The Lisbon objections before the Czech Court

These interesting and powerful objections were obtained from here and are reproduced below:

The 17 Senators led by Mr Jiří Oberfalzer (conservative ODS) have submitted their new complaint against the Treaty of Lisbon to the Czech Constitutional Court in Brno. The chairman of the Constitutional Court immediately informed President Klaus that he is not allowed to sign the treaty until the court releases the verdict (which may be as early as in 4-6 weeks). On those 44 pages, they explain that they consider the document unconstitutional because of many reasons. Most of the reasons should be understandable in all the EU countries; a few of them may be specific to the Czech legal system. First, there is a problem with the format. The Treaty of Lisbon is recycling the legal material from the previous treaties. It is therefore extremely incomprehensible and it doesn't provide an easy survey. Moreover, although it substantially changes 90 percent of the rules listed in the previous treaty and, consequently, the arrangement of the EU, it is formally an amendment. According to the Senators, such a format is incompatible with the rule of law. It's because the Constitutional Court has previously banned the so-called "glued amendments" ("přílepky"). The Lisbon format is even worse than a glued addition, they argue. Second, the Treaty of Lisbon is not politically neutral because among the goals of the EU, it enumerates many policies that belong to the political programs of some political parties rather than the basic laws of the EU. This fact makes it incompatible with the democratic rule of law because the treaty restricts the questions whose fate should be decided by the elections. Third, the Senators object that it is expected that the treaty may be modified a posteriori, which is confirmed even by the currently available text. It follows that the leaders were not signing a treaty but a mere half-finished product that is being modified as time goes by. This aspect contradicts the rule of law, too. Fourth, the paragraph of the treaty claiming that the EU is based on parliamentary democracy is unconstitutional, too. According to the Senators, the EU must be based on equal rights of the member states instead. The European Parliament is just an addition to the existing system of institutions in the EU countries. If it were the fundamental pillar, the EU would be a country. Fifth, the Treaty of Lisbon is discriminatory because it declares that the members of the commission should be chosen according to their "Europeism". This regulation is discriminatory because it prevents the people who don't fall for the cult of conformity to run for these offices. Sixth, the treaty restricts the co-operation between certain members of the Union (that goes beyond the co-operation within the EU) by the required agreement of the EU which is a typical feature of a federation. Seventh, the common defense required by the treaty contradicts the sovereignty of the member states. The Czech Republic is not constitutionally allowed to transfer vital competences that are needed for the existence and preservation of the country to other subjects. The defense is the best example. Moreover, the common defense would be incompatible with the existence of NATO. Additional competences that have to remain in Czechia are listed at the bottom. Eighth, the treaty limits the possibility to leave the Union. It's not true that it's the treaty that introduces such a possibility because the possibility already exists today, Senators argue. On the contrary, the new treaty says that quitting requires the agreement within the EU and a two-year probation period. In practice, it means that the EU is allowed to demand conditions that can't be fulfilled. Nineth, the Senators are concerned with the issue of immigration. They see a disagreement between the Czech constitution and a regulation in the treaty saying that "when one or several member states get into an emergency situation because of a sudden inflow of citizens from a third country, the Council has the right to adopt special temporary policies that help the affected countries, following a proposal by the Commission". The Treaty of Lisbon also says that the "Union is pursuing a shared immigration policy whose goal is to effectively direct immigration flows at all stages". The right to decide about the composition of the population belongs among the basic rights of every country. The Czech Republic therefore doesn't have the right to transfer the rights to control the migration flows through or to its territory to another subject. Tenth, the Senators question the guarantees for Ireland. They were adopted in the contradiction with our constitution, and are therefore invalid. Much like the Treaty of Lisbon itself, they should have been ratified as a constitutional law, with the required extended majorities, because it is a genuine amendment of the Treaty of Lisbon i.e. another international treaty. Without such a special ratification, the guarantees are just a non-binding pledge. For the second time, the Senators also complain about the suspension of member's rights for the EU countries. In the first complaint, this principle was argued to contradict the sovereignty principle. In this second complaint, the Senators also object to the conditions leading to the suspension which are vaguely defined which means that this rule may be abused.

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According to the Senators, especially the following competences, among others, cannot be transfered:

• Decisions about the revenue and spending
• Decisions about the defence of the Czech Republic
• Decisions what a crime and guilt is and what the punishment should be
• Decisions about the ways to enforce the law, order, and safety in the Czech Republic
• Decisions about events with an extraordinary impact on the social and cultural life of the Czech societ

Many thanks to Anne Palmer for sending this on and to Motls Blogspot.

Blair's Presidency Dreams Dashed!

