Jalsa Salana: A very good thing.

One complaint that many like myself make about the British Islamic community is how they, on the whole do not make it clear that violence is not the way forward. Often the condemnations of violence are mealy mouthed and insincere in feeling.

So can I bring everybody's attention to what is happening this weekend nr Alton in Hampshire. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the UK are having their annual gathering. 30,000 will be there to celebrate an Islam that is a peaceful as anyone could hope.

Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the fifth Khalifa of the Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community, said:
“Those who love and yearn for peace should stand united against terror and ‘jihadist’ violence. Extremists are creating havoc and seek to destroy those who disagree with their dogma. We will continue to respond with patience and prayer and let never give up our belief and trust in God.
“We must always stride to be the standard bearers of the true Islam –and have love
for all and hatred for none.
“Allah created all the worlds and is The Master of all creation. Those who commit murder in His name will only incur His wrath.
Those who kill will bear a heavy burden for God has proclaimed that to take one
life of an innocent is like murdering all of humanity.
“We are a community of peace, even in the face of such adversity. By spreading a message of peace, we can extinguish the flames of hatred.”

Or how about this?

Rafiq Hayat, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK, added: "Those who murder in the name of Allah, and those who incite others to hatred, are not only enemies of Islam but of all of humanity.

Negligent discharge. Sunny Hundal misfires

Negligent discharge. Sunny Hundal misfires
Sunny Hundal is the scourge of PCness. He sees himself as a Tribune of the oppressed and sees racism all over the place. Or at least so it seems in this attack against Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Skipton.
He flags up a Daily Mail piece in which Mr Davies attacks Channel 4,

Conservative MP Philip Davies yesterday attacked the political correctness at
the company saying it should employ people on merit.…He asked why, given that
Channel 4 already had 12 per cent of its staff from an ethnic minority
background, as compared with eight per cent of the general public, it needed
special programmes like these.

When Channel 4 explained the staffing figures as
being down the fact it is based in the capital, Davies told bosses: ‘You’re not
a London broadcaster, you are a national broadcaster.’

Hundal goes on the offensive,

This kind of stupidity is quite easy to destroy. If Davies wants Channel 4 to
employ people on merit rather than represent people according to percentages,
then why is he demanding that C4 represent whites according to their proportion
of the population?

He isn't demanding anything of the sort. He is merely pointing out that Channel 4 is being discriminatory in its hiring policy. At no point does Mr Davies call for a white quota. That exists only in Sunny's too quick to be offended head.

At the session Mr Davies said schemes like a recent bursary for African, Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani students, were effectively depriving white people of the same equal opportunities.
He asked why, given that Channel 4 already had 12 per cent of its staff from an ethnic minority background, as compared with eight per cent of the general public, it needed special programmes like these.
When Channel 4 explained the staffing figures as being down the fact it is based in the capital, Davies told bosses: 'You're not a London broadcaster, you are a national broadcaster.'
He told Channel 4 chiefs: 'It seems to me that among your figures the people who are under-represented at Channel 4 are white people not ethnic minorities.
'It seems a bit bizarre that an organisation that is over-representative of ethnic minorities should be trying to do more of these things.'
He added: 'What about white people are you not interested in employing white people?'

Davies does ask the question as to whether Channel 4 is biased against whites. Which in the light of the facts (and yes, Channel 4 is a national broadcaster) may be a fair point. Particularly in the light of the revelations about the Foreign Office's discriminatory trainee policy revealed in the last week. And of course Jeremy Paxman's admission that Mr Davies is right from a year or so ago in relation to the BBC.

Sunny is obviously upset that the commanding hieghts of British culture are no longer the natural home of the PC brigade, and it is smarting.

FSA : Frankfurt's Sodding Accessory

And so it comes to pass. Today the FSA announced both the launch, and the conclusion of a consultation into Bankers bonuses.

According to Rueters,

The FSA said Thursday it would launch a formal consultation process over the planned changes but added that its existing code on remuneration would be strengthened.

How do they know the result of their consultation, because they have been told it by, you will never guess.... yes Brussels.

On July 7, the European Parliament approved what are seen as the world's toughest curbs on bank bonuses, and EU member states, which have joint say, are set to endorse the new law.

The proposed EU rules would stipulate that the maximum amount of upfront cash in a bonus should be 30 percent, while for large bonuses it will be capped at a fifth.

EU states want to allow 40 percent of a bonus to be paid upfront, and a deal on a definitive figure is expected later this year.

Godfrey Bloom, UKIP's financial spokesman had this to say,

"So presumably the conversation went something like this Monsieur Barnier Supremo European Financial Services and monarch of all he surveys.

“May I suggest this new bonus scheme for London City Bankers?”

Hector Sants, for it is he, “Wonderful idea Sir I will install it immediately”.

The relationship is that of Monty Burns to Smithers.

Here is the FSA on the subject,

"We will see what the final text says and apply it appropriately," an FSA spokeswoman said.

Why on earth are they wasting our money on a consultation?

In the FT it is even more absurd.

While the EU legislation had been under discussion for months, it caught most bankers by surprise when it was finalised earlier this month.

No it didn't. It caught financial journalists by surprise. Not the industry and certainly not UKIP, both of whom have been banging on about the dangers for months, nay years.

The planned changes, while not unexpected, are likely to spark anger and confusion across the City, which believes that London’s competitiveness as an international financial centre is under threat...
Industry groups have argued that EU member states are now at a disadvantage to countries such as the US and Switzerland, which have adopted less onerous restrictions on pay in the wake of the financial crisis.

Oh brother. Now Mr Osborne, and yes you Mr Cameron. Has our sovereignty been compromised by this by any chance? Has the power to set regulations over our most successful industry been thrown away?

Yes?

Well can we have that promised referendum then please?

Is our Tithe to Europe exempt from austerity measures?

Lord Vinson asked a question along these lines, the answer he gets back is interesting.,

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make a proportional cut to the United Kingdom's European Union net contribution of approximately £7 billion a year as part of the overall reduction in government spending.

So far so clear. The answer however seems to want to be all things to all people,

The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon): At a time of fiscal consolidation across many EU member states, the Government believe it is only fair the EU budget plays its part.
In 2005 the previous Government agreed to rising UK contributions to the EU budget over the period 2007-13. But to reflect today's realities we have repeatedly called for a freeze in the EU budget next year.
The Commission's initial proposal for the EU budget for the period 2014-20 is expected early next year. The Government expect the Commission's proposal to take account of fiscal consolidation efforts across member states. At the negotiation of the next EU budget, the Government will strongly defend the UK's national interests, and ensure the budget is focused on those areas where the EU adds value

So yes, the amount of money we send to Europe should be cut in line with the cuts across the UK public sector.

