Euro in crisis?

I have taken the following from the motion before the EU Parliament where Britain's Conservative Party MEPs were whipped to vote for the pound to be scrapped in favour of the euro. 24. Notes that the value of the euro banknotes in circulation has continued to increase quickly, with a rise of 12,8% in 2005; notes that this steady increase is mainly accounted for by large denomination notes, in particular EUR 500 banknotes, the number of which in circulation has increased by 20,9%; calls on the ECB to examine the reasons for this substantial increase, and to analyse the type of transactions carried out with these notes and the breakdown in demand by country, with a view to identifying the attendant risks; If large denomination, officially issued notes, are increasing in circulation at the rate of almost 13 per cent, what does that say about 'money supply' and by extension 'inflation'?

Italian chaos

The Times takes a rare look beyond Britain's shores in a leading article today, it is linked from here. We have earlier warned that Italy might be the cause of the collapse of the Euro, linked here, which all makes the decision to whip Conservative MEPs to vote in Strasbourg for Britain to join the euro currency (as reported yesterday on Teetering Tories, here) and therefore to NOW, at this late stage, to give up the pound all the more extraordinary.

EU Interior Ministers Ominous Group of Six Meetings

The 'raison d'etre' of this secretive group of the EU's most powerful men (they alone have some realistic possibility of full access to the mass of digital data we all accumulate on a daily basis) is set out by its driving force Nicolas Sarkozy, present front-runner as next French President, in this summer's book "Témoignage" The House of Lords has earlier warned of the dangers, linked here. Para 15 of this report states the following: 15. Inter-governmental groupings of this type, which lack the basic democratic requirements of accountability and transparency, have in the past led to the Schengen agreement and the Schengen Convention. Neither EU citizens, nor their representatives, nor indeed those Member States that were not originally part of the Schengen group, had any say on these policies of fundamental importance. They were presented with a fait accompli. I believe a meeting of the Interior Ministers of this Group of Six is presently underway in Stratford-upon-Avon. Ironic n'est pas? My rough translation of Sarkozy's reasoning as set out in his book (pages 71 and 72), is as follows: "To tell the truth, the meetings of the Council of <> of the Justice and Interior Ministers had become unbearable for me due to the strength of the never-ending discussion on minor technicalities which interested nobody and which could never clear the way towards an operational decision. I told myself that at least the five large countries had the same problems to overcome and the same urgency with which they had to be faced. The Diplomacy of our meetings as 25 made me) greatly prefer the pragmatism of our meetings as five" That may well be so! We must never forget, however, that administrative convenience of those in power - coupled with ease of decision-taking - is ever the enemy of democracy and individual liberties. To quote the opening of House of Lords report linked above:

1. Of the twenty-five Member States of the EU, the six largest account for three quarters of its population.[1] Collective decisions of their ministers on major aspects of EU policy in the field of justice and home affairs, while not necessarily conclusive, will inevitably have a major impact on the future direction of that policy. One would therefore expect that meetings of those ministers, and decisions taken at their meetings, would attract wide interest from the media, from the European Parliament and national parliaments, from interested non-governmental organisations, and from academics and others.

2. This was not the case when the ministers of the interior of those Member States—the G6—met at the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on 22 and 23 March 2006.......... We shall see what reports, if any, emerge on the decisions taken at Stratford, by those six individuals responsible for law enforcement in the six largest ex-nations of the EU.