Britons will be saddled with the huge economic costs of Tony Blair's EU Presidency ambitions for decades, the loss of democracy and sovereignty may never be recovered. My blogs have been warning of the consequences of this pathetic little charlatan's dreams and squalid manipulations for many years. I could link to scores of postings warning of the dangers to come if I so chose. As it now seems generally accepted that his ambitions will never now come to anything, Britain should start to count the cost. Perhaps the clear warning signs in Blair's Cardiff speech in 2002 should be carefully considered if they can now be fully unburied. I blogged on the contents of that speech and its strange disappearance from the worldwide web in early 2003 as follows on Ironies, linked here: Tony Blair's Keynote Cardiff Speech on Europe 28th November 2002 The above was an extremely significant landmark speech, notable not least for the fact that it was made outside of Parliament in a provincial capital. It was difficult to access in full even immediately after it was presented by the Prime Minister. Now several months later I could only trace it after much searching on Google at the British Embassy site from Berlin. I have therefore put a link here so that for the moment I can continue to use it as a reference source. As Blair's view of Europe has changed following the disagreements over Iraq I anticipate the speech might become practically invisible as the months go by. This would be a great shame as it is very well thought through and is in fact remarkably prescient in light of subsequent events. The killer passage and most significant portion, other than the clear aim of the PM in throwing his hat into the ring for the job of first European President, is this portion I quote below :- The basic ideology should be described in this way. Europe is the voluntary coming together of sovereign nations. Their will is to combine together in the institutions of Europe in order to further their common interests. In so far as it is necessary to achieve these interests, they therefore pool their sovereignty in Europe. There is no arbitrary or fixed limit as to what they do collectively; but whether they do it depends on their decision as a group of nations. So whilst the origin of European power is the will of sovereign nations, European power nonetheless exists and has its own authority and capability to act. The negation of any democracy comes at the end, the sting in the tail as it were:- It should be democratic; greater integration, rooted in the freely given decisions of the nations that make up Europe; with greater openness and transparency of decision-making; greater participation and interaction of National Parliaments; greater connection between the European Parliament and the decisions of Europe; and with the independence of the Commission guaranteeing that the interests of smaller nations do not weigh any less than the large. None of the items listed of course, do anything to give the people the power to periodically remove from power those who rule them, which is the only thing that democracy is really about! Speech posted by Martin at 5/01/2003 01:01:00 PM Now it cannot be found at all, but the quotes I chose set the tone - Totalitarianism!

Conservative Home blog shamed!

When the posting for today finally arrived on the Conservative Home blog, the only link to The Independent newspaper was as follows:

Blair is the only man for the job - Steve Richards writing in The Independent

Not a single reference to the three items critical of Tory Chairman Lord Ashcroft!!!!!!!!!

We earlier warned that such censorship would be bound to follow Lord Ashcroft's buying of a stake in that blog.

I have copied the e-mail sent to Tim Montgomerie this morning, which he has clearly decided to ignore, onto the more appropriate blog Teetering Tories, a more suitable destination for any wishing to get the full background on what takes place in the Cameron/Ashcroft ex-Conservative Party.

Members of the Conservative Party must now ask whether such people are fit to be behind those to govern their country?

Conservative Home blog goes silent

We wait with baited breath for the updating of the Conservative Home blog following the damaging stories and leading article in today's The Independent on the new shareholder in that blog and Chairman of Cameron's Conservative Party, Lord Ashcroft. Read it from here, here and here. I have sent my own unsolicited advice to Tim Montgomerie on the subject of his blog. I will update developments which could restore hope for a true Conservative Party to re-emerge as they unfold.

EU Census Question Requirements

On 20 February 2008 the European Parliament approved a Council (Framework) Census Regulation covering the harmonization of outputs from member states’ censuses of population and housing. This took affect when it was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 July 2008. The regulation provides for the specification of outputs, the means of submission of these to Eurostat, and the requirement to provide metadata and quality reports, to be prescribed by subordinate Commission (Implementing) Regulations. These are currently being drafted with input from the EU Legislation Task Force of which the UK is a member.

The Council Regulation which prescribes the reference year for the next round of censuses as being 2011. Thereafter, reference years will be determined by subsequent Commission Regulations. The Regulation also requires Member States to make available the results of their census by end of March 2014. The Framework Regulation is intended to be a permanent piece of legislation concerned with establishing common rules for the decennial provision of comprehensive population and housing data to be collected from traditional census taking or from alternative sources such as surveys and registers, or from combinations of such sources. The topics which are specified by the Regulation cover:

• Place of usual residence
• Size of locality of usual residence (urban/rural)
• Sex
• Age
• Marital status
• Economic activity status
• Occupation
• Industry
• Employment status
• Workplace
• Educational attainment
• Country of birth
• Country of citizenship
• Ever resided abroad and year of entry into country
• Place of usual residence 1 year before census
• Relationship within household
• Status within household
• Status within family
• Type of housing arrangement
• Tenure status of household
• Type of household
• Size of household
• Type of family
• Size of family
• Type of living quarters
• Type of ownership
• Location of living quarters
• Occupancy status
• Floor space/Number of rooms
• Density standard of accommodation
• Housing amenities (water supply, toilet facilities, bathing facilities, type of heating)
• Type of dwelling
• Period of construction

More details about the Framework Regulation and the implications for topic content in the 2011 Census are detailed in an article published in Population Trends 128.

Further EU legislation

The UK is an active participant in an EU Census Legislation Task Force which is advising the European Commission on the scope and content of the proposed Implementing Regulations. The Commission Regulations will set out in separate regulations:

• The detail of the programme of statistical data and metadata to be provided to Eurostat by member states from the 2011 round of European censuses (based on the core topics specified by the Council Framework Regulation). Eurostat currently propose that these will be provided in the form of sets of 'hypercubes' of cross-variables at various geographical levels
• The classifications of the categories and technical specification for the topics to be covered in statistical programme
• The measures of quality assessment to be reported on. The statistical detail of the outputs to be provided by member states will be set out in secondary Implementing Regulations, to be prepared by the European Commission later this year.

