The new Liturgy

Seriously I popped into Peter Jones to meet up with some people and have ludicrously expensive coffee to be greeted with this message.

It is a modern liturgy in all but name. I mean after drinking coffee there I almost feel cleansed. All my sins against the planet are washed away.

Shit I should have got into a 4X4 and run over some poor starving children and I will have still morally got away with it after purchasing my indulgences at the shrine of St Peter Jones.

And you know, for only 3 quid they would have wrapped the spoon I was considering. Imagine that only 3 quid!

And buy it

Desperate stuff from the Irish Tourist board. They have just had an event in California,

Joe Byrne, Tourism Ireland’s Executive Vice President North America, said: “North America is a very important market for tourism to the island of Ireland. Tourism Ireland has had a comprehensive promotional programme in place in the US throughout 2010, providing compelling reasons to visit and emphasising the convenience and value of a holiday here. It is absolutely essential that we convey the message that there has never been a better time for Americans to visit the island of Ireland.”

I can think of a few compelluing reasons, I would guess the value of the Dollar might be one of them.

EU Citizen's initiative: If we let you that is

One of the (er is that the only) good things about the Lisbon Treaty was supposed to be the Citizen's Initiative. This was supposed to make it clear that, (Article 11, para 4)

"not less than one million citizens who are nationals of a significant number of Member States may take the initiative of inviting the Commission, within the framework of its powers, to submit any appropriate proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaties"

The problem is that this allows I don't know people to ask awkward questions. It would allow Eurosceptics and others the opportunity to demand all sorts of changes, so it cannot be allowed to continue. Fortunately for the Eurocrats the language is wolly enough for them to have a whole great beanfeast of a program to rewrite the article.

So we got a Green Paper, a proposed regulation, and of course a consultation excercise. This was all summed up helpfully in a citizen's summary.

Now we have the end result of all this discussion. And blow me down what have we here?

Several changes to the EU "citizen's initiative" plan, to enable citizens to request EU laws, were made unanimously by Constitutional Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. The changes include an earlier "admissibility" check on proposals, a lower threshold for the number of participating countries, and an easier petition signing process.

Yes, they have made it easier to take part (bravo) but only on petitions they agree with.

The whole ruddy thing has been deliberately emasculated, sorry, castrated, in order to stop the bvery thing it promised. That is the free expression of what people want.

They call it,

a more user-friendly citizens' initiative

It is transparently more establishment friendly.

Constitutional Affairs Committee MEPs suggest that, contrary to the Commission proposal to check the admissibility of an initiative only after 300,000 signatures have already been collected, the check be done already at the time of registering an initiative on the Commission web site. Checking earlier would ensure that citizens do not end up signing initiatives that do not meet the admissibility criteria.

These buggers are obviously frightened of the people. I hope, I really hope that that fear is justified.

Brilliant

John Band, I salute you #twittwerjoketrial

Carefull Now: Down with this sort of Thing

Them thar genius animated news types from Taiwan strike again

Going viral

That Farage video from last week seems to have gone, what I understand is the t'interweb vernacular, viral. I have counted about 400,000 hits, which for a political video ain't bad going in 5 days. (And the foriegn language ones I haven't tracked.
Best of all it has been picked up by commentators in the States. Of all sorts of complexion. The Huffington Post flagged it up thusly,

UK Independen­ce Party MEP Nigel Farage tells the European parliament a few home truths about the Irish bailout and the Euro being largely to blame

Just brilliant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v­=4CEu2sy2Z­_0&feature­=player_em­bedded#!

This is a hostile economic takeover of nations and enslavemen­t of millions on people into debt they didn’t even incur.

Berlin is telling Ireland that since their government is collapsing under Euro, it would be inappropri­ate to have a general election.

Who the he// do they think they are?”

This was accompanied by the Daily Kos - not your normal fertile ground for UKIP you might have thought.

Europe is now in a state of panic and rightfully so. The Dominoes that have been falling are now picking up speed, dropping one by one pushed by those that stole from all of us, The Banks, and Wall St., the Robber Barons of the World, who are now putting their boots on the very heads of the working poor and taxpayers to bail them out again and worse: to go after even more.
I was watching an amazing video (below) of Nigel Farage enraged and yelling at the European Union Parliament: "The Euro Game Is Up... Just Who The Hell Do You Think You Are? You Are Very Dangerous People"
The game is up indeed, Mr. Farage, and first and foremost we can thank our own United States Savvy Wall St/Banks for beginning this vicious catastrophic plague, this now, run-a-way train with no brakes, and no light at the end of the tunnel. The result will be world wide misery and despair unequal in many of our life times.

Panic ensued in their comments sections. How dare these good caring types flag up a speech by Nigel Farage? How dare they... This ís the Kos

UPDATE AND DISCLAIMER:

I was unaware until this evening that the video I included in this diary, with Nigel Farage apparently is considered a racist by many on this website. As of 7:27 pm PST, my time, I asked several times, to provide me with proof of that fact. I looked this up myself and could not find anything on this. I received on notification on this justification at the same time: 7: 27 PST. I deeply apologize to this community for not knowing that this man is apparently a racist, but I would like to again state, that this does not change the basic theme of my diary.

The Irish people just got sold out, by the EU, and on the line are their pensions, and this is going on all over the world. I compare this to the upcoming Cat Food Commission and who is going to held liable for the Toxic Debt, that the Banks, worldwide, are still hiding off the books.

And this the stuff on Huff,

UKIP is a pretty nazti party. Take anything they say with a shovelful of salt.

They're like a well-dress­ed tea party with good grammar...

Yeah right and so on. There again the fact that Glen Beck put the speech up on his show last night might have something to do with it,

GLENN: Now, there's something else that is going on in Europe that I find fascinating. Europe is on the brink, and I want to play this audio from an amazing speech given on the floor of parliament, the European Union parliament, and this is a British European Union parliamentary member and he is reading the EU the riot act. Listen to this....
For them to come out I mean, you should see the video. The video's on TheBlaze.com. If you see the video, it is it shows the people that he's talking to and it shows the other ministers from the other when he says, you know, look, he looks like he's seen a ghost. You see him there with his head in his hands. I mean, this thing is coming undone. And exactly what we said that they would do is push us into an even greater society.

"Denis Thatcher on speed"

Dan Hannan has reviewed Nigel Farage's book, Fighting Bull in his Telegraph blog.

It is a kind, yet accurate review.

They describe the transformation of a typical Home Counties boy into the leader of the party that came second at the last European election. When I say “typical Home Counties boy”, I suppose I mean the type often encountered in Betjeman’s verse and in P G Wodehouse’s golfing short stories (Wodehouse was, like Farage, a cricket-obsessed old boy of Dulwich). Nigel’s main interests in life were – and perhaps still are, underneath everything – pubs, golf, women, cricket and fishing. The type is easily satirised; but it has produced its great men, Denis Thatcher foremost among them.