English Constitutional Convention

I wholeheartedly welcome the the establishment of the above Convention. I have been unable to find any press coverage of the launch so have posted below a press release from the Chairman of the English Democrats party issued ahead of the launch: SCOTTISH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION CHAIRMAN TO CALL FOR A "STRONG ENGLISH PARLIAMENT" AT INAUGURAL MEETING OF PATRONS OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION "I have become convinced that England has a growing sense of national identity as strong as ours, and therefore that an English Parliament, if the people want it, is as much your right as we claimed it to be ours." Canon Kenyon Wright, the Chairman of the Scottish Constitutional Convention that paved the way for devolution in Scotland, will call for a 'strong English Parliament' to be established, 'alongside the Scottish Parliament and a strengthened Welsh legislature - all equal parts of a reformed and healthier UK', when he addresses the inaugural meeting of the Patrons of the English Constitutional Convention at 4pm on Tuesday October 24, 2006, in the Strangers' Dining Room, House of Commons, Westminster. The English Constitutional Convention has been established jointly by the English Democrats Party and the Campaign for an English Parliament. Canon Wright, formerly an active campaigner for the regionalisation of England, will declare that he now believes only the establishment of a Parliament for England will answer "the so-called West Lothian Question". He will describe the current constitutional settlement as "undemocratic nonsense" and argue that simply banning Scottish MPs from voting in the Commons on English legislation will "create more problems than it solves". Canon Wright will say: " Two things have changed my personal view. First, it is now clear after the North East Referendum, that regional government is a non-starter in the foreseeable future, and we cannot wait for further change. Second, I have become convinced that England has a growing sense of national identity as strong as ours, and therefore that an English Parliament, if the people want it, is as much your right as we claimed it to be ours. Could the 'Claim of Right for Scotland' with which we began our work be followed now by a 'Claim of Right for England'?" Canon Wright will also state that, "the initiative must come from the people, not just the official political structures. In this context I commend to you the recent Report of the POWER Inquiry (chaired by Helena Kennedy). It brings out the growing disengagement with formal politics, and makes 30 important recommendations for change. It concludes with this statement: 'An alliance for change needs to be built amongst the most clear sighted (politicians) but only a sustained campaign for change from OUTSIDE the democratic assemblies and parliaments of the UK will ensure that meaningful reform occurs. We, the people, have to stake our claim on power.' That is what the Scottish Convention did. I believe it is what you will do." At the meeting Mark Gill, Head of Political Research at MORI, will also set out the results of a recent opinion poll that indicates over 40 per cent of voters support 'England as a whole to have it own national Parliament with similar law-making powers to the Scottish Parliament'. Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats, will set out the reasons for establishing an English Constitutional Convention: "1997 will mark 300 years since England's parliament was abolished and 10 years since devolution for Scotland and Wales was agreed. During the referendums that preceded devolution in Scotland and Wales the people of England were promised a debate by our political masters about the future of its governance, yet for a decade they have declined to enter into such a debate. Now we are starting the process". Other Patrons who have lent their support to the Convention and are likely to attend the inaugural meeting include: Lord Hylton; the Earl of Mar and Kellie; Lord Beaumont of Whitley; Lord Stoddart of Swindon; Professor Roger Scruton; Air Vice Marshall George Lamb; Dr Vernon Colman; Professor Simon Lee; Professor Christopher Bryant; Professor Jeremy Dibble; Hugo de Burgh (Head of Journalism, University of Westminster); Andy Smith (Director, Otterson Smith Gordon); Peter Facey (New Politics Newtork); Reverend Richard Martin; Jervis Kay QC; Bishop Michael Reid (Penial Church); Iain Dale; Neil Addison (Barrister); and Roy Faires (Editor, This England).

German military prepares for its logical role

While most of Europe pretends to ignore the fact that Germany is the largest EU power at the very centre of that block, its military seems set to prepare to reflect that historically disastrous reality.! The following quote is taken from an article in this morning's International Herald Tribune, linked here: BERLIN Underscoring a further emergence from the shadows of the past, Germany will publish a defense and security policy review Wednesday that says the country is poised to play a major role in shaping Europe - but without distancing itself from the NATO alliance............. The new review, which went through several drafts and was passed from ministry to ministry for consultations and amendments, says that "because of its size, population, economic strength and its geographical position in the middle of the Continent, the reunified Germany has a central role for the future shaping of Europe and beyond."