Formal consultation on these issues went out to member states in March 2008 and were discussed at a meeting of the EU Census Working Group on 9-10 September 2008. ONS is liaising with GROS and NISRA in order to present a UK view. Eurostat has also announced initial proposals for a European Census Hub by which member states could ‘pull’ the 2011 Census data specified in the Implementing Regulation. The difficulty of achieving common specifications and applying comparable statistical disclosure control methodologies across the 27 member states has been recognized as a major obstacle. Italy and Ireland have offered to take part in the pilot phase of the project by offering to make a sample of their latest census data available. Further countries have been invited to participate to this pilot phase, and ONS has agreed to prepare a submission to Eurostat setting out its own current thinking on the possibilities for similar domestic access to 2011 Census outputs. http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/2011-census-project/legislation/european-union--eu--legislation.html

EU leaders prepare to restore State Executions

As EU leaders meet just before they hope to finally get into force the oppressive Lisbon Treaty, which, inter alia, empowers the EU to restore the death penalty across Europe as only they deem fit, it is fitting that one amongst them already has innocent blood on his hands:

Lord Pearson set to lead the UKIP!

In an impoverished field of no-hopers Lord Pearson of Rannoch looks set to be the next leader of UKIP with a stated mission to unite the nation's eu-sceptics. The personal manifesto of Lord Pearson and biographical details may be read on my Ukip Uncovered blog. The other candidates are as follows and the hustings schedule may be read from here:

Gerard Batten MEP
Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Mike Nattrass MEP
Nikki Sinclaire MEP
Alan Wood

President Klaus to ask court for new Referendum

A glimmer of hope returns for democrats in the EU this morning, a full report is in The Times from which comes this quote: President Klaus wrote to the court. “The constitutional court is therefore deciding on a matter that is absolutely fundamental for the future of our country.

“Twenty years after the restoration of our democracy and sovereignty, we are once again dealing with the question whether we should — this time voluntarily — give up the position of a sovereign state and hand over decision-making on our own matters to European institutions outside of the democratic control of our citizens.”

President Klaus based his case against the Lisbon treaty on its extension of qualified-majority voting among the EU’s 27 nations into 40 new policy areas, meaning that the Czech Republic and every other country will lose veto rights in these areas. Supporters of the treaty argue that it will help with the smooth running of the EU after its enlargement from 15 to 27 countries since 2004.

“The substance of sovereignty is an unlimited execution of power. Its sharing negates sovereignty,” he added.

No Wonder Britain is Bankrupt!!

The Quango State: Big, Bloated and More Expensive Than Ever Before

The TaxPayers' Alliance comprehensive and accurate guide to the Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies of the UK

• In 2007-08 there were 1,152 Semi-Autonomous Public Bodies (SAPBs) operating in the UK
• The amount spent on or through these SAPBs was over £90 billion in 2007-08, an increase of £13 billion from the £77.2 billion spent by those same bodies in 2006-07, and equivalent to £3,640 per household
• In 2007-08 SAPBs employed over 534,000 staff

UKIP's Farage promotes President Blair

Hysterical Humphrys Over-yells Osborne

Yesterday's confirmation of this blog's assessment of the continuing horrible state of the British economy came when figures proved the recession continued through the third quarter. Discussing this on the BBC flagship Radio 4 political programme "Today" the smug, sarcastic and economics ignorant presenter John Humphrys repeatedly shouted down the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. Readers may possibly hear this repeated on the web if they choose, the interview occurred at from eight-thirty to about a quarter to nine, it is not yet on the Listen Again facility. Earlier this week we called for the immediate resignation of George Osborne for his lack of sensible alternative economic policies for the opposition during the past four years. We now have added reason to call for this immature young man's departure. Any Shadow Chancellor of substance would have sternly reprimanded and thoroughly dressed down the hysterical BBC interviewer and demanded an apolgy on the spot. It is clear that the BBC is intent upon the destruction of the wealth and morals of the nation so they can hardly be expected to remove the slimy John Humphrys from their bloated payroll, who with countless others spread their daily poison across the airwaves. The opposition must find figures who command such respect and grasp of their subjects that these awful interview techniques can be squashed at the moment they begin - that calls for hard men (or women selected on merit) not wimps.

President Klaus looks like crumbling!

There are so many reports appearing on the internet today that President Klaus now looks likely to sign the disgusting Lisbon Treaty, after the Czech Constitutional Court Ruling next week, that further hopes seem forlorn. Europe seems to be about to be delivered into the hands of the type of person described in the post below. Thank the heavens that I have children beyond its shores and corrupted power.

The thoroughly odious Jack Straw

Matthew Norman, in The Independent has an excellent column on the so-called Justice Secretary of State, Jack Straw, linked here, a must read!

Cameron's Conservative on Question Time tonight - more authoritarian than Griffin's BNP?

I have posted on my sister blog 'Teetering Tories' linked here, an extraordinary outburst by the editor of the 'Conservative Home' blog against the lack of consideration of: Merit, Democracy, Social Justice, Transparency, Localism and Courtesy, in the selection process for new Conservative candidates in Cameron's Conservative Party. It appears tonight's Question Time programme, which has been the subject of much froth of late, due to the appearence of BNP leader Nick Griffin MEP, has been recorded before the news of the latest Tory tyrannical centralism would have reached the audience or the programme's presenter - pity in a way - as it could have swung the view ( or viewer ) as to the direction from which the greater danger to Britain presently appears to come - namely the established Lab/Con/Lib conspiracy.