Nigel Farage is Denis Thatcher on speed. On the night he was elected to the European Parliament, the first question from our local TV man, Phil Hornby, was: “So, from now on it’s going to be endless lunches, lavish dinners, champagne receptions: will you be corrupted by the lifestyle?”

“No,” replied Nigel amiably, “I’ve always lived like that”.

The book is worth a read. Yes, I work for the feloow, so you might say I would say that. But that is not the point. The growth of the Eurosceptic movement as a distinct and electable force in its own right owes a great deal to this man. Yes he has legs of clay, and yes he sometimes rubs his own support up the wrong way.

But without him there is no way that we would see a national newspaper campaigning to get Britain out of the European Union. He has made what was a vice practiced secretly by thousands, to a position that is no longer an emabbarsment to hold in the pub and dinner parties.

Go on, buy the book, you might even enjoy it.

Isle of Wight Council discover cheap source of fuel

According to Ventnor Blog they have announced that they will be sending recycled Irish jokes to a 'gasification plant' (see right, where old jokes go to die), which will then render them down into purest energy, that you will be able to heat your homes with.

The market stall was visited several times by Trading Standards officers during the summer and autumn of 2008 following information received that some of the products on offer were either illegal copies or fake merchandise.

This included Irish jokes and several other CDs, salt and pepper pots and baseball caps branded with the England logo and Manchester United logo.

The seized goods have since been kept in storage by IW Council Trading Standards and on Wednesday 1 December, they will be taken to the Gasification Plant in Newport.

There, they will be shredded and then crushed into ‘bales’ where they will then be burnt in the Gasification Plant which generates electricity.

I am impressed. If I can get a few Watts from a redundent Irish joke, how much power do I get for a Mother-in-Law? Or for that matter contraband sexist mutterings and the odd off colour comment about dubious foriegners?

To be fair to Ventnor Blog, he is quoting direct from the IoW council press release.

Did Prince Andrew do his job?

I have just had a dispute with somebody whose opinion I respect highly about the Wikileak revelations about the Duke of York,

I think it would be more beneficial if the UK was represented by someone who is a) democratically elected, therefore accountable b) intelligent c) culturally sensitive and d) doesn't come across as an arrogant bore.

This is a trade envoy, not a minister. Should we elect all our trade envoys? Who would be the electorate? Expats who might get embarrassed by their behaviour?
b) Never met a thick helicopter pilot, maybe there are some, but not in my experience. No he isn't the greatest academic, never was, but not thick.
c) He was with a group of British businessmen. That is culturally sensitive to them. When with the Kyrgyz types he is culturally sensitive to them.
d) Well fine, there you have me, but again I would say he was with an audience that appreciated it. Except the US ambassador who seems to have responded like a junior Jean Brodie.

I wouldn't worry, if he was representing the UK in that matter at the Cultural olympiad I would have thought it rather inappropriate, but here there should be no real problems.

The big question is, did British business pick any good contracts on the trip? If not then he failed, if so then he didn't.

Kids with walking swipe cards

The news being reported today that Andrew Lansley is going to endorse Wimbledon Council's walk to school bribery campaign is very worrying.
It is true that children should do more exercise. But it seems to me to be pushing it to think that walking to school is the right way forward, especially not formally bribing them to walk to school.

This is 'Nudge' politics taken to the wrong extremes,

Firstly it is wrong in itself. It is not the business of government to tell us how to live out lives. Thus the key reason for children not walking to school is because of fear. We had the recent example of the man threatened with social workers for allowing his child to walk a whole 45 yards to a bus stop.
More worrying is how this will be policed,

Under the scheme, pupils will be issued with electronic swipe cards that they use to touch receivers on lampposts between their home and school, in much the same way that Oystercards work on the capital's transport network.

Errr... Oh yes right now that is a great idea. We the people trust the Government and its agencies to keep data safe. So what we have here is the people who run this campaign having access to precise data about how children walk to school, their routes, their times the works.

And why would anybody want that data? Now I am not one who panics about pedophilia, but seriously guys, which idiot thought this one up?

So now we have the school as a new kiddie police state.

You log in on the local lamppost, walk to school, repeating your card swipe all the way. Then you get to school, where you are fingerprinted. Then you have to show your lunch box to prove that you are only eating the approved meal.

And that is before the politically correct rubbish that pretends to be education these days.



And this is a so called Conservative Government heaven help us.



Lansley has to be stopped from this proposal. It is deeply illiberal, it will be ruinously expensive and is just not necessary.

Weird Map of Ireland

Not sure what to make of this map of  Ireland put out by the Commission,

 As opposed to this one which is the more accurate and normal projection.

Are they trying to suggest that the Republic has more bottom than the Province? Is it just that the South is no fat on the bail out.

Does anybody else know of any other countries that are distorted by the EU in this way?

Really Smugg

The aquiline Jacob Rees Mogg, son of the great newspaperman Lord Rees Mogg has now laid his cards on the table. Previously thought to be one of the sounder Tory candidates, his comments to the BBC supporting the idea of a permanent Tory-Lib/Dem coalition proposed by Sir John Major, suggest that he has truly taken up the Private Eye name for his father and made it all his own. He is now sittimg smugly for a safe seat,  a seat that would be made safer of course if the remaining LibDems could be knocked out of the battle.

"I think we ought to fight the next election as a coalition. If we govern successfully as a coalition it would be absurd to oppose each other in seats like Sheffield Hallam or Somerton and Frome at the next general election, so I hope that we do get through the next five years and fight as a coalition."

He develops the theme in the House magazine today,

I expect the coalition to continue after 2015. I know I’m in a minority on this, but my view is that we will fight the next election as a coalition, because if we’ve made a success of it – which is what I expect – then it would be completely illogical to oppose, for example, Nick Clegg in Sheffield Hallam. What would the Conservative candidate say? “We’ve had this wonderful government which has done all these brilliant things, but it would have been that much better if we hadn’t had this fellow here messing about as deputy prime minister.” No, it is completely the opposite. If we govern as a coalition then I think we should fight the next election as a coalition – and I’m not exactly on the left wing of our party.

There again, I suppose he might not be so bad after all. Perhaps he is a UKIP 5th columnist. After all if he and Sir John get their way, the UKIP vote will shoot up across the country as pointed out by Lord Tebbit today.

I strongly suspect that Mr Cameron wants to make his coalition into a merger between “centre ground” conservatives and “centre ground” Lib Dems.


That would leave many Conservative voters with no choice but to support UKIP and many Lib Dem voters no choice but to support Labour

.

Leaf it alone

And so, in a decision certain to gain headlines the Nissan Leaf has won the European car of the Year award.

The press release from Nissan highlights why this is so important

Beating forty ‘traditional' combustion-engined cars to the crown, Nissan's LEAF, the world's first 100% electric family car has landed the scoop of the motoring decade in a seismic step-change for the motor industry. The award for the revolutionary LEAF, to be produced at Britain's biggest car  factory in Sunderland from 2013, and hitting the roads in March 2011 signals a watershed moment for British motorists until now unsure about the viability of electric vehicle technology.