But, and here's the rub, what the Government has done is appealed to Brussels to recognise the situation. No more. Of course the reason why is simple, they have no power to set the amount. Brussels will set a tithe at the level that Brussels thinks it can get away with. No amount of 'expecting' is going to do it. Hard core negotiations with red lines in permanent marker might just. But there is no sign that this government, just like the last will apply such penmanship.

The only bright spot is if the amount is calculated in Euros, with the weakness of the Euro then the amount posted to Brussels will drop in real terms, but only if the pound goes higher. Possible of course but with downsides for our exporters.

So the real answer to Lord Vinson should be,

"We hope so, fingers crossed"

David Davis gives a straight answer

At the Civitas lunch today on the Future of Banking, David Davis gave a good and solid review of the work of his Future of Banking Commision. He discussed future regulation and the structure of banking, apportioning blame where it is due and so on.

After keeping schtum I couldn't help but think that the fact that the EU is in the process of setting up three finacial regulators, including the European Banking Authority that is to be housed in the City was making much of what was being discussed rather irrelevant, so I asked

"Don't you think that the fact that the EU is setting up a series of three finacial regulators, and the fact that Lord Turner and Hector Sant have already stated that tye future role ofthe Bank of England will be to 'apply EU regulations' mean that this discussion is rather redundent? After all Regulation will be set largely in Frankfurt by people who are antipathetic to the city and have no real interest in its sucess or otherwise?"

David Davies smiled, thought about it for a couple of seconds and said,

"Yes".

The room laughed.

He qualified it a little by pointing out that EU regulators will not have an entirely free hand due to the interests and influence of the US, but he said,

"Essentially, there is a great deal of truth in what you say".

Bad news for Carbon Credits

Reports by Bloomberg make fascinating reading,

EU permits for December 2010 fell 50 cents, or 3.6 percent, to 13.51 euros ($17.55) a metric ton on London’s European Climate Exchange as of 5:36 p.m. It was earlier today as low as 13.48 euros a ton, the lowest intra-day price since April 9.

The EU program is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas trading market. The system may have an oversupply of 1.3 billion tons of allowances and credits in the five years through 2012, its second phase, according to research by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London. That amounts to 12 percent of a cap of 10.7 billion tons.

Not good for some I suspect. An oversupply of 12%.

Methinks the market is about to crash

More spys in the skies

Little piece of news that sent a shiver down my spine. Of course normally I applaud any business doing well, but in this instance.... well maybe not,

Frost and Sullivan have just put this out,

Steady demand from government civilian agencies is pushing the air surveillance market in Europe, especially for unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs), civil helicopters, multi mission aircraft and airborne radars.

And it gets better for those who live in London, Dorset and elsewhere,

"The civil security air surveillance market in Europe will benefit from growing co-operation between EU member states and the industry," says Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Balaji Srimoolanathan.
"Large-scale events like the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will be a testing ground for civil UAVs."

Civil security air surveillance is used in urban networks for law enforcement, maritime surveillance, emergency medical services, earth observation, and in the energy sector. There is significant potential in these sectors for air surveillance and greater cooperation among industry participants is making the market business critical.

All a bit Blade Runner and I don't like it one little bit

Stressed? Maybe

I somehow don't think it was a coincidence that the much awaited banking stress tests result of 91 European Banks was set up for 18.30 on a Friday afternoon.

They must have been terrified the markets would get frit. As it was the Euro dropped severely during the day as rumpours (particularly about Spain) fed into the trading floors.

During the day the Euro rallied, but was last seen in a downward direction.

Euro falls as credibility of stress tests questioned

However the Euro spin meisters of Frankfurt now have the weekend to big up their figures

'The results of the test confirm the overall resilience of the EU banking system to negative macroeconomic and financial shocks, and are an important step forward in restoring market confidence,' the EC, ECB and the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) indicated.

before the continents markets and most importantly London opens for business.

The problem is, is that the markets themselves do not seem to be convinced that the tests were authoratitive.

"Investors quickly deemed some of the tests' terms insufficiently onerous. As details of the test methodology trickled out Friday, the euro fell back from early gains to trade lower against the dollar. European bank stocks, strong during the week, retreated in New York trading."

Aux barricades

Pour notre drapeau.
Well something like that.

You know, I can understand the French anger at people using the tricoluer as loo paper, but making it a criminal offence is wrong.

Thumping someone who does so maybe allowable.

Europe is like the United States

Which is the considered view of the German Deputy Finance Minister in conversation with Bloomberg yesterday.
Steffen Kampeter was trying to explain the EU and why it was that his bosses harsh words in France about turfing recalcitrant and bust EU states out of the room was unacceptable and not really what Mr Schauble thought,

Europe is much more than a “technical assembly,” Kampeter said in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York yesterday. “The biggest misperception is to understand Europe just as an economic project -- it’s a political project, like the United States.”

One has to say that that is pretty clear, direct, uncomplicated and above all honest.

Something no British politicain in any of the main parties dares to be.

Egyptian view of the EU

This little report in the Egyptian Daily News makes it pretty clear that thetre is now EU foriegn affairs. What price UK's place in the world?

It doesn't really matter as we have sold it post Lisbon.

BrewDog - OK, what will you do next?

Mr Puddlecote reports on Brewdog's latest wind up. Magnificent chaps. As he says,

"These guys have necks of pure polished brass and a huge wooden spoon to boot. We are not worthy."

Bottles made of stoats. Genius

Experts discover something bleeding obvious shock

I have just been sent this which fills me with withering joy.

"Bicycle Riding, Walking, and Weight Gain in Premenopausal Women"

The burning question is,

"Our objective was to assess the association between bicycle riding and weight control in premenopausal women."

Or does cycling help you keep slim?

Guess what. It does.

Bicycling, similar to brisk walking, is associated with less weight gain and an inverse dose-response relationship exists, especially among overweight and obese women. Future research should focus on brisk walking and greater time spent bicycling.

