That is partisan conjecture with a heavy dose of self-imposed resignation and/or blinkered thinking. And of course you're welcome to it. However if I need to repost I will bother finding it, alternately people could read up on things in the round themselves (novel idea that, I'm assuming you do but plenty of others are clearly just winging it).

I won't argue the direction of travel is more centralised power, but you can't just don a tin hat and think that means it's happening imminently, inevitably or otherwise, across every possible branch of life – I usually find it's best to be objective based on the currently available information. Anything else is simply partisan conjecture.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd happily bet my house on the likelihood of this particular branch of centralisation (An actual, cross border EU Army that does away with national armies) happening being a 2. That's being generous. And certainly not within the next 50 years, barring one caveat – You'd need a major catastrophe or confrontation for that probability to change anytime soon.

In the near to medium term, quite likely long term, You're simply not going to get all member states signing up to deleting their national armies. Not going to happen.

Maybe it's an objective, maybe it's a concept. Maybe it's been blown out of all proportion for the sake of argument (ding). Maybe it means something a little less fantastical, and, plausible (ding).

But to some, the sky is always falling in. So meh

I accept that you are giving an honest straight opinion and I respect that.

Yep, I'm partizan but I don't think I'm blinkered....but then again who does.

If you have the EU army, what's the point of the national army SW? Certainly national armies on the French or British scale. A national army only makes sense if you can use it independently.

I'm not saying that the EU would ban national armies....but come on...they aren't going to look favorably at them beyond a set size are they. They are probably going to set limits on what individual states can have.......over time I'm just not seeing the point of individual nations bothering when they can reduce spending by collectivizing.....They would just pay into the collective pot.....They could then have larger security and Police systems.

I think your point that the drift towards centralisation is inevitable is correct. It' s the evolution of all organisations to look to increase their power if they get the possibility.....The EU is essentially a corporation now, one that is invested in cementing itself for the long term.....An army is an essential part of that.

Just my partizan two pennies.

I get mildly riled at incessant nonsense, yes. Unfortunately there is a lot of that on here.

When it comes to judging character one has to start from somewhere, and location and posting history usually add up to a ballpark stereotype. This of course will now be refined.

Fair re. the Sun, it just seemed a valid starting point as per above. The twitter reposting was mainly aimed at DANGERMOUSE, who appears to only speak in reposted tweets. But the general point remains – don't just rely on the same streams of self supporting guff. Challenge your own opinions in the same way you do sources on the opposite side of whatever you're on.

Finally, whether you are a chump or not is for others to determine.

That is partisan conjecture with a heavy dose of self-imposed resignation and/or blinkered thinking. And of course you're welcome to it. However if I need to repost I will bother finding it, alternately people could read up on things in the round themselves (novel idea that, I'm assuming you do but plenty of others are clearly just winging it).

I won't argue the direction of travel is more centralised power, but you can't just don a tin hat and think that means it's happening imminently, inevitably or otherwise, across every possible branch of life – I usually find it's best to be objective based on the currently available information. Anything else is simply partisan conjecture.

On a scale of 1-10, I'd happily bet my house on the likelihood of this particular branch of centralisation (An actual, cross border EU Army that does away with national armies) happening being a 2. That's being generous. And certainly not within the next 50 years, barring one caveat – You'd need a major catastrophe or confrontation for that probability to change anytime soon.

In the near to medium term, quite likely long term, You're simply not going to get all member states signing up to deleting their national armies. Not going to happen.

Maybe it's an objective, maybe it's a concept. Maybe it's been blown out of all proportion for the sake of argument (ding). Maybe it means something a little less fantastical, and, plausible (ding).

But to some, the sky is always falling in. So meh