Bank of Englan Governor finally admits insanity of Banking Bailout - Osborne must GO!

As proposals for a 7p rise in basic income tax, VAT hikes and extensions emerge this morning and Mervyn King finally pushing the alarm button last evening, is sanity about to appear in Britain? Year after year and month after month this blog has warned of the certain disaster heading the country's way. Finally some of the incompetent madmen who have created this mess are about to face reality, will we see the Prime Minister now crack-up in public? Will the simpleton in charge of the main opposition party's economic policies now stand aside to allow a man of stature with economic experience and gravitas prepare the policies essential for effective governance? Complete and utter financial ruin is now the best way to describe the nation's economic plight, one question is, of course, how those who caused this mess can continue in power for yet one more week - another perhaps of even greater significance for the future - is how can the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, whose main task has been to effectively oppose those policies during the past few years, be allowed to retain his position for yet one more day? George Osborne should stand down or be fired today!

Tories debate whether Klaus will sign Lisbon

Centre Right part of the Conservative Home web pages has a debate on whether or not President Klaus will sign the Lisbon Treaty. It is linked from here. We thus have the main opposition party substituting action and policy with speculation on how a foreign leader might determine the future of democracy and sovereignty for their country. The comments include some interesting speculation about likely assassination targets and Russian and US influence within the putrescent corporatist conglomeration which the EU has become.

Slovakia may also demand new Lisbon protections

The New York Times had this report with the startling news summarized in this post's topic, over the weekend, finally it has appeared in one European paper, only one that I have yet found, the Daily Telegraph, linked here. Are citizens of the EU really content that news on the most crucial matter facing Europe is being thus so consistently ignored by the mainstream media of 27 countries - and that before the fascist state formally takes over with Lisbon's full ratification?

Treasures from the threads - Number thirty-five

A comment to an article on whether or not the BNP leader should be invited to Question Time caught my eye and is quoted here. After watching the performance of the sluglike Home Secretary yesterday evening (on the Sunday evening repeat of the previous programme) unable to even offer an apology for his automatic claiming for food costs while at his second home, and bearing in mind the clearly criminal activities of his immediate predecessor, this is particularly pertinent:

Peter Principle wrote:

Martin Ivens wrote: 'On Question Time and elsewhere I hope essential British decency will also triumph' Are you referring to that decency that the voters granted to MPs, only to find them lining their pockets on the back of it? Or is it the decency that received a kick in the teeth when the disgraced Michael Martin was lowered (sic) to the House of Lords? Or the decency that was mocked when the terrorist Magee was invited to the House of Commons, the very institution he tried to obliterate? Or the decency of the Chief Constable whose force's inheirent lack of decency drove Fiona Pilkington to despair and terrible death? Get a grip, Martin Ivers, I and many like me (middle class, leafy suburb) are tired of being at the front of the queue paying (too many) taxes whilst magically relegated to the rear when it comes to benefiting from them. I am sick to death of the ping-pong politics of a Tory or Labour government - I want change. I want policies that benefit the many; I do not dislike foreigners, blacks or Asians but I do not wish to live amongst hordes of them; I do not want multi-culturalism - what benefit has that brought this country, can you answer me that? I want criminals locked up, so they are not burgling my house, raping my wife, molesting my children, stealing my car or making the lives of the Pilkingtons of this country utterly miserable. The list goes on; if the likes of you don't want the BNP to thrive then the likes of the spiv Mendelson, Prudence Brown, Shifty Blair and Del Boy Dave Cameron had better offer an acceptable alternative, otherwise, if the the BNP can provide the solutions I seek, I'll vote for them, and to hell with your brand of decency.

October 18, 2009 10:14 AM BST "Essential British decency"is mentioned in the subject of the article, what a farce to even refer to such a relic of the past, long forgotten with the existing British establishment!

President Klaus needs early UK election if Lisbon Treaty to be thwarted!

The Telegraph has the report linked here, of which this is the essence:

Mr Klaus, who angered EU partners when he further delayed the ratification process by asking for an opt-out on the treaty earlier this month, said he still did not see the document as a good thing for "freedom in Europe."

But in an interview with the "Lidove noviny" newspaper in the Czech Republic, he said: "I cannot and will not wait for British elections, unless they hold them in the next few days or weeks.

The Queen of England will be tested in the coming days, the Leader of the Opposition must apply all possible pressure backed by William Hague. The Lisbon Treaty, if forced upon the country of the United Kingdom by this disgraced Parliament, will never be accepted by the people, certainly not once the full consequences of this government's economic mismanagement and negligence comes to be felt by all during the coming months and years to follow.

Is the EU's biggest member subject to EU law?

A fascinating question is posed in this post's title. Read this report from Reuters linked here. Consider these quotes:

The European Commission announced late on Friday that Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes had written to Guttenberg voicing doubts about Germany's offer to provide 4.5 billion euros in financial aid for Opel as part of the deal with Magna.

In the letter, Kroes said there were "significant indications" that Germany had made the aid for Opel contingent on Magna being chosen as the winning bidder -- a stance that would run counter to EU competition rules.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin on Saturday morning, Guttenberg said the deal was "on track" and voiced confidence that Germany could resolve the questions raised by Kroes.