Or as they point out,
There is a significant relationship between increased time spent bicycling in 2005 and odds of weight gain, according to the study. “The results appeared to be stronger in women with excess baseline weight compared with lean women. The mean [average] weight gain was the smallest in women who engaged in four hours a week or more of bicycling compared with women who bicycled for less time.” The authors also found that, “the benefits of brisk walking, bicycling and other activities were significantly stronger among overweight and obese women compared with lean women, whereas slow walking continued to show no benefit even among overweight and obese women.”

“Unlike discretionary gym time, bicycling could replace time spent in a car for necessary travel of some distance to work, shops or school as activities of daily living,” the authors conclude. “Bicycling could then be an unconscious form of exercise because the trip’s destination, and not the exercise, could be the goal.”

My heartfelt thanks go out to Dr Anne C. Lusk and her team at the Harvard School of Public Health, who wrote this ground breaking study and the American National Institutes for Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute who funded it.

But obviously not with their own population

So Iceland starts its negotiations to join the EU on Tuesday. Which is daft really as they will not join, well not if they allow their population any say. What is odd is that they even know this before they start,

A European diplomat said that the EU appears to be willing to move very fast with Iceland, even though polls in the country show that public opinion is overwhelmingly opposed to membership.

'We are moving ahead as if everything was going for the best. I do not understand why we are such in a hurry for a country that has had a sudden pro-EU awakening'

Given that it hasn't. Not for nothing is Belgium, the current rotating President the home of surrealism.

EU launches Green Public Procurement Criteria for...

Roadsigns!

4. GPP Procurement Criteria for Traffic Signs
4.1. Core GPP Procurement Criteria for Traffic Signs
SUBJECT MATTER
Purchase of environmentally sound traffic signs.
AWARD CRITERIA
1. Recycled materials should be used when manufacturing the traffic sign, provided they comply with the relevant national standards for traffic signs. The bidder shall provide data on the content of the materials used.
Verification: The bidder must provide information and data as necessary on the type and amount of recycled material used.
2. The traffic sign product shall be durable and recyclable at the end of its useful life.
Verification: The bidder must provide information and data as necessary on the predicted lifetime of the traffic sign as well as information on how it can be recycled at the its end of life.
4.2. Comprehensive GPP Procurement Criteria for Traffic Signs
SUBJECT MATTER
Purchase of environmentally sound traffic signs.
AWARD CRITERIA
1. Recycled materials should be used when manufacturing the traffic sign, provided they comply with the relevant national standards for traffic signs. The bidder shall provide data on the content of the materials used.
Verification: The bidder must provide information and data as necessary on the type and amount of recycled material used
2. The traffic sign product shall be durable and recyclable at the end of its useful life.
Verification: The bidder must provide information and data as necessary on the predicted lifetime of the traffic sign as well as information on how it can be recycled at the its end of life.
3. The use of materials that reduce the visual impact of the road construction should be considered over visually intrusive materials; for example, the material used may negate the need for additional street lighting thus reducing the night-time visual impact.
Verification: The bidder must provide information and data as necessary on the benefits of the material in terms of reducing visual impact.
4. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions should be evaluated and reduced, particularly in the manufacture phase.
Verification: The bidder must provide information on the energy consumption of manufacturing and installing their product and a written guarantee that this criterion will be met.

4.3. Explanatory notes:
1. Award Criteria: Contracting authorities will have to indicate in the contract notice and tender documents how many additional points will be awarded for each award criterion. Environmental award criteria should, altogether, account for at least 10 to 15 % of the total points.
2. Contracting authorities should conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the proposed construction during the planning phase of the road. This should consider the geography (e.g. flora and fauna, proximity to houses – impact of noise, light and emissions), climate and drainage requirements of the proposed site so that the correct materials and machinery are used. The environmental impacts of the proposed project should be prioritised and be used to prioritise the weighting given to the criteria used in the tender contract.

Aaaa.... aaaargh

Cucumber sandwiches are awrf love.

Like Iain Dale, I initially felt that the Palace's decision to bar Nick Griffin was a mistake. The invitation to Griffin proffered in his role as and MEP, and thus was in many ways an invitation in recognition ofthe votes of thousands, not in any way a suggestion of support for him or his policies.
As such, much as it must be distasteful he had earned the honour.

But the reasoning displayed by the palace is on the button. There is no doubt by broadcasting his invitation on the BNP website, calling for suggestions on what he she say to the Queen and so on was deeply inapproriate.

The fact that his fellow BNP MEP Andrew Brons seems not to have been excluded makes the point entirely.

Seems like people are not too happy with the Licence Fee

MoneySavingExpert is a very popular website full of stuff to cut costs, good for it.
It regularly has online polls on various subjects, previous examples have been
How many overseas holidays will you take this year?
or
Would you ‘pay in cash’ to help people avoid tax?

All interesting stuff no doubt. This week's question is this
Do you believe in the BBC Licence fee

And the response is, No not really,

Do you believe in the licence fee?

A. Yes. I think it's an important public service
24% (4320 votes)
B. Yes, but it's far too high. It needs to be cut and scaled back
27% (4722 votes)
C. No. I'd happily see ads fund it
49% (8773 votes)

All seems pretty conclusive to me.

The comments section is worth a read,

It is an archaic system and an unfair tax. Of course, the BBC is well aware that in the free ad driven market, they would not be able to compete as people simply would not pay the license fee and quite happily do without BBC, repeats and all. Surely, the BBC funding system is on borrowed time!

Wolfgang Schäuble attends French Cabinet

OK, so the cartoon is in pretty bad taste, but it is extraordinary that the German Finance Minister is taking part in a full Cabinet of the French Government, and hasn't happened for a few generations.

He is there to demand greater compliance with the concept of a single European Economic governance, and he says this will require Treaty changes.

"The question is in what way can we make the Stability and Growth Pact more effective within the framework of the existing Treaties. But it is clear that we must also come out with other proposals and accept some Treaty changes, if necessary. There is, among our partners, a bit of scepticism with regard to possible Treaty changes. Many people say it is a long-term process. However, if we consider that we cannot limit ourselves to imposing financial sanctions, and that we must also take into account non-financial instruments - such as the temporary withdrawal of voting rights - in order to make member states respect the pact, then Treaty changes are necessary".

Translation courtesy of Open Europe.

You're in the Euro Now

The Brussels Jungle's take on the finacial crisis

Spain channels Reagan

The Spanish government are about to take a very robust line with their air traffic control.

The Spanish Government has announced that it will use military air traffic ontrollers to guarantee air traffic over the country if necessary.

