Interesting you should ping me to this, risk (my great-grandparents were Irish). I think of myself as far more American than British (no offence, Ivan) - DESPITE what persists on the top left-hand corner of my national flag (the Union Jack, for those not aware).
Relatives of mine who HAVE been to the UK, though, have been much incensed that the customs and immigration lines at Heathrow have been replaced by signs saying "EU and UK passports only" "and "others", whereas it used to be "UK and Commonwealth passport holders" and "others". Seems having the Queen on the back of your coins doesn't mean anything these days. Vive la Republic Australienne (or at least do what Canada did in the sixties and change that bloody flag!)
It's scary isn't it? From what we read here and some other Euro thread (believe it or not, I have noticed not fewer than 10 Euro posters active on this board), there are lots of pro-EU British people when you could say there weren't even half of them around when Thatcher was the British PM. The way I see it, Scotland is hopeless, Wales is at the crossroads, and even England itself is on shaky grounds now. I have an uneasy feeling that the first nail to the coffin of the historically great British nation is already there and Britain is on its way to become an English-speaking Belgium or Germany.
I agree: time to become a republic (for NZ as well, although I will say no thanks to the Helen Clark model) and change that flag!
That's nice, although I pinged you because I figured liberty-minded Aussies ought to weigh in on the EU issue.
The argument I hear from GB, Ireland, and commonwealth citizens is that they fear their economies will collapse if they don't participate in the EU. Is that any reason? "We have to give up a degree of our self-rule because we can't maintain our own economic viability alone." That sounds like collectivism to me.