Asked whether her concerns could doom the sale to Magna, he replied: "No, I don't believe that."-----------

It linked its offer of 4.5 billion euros in aid for Opel to a Magna takeover, with Chancellor Angela Merkel promising back in August to intervene personally, if necessary, to ensure Magna won the bid battle. How can Mr Guttenberg make such a statement, given all the media reports as the GM/Opel matter developed to the exact effect that Magna had to be the winner? How can the supposedly fearless Neelie Kroes, the EU Competition Commissioner, only refer to "significant indications"? I guess we can at least be grateful that the former EU Commissioner in that post was dispatched by the EU to prop up Gordon Brown to ensure the Lisbon Treaty went through, in light of this development and the startling implications that it appears some avoidance of the law is already being contemplated, should not now the Queen demand the return from Rome of the dishonestly ratified document to be put to the people in the promised referendum concurrently with an immediate General Election?

Daily Mail twice refuses to post a link to the Petition site supporting President Klaus.

I have tried to put a brief word of support with a link to the petition supporting Prsident Klaus on the comments thread attached to the column by Tom Utley, linked from the post below this, with no success. Another commentator has managed to get a post with an e-mail address to send support on to that thread. I have sent mine on, any wishing to do the same may do so to the following: zuzana.rycova@hrad.cz

Support President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic

Tom Utley in his column in the Daily Mail this morning writes about President Klaus, linked here. An international petition in support of President Klaus and his lone struggle among EU leaders against the Lisbon Treaty may be found on this link, please sign up and send it on to your contacts. I have had evidence of attempts to sabotage the circulation of this petition!

House of Lords renders itself worthless!

A national moment of shame!

Brussels confirms Britain's cow is milked dry!

The Daily Mail reports what readers of this blog have known for years - Britain is bankrupt! Unable to pay their pensioners the EU alarmingly foretells ignoring the fact that Britain's pensioners have long received a mere pittance upon which it is quite impossible to survive within (let alone outside) their own country. All this while the EU blows millions on a pointless Parliament and confused Commission. The article is linked here, the comments contain some amusing suggestions for the EU.

The Benes Decrees - some background

The Centre for European Reform undertook an analysis of Benes Decrees at the time of the original EU enlargement to the East which makes very interesting background reading when understanding the present demands for Lisbon Treaty/Charter of Fundamental Rights protections. The document in pdf format by Heather Grabbe, Research Director of the CER, dated June 2002, may be read by clicking here.

The Horrors of EU Partnership

A headline to an article in this morning's The Times, linked here, is as follows:

French troops were killed after Italy hushed up ‘bribes’ to Taleban

When will we wake up to the reality of the incompatibility and consequent wonder and importance of the many different cultures across Europe?

Conflict of Interest

On the first meeting of Parliament for Prime Minister's Question Time since mid-July, after reading the names of the 37 British servicemen killed in Afghanistan while MPs had been on their holidays (many cavorting around the world, for no purpose, and at tax-payers expense) this hugely important question was put to the Prime Minister, reproduced here, together with the reply exactly as reported in Hansard:

Ann Winterton: All Members will wish to associate themselves with the Prime Minister’s expression of sympathy for the families and friends of those who have fallen in Afghanistan since the House last met for Prime Minister’s questions.

When the Lisbon treaty comes into force, the Council of the European Union will become a formal institution of the European Union, and the United Kingdom will be a member of that institution. Will the Prime Minister confirm that he is bound by its rules, and is thus obliged to further the objectives of the European Union in preference to those of the United Kingdom?

The Prime Minister: I thank the hon. Lady for her tribute to those brave men who died in Afghanistan, and I hope that the message will go out today that all political parties—every Member of this House—want to send their sympathy and condolences to every family concerned.

We joined the European Union in the 1970s, and we hold by our obligations to the European Union, but that does not prevent us from representing the national sovereignty of this country.

Every leader of a former sovereign and democratic country represented on the Council of the European Union should be asked this question, at every opportunity, if the Lisbon Treaty ever becomes fully ratified. Every citizen of the EU must be made aware that their nationally elected leader is bound by the rules of the Council of the European Union and thus obliged to further the objectives of the European Union in preference to those of the nation state which they were elected to lead. In the case of the UK, the Prime Minister first returning from a Council of Europe meeting following ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, should be arrested on the airport runway immediately upon his return and thereafter taken straight to the Tower of London for trial for high treason.

Czechs threatened with losing EU Comissioner

The latest bullying is reported in the EU federalist Euractiv, linked here.

EU Bullying by Barroso

Bear in mind when watching this that the Czech Prime Minister, standing to the side of EU Commission Chief Barroso, is a former civil servant who has never received a vote in his life, from the general European public. President of the Commission Barroso is of course, only recently, re-appointed to his own job by his fellow EU troughers. Think of the money Europeans will save for better use in fighting the recession and the credit crunch were Lisbon to remain unratified, the EU to collapse and all those troughing EU dependent nonentities find themselves without pay or perks!

Trafigura and their lawyers Carter Ruck, tried to gag Parliament!

Read more all over the blogosphere and now even in the MSM!

Repaying Members of Parliament must stand down.