It comes after a weekend when increasing numbers of controllers calling in sick at
Barcelona El Prat airport led to delays on flights in the east of the country.The Minister for Development, who took over responsibility for the air traffic control service by decree last February, José Blanco, has said that any controller who does not meet his or her obligations could be sacked.

Reminds me of Reagan's approach to Air Traffic Control.

Buzek's hankies

He's at it again. This time the lachrymose EP President is at it again. Another train crash, and bout of synthetic sympathy.

This time our august Parliamentary President is getting all teary about the ghastky crash in West Bengal.

"Once again West Bengal is the theatre of a railway tragedy. I send my condolences to the families of the victims, and to the Indian state," the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek said in a statement.

"I mourn for the sad loss of these innocent people," Buzek was quoted as saying by
EuAsiaNews.

"I wish a speedy recovery to the numerous injured people who were caught up in this catastrophe and I thank the rescue teams for their untiring work," the statement said.

As I wrote yesterday, this is so synthetic as to be almost repellant. Yes it is sad ina functional way, of course. But please don't tell me that President Buzek actually cares about the casualties in this crash. Theoretically he might think it is a shame and a pity. But care? Don't make me laugh.

This example of mechanical sympathy, ground out by his bored, underworked press office during the summer break to give the simulacrum of activity is as false as a cheap Rolex in Petticoat Lane.

Of course once you have wept wolf enough times, then when something real does occur, something in which his syympathies really are engaged then his words will be dusty and meaningless.

Can somebody please tell his office to shut up about things like this. It is none of their business and looks like PR ambulance chasing.

What is good for the Goose

Q. What has Afghanistan got that the UK doesn't?
A) The ability to set its own trade rules.

Our Foriegn Minister Cathy Ashton is in the land of the empowered Burka wearer, Afghanistan where she is attending some conference.

The conference, entitled, Kabul International Conference on Afghanistan , is as she says specifically about,

Afghan sovereignty and leadership

Which is amusing as Afghan soverignty is something good and to be encouraged. Indeed one highlight of the growth of Afganistan's move towards a better future is that it has recently signed a trade agreement with Pakistan,

I want to congratulate you for the recent signing of the Trade and Transit Agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan which is a significant step towards boosting regional cooperation and I extend my congratulations to both sides for making this happen.

All this is splendid, it is just a shame that Afghanistan cannot do the same with the UK, because of course the UK doesn't have the soveriegnty to sign trade agreements, that is done for us by the EU.

Stopped Clock Award

This month's Stopped Clock award goes to a Andy Garcia. We are so used to the fatuosity of Hollywood actors that to hear one talking sense is cause for some celebration, so step forward Andy Garcia,

"Put it this way. I'm of the philosophy that I want less government in my life, basically. I believe in a flat tax, and I believe in putting money in the hands of people who can hire more people, and buy more goods, and spread the wealth by employing people. And the more the government takes away from its citizens, and the citizens depend on the government – that's just not where I wear my hat. I don't believe that government should be in charge of my life and I don't believe the government should make decisions for me and my family. I don't depend on the government to help me. I want to have the opportunity to work hard, and get the benefits of my work, and help others with the rewards that I reap."

Admittedly if you are a Hollywood star then the need for state funded child care is probably low down on your list of priorities, but at least he isn't pontificating on the need for a blanket welfare state.

How to fill a diary

Now I am sure that Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament is a caring sort of chap. But this is ridiculous.

Not only does he care about all the Parliamentarians in his manor, but now he is caring about Albanian bus crashes.

It goes without saying that the crash in Albania is an awful thing, and that sympathy shoudl be extended to the familires, but what business is it of the President of the European Parliament to go all mawkish about something that is none of his business.

If he is is to show he cares in this way about Albanians, then what about those within the EU. Will we see him sending messages of condolence to every car crash across the 27 member states? And if not why not.

Why would the US trust the EU

Today we have the front page of the Times completely dominated by the headline,

Europe warns Obama: This relationship is not working

Ok, so that is a plug for an interview with Barosso inside, buit given what I have just seen via Teresa Küchler (@teresakuchler) a Brussels based Swedish freelancer, I can hardly think that the US cares a great deal.

The whole debate about the ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is arcane and I will not go into it here but for someone involved in the European Parliament's LIBE Committee to have leaked the negotiating positions of all parties is a disgrace, which I doubt will be forgotten by the State Department.

Why should the US trust the EU?

Egad, if this is what they do after 'intimidation', what the hell would they propose if there was none? 80%?

Prince Charles has described the activities of AGW Climate Sceptics as intimidation, stating that,

"It has been profoundly depressing to witness the way the so-called climate sceptics are, apparently, able to intimidate all sorts of people from adopting the precautionary measures necessary to avert environmental collapse,"

Sounds terrifying doesn't it? All these nasty types scurrying around undermining the Government's attempts to save our children.

So what does he make of the statement today in the FT

Ministers from the UK, France and Germany have issued a joint call for the EU to raise its emissions reduction target to 30% by 2020.
The EU's current target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 will not be enough to drive green innovation and keep Europe in the race for clean technologies, argued UK Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Huhne, German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen and French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo.

What the hell would they have come up with without the intimidation?

So William Hague has his next big Foriegn Policy Speech, this time in Tokyo. And what is the FO highlighting. That he is bigging up EU trade with the Japanese. Not you will note the UK's trade with Japan.

The maximum removal of both tariffs and non-tariff barriers could deliver
an estimated €43.4 billion of additional EU exports to Japan and €53.8 billion
of additional exports from Japan to the EU,

Now correct me if I am wrong, but Mr Hague is travelling as the UK's Foriegn Secretary. His trip was funded by UK taxpayers, and ghis job is reliant on UK votes.

So what the hell is he playing at.

Well it is rather simple isn't it. He knows as well as I do that international trade is no longer what the EU call "a national competance". The UK no longer has a seat on international trade bodies, and cannot engage in any trade negotiations with third parties.

It is up to Brussels, not to the DTI whether we have free trade with India or Outer Mongolia. It is up to Brusels to decide how open our markets should be to Commonwealth countruies.

Thus when he is Tokyo, he goes not as our elected Foreign Secretary,but as a pimp for the EU.

Who cares iF Germany exports masses to or imports masses from Japan. It is none of our business.

There is more joy in heaven

So to that end I congratulate Sir Bryan Nicholson, chairman of the Financial Reporting Council who alone amongst a group of prominent business men contacted by the BBC has changed his tune on Euro membership.

