Protecting the people of Europe

The Swiss have a large, mainly part time, effectively equipped army and strict neutrality. A stable currency adds to their security. But what about the rest of the Continent, particularly those exposed to the duplicity, double standards and deceit of the EU? How well are our military defences now handled in view of the conflicts within an under-equipped European arm of a Nato already heavily and apparently pointlessly involved in Afghanistan? And with the nightmare contradictions of the 'no lender of last resort' euro currency rampant across the continent, how much faith can we have in the money that has now been foisted upon us? The pound sterling has been so weakened by incompetent governance, extreme borrowing and massive subsidies payable to the EU that even its long history seems to provide little protection. Searching the web for signs of sensible policy making and planning I have only been able to unearth this crumb this morning: 'Our concept of monetary policy is based on two pillars, and there is a very, very deep analysis of the monetary situation,' Trichet said, who also commented from the audience. In the posting immediately beneath this made yesterday, I commented on the deep mysteriousness of how Europe's borders have been thrown into confusion by the entirely unnecessary and extremely rash actions taken by the EU over Kosovo to the grave danger of the border integrity of all our former nation states and every single European citizen. Now similar risks are clearly at play in the ever growing financial crisis. The present rotating EU President, had this to say to the European Parliament last month in Strasbourg: Quelles sont, Messieurs les Présidents, nos priorités ? La première, c'est de montrer aux Européens que l'Europe peut les protéger et je voudrais dire un mot de ce vocabulaire, la protection. Mais depuis la plus haute antiquité, si les hommes se sont dotés d'une puissance publique, c'est parce que cette puissance publique se devait de les protéger. Monsieur le Président du Parlement européen, l'Europe doit protéger sans être protectionniste. Le protectionnisme ne conduit nulle part mais c'est un recul en arrière singulier que de voir aujourd'hui des citoyens d'Europe considérer que l'Europe, qui est faite pour les protéger, les inquiète au lieu de les défendre. A nous donc, sur des dossiers concrets de montrer comment l'Europe va les protéger. (Europe has first to give protection to its citizens, although avoiding becoming protectionist) Yet in the political actions at so many national and inter-EU levels there seems nothing but blithe ignorance of the dangers we now face. As UK growth officially halts, as this blog has warned for years, and all the other chickens head home to roost, what more can any individual say or do? Nothing seems the answer! I am off to Poland for a week to see how things appear from within the nation of the proposed new US missile shield! PROTECTION? From what and from whom? Our are political leaders not now the greatest threat? A thoughtful discussion paper on security may be read from here.

Cameron and United Russia in Council of Europe

I read a report in the Guardian a couple of days ago that David Cameron's conservatives were to no longer sit with United Russia members in the Council of Europe, read here. This was supposedly as a result of some baiting by the completely odious and contemptible Denis Macshane, which struck me at the time as extremely improbable as the likely cause for such a move. I have now discovered that President Putin had accomplished a bit of a coup in the Council at the end of last June over the organ harvesting affair revealed by Carla del Ponte in Kosovo, read here. These older items make interesting reading in view of the recent developments over Georgia, the final press conference of Javier Solana as Nato Secretary General and an IHT report on earlier efforts by President Sarkozy and Bernard Kouchner to get Putin in line over Kosovo. Other links and background to various reports now circulating the internet may be found here.

Brown or MI5 ?- Both cannot be right!

The Guardian today, here : Alan Travis discusses the MI5 report into terrorism in Britain

It concludes that it is not possible to draw up a typical profile of the "British terrorist" as most are "demographically unremarkable" and simply reflect the communities in which they live.

The "restricted" MI5 report takes apart many of the common stereotypes about those involved in British terrorism.

They are mostly British nationals, not illegal immigrants and, far from being Islamist fundamentalists, most are religious novices. Nor, the analysis says, are they "mad and bad". Those over 30 are just as likely to have a wife and children as to be loners with no ties, the research shows.

The security service also plays down the importance of radical extremist clerics, saying their influence in radicalising British terrorists has moved into the background in recent years.

The research, carried out by MI5's behavioural science unit, is based on in-depth case studies on "several hundred individuals known to be involved in, or closely associated with, violent extremist activity" ranging from fundraising to planning suicide bombings in Britain.