No not that, it doesn't of course. the car doesn't go on sale until next year, so the all important, errr, sales figures don't exist. No it must be something else that is so important.

With a GBP5,000 Government incentive scheme for EVs starting in Jan 2011, a rapidly expanding charging infrastructure across the UK, and several mainstream manufacturers set to enter the electric fray next year, today's award could be the final signal the motor industry needs that the combustion engine is no longer the default choice for motorists, ending a 125 year reign of dominance

Could it be this, that the Government is going to be bribing us to buy the ruddy thing (and I weonder if this isn't questionable state aid, as the Leaf is the only mass production all electric car - but I digress) According to Nissan's own pricing structures that still makes the car £5,000 more expensive than its nearest rivals. So no it isn't that either. Aha now I see why this important,

Today marks the first day of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico. High on the agenda will be alternative transport solutions to lessen worldwide CO2 emissions

That's it. It fits with the narrative.

Update
I see Mr North has noticed this fine win for Nissan

MPAC is a 'Civil Liberties Group' ! No really

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee are not really up there with Amnesty, of even Liberty , or Big Brother Watch for that matter when it comes to supporting civil liberties,

But this is how they are described in the Express today,

Catherine Heseltine, chief executive of civil liberties group, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, said: “The koran is the most sacred thing to over a ­billion Muslims worldwide.”

Which is is a little odd given comments like this,

"Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are 'Mujahadeen' and are blessed by Allah. And any Muslim who fights against Israel and dies is a martyr and will be granted paradise."

"There is no greater oppressor on this earth then [sic] the Zionists, who murder little children for sport."

By their spokesman

Lynne: Should you be proud of that?

Unintentially hilarious press release of the day just has to be this one from Lynne Featherstone.

I have to wonder who came second in the illustrious competition. Jacob Zuma?

Now pop pickers : Does the EU think it is Fluff Freeman FFS?

Not content in funding film prizes and literature prizes, and journalism prizes and...

Now I learn that the nincompoops are funding a pop prize. Trendily called the EBBAs (no doubt because any credibility the EU has is Ebbing away) this is an award to celebrate "success in reaching audiences outside their own country".

In the case of the UK nomination, Mumford and Sons, fine act though they are, are hardly struggling with 700,000 fans on their facebook page. Isn't this a breach of competition law. I didn't know that Island Records was a failing corporation:

Look, I have said it before and I say it again. It is not the business for the EU (or any other state, crypto-state, exo-state or whatever) to be creating this sort of prize. No business at all.

It smacks of approved, licensed politically approved art and it is wrong.

Martin Schulz: If Cameron gives up UK rebate we can discuss EU budget cuts

This is the fellow whose dictatorial comments and contempt for soveriegnty caused Bloom's outburst

More panic in the Eurozone

The EU Observer has picked up what might be called in Brussels unhelpful comments by Slovak finance minister Ivan Miklos,

Even during current conditions that are very tough, very complicated, and when the risk of the eurozone break-up - or at least of its very problematic functioning - is very real

What with the contagion spreading to Belgium, who without a Government is ill placed to deal with it things are beggining to look just a tad ropey.

What the Hell is the "Collier du mérite européen" ?

I hope is it big and covered in silver gilt with great enamel knobs. I ask because I have never heard of it before, and it is obviously rather an important award.

It is being handed out by President Van Rompuy,

Luxembourg
17:00 Award of the "Collier du mérite européen" followed by dinner hosted by Prime Minister Jean-Claude Junker

To President Buzek,

Thursday 25-11-2010 - 12:30 - 18:00 Strasbourg -Luxembourg
...
17:00 Receving the award "Le Collier du mérite européen" - Luxembourg

At a dinner organised by Mr Jean Claude Juncker, PM of Luxembourg.


This is an award that has never existed before as far as I can tell. Currently its web existence seems to be solely the multilingual versions of the above links.

So can anybody help? What is the collar for?

Bloom: the whole story

Now he spoke rudely, of that there is no doubt, but the approach of Mr Schultz is indeed that of one that believes in,

"One country, one people, and three presidents"

However having refused to apologise he was ordered out of the cahmber, at 9.35 in the morning. At that point the rules state that he will be dealt with by the Preseidenta nd/or the bureau.

This diod not happen and McMillan-Scott at the time of the vote hours later demanded again a new apology, and used his refusal as a pretext to have him blocked from voting in a dubious 'soviet style' procedure where he was ordered to leave after a 'Supreme Soviet' style vote..

This was beyond the powers of the chair and wrong. MacMillan-Scott should apologise.

Iceland cools on EU membership

Mr Barroso today cited his belief that Iceland wants to join the EU as a reason to ignore Farage's criticism


However it seems, that the Icelandics are not playing Barosso's game,

Euro zone membership is not a "fail-proof" formula for economic success and the benefits for Iceland look less clear in the wake of the current debt crisis, Iceland's president told Reuters on Wednesday.


"The debate more than a year ago to apply for membership was that the global financial markets have developed in such a way that it was difficult to maintain a separate currency for a small nation," President Olafur Grimsson said in an interview with Reuters.
"But since then we have seen one euro country after another in serious difficulty. Most recently, what's happening in Ireland. So the advantages of having a different currency look less clear now," he said.

Given that opinion polls in Iceland are firming strongly against EU membership, I don't think he needs to worry too much.

Because I am worth it

I see that the ECJ has just given me a pay rise. It amounts to 3.7% and I understand that the reasoning is that the Council cannot cut my rises. It is in the treaty after all.

The thing is, this pay rise for me and thousands of Eurocrats (including of course the Judges who made the decisison) blows a gaping hole in the famous EU budget decision.

You see this pay rise is not included in the 2.9% so painstakingly agreed by the Council. Mr Cameron's rather battered piece of paper has just been torn to shreds.

It is now EU law thanks to the costumed chaps in Luxembourg that I get my pay rise.

Better still, the internal trade unions are getting very excited about how they are abatting les EU proles, they are now demanding that it is back dated.... and that I get the interest on the money,

Le SFIE maintient ce recours en rappelant qu'il a, en outre, demandé l'application complète de l'adaptation des salaires (3,7 %) ainsi que les intérêts de retard.

As the Eye might say... Trebles all round.

EU Masterchef: Cooking the books?

I stop, I turn, I look again and I still cannot really believe it. Now we have a bunch of European Commissions spending 3 days playing at Masterchef!

For three days four EU commissioners cooked to their heart's delight under the approving  eye of renowned chefs...

Janez Potocnik (Slovenia, Commissioner for the Environment) and Chef Frank Fol, aided by a group of enthusiastic third-grade students, prepared an organic meal with seasonal produce.

Antonio Tajani (Italy, vice-president and Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship), opted for la cucina italiana. He was assisted by two members of his cabinet and two Italian chefs.

