How Euro are you?

[T_i_B]

Did anyone else see this programme on Monday on BBC2? Some interesting bits, although I thought that there was a lot of gibberish said about National Identity.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/how_euro_are_you

And here's the test to determine if you are a Europhile or not. I came out as being "Mr Dover Straits", the "group that wants things to stay as they are".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/programmes/howeuroareyou/html/live.stm

[Deep13]

1. not as much as EU nationals, but some

I'm originally from Massachusetts (north east) where people still drop their "R's" like many in England do.

I drive a German car and my wife is a former UK national. That's probably it.

[sui generis]

2. Mr. & Mrs. Chiantishire

Well, I grew up in Germany - going there again tomorrow for a week or so to rattle about.

There seems to be a great amount of insecurity evidenced in the lines of questions comparing GB to the rest of Europe? Truthfully I think that the UK creates its own disunities with the rest of Europe, or at least that is the gestalt here.

[stopbush]

3. Me too...and I haven't been to Europe since 2001.

I'd love to live and work there, but that's next to impossible if you're not a citizen.

[T_i_B]

4. Like I said...

...there was a lot of gibberish in the TV programme about National Identity, when what I really wanted to see was a discussion of the economic merits of joining the Euro, of the details of the EU constitution and so on.

But maybe that's just me. :shrug:

[Deep13]

7. Didn't see the program.

The ministry of propoganda...err...um... I meant our free broadcasters did not run it here.

[T_i_B]

11. Well It was a very UK-centric programme

so maybe that's just as well. I'm not sure that hearing Peter Hitchens or that woman who sells skimpy undies in Sheffield is really what you guys would want but I thought I might as well start a thread about this in the UK forum on the off-chance that it might be of interest to some of the UK DUer's.

That said, the programme might have actually been a lot better if it had explained the workings of the EU a bit more and that would have made it a lot better for the US market too IMHO.

[D-Notice]

6. Same here

Not bad seeing that I've only travelled to the mainland once, which was 12 yr ago...

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. I'm "Mr. Chiantishire", the euro-enthusiast

which I suppose wasn't that surprising. I did wonder about some of the questions - the "which of these is most anti-British" was bizarre. How can that determine your attitude to Europe as a whole?

[mr blur]

9. Same here. (nt)

[Oggy]

12. Me too

But then I knew that.

[tjwmason]

8. Slightly odd.

It picked up that I want to leave the E.U. - but didn't seem to notice that I would happily live in a European country, would learn the language & love European culture.

I suppose that's the problem of a single test which integrates political and cultural questions.

[ikri]

10. The non-flash test is broken

Take the test.

Provide some very pro-EU answers and you'll be told that you're Mr & Mrs Little Islanders.

[Apollo11]

13. a very stupid quiz

I thought most of the questions were extremely badly conceived. Andrew Marr must have been embarrassed to read them out on TV. Rubbish about which country hates Britain the most! Didn't highlight any of the advantages of the European Union (like being able to sell the same product across 30 countries because all of the safety standards and other rules have been harmonised).

But I only caught the end of the show on BBC2 ...

[T_i_B]

16. And by the same token

...it is also possible on this quiz for Euro-sceptics to come out as "Mr & Mrs Chiantishire". I think someone in the BBC politics department needs to be told that a fondness for German Beer doth not a Europhile make. The quiz, like the programme itself, put far too much emphasis on national identity.

P.S The questions were actually read out by stand-up comic Dara O'Briain, Marr did the rest of the show, such as quizzing the panelists, who ranged from Peter Hitchens (who took the withdrawal view and was not exactly the most constructive person in the show to put it mildly) to a truly dreadful EU apologist from Sheffield called Julia Gash, who runs her own business selling skimpy knickers. About the most sensible person IMHO on the panel was Bridget Roswell, formerly one of Ken Clarke's "seven wise men", now working for the Greater London Authority.

[mrfrapp]

14. Dumb Quiz

That was a really dumb quiz. I hope nobody takes the results too seriously.

My attitude to Europe is this: I have no problem with the EU in concept but the current implementation is incredibly bad. If they replaced it with a democratic system then I would embrace it but as it is, I would rather it wither and die.

[McKenzie]

15. Mr & Ms Costa Del Sol????

I don't think.

I answered the questions assuming my answers would reflect my pro-European stance that is tempered by a few concerns over burueacracy. According to the result I am a Euro Sceptic who thinks it's all gone too far and I want links for trade purposes only!

I am deeply suspicious of this set of questions. I'd like to see the weightings that were applied and a detailed commentary on each. (I wonder if whoever set up the questions makes voting machines in another country...?)

Quite apart from which I agree with others who have posted - what a dumb set of questions.