Meantime in Afghanistan this morning Gordon Brown, still shamefully the Prime Minister of Britain, stated apparently the opposite according to The Press Association, here:

(he)...................................flew into Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand.

He told the troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade that they were in the front line against the Taliban and preventing terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.

He said: "You know that you are on the front line in the fight against the Taliban. You know that by what you are doing here you prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain.

He must have seen the MI5 report, he has been on holiday for weeks with plenty of time for reading such critical material, so why fly out to deliberately lie to the nation's troops. How can he justify his miserable existence?

Five trillion increased indebtedness heads for the US

As this blog forewarned last March, here, the next Tsunami to crash against the West's economies will come with the quaint sounding names of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These 'government backed'/ 'not really government backed' financial institutions holding trillions of the lower income mortgage debt of the US housing market typify the kind of murky financial practises that have now brought us to the brink of Phase II of the credit crunch. As I blogged earlier this month, here, only a restoration in the belief in the dollar can supply relief - summed up - that means "sound money" folks! Read Fannie and Freddie hit the skids from the Wall Street Journal Blogs, here. UPDATE on 22/8/08 View this interview on YouTube from Bloomberg with Harvard's Marty Feldstein from Jackson Hole, here.

French views of Russia, the EU and Germany.

The IHT reports on the attitude of the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner toweards Russia following yesterday's Nato Foreign Ministers meeting, read here. A quote: The main threat in a globalized world is the "return of nationalism and violence," Kouchner said, in English and French. "I don't want to consider the relationship with Russia like a confrontation, block against block." At this critical period it seems important, particularly for those within the British Foreign Office, to try to grasp where the French individuals running the EU Presidency until the end of the year are coming from in their world view. I strongly recommend reading Monsieur Kouchner's speech to the Humboldt University which is reproduced in full the Summer Edition of the magazine "Social Europe" available in pdf format from this link.

EU - Willfully negligent ?- WJS

Pithy comment in the State of the Union column in the Wall Street Journal by Daniel Schwammenthal today, linked here. A quote: Many Europeans still believe that only a U.N. stamp of approval lends collective action moral and legal legitimacy. But clearly, a regime that acts with such brutality and disregard for international norms, as Security-Council-member Russia has in Georgia, has no legitimacy to confer. The U.N. as an institution has also little legitimacy left, as it, partly again due to Russian (and Chinese) vetoes, has stood idly by in the face of genocide in Sudan and Mugabe's crimes in Zimbabwe.

Javier Solana should be sacked!

What a mess the EU has got itself into over Georgia. The Spanish socialist Javier Solana, who has always operated so far out of his depth in the imbroglio for what passes as EU external affairs, possibly haunted by his earlier experiences with Serbia as civilian head of NATO, has brought the world to the brink of its gravest security crisis for many years. This blog warned of the almost inevitable consequences, here, here, here, here , here and here. Among the questions asked and points stressed were these: "Is Solana co-ordinating the EU Foreign and Security Policy or what?" "Russia also opposes Kosovan independence, saying the new state's split from Serbia would force it to reconsider its own position on territorial disputes." My contribution to a discussion thread in today's Telegraph to an article by Janet Daley, linked here, is as follows: "We should best seek to influence only where we have the wherewithal. The EU has gravely erred over Kosovo and as I repeatedly blogged last February the consequences will be severe. The fault lies with the High Representative Javier Solana and the best starting point for the EU to at least begin to recoup matters would be to take the necessary urgent steps for his summary removal. David Miliband would be best employed in gaining support for such a move from his EU colleagues rather than rushing off to Georgia. The pretence that the Lisbon Treaty can be salvaged and the ongoing push for a diplomatic corps and identity (impossible under Nice) further complicates the chaos caused by the existing contradictions between the role of the EU Presidency, the EU Commission and the High Representive. We are part of the EU that has largely caused this mess, we should be working through the EU to clear that portion up before considering how we can thereafter proceed through Nato, the UN or other security bodies. One other thought, will there be any consequences for the Georgian President's TV posturing with the EU flag? If not, why not?" The video of Solana's personal involvement in the creation of the disputed independent territory, never unanimously agreed by EU member states can be seen from the link to yet another of my February 2008 postings here.

Watch video of the foul EU in action- fish dumping!

The report is in The Guardian, here. Watch the video from here.