Karel De Gucht (Belgium, Commissioner for Trade) and Neelie Kroes (the Netherlands, Vice-President and Commissioner for Digital Agenda) entered into a culinary alliance and prepared a Flemish-Dutch dish with the help of Michelin star chef Roger Van Damme.

Politics doesn't get more idiotic than this.

OMG: European Representation in Dublin asks for serious trouble

This is just beyond belief

The European Union Representation in Ireland has just asked for it. 3 barrels in 140 characters.

Is this the most inappropriate idea from an EU funded organisation so far. It is up there with Olli Rehn's,

"You can have democracy, after you have done what you are told",  from this afternoon.

I have been hauled up in the comments by the European Movement in Ireland. They point out that it was not they who came up with this daft idea.

True it wasn't though I came across it through their twitter feed which promoted the EU Rep's idea, then through that to the EM Ireland's facebook page.

The thing is, in some ways it would be better if it were the EM Ireland's idea, at least the EU itself could pretend it was others being too enthusiastic, like Henry's knights.

EU to be targetted by Students?

Them thar students are planning another demo tomorrow, this time at Cowley Street home of their dashed hopes of idiocy.

I have just been informed that my office, Europa House in Smith Square will be locked all day. Not only will it be locked, but the roof will be locked. Yes the 6th floor roof terrace, with no access except internal will be locked.

Do they think that spiderman style demonstrators will think,
"Blast these no hope LibDems. Lets attack the EU?"

Martin Callanan: Green or Blue?

So as is reported on Con Home, and Guido (who royally stitched up one of the candidates) we find that Martin Callanan is the new Tory delegation leader in the European Parliament.

First up I must offer my congratulations, the scale of his victory must have surprised him. I have known Martin for years and there is no doubt that he is closer to the Tory membership than the other two candidates.

Back in 1999 there is no doubt that he was an adjunct to the infamous H block of Helmer, Heaton-Harris and Hannan, but since then he has moved to a more centrist position. This is most apparant from his position on Climate Change which though not utterly enamoured with everything that is being proposed is fully in line with Cameronian alarmism,

Here he is calling for the EU to impose green taxres on third nations air carriers.

Here he is applauding the EU's position at the Copenhagen Climate Change talks,

1. Regrets the fact that the Copenhagen Accord does not deliver the needed fair, ambitious and binding deal on a post-2012 climate treaty and that it neither sets global mid-term or long- term reduction targets nor states when global emissions would need to peak;
2. Regrets the fact that the reduction commitment pledges that were on the table in Copenhagen do not appear to add up to what is required by science in order to stay within the 2° objective, notwithstanding reduction commitments due to be submitted by the Parties on 31 January 2010 to the UNFCCC;
3. Recommends that the UNFCCC secretariat be empowered to make a technical review of the targets due to be submitted by the Parties on 31 January and report on their compatibility with the 2° limit, in time for the resumed negotiations in the ad hoc working groups; further emphasises that the targets must meet the necessary limit as identified by science;

Is convinced that if Europe invests in a sustainable future and incentivises a low-carbon economy within the framework of a binding international agreement, it will bring about results that are favourable to the climate, energy security, reduced energy dependency, resource efficiency, the competitiveness of European industry and job creation;

Here he agrees with a whole bunch of carbon tagets and so on,

Believes the Copenhagen agreement should bind the parties to mandatory reductions and provide for sanctions at international level for non-compliance, their form remaining to be defined;


6. Recalls that the international agreement should ensure collective greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the developed countries at the high end of the 25-40 % range for 2020 compared to 1990 levels, as recommended by the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 4AR), and that recent scientific data indicates that an emission reduction of at least 40 % is required; calls for those reductions to be domestic; recalls that a long-term reduction target should be set for the EU and the other developed countries of at least 80 % by 2050 compared to 1990 levels; recalls that global greenhouse gas emissions should start falling by 2015 at the latest; emphasises the need for the reduction targets agreed in the international agreement to be in line with the 2°C objective and with latest science; calls, therefore, for regular reviews in the agreement every five years to make sure that the reduction targets are ambitious enough to meet the 2°C objective and that those targets continue to be in line with the latest science; calls for the establishment of a global carbon accounting mechanism;

So yes Martin is far better than the others on offer, and he has always supported leaving the EPP, though he was  left for dead in some of the negotiations around it. He is firmly anti-Lisbon Treaty and is generally on the side of the angels across the board (apart from as can be seen on climate change). I just fear that he has got a little comfortable in post.

And the thought that Giles Chichester has been preffered over Jaqui Foster for Deputy suggests two things. 1)The Torys are still as bad as they were.
or/and
2) There was some back room deal between Martin and the pro-Europeans after Ashworth was roasted by Guido.

Harry Potter: Federast?

In a desperate attempt to bolster popularity - to hang with credibility - the EU is claiming that their funding (errr our funding) means that,

Harry Potter's 'invisibility cloak' has moved a step closer to reality thanks to European Commission funded nanotechnology research.

One wonders what J.K. Rowling, patron of the British Weights and Measures Association makes of it. Does nanotech come in imperial measurements?

When is 'illegal' 'iregular'? When the EU controls your immigration policy

Tereasa May is today telling everybody how serious the Governement is when it comes to dealing with immigration. It is a sham of course, because even she admits she and the government have no say obver migration from EU countries. With the EU becoming even more involved with foriegn policy and Justice policy the Government's room to manoevre on non-EU immigration just gets smaller.

Just yesterday the EU anounvced the creation of a visa regieme with the Ukraine, and they are setting deals with India, Moldova and others are planned. The EU still believes that it requires mass inward migration, no matter what the populations of the nations of Europe think about the matter.

In other words, Europe needs immigration to survive. Therefore, we need to find more legal ways to the EU", says Cecilia Malmström.

But here is how the arguement is being twisted by the European Union. After all people will get angry about illegal immigration. That is immigration that is not specifically accepted by the Governmenst of those nation states. So what do they do. They change the word. Non legal immigrants are no longer to be called 'illegal', far from it, now they are merely 'irregular'.

The Parliament consequently welcomes the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and welcomes the increased parliamentary dimension of these policies, notably concerning legal migration and integration.

The European Parliament actively supports the introduction of a European immigration policy. On the admission of third-country nationals, it calls for the development of legal means, particularly to reduce incentives for irregular (1) immigration.

And the footnote?

1 Parliament prefers the term ‘irregular’ to ‘illegal’ because it does not believe that irregular entry to the territory of EU justifies the reference to illegality.

You cannot charge somebody for commiting an irregular act. You cannot deport somebody for a mere confusion with the system. Changing the owrds makes a massive difference to how a situation can be handled, and they know it.

I guess it would be irregular of me to smash them over the head with a lead pipe? Or irregular to force feed them a rolled up copy of the Bill of Rights? After all the defence of my soveriegnty, indeed fighting for self determination doesn't really justify reference to illegality does it now?

More Humpty Dumpty from the Commission.

Words mean just what they want them to mean.