The 133-page review, called the White Book, will be presented by Chancellor Angela Merkel at the weekly cabinet session in the Bendlerblock, the former headquarters of Hitler's Wehrmacht, which now houses the Defense Ministry.

Debate on Democracy in Britain to begin.

The Daily Telegraph today publishes a letter, linked here, intended to open such a debate which is as follows: English parliament Sir – The current "post-devolution settlement" is iniquitous to England. Scotland and Wales have their own Parliament and Assembly, and yet are still over-represented in the House of Commons; the West Lothian Question has yet to be answered – why should Scottish and Welsh MPs preside over English matters when MPs representing English constituencies have no reciprocal right? And the long-discredited Barnett formula, the system by which regional funding is allocated, remains grossly unfair to the taxpayers of England. It has been nearly 10 years since the people of Scotland and Wales were consulted in a referendum prior to devolution. No such courtesy has been extended to the people of England, and our politicians seem reluctant even to allow open debate on the subject. Dividing England into "regions", while leaving Scotland and Wales as "nations", is rightly unpopular and undemocratic. Stopping Scottish and Welsh MPs voting on English issues will cause as many problems as it solves. The question of the establishment of an English parliament must be considered and the option placed in front of the electorate. At a meeting in the House of Commons today, the English Constitutional Convention will be formally established, with the aim of promoting debate and raising public awareness of England's democratic deficit. As patrons to the convention, we urge the Government, Opposition and all the people of the United Kingdom actively to participate in that debate. England will be heard. The time for silence is over. Lord Beaumont of Whitley; Lord Stoddart of Swindon; John Horam MP; Professor Hugo De Burgh; Professor Jeremy Dibble; Prof Roger Scruton; Dr. Gerald Morgan Trinity Dublin; Jervis Kay QC; Garry Bushell Journalist; Iain Dale Conservative commentator; Neil Addison Barrister; Mike Knowles, Chairman, Campaign for an English Parliament; Robin Tilbrook, Chairman, English Democrats; Christine Constable, Chairman, English Lobby; Bishop Michael Reid; Rev Richard Martin; Richard Long, Solicitor; Andy Smith, Past President, Chartered Institute of Journalists; Simon Lee, Lecturer, Hull University; Prof Charles Greenawalt It also has a report by its Home Affairs Editor Philip Johnston, linked here. This blog will be commenting on this crucial matter in the coming days and months. In view of the period of reflection in the EU on the Constitutional Treaty and the leaked proposals for reform of the House of Lords, the nation's constitutional underpinnings are now clearly close to collapse.

Total's next designated CEO under investigation

As Iraq seems to disintegrate into civil war, this blog, written by a one-time career oilman, cannot ignore this apparently disconnected news item from the IHT , linked here. How different things in Iraq, the Middle East and for Western energy security might now be had France, Russia and Germany also worked for a post-invasion, peaceable solution for the warring factions of Iraq. At least the reasons for French reluctance are now apparently to become clearer. Russia's Putin meeting the EU leaders in Finland with energy security on the agenda (under strong-arm pressure as the EU states have left themselves no trump cards) brings this home even more forcibly! At least Blair has consequently realised the urgent necessity to go nuclear.