Despair over the EU in the FT

The article is linked here, it is by Leif Pagrotsky, the vice-chairman of the Bank of Sweden and former Swedish trade and industry minister, A disproportionate share of the EU’s ­decision-making capacity has been spent on projects that do nothing to reverse its relative economic decline. The distance between Europe and the leading countries is bigger today than 15 years ago. The establishment of the euro has not yet paid off in terms of growth and prosperity. The EU still spends more on subsidising declining sectors than preparing for the future; we have failed to ensure that research funding is allocated solely on scientific merit; and the takeover directive has not been modernised to facilitate cross-border mergers to build world champions. Flexibility is still impeded by old-fashioned corporate-based benefits that lock in workers. No new treaty would speed up the process that has taken 20 years to agree the rules of a single market in products such as chocolate and marmalade, or 40 years to fail al­together to create a European patent. In times of growing international competition, we cannot afford to be this careless about our economic base.

Questioning political realities across the world.

Europe's union of political disenchantment. Christopher Bickerton. The EU and governance by consent: A quote: The rise of the politics of consensus has caused a new political cleavage: not left versus right but the political elite versus the people, the result of a real transformation of the state in Europe, not simply a product of misinformation. This is why in opposition to the EU we often find a curious unity between extremist parties on the left and on the right. The legitimacy of the G8. Fresh in from Nairobi :"The G8 is of no use and should dissolve itself". It begins: August 15, 2008: Legitimacy is a philosophical-political concept. It is also an ethical concept. In Western philosophy a distinction is sometimes made between legality and legitimacy. Before the dawn of liberal democracy in the West, the will of the sovereign monarch constituted the legal order. His or her decision was final. The French Revolution changed that.

Roof of rotten EU Parliament caves in!

Oh sweet irony! One may also view the damage from within thanks to a YouTube video complete with background music of the "Ode to Joy" fully appropriate in this case! Click here.

Treasures from the threads - Number Nineteen

To the Leading Article on the economy in this morning's Daily Telegraph, linked here: Inflation is not at 4.4% that is a myth due to the fact that the government figures are heavily manipulated in a downward direction by omitting high inflation items from the calculation. The real inflation figure I would guess is nearer 15% now and rising and will not come down in the immediate future. Most of the inflation has not worked its way through the system yet, it can take up to a year after oil hikes before the results manifest themselves with prices at the factory gate, interest rates need to rise to strengthen the pound and dampen the effect of imported inflation. For years the UK has lived off the backs of others making very little just borrowing lots and shifting money around, well now its crunch time and the free lunch you have had for the last 6 years has to be paid for. You cannot feed yourselves 80% of all food is imported, you cannot earn a living in the world as manufacturing is only 15% of GDP, you cannot provide your own energy most is now imported, you cannot manufacture the everyday goods you need because you have paid yourselves too much for too little for too long and cocooned yourselves in a web of welfare benefits that you cannot afford. The UK is bankrupt, overtaxed and over regulated stifling investment and new business startups and accelerating business failures resulting in rising unemployment and more welfare dependence and a spiraling out of control deficit. Your housing market is in meltdown and asset values are at least 30% overvalued and falling like a stone and the government has depressed it further by hinting at a stamp duty holiday. Your education system is churning out semi-literate, barely numerate, robotic ignoramuses who barely know the difference between their arse and their elbow, and who are as much use to industry as a paper umbrella in a rainstorm. A few words of advice to Gordon the gormless CUT STATE SPENDING NOW its more cost effective to pay them benefits than employ them with their pension and other costs. The words " you are all doomed " come to mind right now. Posted by mike williams in Bangkok on August 13, 2008 3:59 AM

NEXT - The fantasy EU and the economy!

Yesterday I touched on how the EU through its bungling and incompetence over Kosovo brought on the problems in Georgia. This seems now generally recognised, and I am reminded that I blogged repeatedly on the obvious dangers last February so can avoid any claim of merely being wise in hindsight. The next growing danger of the fallacy that the EU is a grouping of substance, weight or authority is well illustrated by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in his column in the Telegraph this morning, linked here. A quote:

What we are about to see is a race to the bottom by the world's major currencies as each tries to devalue against others in a beggar-thy-neighbour policy to shore up exports, or indeed simply because they have to cut rates frantically to stave off the consequences of debt-deleveraging and the risk of an outright Slump.