Here is Sir Bryan back in 1996,

Sir Bryan Nicholson seems to enjoy mixing his metaphors as much as mixing it with the Eurosceptic wing of the Tory Party. Last night he was in flying form, deriding them as a flock of cuckoos transmuting into a plague of locusts. You get the general idea.

This is him yesterday,

"the balance of the argument has now shifted against the UK joining the Euro".

The BBC spoke to eight business leaders prominent in the pro-euro campaign and only Nicholson has changed his mind.

I can only ask, with Maynard Keynes,

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

A heartwarming tale of efficiency

It is great to see local councils doing thire bit in the country's austerity drive,

Norwich to spend £400,000 on saving money
Cash-strapped Norwich City Council is set to use almost £400,000 it was hoping to spend on the switch to a unitary council to manage its efforts to battle cuts of £7.5m.

Next we will discover that they will be trying to change the name of the Broads.

The EU attempts to melt Iceland

The Icelandic parliament is famously an institution of some antiquity. Indeed, Manx objections aside, the Althingi traces its history back to the creation of a moot on the Plains of Thingvellir a mere 1000 plus years ago. So it is amusing to see the European Commission bunging the Icelandics a wodge of our taxes to

"activities for the further alignment of Iceland's legislation with the EU acquis."

Or in other words to help its parliment deal with the great avalanche of EU legislation that it will have to transpose into Icelandic law. Obviously they do not have the exprience necessary to do such a thing on their oen (though to be fair nobody could be expected to do so much on their own). Equally it has to be pointed out that in the Icelandic case, unlike those of some other recent accession countries, the money will not be used to strengthen,

the democratic institutions and the rule of law, reforming public administration and the economy, promoting respect for human as well as minority rights and gender equality

No what the money is really for is for softening up, through propaganda, the massive majority of Icelandics who have no wish, whatsoever to join the EU,

to inform the Icelandic public about the EU and its policies

I justr have a suspicion that the Icelandics already know about the Common Fisheries Policy.

Whither Euro?

Anatole Kaletsky's comments hidden behind the Time's paywall today are depressing but oh so likley. The fact is that the political will within the EU has no intention of lettuingthe financial crisis ringdown the Euro, and the only other option is, as Kaletsky puts it fundamentally undemocratic.

"Voters must not be asked to give their verdict directly on the euro programme. Even assuming substantial fiscal convergence, German taxpayers will never vote for their money to be spent on supporting Greece, Portugal and Spain.
But luckily for the euro's survival, German voters will never be asked this question. The construction of a federal Europe has never relied on democratic support, merely on acquiescence and the force of habit. The creation of a viable single currency, backed by a European federal budget, will merely be the next stage of this non-democratic process."

Some straws in the wind that back up this dismal prognostication can be found today,

The outgoing Spanish EU Presidency will be remembered for overseeing the first steps towards a ''necessary and absolutely essential'' evolution from monetary union to economic union, Rafael Dezcallar de Mazarredo, Spanish ambassador to Berlin

He then points out the only problem with this is democracy,

However, he noted the lack of political discourse accompanying the proposals and acknowledged that a huge obstacle to achieving economic union remains – member state governments thinking in national terms.
''These substantial steps are still not accompanied by a clear political discourse, a
positive political vision – not only of what Europe is avoiding by doing this, but of what it can achieve: much more solid economic performance, a better capacity to compete with other parts of the world, an awareness that our economic interests demand common answers and in the end, something which will have inevitable implications towards political integration,'' stated the ambassador.

Of course minor issues like national democracy can always be overcome, after all they always have in the past.

Then we have Angela Merkle telling us,

"The federal government is aware of Germany's role as an example in the euro area. We have an essential interest in a strong euro, because a stable currency is indispensable for citizens' trust in the social market economy,"

Make no bones about it, she and the rest of them have no intention in failing in their manifest destiny to ensure a Euro fit for Government.

Bad Joke politician explains what Climate policy is all about

The magnificently named (given his job title) Joke Schauvliege, who is the Flemish Minister for Environment, Nature and Culture, and current holder of the rotating Chair of the EU's Environment Council has joined forces with the European Commissioner for Climate action, Connie Hedegaard to put out a statement after the Council's informal Environmental Council in Ghent yesterday.

And it is a corker. For it makes explicit what it is that is driving the climate alarmist agenda. It is not so much the dangers to the climate per se that makes them all so keen on global legislation and Carbon Credits, and Cap and trade and all that maklarky, but what is does for them, the transnational political elite,

"Having no concrete outcome in Cancun would be unacceptable. It would not only
put the UNFCCC and the role of multilateralism at risk, but we would also run the risk of losing public support for the process and for our climate policies in general ."

Please note what the concern is here, firstly it is about governance, about pan national governance, not about the climate itslef. The collapse in support for AGW/Climate Change driven policies threatens the elite, not the climate.

On a different (bum?) note I just wonder what they might mean by this?

it could also entail bottom-up measures to reduce greenhouse gas emission on the
short term.

Corks maybe?

Osborne's Trojan Regulator

Louise Armitstead in The Telegraph reports yesterday's ECOFIN meeting with hyperbolic praise for George Osborne,

EU victory for George Osborne
The City is in line for a major boost after European finance ministers agreed to position the new banking super-regulator in London, rather than Frankfurt.

But what is this victory? And how can it be described as such? What has Ms Armitstead been drinking?

The story revolves around the announcement that one of the new EU regulatory bodies will be based in London. That is a victory? What, that London will pay host to the European Banking Authority? So it will create a few jobs, yes, a few cleaners and the odd secretary will be employed locally granted. But the staff will all be Eurocrats, so this is no big win.

Look, accepting financial suzerainty from Brussels is no victory, it is an abject defeat. Accepting the sugared gift on an EU Agency is like having a rival administer a dose of laudanum and boasting about the get well card that came with it.

Mr Osborne said that having the regulator in London was a "key UK requirement" for which he had won "support from other member states".
Talks with the European Parliament will now resume but all sides are thought to want to secure an agreement quickly. The EU aims to have three new Europe-wide institutions regulating banks, insurance companies and securities markets up and running by January 1, 2011.

The vote for London, which is an important win for the Chancellor, will be welcomed both by British and international banks which have felt increasingly persecuted by European regulators.

A source close to the meeting said: "The Ecofin council recognised that London is Europe's only truly global financial centre. The others might not like that but there's no point pretending otherwise and this is recognition of that."

So out of three new EU financial regulators London gets one, and we are supposed to be happy about that.