Telegraph propaganda trashes ancient truths

An opinion item by Charles Clover in the Daily Telegraph this morning opens with this encouraging paragraph: "As Churchill demonstrated in the 1930s, if you go on saying the right thing long enough, you stop being ignored. You end up saying: "I told you so." That is slowly happening with the advice that the scientists who monitor the EU's seas give about cod." It later goes on to make the following totally false assertion: "And in failing, the plan has exposed the intellectual bankruptcy of the Common Fisheries Policy, the EU council of fisheries ministers, and their rotten management of all the creatures in the seas around our shores — the birthright of all EU citizens, not just fishermen." The birthright of a Greek or Lithuanian is not, never has been and never can be to the fish in the seas offshore my native Devonshire. No more than are the fish in the seas off Lithuania or Greece my birthright. Thus in a paper supposedly EU-sceptic , in an article ostensibly critical of the disastrously ill run EU we are delivered subtle and insidious EU federalist propaganda. The EU fisheries belong to the maritime nation countries of the EU founding states and in Britain's case these were treacherously given away by lies in Parliament delivered by Geoffrey Ripon (Conservative) standing alongside PM Edward Heath. The Telegraph by publishing lies, long and often, cannot turn them into truth. Just what does the author of this article consider as an EU birthright? The only possible answer to that question must lie within the supposed rights contained in the rejected constitutional treaty!

David Blunkett - A very modern minister

Most informed people would have washed their hands of this unpleasant piece of work long, long ago and I apologise for raising his name again this morning. The media has been abuzz regarding his autobiography published last week and gave coverage to his criticism of General Sir Richard Dannatt, so I feel I cannot let the following story pass without comment.. On this morning's Today programme on Radio 4 there was an extraordinary interview with a former senior Prison Official, Martin Narey, who had been ordered by Blunkett to bring in the army and machine gun prisoners regardless of possible risk to his own staff. He read the former Home Secretary's account of this incident in Waterstones Bookstore and found it completely at odds with his first hand knowledge of the incident. A report is also in today's The Times, linked here. The critical passage is the following: David was certainly furious. He was also hysterical. He directed me, without delay, to order staff back into the prison. I told him that we did not, at that time, have enough staff in the prison to contemplate such a move but that many more staff were on their way from other prisons. I insisted, however, that although I was determined to take the prison back as quickly as possible, I could not, and would not, risk staff or prisoner lives in attempting to do so. He shrieked at me that he didn’t care about lives, told me to call in the Army and “machine-gun” the prisoners. He then ordered me to take the prison back immediately. I refused. David hung up. The electorate must consider that their own backbench MPs are complicit in this corruption of Government. Blair's public commitment to give our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan whatever equipment they need is an economic impossibility and therefore a lie, yet his own party MPs connive in his continuation in power, while one of his main supporters and twice humiliated Ministers is publicly demonstrated as a bare-faced liar on national morning radio and in the press. Conservative backbenchers set the standard for such governance during the Matrix Churchill affair, where Government Ministers were prepared to lie and let innocent businessmen go to jail to protect their own posts and later continue in positions of influence within their party. Can politics in Britain sink yet lower?

British business gives thumbs down to over-regulated EU

EU Commission President Barroso will use the Hugo Young lecture tonight to urge greater British EU involvement according to a report in today's The Guardian, linked here. BUT a survey published in the FT and reported by MSN linked here, reports that British businesses favour a re-negotiation of Britain's membership of the EU, one section reports: Chief executives who said they distrusted the European Commission outnumbered those who said they trusted the Brussels bureaucracy by more than two to one......

Larger businesses tended to be less sceptical about the EU but still showed much disenchantment. While 60 per cent of chief executives overall wanted the UK to renegotiate membership of the EU, support for renegotiation among those from the larger companies was 52 per cent.

Concern over EU legislation was greater among chief executives of the bigger businesses, with 70 per cent who thought regulation was increasing, compared with 59 per cent for the survey as a whole.