When that happens - if it is not already happening - it will become clear that the both pillars of the global monetary system are unstable, infested with the dry rot of excess debt......

Europe's turn will come next. We will discover that Europe cannot conduct such rescues. There is no lender of last resort in the system. The ECB is prohibited by the Maastricht Treaty from carrying out direct bail-outs. There is no EU treasury. So the answer will be drift and paralysis. When other world leaders take on the increasingly obvious fact that the EU's leaders are solely concerned with power plays within the grouping, shuffling as much cash as possible back to their own party political organisations and clients and maximising their future pensions, perks and positions within the EU organisation - the sooner this dangerous bunch of chancers and no- hopers can be removed from any influence over world events -and the safer and more financially secure we might all become!

EU and Poland's problems over Georgia

The EU is an extremely dangerous paper tiger claiming powers it does not control, authority it has not been granted, and diplomatic abilities it lacks. Kosovan independence should have provided a lesson but here we go again. The EU flag stood behind the Georgian leader's shoulder as he fruitlessly pleaded for help on the television yesterday. Never has it seemed as suitably pathetic. The following paragraph concludes a report, here, from the Polish external news service which clearly illustrates some of the dilemmas thrown up by the crisis in Georgia: The Russian invasion of Georgia has hopefully closed Poland’s domestic political conflict between the president and the government. At least the strained atmosphere should improve and the politicians will certainly show more maturity, writes a columnist of DZIENNIK. Now all responsible political forces in Poland should act together. The first goal is to continue supporting the pro-European policy of Georgia, Ukraine and perhaps, in the future, also Belarus. Second, to accept hosting the American anti-missile shield in Poland, which means that the liberal government would somewhat change its position. Third, Poland needs stronger Europe, so its position regarding the Lisbon Treaty, accepted and implemented, should be clear; which would mean the conservative president changing his mind. Fourth, Poland needs a strong, efficient army and the defence budget shouldn’t be too limited. Fifth, Polish politicians should work out a real Polish policy instead of running a constant election campaign, says the columnist. The Wall Street Journal, linked here, reports on the reality within the EU - splits, chaos and confusion, a quote:

The Georgian crisis is "a big game-changer," says Tomas Valasek, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank. "EU foreign policy has worked on the basis that if we hold out the prospect of membership, the world around the EU will eventually change in the EU's image. That vision is under threat."

The West's response to the war exposes its division into three camps on how to handle Russia, says Markus Kaim, head of security policy research at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. The U.S. sees Russia as a strategic rival, Western Europe sees it as a strategic partner and Eastern Europe sees it as a threat, he says.

Betrayal of Britain blogged from abroad

This article clearly struck a chord in Flanders, read it here.

172,000 Eurocrats but nothing for EU Pressroom to report!

The Daily Mail has the story, here, on the secret army of blinkered regulators at work for the non-democratic and non-accountable EU - 172,000 of them many of whom the EU tries to hide. What are they doing this fine day? - The EU press office, link, provides the answer: Top EU News

• Summer season notice

  The summer recess slows down the regular rhythm of the EU institutions’ activities and the production of press material. Until the end of August, the “Top EU News” section of this site will therefore not be updated daily, but whenever there is relevant news to report. The audiovisual material and the press releases available below will be updated regularly as usual.

(Sitting by the sea counting their tax free perks and index-linked pensions is my guess!)

Libertas Lisbon Referendum vote/MEP vote on track-

Latest news from here.

Google News UK Business Headlines - Happy Weekend!

Three o'clock PM London Time - 8th of the 8th 2008. Royal Bank losses to be felt in every area of city Scotsman - 2 hours ago By MICHAEL BLACKLEY ROYAL Bank of Scotland today announced the second-biggest loss ever recorded by a UK bank. The Edinburgh-based financial heavyweight recorded losses of £692 million in the first half of this year, compared to a £5bn profit at this ... RBS suffers first-ever loss after $11 bln writedown guardian.co.uk RBS's record loss should not obscure reasons for optimism Telegraph.co.uk Times Online - Forbes - Money Marketing - MarketWatch all 437 news articles »

UK repossessions soar 50pc to 12-year high Telegraph.co.uk - 3 hours ago By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent The number of people who lost their homes soared by almost 50 per cent in the first six months of this year to a 12-year high. Home repossessions rise by 41% BBC News House repossessions soar by 48% since January Times Online CityWire.co.uk - Daily Mail - guardian.co.uk - Money Marketing all 198 news articles »