I have just recievd a press release from an outfit calling themselves CEEweb for Biodiversity. This, one of over 3000 Para Governmental Organisations that prefers to be called an NGO is keen on Wilderness, which it helpfully defines as,

The term ‘wilderness’ refers to large, undisturbed natural areas. These places are governed by natural processes without human intervention, and offer sanctuaries for wild plants and animals. But that’s only one of the special things about wilderness. The other one is purely emotional: people who are lucky enough to visit such areas, often sense a unique experience of spiritual quality which might change their basic attitude to nature, to mankind, and sometimes even to themselves..

All well and good. Not a lot of that around I would have thought, and wide open to the tradgedy of the commons, but OK.

But what do they really mean? Well of course they mean that areas defined as wilderness should be managed, just not by the nations in which they happen to be, but by the EU itself under the Natura 2000 program.

This could be achieved through the development of clear guidance for Member States on non-intervention management of Natura 2000 sites by the European Commission.

Given successful promotion and implementation of these guidelines, wilderness areas have the strong potential to become a well integrated and important component of European protected areas network and to be integral for climate change adaptation.

Oh yes and did you see that little climate change reference? All part of a bigger project you see.

People grow up as they get older shocker

After 10 years of work, and 43,410 young people interviewed we have some results from the National Foundation for Educational Research's great study, the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study

According to PA it makes the following remarkable discovery...

Young people become less tolerant of refugees and immigrants as they grow up, new research suggests.

They are also more likely to believe in tougher jail sentences for young offenders and cutting benefits for the unemployed.

The proportion of youngsters who believe that Britain does not have room to accept any more refugees rose by 20 percentage points between the ages of 11 and 18, the study, by the National Foundation for Educational Research, reveals.

What is interesting that while the old story about being a Socialist when young and a Conservative later holds true,

Attitudes towards equality and society have hardened with age: over time, the cohort have become less liberal and more conservative particularly in their attitudes towards refugees and immigrants, but also in their attitudes towards jail sentences, benefit payments, and some environmental restriction policies. At the same time, the cohort have become markedly more supportive about human rights and women’s rights.

Which is good to hear. Young people grow up to believe in right and wrong, but that includes human rights. They also suggest that

• Political participation increased with age: over the course of CELS (2001 – 2009), there was an increase in the proportion of the CELS cohort reporting that they had participated in political activities. Signing petitions and electing student/ school council members were the most common forms of political participation. Only a small proportion took part in more active forms of political activity.
• Civic participation increased with age: there has also been a marked increase in the proportion of the CELS cohort reporting that they have participated in civic activities. Fund-raising for charities and good causes were the most commonly-reported activity, although, as they got older, there was also a notable increase in the proportions that helped in their local community.

Which has to be a good sign, though not surprisingly people stop playing sport (it doesn't go into the watching of sport in pubs - which I guess may increase).

This is a fascinating example of what they are talking about,

You know, there is much to be hopeful about.

On Europe for example, Year 7 has 36% trusting the EU either completely or a lot, dropping to 24% at year 13. And similarly 'Not at all' or 'a little' has 29% at year 7 which rises to 52% at year 13. (page 39 of the report)

Similarly, there has been a steady and even more dramatic increase in the proportion who agreed or strongly agreed that ‘people who were not born in Britain, but who live here now, should be required to learn English.’ In Year 7 (age 11), almost 50 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement; by Year 13 (age 18), the proportion had increased to almost 80 per cent. In this case, further analysis indicated that respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to agree or strongly agree with this sentiment, while those with very low home literacy resources were more likely to disagree or strongly disagree

As is this,

Who is that bloke from Eton?

It appears that Cameron has a long way to go to project British influence,

Downing Street, however, plainly needs more of a direct line into Race Course Road, the residence of Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister.
Speaking at the Hindustan Leadership summit at the weekend, 78-year old Singh failed to recall Cameron’s name.

When listing the leaders of the permanent five United Nations Security Council members, Singh started with US President Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, but stumbled when he came to the UK. After a couple of goes at remembering the name of its leader, Singh simply opted for the “UK’s prime minister” and moved on to China and Russia.

And with our foriegn and trade policy set in Brussels, why should Prime Minister Singh bother to learn it?

We will cut (non-EU) migration.. except we cannot

It isn't much of a claim, but, due to our membership of the European Union and the Corpus Juris it is the best that our benighted government can do. But it cannot even do that.

Today after a meeting in Brussels between Barosso, van Rompuy and the President of the Ukraine is Van Rumpy's statement,

I am very pleased that we can announce today an Action Plan for Ukraine towards the establishment of a visa free regime for short stay travel.

This of course fiollows hard on the heels of the EU's decision about immigration from India, also, famously not part of the European Union.

In the end it may be the case that Cameron and his government might be able to control immigration from the Islew of Man, and maybe at a push the Channel islands, but that is about it.

In the same speech, Van R also makes it clear that those clean living officials in the Ukraine will also have access to any amount of taxpayer funded EU project finance,

We have also been able to sign a Protocol to the current Partnership and Cooperation reement permitting Ukraine access to EU programmes. In practice this will allow Ukraine to benefit from EU programmes in areas such as business and entrepreneurship, information and ommunication
technology and energy.

Because they can be trusted to use our money wisely. Common William, isn't this Foriegn Affairs? Shouldn't you be saying something, or has the Cathy got your tongue?

Tory (MEP) leadership just got personal

Not normally a subject of any interest the leadership race to be head of the Tory delegation in the ECR faction (which has its own problems with its Polish members) just got a little more intresting when the eagle eye of Guido alighted on the subject.

Richard Ashworth, who had to fight for re-selection after infuriating his local association in the run up to the 2009 euro elections, is ironically the Tories agriculture spokesman despite his own disastrous farming record – which Guido may cover next week if he can dig out the clippings over the weekend.

Ashworth has admitted in the past to paying his wife £29,999 to be his full time PA, but in the run up to the leadership vote there might be a bit of a headache from him. A former staffer has contacted Guido and spilled the beans that despite working for Ashworth for many months they:

“…never had any form of communication with the MEP’s PA, Mrs Ashworth, not an email, not a phone call, not a letter, nothing from her. There was absolutely no proof that she was doing any work at all to earn the £33,000 that she was being paid. Even if she was working in the constituency on a part-time basis you would have expected at least some form of contact, at least once, with the European staff.”

Not the loyalty expected by an MEP, and I suspect that this sort of gossip is caused by deeper problems in the Ashworth office.

I'm not a bogeyman says Cowan

And to prove it he and his ministers are hanging onto their outriders and police protection, Via North from Bruno,

Irish ministers are so concerned over protests that austerity plans to cut chauffeur driven cars and police outriders have been shelved to protect the government amid heightened post-EU bail-out security...
“I don't accept that I'm the bogeyman,” said Mr Cowen last night, after his request for an EU bail-out was met with anger and violent scuffles between protesters and police outside government buildings.