The Last Bastion of British Values and Decency Protests

So, finally the head of the army has apparently twigged what is afoot! After fifty years of unremitting and relentless assault, the fact that the people of Britain have been engaged in a remorseless battle in defence of decent standards has finally been absorbed in the cloistered corridors, messes and wardrooms in which move the heirs of those who fought and died to keep our country free. Our new Army chief, mere weeks in his post, has challenged the government on terms which the press and media, predictably enough IMO, have totally misconstrued. First consider the timing. Blair should now be on remand or in jail. Police inquiries on the payments for peerages issue can only end in 10, Downing Street. Peerages are in the gift of the Prime Minister. He submits the list to the Queen and precedent requires she comply. There are further questions, I recall seeing in the press, regarding the lease of the speculative student accomodation Bristol flats which reportedly were eventually let to companies or their employees associated with France who will apparently be involved in contracts for Britain's replacement 'through deck cruisers' ( to use an 'old' Labour platitude) or aircraft carrier as the rest of the world knows them. So what, you ask? Blair is a known verbal contortionist - everybody knows that! Big Deal, I can almost hear readers add. But now it is clear that our overstretched armed forces chiefs' must have dearly wished that Blair would have been done for after the summer of scandals and that Brown's conference speech might give some hope of more realism over Britain's capabilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. But NO, instead Blair ploughs on and Brown's conference speech predicts no change, instead they got this recent Prime Ministerial statement, of which this quote is taken from Reuters:

In an interview with the British forces' broadcaster, Blair rejected the claims, saying morale was high and troops would be given any extra support they need.

"If the commanders on the ground want more equipment, armoured vehicles for example, more helicopters, that will be provided," Blair said. "Whatever package they want, we will do." Look at that last phrase again: "Whatever package they want, we will do." That was,of course, a lie. Yet nobody in the MSM queried the statement. Nobody even in NICE, busy banning basic treatment drugs for Alzheimers, even raised a whimper of protest at the clear financial implications! Why? Britain has finite resources - there are no more helicopters and 'smoke and mirrors Brown' has no more cash to borrow or pensions to pillage! BUT, of course, everybody else knew it was a lie, they knew it even before Tony Blair opened his lips (I guess that is why it isn't really news) ..... So Gordon Brown stepped in and offered tiny tax relief for our under-equipped servicemen and women ........ well not a tax exemption exactly but perhaps a bonus that would match their tax liabilities... details were difficult. WHAT???? Tax exemption should be perfectly straightforward. We are supposed to believe that there has apparently been no real plan to destroy the 'country of principle' that my generation was taught to trust in and uphold. It apparently just happened while the country was supposedly governed by Buggins Turn Labour and Conservatives!!! Yet the nation I knew has disappeared almost without trace. In every aspect of our daily lives it has disappeared, like our democracy, gone to the EU as if it had never been there. Talk about heritage to a young person today..........??????? Somehow our armed forces have become the last repository of the values that once the whole country held dear. Sooner or later, it was therefore inevitable they too would come under attack. At least they now seem to have seen the threat. It would be foolish indeed to suggest that the dual operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were contrived to stretch our armed forces to the limit, but listening to the London Mayor Ken Livingstone on the Radio 4 Today programme, suggesting the values of the British Armed Forces were alien to Londoners - then reading Matthew Parris in The Times , calling for the sacking of the Army Chief, who had merely expressed ideas which our multi-facing PM wholeheartedly agreed, makes one really wonder! So, Sir Richard has viewed the future. In his follow-up interview after that published in the Daily Mail on Radio 4, he stated that he did not wish to see the army 'BROKEN' in five or ten years time. Has he twigged that this is the real objective of some close to government? Did Shirley Williams and Tony Crosland really wish to destroy Britain's brilliant post-war education system? Perhaps they were the idealistic pawns of other less well intentioned anarchists. The end result is the same whoever is to blame! Other examples abound, the NHS, Local Government, the Civil Service, Westminster Democracy, the Judiciary etc., all in thrall to corrupt government and fourth rate politicians. Now the Armed Forces are under attack, just as a government detesting our past values might have wished - underfunded, under hostile fire, overstretched and largely overseas. What the public statements by the army head mean to me is that something far more serious than the timetable for withdrawal from Iraq is in question. We seem to be witnessing another (perhaps final) Battle of Britain, unhappily it seems already lost!

Oil and Gas in Helmand - Well, well (oil) well!