I though that the Government was going on about the way in which the Bank of England was going to regain its regulatory role. It won't. What it will do is act as the carapace of power, hollowed out and left impotent by our real masters across the Channel. Leaving the people with a false impression, connived at by our so called Eurosceptic government. It will allow Mr Osborne to stand tall in Brussels, but so will having a ramrod hammered up his rectum.

And what benefit do we get by having this new governing body nestling, asplike, in our bosum? Well some of our senior bankers will be able to take their masters out to lunch.

As Sophocles put it so well,

So now I find that ancient proverb true,
Foes' gifts are no gifts: profit bring they none.

Where shall I go on my holidays?

Or more to the point, where shall I go to work?
The EU's pollster Eurobarometer has produced a new survey on the Freedom of Movement (otherwise known as uncontrollable borders).

If you look at Page 32 we have a graph titled

Q 13 In which country(ies) would you prefer to work?

Interestingly the top three countries share one thing, they are members of the Angloshere

US - 21%
UK -16%
Australia - 15%

So 52% of those that expressed a preference would like to go to English speaking, Common Law countries (Canada is there with 9%, New Zealand 6%). I note that this is the desire of those who wish to work, not those who wish to get benefits.

It becomes even moe interesting when the country of depature is included, with 26% wanting to go to Germany from the eastern block, but still with the UK at 21%.

Right down at the bottom of the document page 181 is the preference by country in raw figures. It will not suprise you that Brits want to go to the

US - 32%
Australia - 28%
New Zealand - 15%
Canada - 12%

So who wants to come to the UK (first column) and Germany (Second Column) In percentages

UK DE

BE - 17 3
BG - 17 18
CZ - 26 34
DK - 31 15
DE - 12 0
EE - 21 14
IE - 22 5
EL - 31 28
ES - 22 16
FR - 14 5
IT - 25 7
CY - 57 5
LV - 35 17
LT - 28 10
LU - 12 13
HU - 26 36
MT - 54 7
NL - 20 13
AT - 4 14
PL - 21 32
PT - 15 12
RO - 6 11
SI - 15 31
SK - 30 29
FI - 18 21
SE - 32 12
UK - 0 4

Whilst the situation with Malta and Cyprus can be explained by history, the rest is by opportunity.

Yup I think geography has something to do with it in the case of Germany, but just look at those numbers. Nobody can tell me that with that being the number of people who want to come here to work that we have control of our borders whilst we remain in the EU.

Where the Irish want to go is even more telling.

So who is it for?

This latest taxpayer funded anti-smoking video states catagerically that it is not for the under 15. Then who does the EU think is going to be influenced by such a daft cartoon (which thinks that cheating at sport is a legitimate way to stop smokers)?

I note the next cartoon will be about smoking on the beach.
It starts with the Lifeguard ignoring a shark attack. But hold on, look there is a smoker.

What shall we do to that real and present threat?

The P of the Pig catches a cold

Troubles in Lisbon, that home of success, Agendas, Treaties and such like.

Moody’s, the rating agency, downgraded Portugal by two notches on Tuesday, citing the country’s deteriorating public finances.
The US rating agency cut Portugal’s long-term credit rating to A1 from Aa2 on concerns over its debt to gross domestic product and debt to revenue ratios, which have risen rapidly over the past two years.

The Eurozone is no where near out ofthe woods yet. Which should no doubt concentrate t he minds of those chaps meeting.

As Moodys themselves say,

Looking ahead, Moody’s expects the government’s debt metrics to continue to
deteriorate for at least another two to three years, with the debt-to-GDP and
debt-to-revenues ratios eventually approaching 90% and 210%, respectively,
before stabilizing once the budget has moved back into a primary surplus
position.

Parliament slaps down Duff Report

Interestingly, even the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament seems to share my views on the Duff Report I talked about a week or so ago,
Even his colleagues in the ALDE have misgivings,

Anneli Jäätteenmäki (ALDE, FI), admitted to being among those for whom the change is too fast, observing that "it is not the time to change the treaties and there are divided opinions in all groups".

Which is the Parliamentary equivalent of Mr Duff's previous remarks,

"Especially if it was some crazy federast, the Committee would tell him to fuck off."

Department of Business and (lack of) IT Skills

Anorak that I am I was wandering roundthe Government Consultation website - there is a consultation on Timeshares that needs a look at and response, when I noticed a consultation on the Consumer Rights Directive.

Indeed the weightily named "Negotiating Line for the Consumer Rights Directive on the Concept of Assessability for Unfairness in Consumer Contracts" could be extremely interesting and have some impact on how this Government deals with yet another power grab on the part of the EU.

So I dutifully went to the website, but lo, what have we here?

Download the consultation
Xsl file could not be processed: /xsl/BISCore/BISCore_Content_Consultation.xslt

So noting that on a previous page we find this,

Government responses
We follow the Government Code of Practice on Consultation and aim to respond to all comments received within three months of a consultation ending. If you have any thoughts on the consultation process itself please email the Better Regulation Team.

So off I fired my email,

REF : Negotiating Line for the Consumer Rights Directive on the Concept of Assessability for Unfairness in Consumer Contracts

In reference to the above consultation I note that the consultation document is itself undownloadable.

I am sure that this is just a technical glitch and was wondering if you could send me a copy?

Only to get the response,

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

better.regulation@bis.gsi.gov.uk

So let me get this straight, the forward of the Government's consultation code states clearly that it,

"is committed to effective consultation; consultation which is targeted at, and easily accessible to, those with a clear interest in the policy in question".

So no access to the Consultation, and the Better Regulation Task Force having an inoperative email address complies with the code.

I think not.

Who the "£$%^ does he think he is?

The £$%^& ing jumped up arrogant w$@nker.
Talking about the fact that the Polish version of the Lisbon Treaty nearly arrived in Rome functionally illegal,

Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP and legal expert, said a dodgy Polish bill would have been put down to clerical error and corrected.

But he added that the discovery of a dud ratification instrument could have emboldened eurosceptic politicians, such as the UK's Nigel Farrage, to launch a legal case against the Lisbon Treaty at the EU court in Luxembourg.

"[But] for something of this type, the court would be very grown up," Mr Duff said. "Especially if it was some crazy farragiste, the court would tell him to fuck off."

So if a complaint, legitimate of course, came from somebody he doesn't agree with we can see the Europhile's attitude. Law is irrelevant, and those who attempt to uphold law can fuck off.
Well Sir, maybe you should consider doing so yourself.