BBC News

Pound hits 17-month low against buoyant dollar Reuters UK - 43 minutes ago LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling hit a 17-month low against a broadly buoyant dollar on Friday, as investors took a warning on slowing euro zone growth as a signal to pick up the greenback against a host of currencies. Euro Falls the Most in 4 Years on Reduced Bets for Higher Rate Bloomberg Investors Pile Back Into The Dollar Forbes BBC News - guardian.co.uk - CNNMoney.com - Reuters

Needed - A new Bretton Woods Agreement.

A year into the crisis and the FT is doing a review into what happened, linked here. All who believe in individual liberties and democracies have lived through a perilous year and while the recent 15 per cent fall in the oil and gold price with a slight recovery of the dollar might be a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, there seem many more and greater risks ahead. In a posting beneath this, made earlier in the week, I linked to a You Tube video of Republican President Richard Nixon's speech in 1971 when he scrapped the convertibility of the dollar to gold and imposed a ten per cent surcharge on imports. This bought a quarter a century of controlled depreciation of the dollar. Oil producers and other suppliers of basic commodities have now given notice that they will no longer accept ever greater quantities of potentially worthless paper in exchange for their precious and finite natural resources. Hard-working and comparatively vacation-starved US families who became used to watch their work rewards grow through their 401(k) pension schemes before the Clinton stock market bust have now watched with dismay as the alternative calculator of land and property values rapidly head south as accentuated by the plight of the formerly solid institutions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The crying need for a stable calculator for value for America's hard-working families could surely not be any clearer or yet more urgent than with the coming election. In spite of the WTO, Nixon's precedent of a temporary import surcharge will not be something to be easily ignored. George W Bush, whose Presidency already appears likely to be viewed by history as far more successful than contemporary pundits might ever have imagined now has the chance to leave a legacy of a secure and strengthened dollar as his overarching achievement for posterity. Fixing a value for the dollar requires no international agreement, it can be accomplished by the best brains and economists from across the parties, political spectrum and diverse interests of the nation. With modern vast number crunching computing power it could be as complex and regularly reviewed as any might wish or as simple and eternal as the value of gold or the wheat yield of land. Anything is possible - anything is essential. New Hampshire is the perfect setting in Fall for such a conclave. Lock them up in Bretton Woods if Bush might so wish, but I would suggest the recently refurbished Wentworth Hotel (golf and sailing on hand) on Newcastle Island near Portsmouth NH, there they may not just observe the splendour of natures change from green to red to gold, but also be reminded by the sea of their duty not just to the citizens of the US, but also to the world and the nearby presence of the US Navy Yard will recall the reality of US power in its nuclear submarines, aircraft carrier battle fleets and giant superiority in space technology. Restoring the power and strength of the dollar seems as nothing when recognising the true underlying power of the United States of America which, of course, is bedded in its democracy. The stunning discovery of water on Mars by US scientists just this summer surely must highlight once again the stupidity of leaving the dollar, the currency of such an innovative nation, to drift and dangle. Either or both Presidential candidates could endorse the consensus concept of this Economic Conclave, which should be compulsorily achieved by an end October deadline. Congress would then have the utmost legitimacy for implementation early next year. By the Autumn of 2010 other Central bankers could attend a second Bretton Woods Conference to fix their currencies against the new dollar bench-mark, whether they do so or not is irrelevant as the spendthrift and deceitful politicians of the world will once again have a benchmark via which they can be exposed.

Nine European Judges block Hamza extradition

British taxpayers have already spent three and a half million pounds on trying to rid the country of hate-preacher Abu Hamza, according to The Sun, linked here. Now nine Euro Judges have blocked the process. See the list of those who now call the shots in Britain. Has any single one ever received a vote. Have the people of the UK ever been asked if they wish old men from countries as insignificant as these to determine who may or may not remain within our borders? They are Giovanni Bonnell, 72, from Malta, David Björgvinsson, 52, of Iceland, Paivi Hirvelä, 53, of Finland, Nebojsa Vucinic, 55, of Montenegro, Mihai Poalelungi, 45, of Moldavia, Jan Šikuta, 47, of Slovakia, Ljiljana Mijovic, 44, of Bosnia Herzegovina, Ledi Bianku, 37, of Albania and Lech Garlicki, 61, of Poland. And our MP maggots? On their three month vacations of course!