Now it isn't up to you really what other people think of you. I don't acept that I am a swivel eyed sceptic, far from it, but others belive me to be so.
Meanwhile George Osborne shows how qualified he is for the job of Chancellor,

Mr Osborne also told Tory Eurosceptics that "'I told you so so' is not an economic policy".

No it isn't George. But there again nor is,
"I haven't a clue, here, have all the money I was planning to save. We didn't need it anyway"

The attention span of an FT journalist

According to Josh Chaffin at the FT the Dutch government are bigging up the pain about to be inflicted on the Irish to quell their own populations rumbling,

Jan Kees de Jager, the Dutch finance minister, put it more bluntly in his own statement. “Ireland will have to cut fast and deep,” Mr De Jager said. As if that were not unpleasant enough, he ominously added that “The IMF will have a prominent role in drawing up the aid package.”

Those remarks seem to be a more accurate reflection of the awful pain that lies ahead for Irish citizens in exchange for European assistance. Mr De Jager opted for greater candour possibly because he is Dutch, and surely because his statement was tuned less to hedge fund managers and bond traders than his own voters.

They happen to be enduring their own deep budget cuts just now, and may not be so eager to shell out for someone else’s rescue. For Dutch public opinion, whose enthusiasm for the EU appears to be waning, it is essential that voters understand the sacrifice the Irish are making.

The Dutch electorate's "enthusiasm for the EU appears to be waning" does it?
Given the succes of Geert Wilders PVV in the recent Dutch elections we might acept this at face value. But hold on, I think we might say that the Dutch electorate's enthusiasm has been waning for a while. After all, Mr Chaffin seems to have forgotten that only 5 short years ago the Dutch voted pretty conclusively against the European Constitution. By a margin of 61.6% to 38.4%. They were ignored of course.

I suspect that it will take more than the sight of Irish pain to assuage the Dutch voters when they have to dig into their pockets to bail out the Irish (following the amount they have already spent on the Greeks).

Let addicts die

A magnificently un-pc posting from Richard North about the heroin supply crisis caused in part by succesful operations in Afghanistan.

Then, the same paper has Peter Preston telling us that "It's braver to quit Afghanistan now," arguing that if the date for withdrawal from Afghanistan is fixed at the end of 2014 then our soldiers may be dying for nothing.

But clearly, they are not dying for nothing. Taking all that heroin off the market, they are contributing to a dynamic that ensures that lots of addicts in the UK are suffering dangerous adverse reactions, with many of them dying.

Some might argue that there are few better uses for public funds. And clearly, you don't get to kill a load of addicts unless you are prepared to lose some of your own. And surely the death of a few teenage soldiers is a cheap price to pay to keep the drugs prevention industry going, especially as it is the taxpayer who then has to pick up the tab.

He of course does have a serious reason for all this levity,

On the other hand, it could be argued that if you legalised the use of heroin, many of the health problems – which are related mainly to adulterated product and/or dirty needles – disappear, while a legitimate market takes out the profit element that supports groups such as the Taliban.

The interesting thing is that such an option is not even on the agenda. Our masters, it seems, would actually prefer to have people dying at both ends of the chain – one lot as they try to stop the product being produced and the other lot because they can't get enough of the product, all at considerable cost to the public purse.

As it stands, therefore, it would seem that we are going absolutely nowhere with our current drugs policy, making this yet another win for prohibition. But, as they say, you know it doesn't make sense.

It never, ever does

Giving up on democracy

At least in Ireland,

Emmet Oliver, the Business editor of the Irish Independent has written a piece today to applaud the way in which the IMF works. Particularly he hails the fact it is essentially undemocratic.

The beauty of the IMF/EU rescue is that the various obstructionist forces no longer hold any great power. The IMF does not care one jot about backbenchers' concerns, does not care one jot about the Irish trade union movement/employer groups and does not care one jot about the fickle reactions of the electorate.

Wow. No I mean wow. His article needs to be understood as a great wail of 'we are not worthy'. And democracy fails.

Of course democracy doesn't fail in itself. It requires people who have no interest in democracy for it to fail. If Ireland had listened to its won people over the two referenda in which it rejected EU rule, then the situation would be very different. He may be right when singleing out pork barrel politicians and the Trade Unions. But he certainly isn't right when he castigates the electorate. After all, one has to ask if he thinks they should have their say at all. I mean if they are so fickle and destructive, why a llow them to vote? Why not hand over all aspects of government to experts and technocrats?

Amusingly back in May during the Greek crisis he took a different line,

Will every future finance minister in Europe now operate on the basis that a helping hand will always be available from the eurozone family if their governments abandon any form of fiscal prudence?

Yes.

Via Leigh Phillips

And so it happens

Ireland will apply for a bail out. In an RTE interview Irish finance minister Lenihan has bowed to the inevitable and has recommended that Ireland apply for the IMF/EU bailout.

Some of his comments have driven the Irish twittersphere wild though,

@obrienbarry I usually wouldn't resort to ad-hominem attacks but in this case the only word that comes to find for Lenihan is CUNT
@conoro I wonder what it's like to know that there isn't a single person on the planet who believes a single solitary word you say. #cowen #lenihan
@socialistHR €100,000,000,000 is now a "three figure sum" #bailout #lenihan #imf

Who is next?

"The euro is the most visible and the most palpable sign of the European common destiny."

Yesterday I highlighted the title of a speech being given by Heramn Van Rompuy, today I have a copy of that speech,

The title of your conference today is massive: "Stability, security, prosperity -- the future of Europe and the Euro."
Starting from these six words, one could talk about almost anything; it gives a great sense of freedom!

Well no, not really, but carry on.

The euro is the most visible and the most palpable sign of the European common destiny.

Yes it is, you are right, but what signals is it giving out? Notthose you would like.

There were a few interesting points made in the speech, that highlight the way in which the European Institutioonal centre is taking advantage of the financial crisis in Ireland and elsewhere to strengthen their grip on the member states,

We are all convinced now that a common currency necessitates a convergence in economic policy and therefore of economic developments. And this convergence, obviously, should not be downwards, but upwards!
- We have now experienced that a common currency intertwines our destinies. The problems in one country cannot be separated from those of another country.

Make no bones about it, the elite in Brussles will not truck failure of the currency, and millions of jobs will be sacrificed on its altar.

we have the political determination to safeguard the stability of our single currency

EU gives up on the fight to save Bluefin tuna

What is more, Quel Surprise it is doing so to placate the ludicrously illnamed "Les Amis de la Pêche", that is the French, The Spanish, The Portugese and so on.

France, Spain and other Mediterranean nations have forced the European Union to retreat from an ambitious plan to save the threatened and prized bluefin tuna.

After drawn-out negotiations, the 27-nation EU abandoned a plan to seek cuts in fishing quotas based only on scientific advice and said it would consider the interests of tuna fishermen.

That's the way forward,

But Remi Parmentier, of the Pew Environment Group, said he had been told the EU now ''has no intention of going beyond a reduction of 2000 tonnes'' from the current quota.