David Cameron on GM TV this morning has stated that Conservative Party MPs requested to repay cleaning and gardening expenses will not be allowed to stand again for Parliament in his party if they refuse repayment. This is not good enough. Let it be quite clear what has happened here. There were no previous limits on what may have been considered reasonable in so far as cleaning and gardening costs for MPs were concerned. The investigating, former and senior civil servant has decided to set some retroactive standards as a yardstick for determining what the general public might consider reasonable. BUT all MPs when submitting their claims signed a declaration stating that the expenses were incurred exclusively and necessarily in the fulfilment of their parliamentary duties, there is very little way that cleaning or gardening expenses could really be seen to meet that criteria. Therefore those being asked to repay money have seriously broken all bounds of decency and perjured themselves when signing the expense declaration. The mortgage, capital gains problems remain to be resolved. An incoming parliament of honest, non-Labour, non-Tory and non-LibDem MPs might choose to consider the pension packages payable to the presently retiring MPs, who have presided over the destruction of the country's democracy, economy and sovereignty in the period since 1992, as this blog has previously and frequently suggested.

12,415 reasons why Britain's Prime Minister is a piece of filth

£12,415 that is the amount Gordon Brown has been requested to repay in mis-claimed expenses! 12,415 individual indictments of shame!

Immediate Resignation is the only reasonable course of action now open to this almost criminally incompetent man. The former Home Secretary had to apologise to Parliament today for her transgressions, which to most ordinary citizens appear to border upon embezzlement. This woman was appointed and promoted by Brown, should it need stating that his whole Government should, if he refuses to take the lead, now stand down and offer a General Election. Which Labour MPs remaining beyond this week in Government office can possibly hope for a political career beyond this point - the day the Dartford Connection and Student Loans were hawked around the markets, as if the last remaining scraps to be found following a debauched binge, being all that could be laid hands upon to settle an Off License account for the price of the hair of a dog!

Czech Cabinet climbdown

The Times reports, here, that the Czech Cabinet has backed down from a reported confrontation with President Klaus over the Lisbon Treaty, and that the PM will present his suggestions to the Council of the EU consisting of the former national leaders on 29th October.

Czech crisis raises spectre of the nineteen-thirties

Impeaching President Vaclav Klaus, carries the whiff of panic and hysteria for this observer, but such were the reports in yesterday's Sunday Times, linked here, from which comes this quote:

“I have always considered this treaty a step in the wrong direction,” Klaus said. As he is well aware, the slightest change to the treaty, which was first proposed in 2001, would require all 27 EU member countries to agree.

His remarks were greeted with outrage in Europe. German and French diplomats, in talks with their Czech counterparts, explored two ways of removing the Klaus obstacle: impeach him or change the Czech constitution to take away his right of veto.

“If the president is obstructing the democratic process and opposing the decision of parliament as well as the will of the people, he is moving beyond the law and will need to face the consequences,” a German diplomat told The Sunday Times.

The details of the nature of the guarantees now required by President Klaus, as explained on EurActiv, this morning, linked here, certainly seem more difficult than were being reported earlier in the weekend, but the drastic step of endeavouring to remove the Head of State of one of the smaller EU member states, as is reportedly being considered by France and Germany, would surely rouse even those two countries' hibernating populations to the growing dangers all of us in the EU are now facing. The means of the Lisbon Treaty ratification make it daily ever clearer that the intended constitution will never be accepted by democratic Europeans!

Public asset fire sales starts tomorrow

The profligate UK Government will start selling everything it can lay its grubby fingers upon from tomorrow, starting, according to the BBC, linked here, with the Student Loan Book, The Tote and even more incredibly the Dartford crossing. Even with all that and much, much more, there will be no way that they can quickly raise even the first years extra fees due to the EU as a result of Tony Blair's Presidential purchase fee. As I stated at the end of last week, only two items appear large enough to yield the amounts Britain now needs; the first of course is the NHS; the second the annual dues payable to the EU - which will come first with an election looming? Front line public service cuts anyone? Family silver? Fat Chance! Brown is now about to deliver his BUST!

Poland to sign Lisbon today - National Annihilation looms- Petition the Queen

One small country, the Czech Republic, will by this evening, be the only thing that stands to prevent a non-democratic future for five hundred million Europeans across twenty-seven former independent, sovereign and democratic states. Rarely have so many people been faced with such grave a danger delivered in such a secretive, disgraceful, devious and underhand manner. The Lisbon Treaty is an affront to everything that is clear, open, good and decent in politics. It is written to confuse, then enslave and forever thereafter perpetuate power for the lowest, most venal and therefore least deserving in all our societies. In the face of the clear and open treason of Britain's rulers what, if anything, can ordinary citizens do? One proposal has been sent to me by Anne Palmer and others which I offer here:

Invoking Clause 61 of Magna Carta, as repeated with great distinctness by Henry III (1216-72) “ …it shall; be lawful for every one in our realm to rise against us to use all the ways and means they can to hinder us … until that in which we have transgressed and offenced shall have been brought again into due state …”

The Government and the House of Commons have had their say in ratifying the renamed Treaty of Lisbon. The House of Lords have had their say in ratifying that same Treaty. Neither House have listened to the People that, in respect of the Lower House, sent them to Parliament to represent them. They have ignored the people completely. The High Court also refused judicial review on the previous EU Constitutional Treaty. The people have been denied their say at every point.

I am very much aware that Clause 61 desires four of a quorum of Barons to take any grievances or petitions to the Monarch, but time is short and that was tried before at the time of the Treaty of Nice. Will they again? I would hope so. However, it is also the People’s duty to defend their Monarch and their Country; not only is their solemn Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, the people have a very strong desire and need for their Country to be free and for those we elect to actually instigate our laws, working with the European Union but not governed by them and particularly not forever. The Treaty of Lisbon is a Treaty too far. The House of Lords is no longer the same House of Lords with its commitment to the workings of our own Constitution as it once used to be with the steady hands of the Hereditary Peers at the helm. We can no longer stand by and do nothing while our Head of State too is ignored, deemed to be an ordinary European Union citizen. Her Majesty is no such thing for she is our much beloved Queen and on Coronation Oath not to be subject to alien laws.