Pooling the EU's police

A highly dangerous 53 page report on "EU Security"receives comment in today's Guardian, read here. On 22nd July I linked to an article from this blog titled "A Paine in the EU" and stressed a comment from Damian Hockney who until recently was an elected representative from the Greater London Assembly on the police authority for Britain's capital city. Part of his comment was as follows: I sat on the police authority in London in the UK and raised the issue of the EU demands for immunity from prosecution for life for the staff of Europol, the EU police agency. This coincided almost exactly with the plan to make Europol an "operational" police force rather than just a form of info exchange police diplomatic service. Why, I asked, was the EU demanding "immunity for life from prosecution for any crime an official might commit" (except traffic offences!). And why did the UK for example grant these immunities? In a parliamentary instrument rammed home with no debate? HOW CAN ANY INDIVIDUALS, LEAST OF ALL THOSE CHARGED WITH ENFORCING THE LAW, BE PLACED ABOVE THE LAW? WHY WOULD A EUROPEAN POLICE FORCE REQUIRE IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION? UPON THE ORDERS OF WHICH APPARATCHIKS WOULD SUCH UNAUTHORISED AND UNACCOUNTABLE OPPRESSION OCCUR? WHAT EFFECTS WOULD SUCH SUPREME POWER ON THE GROUND BE USED BY INDIVIDUALS ALREADY MORALLY SUSPECT BY BEING ATTRACTED INTO THE EMPLOY AND SERVICE OF A NON-DEMOCRATIC, UNACCOUNTABLE, UNAUDITED AND THOROUGHLY CORRUPT ORGANISATION? WHY HAS THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION DAVID CAMERON AND NUMEROUS OTHER MPS NOT RAISED THIS ISSUE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, AS IT APPEARS THE IMMUNITIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN GRANTED? Considering the proposals reported in the Guardian and linked above, surely some of the EU's mainstream media might also start to ask some questions and raise concerns - or are they already too scared? Later Update. The Telegraph now has the full report in pdf format linked here. Get this quote: "139. Efforts should be made to launch a “European Security Tool Pool” Initiative. Such a “tool pool” would not be a place, a body or a database but rather an innovative concept allowing Member State and European Union institutions to make available and secure tools of proven or potential use in the security field for appraisal and/or testing by authorities of other Member States and, where useful, support their mutual deployment e.g. by meeting related licence costs, translation and training." All this where the operatives and those authorising the targets will have lifetime immunity from prosecution except when exceeding speed linits!

How to define "Vital National Interests" in an "Ever Closer Union"

In the posting immediately beneath this I have pasted the "Secret" document agreed by the Prime Minister and traitor Edward Heath with the French President Georges Pompidou in May, 1971. Referred to is an underlined proces verbal ("procès verbal" perhaps in French?) which is commented upon in that same post. Let us, for a moment, make the now clearly false assumption that Edward Heath actually had Britain's vital national interests as his primary concern back in 1971, how might they then have appeared to him from outside the six member state Common Market and with Britain as a leading power and democracy within both the Commonwealth and EFTA? The list of priorities will of course vary according to one's own political standpoint and rather than risk becoming involved in controversy over a matter of opinion it must surely be possible to state, without risk of contradiction, that such a list prepared in 1971 would be considerably longer and far more extensive than any similar list prepared today. Before considering the consequences of that fact consider the reported actions of a later Tory Prime Minister John Major. Some time ago I read from a source believed to have close contacts within Britain's security services (unsurprisingly enough I am not now able to find the source) that during the John Major premiership the intelligence services were instructed that the major political parties had determined that continuing British membership of the EEC (EU or whatever) had become a matter of "vital national interest" and consequentially parties pushing for withdrawal should be penetrated and were thereafter legitimate targets for hostile state interference. The proof that vital national interests are eroded as the "Union" broadens and further entangles hardly needs proof, consecutive Treaties have clearly eroded unanimity and advanced the multitude of majority votes. Eventually and inevitably members of such a union will cease to have any vital national interest as the Good of the Union becomes the rule. The EU, in my view, assumed it had reached that point several Treaties ago. But what of democracy? Applicant nation states to the EU are required to be democratic, the EU and its institutions make much of claiming to be democratic, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Disregard for a moment anything within the Lisbon Treaty and consider the chosen means for its ratification and introduction. Nothing could be more dismissive of individual rights nor democratic process. The vital national interests of all the member states are to be destroyed with the independent powers of their parliaments, via which the people would have retained the rights to periodically change their rulers, all that is to be trashed. On any list of Britain's Vital National Interests prepared in 1971, few would surely have excluded democracy and the sovereignty of parliament. Yet all the agencies of the State from the Queen to the Courts to the state broadcaster mouthpieces of the media are all deployed to obscure these facts and suppress from the public consciousness the outrage that the promised referendum on this Lisbon Treaty is being denied. If Parliament remains Sovereign, how are the electorate to elect MPs who are prepared to enforce such sovereignty in the face of the totalitarian tyranny of a post-Lisbon EU, when no such candidates have any realistic prospect of selection let alone election? How can independent parties prosper when the main parties are funded by the unaudited evil empire itself? "Vital National Interests" themselves no longer exist, for they have been crushed in the false belief that the "interests" of the Union trump all else for the greater common good and therefore take precedence - yet it is only through nation states and their independent parliaments that our rulers can be unseated without bloodshed - as ever Karl Popper's defining difference between democracy and tyranny!