The following was taken from ARSE (Army Rumour SErvice [British]) linked here. Oil, gas reserves in Afghanistan 10 times more than predicted: survey Recent surveys revealed oil and gas reserves in Afghanistan are 10 times more than previously predicted, a local newspaper quoted a senior official as saying on Thursday. Afghan Mines and Mineral Minister Mohammad Ibrahim Adil said Wednesday that the former estimation carried out by Russians showed Afghanistan had 120 billion cubic meters of gas and over 15 million tons of oil, Outlook newspaper said. The new statistic based on the U.S. Geological Survey, which was shown to him during his visit to the country, said the reserves of oil and gas in Afghanistan are 10 times more than Russians had predicated. Adil said the new survey showed northern provinces and Herat in the west, Helmand in the south as well as Paktika in the east have most of the oil and gas resources. During the visit, Adil met U.S. officials and investors to discuss technical support and investment in the field of oil and gas in the war-battery country. Adil said the U.S. officials promised technical cooperation and equipping Afghan geological survey department with required tools, and U.S. investors also expressed eagerness for investment in Afghanistan. Privatization of the oil sites will soon begin in the northern Jowzjan province from where Russians had also excavated oil, he added. Source: Xinhua english.peopledaily.co...11246.html

Germany, Russia and Energy

I missed this article in yesterday's IHT , linked from here and titled, Russia gives Germany a role as strategic partner. Worth reading!

British Army Chief calls for prompt Iraq withdrawal

The original interview was with the Daily Mail but this report, comes from The Northern Echo, click here. An interview with General Sir Richard Dannatt's on the BBC Today programme on Radio 4 is linked here. The consequences of this interview are likely to be far reaching. As could be expected the useless Conservative Party opposition has been as good as silent on the issue, but Sir Ming Campbell of the Lib/Dems, interviewed from Edinburgh, by Sky News stated that General interview was not so much a critique of the Government's policies, but a "demolition"

Man who might rule Britain SURGES ahead in Polls

NO! Not David Cameron, but French Presidential contender and current Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy. The results from latest polling show the following:

Polling Data

Who would you vote for in the presidential election?

	Oct. 2006	Sept. 2006	Jul. 2006
Nicolas Sarkozy	38%	36%	35%
Ségolène Royal	29.5%	34%	32%
Jean-Marie Le Pen	9.5%	10%	11.5%

The same site tracking Global Public Opinion reports:

Tories Stagnant, Labour Gaining in Britain

Read the full article from this link. (This post is repeated on my blog Teetering Tories, linked here, where recent videos including the controversial one by Labour MP, Simone Simon is also linked).

Sick of Labour and Conservatives? Don't join the Lib/Dems

The report in today's Times, linked here, that the last Lib/Dem election campaign was almost entirely financed on funds fraudulently obtained, contains these warning paragraphs for members of that party:

“It does put the Liberal Democrats in a very odd position of having funded their last election campaign from fraudulently obtained funds, obtained from someone else.”

The Lib Dems rapidly spent all the money on posters and advertisements for Charles Kennedy and the entire donation is now spent. If the Electoral Commission forces the party to surrender the gift, each member will become liable for a share of the debt.

YouTube, Google and Political Videos

I have been wary of posting links to the many classic political video clips available on YouTube because of concerns over possible copyright complications. Following yesterday's announcement of the purchase of YouTube by Google I feel such concerns are no longer appropriate. If a broadcasting organisation feels its copyright is being infringed it now has a large company through which to seek recompense. If Google feels that risk were real or unaffordable it presumably would not have paid the reported one billion dollars for the video company. If this proves incorrect then Google will certainly find the means of protecting its investment, albeit perhaps by restricting certain video access in the interim. In other respects as these links go back to the YouTube site it is IMHO for that Google owned organisation to remove them if copyright is being infringed. Given the above I have therefore posted below some YouTube video gems to bring home to my readers (viewers) of just how awful a Gordon Brown premiership would be and an entertaining look at the last French elections as the new campaign is now fully underway.