The Placebo effect : Brussels version

Isn't there something quite superb about the headliner for this event being Placebo?


Or maybe this is more relevant. A Song to Say Goodbye

Don't ever say that Italians are cowards

Though the point is I guess that horses don't have a reverse gear.

This has got to be one of the most extraordinary obituries of recent years. I copy it in full as I sit here in awe I give you Amedeo Guillet

Early in 1941, following outstanding successes in the Western Desert, the
British invasion of Mussolini's East African empire seemed to be going like clockwork.

But at daybreak on January 21, 250 horsemen erupted through the morning mist at Keru, cut through the 4/11th Sikhs, flanked the armoured cars of Skinner's Horse and then galloped straight towards British brigade headquarters and the 25-pound artillery of the Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry.

Red Italian grenades – "like cricket balls" – exploded among the defenders, several of whom were cut down by swords. There were frantic cries of "Tank alert!", and guns that had been pointing towards Italian fortifications were swivelled to face the new enemy.

At a distance of 25 yards they fired, cutting swathes through the galloping horses but also causing mayhem as the shells exploded amid the Sikhs and Skinner's Horse.

After a few more seconds the horsemen disappeared into the network of wadis that criss-crossed the Sudan-Eritrean lowlands.

It was not quite the last cavalry charge in history – the unmechanised Savoia Cavalry regiment charged the Soviets at Izbushensky on the Don in August 1942. But it was the last one faced by the British Army, with many soldiers declaring it the most frightening and extraordinary episode of the Second World War.

Amedeo Guillet was born in Piacenza on February 7 1909 to a Savoyard-Piedmontese family of the minor aristocracy which for generations had served the dukes of Savoy, who later became the kings of Italy.

He spent most of his childhood in the south – he remembered the Austrian biplane bombing of Bari during the First World War – then followed family tradition and joined the army.

After the military academy at Modena, he chose to join the cavalry and began training at Pinerolo, where Italian horsemanship under Federico Caprilli had earlier in the century won world renown – the current "forward seat" and modern jumping saddles evolved there.

Guillet excelled as a horseman and was selected for the Italian eventing team to go to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. But Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935
interrupted his career as a competition rider. Instead, using family connections, he had himself transferred to the Spahys di Libya cavalry with which he fought repeated actions.

He also witnessed aerial gas attacks on Emperor Haile Selassie's lightly armed warriors, which appalled world opinion. In Guillet's view, gas was largely ineffectual against an unentrenched enemy which could flee, and he himself was fighting with horse, sword and pistol.

At Selaclacla, after using the hilt of his sword to dislodge an Ethiopian warrior who had grabbed him around the waist, Guillet received a painful wound to the left hand when a bullet hit the pommel of his saddle.

Decorated for his actions, he was flattered to be chosen a year later by General Luigi Frusci as an aide de camp in the "Black Flames" division, which was sent to support Franco in the Spanish Civil War. It was the first post Guillet had been offered without family influence.

There he suffered shrapnel wounds and helped capture three Russian armoured cars and crews. But the atrocities he witnessed on both sides were a sobering experience for Guillet, who deplored what he saw of Italy's German allies during their intervention.

No longer a uncritical, puppyish subaltern, Guillet returned to Italy and Libya. He echoed the views of many in disapproving of the pro-Nazi alliance of the regime and absurdities such as the anti-Semitic race laws.

With growing disgust for Europe, Guillet asked for a posting to Italian East Africa, where another family acquaintance, the royal prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, had been appointed viceroy to replace the brutal and inept Marshal Graziani. By this time Guillet had also become engaged to his beautiful Neapolitan cousin Beatrice Gandolfo, and their intention was to make a life for themselves in Italy's new empire.

Mussolini's decision to enter the war on the side of Germany in May 1940 ended these dreams, cutting off Italian East Africa, which was surrounded by the territories of its enemies, and separating Amedeo from his fiancée, who remained in Italy.

Aosta gave Guillet command of the locally recruited Amhara Cavalry Bande, as well as 500 Yemeni infantry – approximately 2,500 men. With almost no armour, the Italians used Guillet's horsemen to delay the advance of the British 4th and 5th Indian Divisions when they crossed the Eritrean frontier in January 1941.

Guillet's actions at Keru, and subsequent hand-to-hand fighting at Agordat, helped allow the Italian army to regroup at the mountain fortress of Keren, where it mounted its best actions in the entire war. After nearly two months, however, the British broke through, and the road to Eritrea's capital, Asmara, lay clear.

Most of the Italian army surrendered, but Guillet refused to do so. Aosta had ordered his officers to fight on to keep as many British soldiers as possible in East Africa, while the new German commander in the Western Desert, Rommel, sought to reverse the earlier Italian disasters.

For nine months Guillet launched a series of guerrilla actions against British troops, plundering convoys and shooting up guard posts. At his side was his mistress, Khadija, an Ethiopian Muslim, for he never believed he would ever see Italy or Beatrice again. Two curious British intelligence officers pursued him: Major Max Harrari, later an urbane art dealer who would become Guillet's close friend, and the driven intellectual Captain Sigismund Reich, of the Jewish Brigade, who was eager to get on with the task of killing Germans.

Despite their attentions, Guillet managed to escape across the Red Sea to neutral Yemen, where he became an intimate friend of the ruler, Imam Ahmed. He sneaked back to Eritrea in 1943 in disguise, and returned to Italy on the Red Cross ship Giulio Cesare, where he was reunited with Beatrice.

The couple married in April 1944 and he spent the rest of the war as an intelligence officer, befriending many of his former British enemies from East Africa.

In the postwar world, Guillet joined the diplomatic service and, as his Arabic was fluent, served in the Middle East. In 1950s Yemen, he and Beatrice were the only non-Muslims permitted to live within the walls of Sana'a and Taiz.

British visitors were struck by his easy friendship with his neighbours in the souk, as well as the incongruity of foxhunting prints decorating his walls.

Guillet later served as ambassador in Jordan and Morocco, and finally India.

In 1975 he retired to Ireland, where he had bought a house 15 years earlier for the peace and quiet and to enjoy the foxhunting.

A generous, giving man, with a disarming innocence to his character, Guillet would frequently liken himself to Don Quixote, but say that those who found him ridiculous were the true fools.

He always said he was the luckiest man he knew – surviving British and Ethiopian bullet wounds, Spanish grenade fragments and a sword cut to the face, as well as numerous bone fractures from riding accidents.