How Heath betrayed Britain and Nixon the USA in 1971

The Margaret Thatcher Foundation has obtained the papers on Edward Heath's betrayal of the country under the Freedom of Information Act and they may be read from this link. I find this section of the secret minutes on the conclusion of the meeting between Heath and Pompidou on 20th and 21st May, 1971 particularly interesting:




Quite clearly if only the aspects affecting "vital national interests" were to be determined by unanimity, everything else, including all the day to day matters of routine governance, would be handled on the basis of qualified majority voting, exactly as we are experiencing to our enormous cost to this very day. Note how the reference to majority voting in the French is excluded from the English text and the curious spelling of "process" a good hint as to the mother tongue of the writer. (procès in the French are legal proceedings rather than process in English which generally means a series of actions or events).

Amazingly enough we are also today finally experiencing the end result of Nixon's decision to cut the dollar free from the Gold Standard, effectively releasing every other paper currency in the world to seek its own proper value when controlled by venal and self-seeking politicians - namely zero. The Nixon announcement also in 1971 may be viewed on YouTube.



Abandoning Bretton Woods some Bugaboo in 2008!

German police return to France's streets

An article from the web site of the German State broadcaster Deutsche Welle, linked here, has this caption to an attractive picture of the Parisian tourist attraction of Montmartre: Don't be surprised if you see a German police officer in Montmartre

A Czech or a Slav! President Klaus interview

Read an English version of the 26th July interview with President Klaus, eu-realist and next rotating President of the totalitarian and non-democratic European Union, linked here.

Oil, Russia and Czech opposition to the Lisbon Treaty

Interesting analysis in the Kuwait Times, linked here, which concludes as follows: The Czech Republic is therefore using the alleged oil cutoff to illustrate just how vulnerable Europe's front lines are to Russian machinations. Because Czech oil refineries process such a large quantity of oil for Germany and the rest of Western Europe, Prague is hoping its strategy will succeed by hinting at just what kind of serious damage the Russians can do by cutting off oil to the Czech Republic. Prague hopes to use the cutoff to rally support behind its veto of the Lisbon Treaty, to elucidate in action what it has been trying to argue in words: that Russia is a serious threat to its region and that Central Europe cannot give up its ability to veto European policy toward the Kremlin.

No mention of the EU

An absolute MUST READ is the Matthew Parris column in today's The Times. HERE. Read it, then the comments and then ponder what the unelected Brown has done to parliamentary sovereignty, so that the future of all of Britain's political parties become irrelevant anyway, except for who gets what from the EU political funding pot and its resultant power structures!

Irish poll rejects second referendum

The Red C opinion poll which has been public for the past day or so is explored on this link. The guts of the result are as follows:

Polling Data

Do you support or oppose holding a new referendum on the Lisbon Treaty?

Support	24%
Oppose	71%
Not sure	5%

Source: Red C Methodology: Interviews with 1,006 Irish adults, conducted from Jul. 21 to Jul. 23, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.