The Treaty of Lisbon is a very constitutional Treaty and without doubt, the People should have had say in a true and fair Referendum because it will affect this Country for all time (the EU is planning for the next fifty years starting with The Stockholm Programme and so it goes on and on).

There is now but one final recourse open to the Electorate, that being to ask Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the Treaty of Lisbon to be withdrawn and put before the People in a referendum, preferably before all 27 Countries ratify it and even if it has been ratified by all.

It is time for the people to use for themselves this section of their Common Law Constitution, the great Magna Carta Clause 61. There is no point in having a Constitution if it remains dormant forever and unused and our laws are instigated by foreigners and simply transposed into the United Kingdom. It is time the People of this Country spoke up to defend their Country and its unique Constitution. This is so little to ask to try to save the peace of the Realm, particularly so when our forces are fighting and sadly dying to bring “Democracy” to the people of Afghanistan, which the people of Britain have been denied by their own Government.

No less than 40,000 people went in the first days to see the gold treasure of The Shropshire Hoard in Birmingham. I would like to think we could inspire at least the same amount of people to write to Her Majesty -- for the price of a British stamp. I would like to hit one million really. We have a duty to do quite apart from the fact that none of us want the contents of the Lisbon Treaty to apply to anyone in this Country, for it is one Treaty too far. No more new EU Treaty or legislation (e.g. The Stockholm Program) contrary to our Common Law Constitution should be accepted by this Country ever again without a referendum for the people.

Logistics: With a careful eye on the postal strike, timing becomes more important than ever. Therefore if you know anyone that is going down to London and is prepared to deliver the letters by hand, please use that method. I can’t see any letters being delivered by post before Monday 12.10.2009, so the 40 days should start from that date. I hope every member of your family writes a letter to the Queen. Please spread the word as much as you can, and PLEASE write to you local AND the Daily Papers. The proposal does not just come from me, but from every person in Her Majesty’s Realm that wants their voices to be heard in a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. I will however, keep a tally on how many people have written to the Queen if you let me know. Letters to the Queen are the most important at this point in time. Thank you and good luck.

Anne Palmer JP,

Michael A. Clark, Chairman, Covenant Publishing Company Ltd,

Geoff Southall, C Eng., MIEE, MRIN.

Sudeten German property claims the basis for latest Lisbon hurdle

We made several posts last evening on the footnote required by Czech President Vaclav Klaus in the latest moves to thwart enactment of the Lisbon Treaty which would destroy the democracy and independence of 27 former European nation states. I have waited most of the day for a reasoned report on what exactly is involved. I have selected this report from the Wall Street Journal Blogs as a good summary and brief explanation of the situation. The silence from David Cameron, on this development, especially following his more assertive stance on the EU in his speech of yesterday, is becoming increasingly mysterious! The Conservative Party must decide where they stand on the EU! It is unbelievable that they have been thrown this lifeline by President Klaus and appear to pass by and continue to flounder as if they prefer drowning to facing reality. Read my blog beneath this to see what Cameron said on the EU only yesterday! Where is the support today for President Klaus? Will we have to wait again for the right words from Boris?

Swedish PM Reinfeldt's threats strengthen Cameron's resolve

Mary Ellen Synon addresses the nasty threats to Britain from the present rotating President of the ever more totalitarian EU, read here.

As has happened in the past, nasty threats against the sovereign British people from self-important continentals often have the reverse effect than that intended. Note this passage from David Cameron's speech to his conference yesterday that followed the demeaning demands of the Swedish Prime Minister:

"We are just starting the job of building the new politics we need. Because the anger over expenses reflected something deeper. The sense that people have been left powerless by big government.

"So it is time to shake things up. We need to redistribute power and responsibility. It’s your community and you should have control over it......so we need decentralisation. It’s your money and you should know what is being done with it......so we need transparency. It’s your life that’s affected by political decisions and the people who make those decisions should answer to you, so we need accountability."

"But if there is one political institution that needs decentralisation, transparency, and accountability, it is the EU.

"For the past few decades, something strange has been happening on the left of British politics. People who think of themselves as progressives have fallen in love with an institution that no one elects, no one can remove, and that hasn’t signed off its accounts for over a decade.

"Indeed even to question these things is, apparently, completely beyond the pale. Well, here is a progressive reform plan for Europe.

"Let’s work together on the things where the EU can really help, like combating climate change, fighting global poverty and spreading free and fair trade.

"But let’s return to democratic and accountable politics the powers the EU shouldn’t have.

"And if we win the election, we will have as the strongest voice for our country’s interests, the man who is leading our campaign for a referendum, the man who will be our new British Foreign Secretary: William Hague."

The full speech may be read from here. I am just beginning to wonder if my novel, written in the mid nineteen-nineties, which had an at first rather dreamy, old-Etonian, youngish Conservative British Prime-Minister save the country and restore democracy to the EU in the year 2014, was not as completely fanciful as I have been coming to believe in recent years?????

