on your argument?

Oh I see, so while our young men and women of this country are dying around the world because of lack of funds for the right equipment, all you care about is modern art (which most people loathe anyway as a child could create the same pieces for a free). It is worthless in the grand scheme of things, yes.

What power should be privatised?

The European Court is a VERY good idea because it means people who are failed by the UK courts in some areas can go to the European Court so others can hear their case. ie, when innocent people wanted their DNA removed from police databases.

In other words, the British courts are a sham. This is yet another example of how highly you think of this country, which is nill.

Idiot. Because of this it means UK exporters don't have to pay import duties in France or Spain or Poland or Czech. It used to happen when countries tried in vain to create a false market by making external firms' goods expensive with duties.

Thats it?, thats your reply? - oh I must be an idiot then, because as we know the rest of the world doesn't trade at all and without the European Union trade cannot possibly occur.

I personally think there isn't enough regulation in some industries.

1979.. 1979.. 1979.. 1979.. and you call me an idiot.

Infact that's the OPPOSITE of what's happening. The EU has laws and rules regarding minority languages including Welsh and Gaelic. In the parliament, MEPs use their own language. There is no 'official' language of the EU, yet dozens of them.

It can enforce as many of its pathetic laws/regulations as it wants, the fact is that English is still spreading and you telling me that the European Union is standing in the way of that is complete nonsense.

United standards makes it easier for companies to produce products that can be sold throughout the region, plus protecting things like waters, forests, mountains and rivers which all cross borders makes sure everyone is happy with how the others are protecting shared natural features.

What business is it of France/Germany/Poland that we're looking after our enviroment properly? (especially when the Victorians created the first major parks in cities) - also, if the European Union are so enviromentally friendly, why does it have two large parliament buildings and enforce a law across Europe which actually forces people to use light bulbs which are laced with poisen chemicals, far more dangerous than what normal light bulbs have within them.

We can buy/produce more in bulk and save money whilst saving the same amount of lives

That is utter rubbish, i've never heard such such an 'excuse' like that before.

No. Because Europol isn't a police force. It's just where european countries can co-operate over cross border criminals

The vital word being criminal. Whos job is it to crack down on criminals? - a police force, therefore they are a police force.

..more to the point; we wouldn't need to co-operate over corss border criminals if we had control of our own borders.

They do NOT have the right to infringe on Roma's human right's of those who are doing absolutely nothing wrong. In your logic we should throw out all the muslims because some have murdered people on the tube.

They are criminals, hence why nobody likes or wants them. I think the only people who actually like Roma/gypsies are the small minority of the public who are Guardian readers. I tell you what, if you'd like them all theiving, committing crime and destroying your area then invite them! - of course you won't because like Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the rest of them, its all right for them to settle by someone else and make someone elses life hell, but not alright for them to ruin your neighbourhood!

..so ignorant its unbelievable.

Wronggg. EU has sewn the seeds of economic stability in this continent which corresponds to security defensively. No wars between EU nations for 60 years? Nice.

GO back to your daily mail and their depressing view on the world that you equally hold.

I think you'll find thats NATO, yet again. I will ask again, where was this new Hitler?, have I missed him?

The Guardian may tell you how the European Union and Labour saved us from the nasty Conservatives and averted another world war, but I think sale figures from the Daily Mail & other Conservative newspapers when compared to those of the Guardian say it all.

Do you support a referendum on the European Union and Lisbon Treaty?

I'm not going to bother getting into ANOTHER debate with him, I really can't stand him. :/

You don't debate with me, you havent ever got anything worthwhile saying so thats fine with me.