He celebrated his 100th birthday in Rome in February last year at the army officers' club in the Palazzo Barberini, where the royal march was played and friends gathered from Ireland, the Middle East and India – as well as those members of the Italian royal family still on speaking terms with each other.

Amedeo Guillet is survived by two sons, Paolo and Alfredo. Beatrice predeceased him in 1990.

The world is poorer without him.

"Oik is spelt O I K"

"If the Government turns the Upper House into an elected Chamber, you would get the sort of oik - and for Hansard's benefit, oik is spelt O I K - that could not get into the Commons, Europe, the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Assembly and probably not into a half-decent county council. That is the sort of oik you would have here. That is barmy"

You have got to love Lord Gilbert declaring that he wouldn't be standing in a prospective election for the Upper House.

The thing is the former Labour Minister does have a point.

Lib Dems push for a new voting system

Yes yes, I know it is hardly news byut I am not talking about Clegg and the wonnderous AV adventure to be luanched next week.

I am looking across the channel and to the very odd Andrew Duff MEP. The ALDE spokeman for Constitutional affairs has had a peek at the way we elect our MEPs and he doesn't like it. Obviously note federalist enough for him.
So here are his ideas, designed as he says to,

enhancing the popularity of Parliament across the Union,

So what do you think?

Votes at 16 for EU elections, which in countries where for national elections the franchise is set at 18 could cause all sorts of problems.

a redistribution of the 751 seats will take place, if justified objectively by figures
authorised by Eurostat, before every election; the redistribution will be announced at least twelve months before the end of the mandate;

Not such a bad idea, but I can see the scope for almighty costs and confusion. The possibility of rows between countries are legion which could hold up the whole process interminably.

an electoral authority will be established at EU level in order to regulate the conduct
and to verify the result of the election taking place from the EU-wide list; the
electoral authority will be composed of representatives of Parliament, the
Commission and the States;

Not sure what the purpose of this is, and I canot see it hittig the g spot of popularity.

the timing of the election will be brought forward from June to May;

I guess that this is to facilitate the horse trading that will be going on between political groups about who to support for the EU president's job.

And my own personal favourite,

an additional 25 MEPs will be elected by a single constituency formed of the whole territory of the European Union; transnational lists will be composed of candidates drawn from at least one third of the States, and will be gender-balanced; each elector will be enabled to cast one vote for the EU-wide list in addition to their vote for the national or regional list:

The method of organisation for that one leaves me struggling for breath.

How will anybody have the first idea what they are for, who they are and why they should be voting for them. The only thing that is certain is that anybody who doesn't believe in deeper integration will not get a look in.

Such a good democrat our Andrew.

Oh, and in my haste last night I was insufferably rude and missed my hat tip. So doff of the tifter to The European Citizen

But hold on, we have to eat anyway

Today the EU announced an extra £30 million Euros to be spent on the promotion of agricultural products. The selected programmes cover fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy products, honey, and so on.

Now doesn't this look like picking winners? After all we have to eat. So surely it is up to the farmers to flog their products to us as best they can. Not for us to pay them to tell us how spiffing their products are?

How to 'collapse' the UK

Chatham House is the enormously respected international relations think tank otherwise known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

So it comes as something slightly surprising to see this Royally chartered institute calling for the UK to give up its seat on the G20. Of course only for the greater good of the EU mind.

Today Dr Paola Subacchi, Research Director, International Economics of the institution has written a "Whither Europe" piece that is expanded upon in the European Voice.

Bemoaning the fact that the EU just doesn't punch its weight in international fora she proposes a solution,

Europe can help the G20 leaders make a significant step towards their immediate goals for the reform of the international economic institutions by November. This implies accepting collapsing the four European seats into an EU one,

The arguement seems to be that the EU has a single national, economic interest. However if the evidence of the last few months ahs shown us anything that is transparently untrue.

Of coure it is the sort of thing that might appeal to our new Government. William Hague was wearing his 'reform', 'Modern', '21st century' hat on today when he was talking at the Foreign Office. He too was talking about international fora, and this is what he had to say,

Second, the circle of international decision-making has become wider and more multilateral. Decisions made previously in the G8 are now negotiated within the G20, and this Government will be at the forefront of those arguing for the expansion of the United Nations Security Council.

But William you dunderhead. If the question of reforming the composition of the Security Council is broached, you must know that the French and the Brits will lose their seats.

We are no longer the powers we were when it was created, and the EU will get the European seat. Now of course you might argue that this is overdue, and frankly we no longer deserve the permanent seat on the Security Council, but please do not wish it to happen, it cannot be in our broader interrests to encourage the end of that era?

Can it?

Even the Belgians don't rate the European Parliament

According to the Belgian newspaper De Tijd,

Belgium today takes over the rotating EU Presidency for six-months, with outgoing PM Yves Leterme running day-to-day affairs and the EU Presidency while talks on forming a new coalition continue. In an interview with De Tijd, Jean De Ruyt, the head of the Belgian Permanent Representation to the EU says: "The biggest stumbling blocks for the Belgian presidency are with the European Parliament, an incalculable and badly organised partner. You don't know whether the opinion of the MEPs is being decided by the content of a matter or by the wish to be visible and show its own power. In some matters they don't even know that themselves."

Sounds as if Mr de Ruyt knows the place.

Charlamagne to Bagehot

David Rennie, formerly of the Telegraph (where I helped set up his first blog), then the Economist's man in Brussels has been Charlamagne for the past few years, Today is his last as he is moving to London to take up the London equivalent, Bagehot.

However he leaves with quite a humdinger of a column in which this little anecdote stands out.

Shortly after the first Irish No in 2008, I found myself at a gala dinner in Brussels. Sitting on a gilt armchair in a panelled stateroom, I was told by the head of a Brussels think-tank that the Irish result proved the idiocy of putting EU treaties to the people. “Fucking voters,” he declared, languidly extending one arm so the hovering steward could refill his champagne glass. “I mean, fucking voters, what do they know?” I still wish I had walked out.

I could hazard a pretty good guess who this man might be, but there would be numerous others who could take his place. Anybody who has worked in Brussels for any time has similar stories to this. Examples of the utter contempt by which the people are held by the elite. I well remember Joe Lienen MEP, after the Dutch vote on the Constitution saying,

"Have your little celebration, we have a thousand ways to win"

I am sure that David will enjoy the Smoke and I look forward to finding out who has been sent to replace him.