The Daily Show 2002.04.22 French Elections

Germaine Greer on Gordon Brown This is worth watching twice, once for Germaine Greer and then again for the anguished expression of Alan Johnson. Later EDIT ..... OK this seems an example of the copyright issues I queried in my introductory post. This link should allow viewing directly from YouTube

Multi-Millionaire launches EU Information Campaign

The Daily Telegraph, report linked from here, this morning discloses that Paul Sykes is to launch a ten million pound campaign aimed to break the "conspiracy of silence" over the transfer of vital powers from Westminster to Brussels. The existence of such a conspiracy has become almost daily more easy to demonstrate as the flood of new EU regulations are claimed by both government and the media as British controlled and inspired. Recent attempts by the political parties and the mainstream media to run subsidiary operations passed off as independent blogs highlights the vital importance of an active independent blogging community to bolster the message of such campaigns. Blogs must strive to disclose the truth, I hope my blogs will remain at the forefront of such efforts. Links to the new "Speak Out" campaign by Mr Sykes will be provided as soon as possible.

Nicolas Sarkozy on the future EU

A most significant piece with some telling comments posted beneath the main article. Recommended to be read in full, from this link.

Airbus and the EU Dream - Crashing?

Like some previous formative totalitarian dictatorships the EU has trumpeted various taxpayer financed grand projects to distract the citizenry while their rights and freedoms were being purloined. Thus this summer we could watch in astonished disbelief as the European Space Agency crashed a slow motion solar battery powered toy onto the surface of the moon, proclaiming it a triumph while being unable to offer any benefits whatsoever that the expensive project could yield. In my experience, however, nothing in the EU project has been more pointless but excited the federalists more than the apparent success of Airbus versus Boeing. Sometimes the emotion and rhetoric on this supposed achievement has been almost shocking in its intensity. I always suspected that with the amount of EU Propaganda and multi-government involvement a slip-up of potentially disastrous dimensions would surely arrive. This report in the Engineering Section of The Times, indicates that moment has now perhaps arrived. How will the powers that be now distract their hundreds of millions of fellow citizens from their pointless loss of democracy?

Mandelson shows Cameron who controls trade policy in the East

On Sunday afternoon David Cameron the UK Conservative Party leader boasted of how a future Conservative administration would promote British trade with India and China. Blair's buddy Peter Mandelson, as reported in the International Herald Tribune, quickly stepped up to make clear who really controls such matters. Read the article from this link, it is headlined EU imposes long-term tarriffs on Asian shoes, from which comes that newspaper's Quote of the day : Quote of the Day Europe's policy needs to be clear: rejection of protectionism at home, activism in opening markets abroad." Peter Mandelson, The EU trade commissioner, set out a range of initiatives for the coming months, including a review of the EU's trade links with China

The EU and the Tories

A thoughtful piece by Martin Kettle in The Guardian is linked from here. The conclusion is as follows: Earlier in the afternoon, the conference heard - on video rather than in person - from Nicolas Sarkozy, the probable rightwing candidate for the French presidency in 2007 (and a man whom Labour, almost unbelievably, has been courting as assiduously as the Cameron Tories have done). Sarkozy has quietly refused to come to Bournemouth this week because of the Tory refusal to cooperate with the French Gaullists in the EPP in the European parliament. But Sarko was at his most beguiling in his message. The right must unite to stop the left in Europe, he said. Our parties should work together on immigration and economic reform. "Nous avons besoin de vous en Europe," he promised. It was an offer that most people in this party would prefer to refuse - but Hague's speech showed that, in their own halting and guarded way, the Tories are in fact now re-engaged on Europe. And all without a single shot fired in anger too.

The Amazing Mrs Pritchard and Veritas

Bit ironic the purple alliance on BBC's new fictional political series last evening. I have put an even stranger link on my blog Veritas Straight Talk, linked here.