He said Ms Damanaki had earlier reportedly sought to halve the quota. Mr Parmentier was disappointed with the EU and its ''business as usual'' approach.

''It's no secret that under the leadership of France, a number of EU countries have been undermining and sabotaging the [fishing] proposal from the European Commission,'' he said.

France, which has a large fishing industry, has said it wanted the current quota unchanged. Its agriculture ministry did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

PLease nobody call the EU a conservationists friend. Not when it comes to opposing French wishes.

Credit seems to be the hardest thing to give

Stanley Pignal, the FT writer is highlighting the fact that Italy is going to have to hand back 720,000 Euros after they paid that money for an Elton John gig in Venice,

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

But of course whilst he admits

the Elton John case only became an issue after a member of the European parliament started using it as an example of where the money goes.

He cannot quite bring himself to credit the MEP in question. I wonder why that is? Could it be that the MEP is Mr Mario Borghezio, a representative of the Northern League and EFD Group member. We wouldn't want DG FT supporting a Eurosceptic now, would we?

Other EU loans: More wine vicar?

According to Agra news,

THE EU's European Investment Bank is to lend Moldova EUR75 million to help modernise the country's winemaking facilities.


The loan is a welcome boost to Moldova's wine industry, which is crucial to the country's economy and has been beset by export disputes with its largest customer, Russia. Russia has accused Moldova of selling it "bad wine."

The only bad whine I can hear is from the finacial institutions.

The Russians have indeed instituted quite a cut,

"We have allowed 6.08 liters [of wine] and rejected as defective 655,000 liters," Gennady Onishchenko said.

Ouch.

It's a (local Government) Knockout

This litle jollity is brought to my attention by the LGA. The Local Government Challenge, which is as far as I can work out some sort of game show for local Government staff.

And like all of these things it is subsidised by the Councul Tax payer. This time the booby prizes will be going to the hard working rate payers of Dorset, Birmingham, Essex and Kent.

The Local Government Challenge, now in its second year, is designed to give staff with the drive and determination to reach the top, the opportunity to demonstrate their individual and team-working skills. Open to employees in the LGA’s member authorities, contestants will undertake a series of challenges in a range of council services....
The challenges will reflect local, national and global issues of political and public relevance, and will test each candidate’s creative, communication and leadership skills. Contestants will be observed every step of the way by a panel of leading local government figures and partner organisations.

Sounds like a blast doesn't it?

But given the austerity measures and the hundreds of thousands of jobs being cut in the public sector is this a sensible way to waste spend our money? After all having 'leading local government figures' hanging around like Alan Sugar doesn't come cheap, what with their call out rates.

But hang on, it appears that while it cost £4000 to enter, (and get an invite to the gala dinner) the whole affair is being sponsored by a series of companies who want business from the assembled senior local authority figures. Liberata whose strapline is "Out sourcing workflows" (which would give me the willies if I worked in local government)  is the key suporter of the boondoggle, I checked their local Government page out and discoved this as a key selling point,

We deliver change management and optimise performance
Whether the focus is avoidable contact, absenteeism, council tax collection or invoice payments, we invest, develop and mentor our teams, whilst engaging in broad and frequent communication with them. We have created unique proprietary performance, quality and workload management dashboards that facilitate better performance.

What is 'Avoidable contact'? What the hell are 'workload management dashboards'? Why do these people receive public money?

Don't forget where the price rises come from

Another week another inflation busting fuel price inctrease, this time Southern have put 9% on the price of your fuel, as have Scottish power.

However at least the Telegraph is beggining to notice why the prices are going up,
It says that it also has to pay rising charges to maintain the network and meet its environmental obligations.

"We know that rising energy prices come at a difficult time for many in Britain," said British Gas managing director Phil Bentley.

Too bloody right they do Phil,

This makes it sound as if British Gas is insulating lofts out of the goodness of its heart. It isn't. It is worth remembering that energy companies are required by Government to carry out these energy-saving measures.

Yes, it is to chase the climate targets set by Europe and cheerlead by numpties like Chris Huhne

What are farmers for?

Now in the olden days it was obvious. They, for their own benefit farmed. They raised crops and livestock, and having consumed that which they wished to consume took ther surplus to market. There they exchanged their surplus at a price agreed between them and either a consumer  or a trader.

One of the unexpected and pleasant by products of this behaviour was that it was found that production of surplus aoften went along with good husbandary of the land, and of the livestock. Thus Adam Smith's invisible hand beautufied this land of ours.

This over the centuries has produced the landscape we so love, even if these days we generaly only see it from the steamed up windows of our cars or public transport.

So I ask again what agriculture is for, because after the latest attempt to suggest a possible maybe in twenty years perhaps reform pof the Common Agricultural policy announced yesterday I find I was wrong. Agriculture is now, too look at the three suggested option about something else.

Option 1

Maintain the Health Check orientation of increasing funding for meeting the challenges related to climate change, water, biodiversity and renewable energy, and innovation.

or

Option 2
Adjust and complement existing instruments to be better aligned with EU priorities, with support focused on environment, climate change and/or restructuring and innovation, and to enhance regional/local initiatives.
Strengthen existing risk management tools and introduce an optional WTO green box compatible income stabilization tool to compensate for substantial income losses.
Some redistribution of funds between Member States based on objective criteria could be envisaged.

or indeed

Option 3

The measures would be mainly focused on climate change and environment aspects

They seem to have their carts before their horses, which if they had ever visited a farm they might have been able to understand.

Thetre is other, perhaps more reasoned commentary here, and here, where the CAP  blog picks up the NFU's response

Thought for the day 1891

"The finance of the country is ultimately associated with the liberties of the country. It is a powerful leverage by which the English liberty has been gradually acquired. If the House of Commons by any possibility loses the power of control of the grants of public money, depend upon it, your very liberty will be worth very little in comparison."

William Gladstone to the House of Common's,

via Jedibeeftrix

Update, somebody has come back to me on this with the following,

I was fascinated by your Gladstonian "thought of the day". I presume that in the context of the late 18th C, he was referring to the perennial fights between the Commons and Lords over the purse strings, which were ultimately only resolved by the 1906 Liberal electoral landslide and threat to overwhelm the Lords with Liberal peerages.

But there are similar - diametrically opposed quotes:

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

attibuted to Alexis de Tocqueville

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."

attibuted to a Scottish peer, Lord Woodhouselee (Alexander Fraser Tytler)

Van Rompuy's head vanishes up his ...

I am beggining to wonder quite how tone deaf the Eurocracy is? I mean seriously I have just recieved an invitation to go along to an event organised by the EPP, featuring everybody's favourite bank clerk, Mr Heramn Van Rompuy, your President and ours.

Entitled,

“Stability, Security, Prosperity - the future of Europe and the Euro”

One begins to wonder what newspapers the man and his advisors read, The Utopian Times maybe?

If you are in Brussels tonight, go along, laden with rotten fruit.

Olof Skoog... Who he?

Cathy Ashston has appointed the rather marvellously named Olof Skoog to head up the little known but hugely important Political and Security Committee which is a creature of the Europen Council. Skoog is a career diplomat who has ticked all sorts pof the right boxes in his career.

The resaon that this is news however is that Mr Skoog is today a beast of the EU, whilst the PSC which under its own rules defines the political/military strategy for the nascent EU military forces,

The PSC takes responsibility, under the authority of the Council, for the political direction of the development of military capabilities.

Why this is newsworthy is that this is the first time that the chairmanship of such an important strategic committee has been an employee of Brussels, previously the role was taken by an official from the country which held the rotating Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Mr Skoog is a permanent fixture, which will further concentrate power in the hands of the European Institutions, and out of the hands of the National Governments.

Is this constitutionally important enough to set off the referendum loc? Of course not, but this plus the next one? And the one aftr that?

Slowly, slowy nothing big enough to scare the horses, but an inexorable, ongoing leaching away of the soverignty of our nation.

Oh this is priceless

A panic email has just been circulated through the European Parliament. It is in referenvce to the ongoing elections to the Parliament's work council or Staff Committee as it is called. It appears that the whole palaver is going wrong. Voting closes today, but they haven't enough votes to get a quorum. So this mail has gone out under the nabner of all the internal Trade Unions (who have been slagging each other off for what feels like months on the internal mail),

Dear colleagues,
We need you to vote for at least two reasons:
There is a real and imminent danger of the entitlements guaranteed by the Staff Regulations being called into question,

We need to safeguard the working lives of everybody, officials and other agents, which get more difficult and complicated every day, as we can all see.
Together, we need a Staff Committee legitimized by the support of 2/3 of the electorate.
Please do make an effort to vote. Better to vote today than to regret not voting tomorrow.
So who is afraid of reaching a quorum?
In our view, there is a simple answer: the enemies of the current form of the civil service of the European Union.
In addition, we believe that the fear of not reaching the exclusion threshold of 5% is playing an important role.
We want a quorum!

Oh deary me. Quel horreur!!
 
It appears that even the Eurocrats (and yes I am one) themselves recognise that they have a comfotable berth, and are thus not agitated enough to vote for one of the five, yes five seperate internal Parliamentary trade unions.

Update
They got their quorum with about an hour to spare

You will note that it is on the left hand side

Still dreaming of past glory

Ashley Mote, the convicted fraudster who used every twist in the European legal system to avoid British justice seems to be missing his time at the Brussels Parliament.

Contact me


Ashley Mote MEP
PO Box 216
Alton
Hampshire
GU34 4WY

After al the election was only 17 months ago

Mechanism for a Permanent Crisis

I was chuckling a while back about the creation of a Permanent Crisis Mechanism for the Eurozone. Oh, chortled I,  how divine. A Mechanism for Permanent Crisis, how apt. Now of course what the Brandenburg hausfrau was after was a Permanent Mechanism for Crisis.

But maybe I was wrong. Take a look at this interview with Wim Duisenberg back in the heady days of the first anniversary of the Single Currency December 2002. The then President of the European Central Bank had this to say to Duetsche Welle,

D.W:   A central part of the treaty would no doubt be the Stability Pact, the criteria now in place for current euro zone countries. Those criteria are now being discussed in European capitals -- especially the three-percent cap on deficit spending. What do you think about suggestion criteria should be softened, especially in light of Germany's economic troubles?


W.D:   I would be very much against it. The criteria are only just in place. It's natural that there are times when it really bites and causes difficulties for some European countries. Then countries talk about changing it. But I'm one who thinks you should never change the rules in the middle of the game. The fact that some countries are now having difficulty meeting the criteria -- like Germany, France and Italy. It is precisely because of the fact that in the recent past, when everything was going well, they didn't grasp the opportunitiy to better consolidate their public finances. Now, because they haven't done that at that time, they are sitting on their blisters. But that's no reason to change the rules. It's all the more reason to finally do what should have been done long before. Out of the 12 euro zone countries, eight have already reached that goal.

Change a few names and where are we, oh yes right here. So a Mechanism for a Permanent Crisis, yup that about sums it up.

Honour where honour is deserved

His Grace has highlighted the ghost at the feast of self congratulation. I have heard Brown congratulated, the Tory press lionised, John Major in laurels, but until this morning I haven't heard anyone give credit where credit is due to the man who though his own coyurage and cash saved us from membership of the single currency.

Sir James 'Jimmy' Goldsmith.

As the dead cleric puts it,

Let us never forget that we owe this man a huge debt of gratitude. It was not any professing-Christian politician who saved Britain from the euro and the image of that horror: it was a Jewish businessman and financier who cared more than a little about democracy and liberty.

And Anglo-French to boot.

As an aside he is bang on about the Established church as well,

And yet Pope Benedict XVI preached a contrary sermon, as did the Commission of Bishops.
And so does the Church of England.
Euro-scepticism is heresy. Recalcitrants are not simply ‘oddball, imperial throwbacks suffering from dementia’; their ‘swivel-eyed extremism’ renders them unfit for public office.

Euro Blog event in London

In part a boast, in part an invitation.

I will be taking part in this event organised in the main by Joe of EuroGoblin fame.

The program is as follows

13:00 – EVENT START / REGISTRATION / SANDWICH LUNCH


13:45 to 15:15 – FIRST PANEL - “The EU in the British Media”

We'll be asking our panelists about the coverage of the EU in the British press. Do the media generally do a good job of “keeping tabs” on the EU? Is it true that British euroscepticism is driven by the media, or are the media just following public opinion?

PANELISTS:
David Rennie - Political Editor and Bagehot Columnist, The Economist
Paul Staines - Blogger, Guido Fawkes
Mats Persson - Director, Open Europe
J Clive Matthews - Blogger, Nosemonkey's EUtopia

15:45 to 17:45 – SECOND PANEL - “The EU in the British Blogosphere”

In this panel, we'll be turning a critical eye on the British blogosphere. Do bloggers have any advantages over mainstream journalists when writing about the EU? Are bloggers better informed and freer to say what everybody is really thinking? Unconstrained by deadlines and editorial oversight, can they delve deeper into a story? Or are they just under less pressure to maintain levels of accuracy and ethical behaviour?

PANELISTS:
Bruno Waterfield - Brussels Correspondent, The Daily Telegraph
Gawain Towler - UKIP / Europe of Freedom and Democracy Press Officer and Blogger, England Expects
Laurie Penny - New Statesman Columnist and Blogger, Penny Red
Jon Worth - Blogger, Jon Worth's Euroblog

As they point out,

There is only limited seating available so places have to be reserved. If you’re interested in attending, then get in touch with us at info [at] bloggingportal.eu.

Sounds like fun, and I am not entirely sure what I am doing there with such august company but there you have it. Do get in touch with the bloggingportal.eu crowd at the email suggested if you want to join us.