French Foreign Minister refuses Lisbon Amendment

Bernard Kouchner was the first EU Foreign Minister off the mark to insist a footnote to the Lisbon Treaty demanded today by President Klaus would be refused. Reuters India has the report, linked here. The Czech President is off to Russia next week and so far is refusing to elaborate further on his request for the European Council to unanimously agree to his footnote.

Lisbon footnote demanded by Klaus to take months after Constitutional Court ruling!

The Times report on our earlier posting of the bombshell dropped by President Klaus on the conspiratorial rulers of the EU indicates it could well deliver the promised referendum to Britain! Read here, the following being a quote:

A fresh obstacle to the Lisbon Treaty has been raised by Czech President Vaclav Klaus which could delay it long enough to allow David Cameron to carry out his promise of a British referendum.

The notoriously unpredictable Czech president astonished EU leaders by demanding extra guarantees on the Charter of Fundamental Rights - the controversial declaration being incorporated into European Union (EU) law by the treaty and from which Britain has an opt-out.

President Klaus, who regularly compares the EU to the Soviet Union, refused to clarify his demand for a “footnote” to the treaty on the Charter, but legal experts warned it could take months of negotiation with the other 26 member states.

President Klaus demands Lisbon Treaty change

The BBC has the report on an added sentence to the Treaty demanded by the Czech President as a condition of his signing the dreadful document, linked here. As soon as the sense of the sentence, which concerns the Charter of Fundamental Rights, is available in English it will be posted on this blog. The EU has always maintained that ANY CHANGE to the Treaty could result in a complete re-negotiation of the entire document - could this be the breakthrough for which democrats and freedom lovers have so long waited? Update. The extra wording is apparently two sentences to be added in a footnote. Euractiv has some background on a cancelled trip by the Czech PM to Brussels linked here.

Facing facts - Britain can no longer pay the EU fees!

The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, today began to spell out a small fraction of the pain which now lies ahead for all Britons. All as forewarned by this blog over many months and indeed years. There are two much larger areas where further revenues will eventually, more likely pretty shortly, have to be found- I see none others available. These are NHS charging through private insurance and reducing the payments to the EU. The Conservative Party Conference while appearing brave today, in fact still has its head firmly in the sand. The costs of the EU are insupportable and even higher than they should have been due to the annual extra billions pledged by Tony Blair to buy himself the Presidency that now seems within his grasp. It is imperative that those at the conference impress upon their party leadership, such that David Cameron spells it out in his Leader's Address, that to economize on EU costs once in Government, he must challenge the legality of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process NOW! The main opposition party in the UK CANNOT permit the continuance of the ratification process of this Treaty as if there were any future prospect of them acceding to those terms in the nation's present financial plight. Common sense demands, if only for the best interests of our EU partners, that the facts now be made quite clear. If the Tories do not issue such a challenge, they could be forced into the Withdrawal Provisions (Article 50 of the TEU) of the Lisbon Treaty itself, which will almost certainly bankrupt the nation for generations and merely further set in concrete the grave economic penalties already given away to the Europeans by past leaders of both main political parties, cheered on by the third. The situation that a future British Government will face in attempting to avoid national bankruptcy by an easing of the crippling costs to which the EU is presently entitled may be read on page 46 Article 50 of the TEU from this pdf link. If we are to see some maturity from the present Conservative Party leadership, it must begin with honesty on the EU and a recognition of the unacceptability and illegality of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process, if not elsewhere in the EU then most certainly as far as the Constitutionality of that process in Britain itself. Is a clear lie to be allowed to rob the country of the sovereignty of its people?

Fighting the illegalities in the Lisbon Treaty ratification

In the post below I refer to those who are continuing the fight against the law-breaking EU. Any wishing to read some of the material available on the internet regarding such steps may find all the evidence they need on such illegalities on another of my blogs "The Strasbourg Cesspit" linked here.

England's revolting establishment appears to panic

The Radio Four, Today programme, used its brief minutes for spiritual reflection 'Thought for the Day' this morning for a five minute propaganda statement requiring the citizen's allegiance to the EU and Lisbon Treaty, in spite of it requiring foreign rule. One of the few establishment figures previously prepared to openly criticize the handing of our nation to foreigners, together with the destruction of democracy thus entailed, Daniel Hannan, MEP (to his eternal shame) now writes that having the Lisbon Treaty and no referendum is henceforth OK. He further claims that all leading euro-sceptics accept this view. (To my knowledge, two such, Anne Palmer and Anthony Coughlan are in fact vigourously trying to drum up a legal challenge to the whole clearly illegal process). Read Hannan's shameful career-saving but spirit-destroying outburst from here. I quote just one of many outraged comments from the thread that follows:

In recent days Peer Steinbrück and Thilo Sarrazin have featured in Ambrose Evans-Prichard’s articles on this website: the first [the German Finance Minister] made a violent verbal attack on Britain and the second, [an official of the Bundesbank], an even more violent attack on Turkish immigrants in Berlin. One that made Enoch Powell look like a pussycat, although Sarrazin was gracious enough to say that he preferred Jews to the Turks.

I didn’t notice the Labour Party or the BBC responding to them because, after all, Europe and Europeans are perfect aren’t they? In fact, Germans foaming at the mouth are nothing to worry about. It’s inconceivable that just because they have a tradition of exploding every fifty years, or so, they will do it again because we’re all in the European Union now, aren’t we? And, heaven knows, it’s inconceivable that the Euro is turning out to be an instrument of German hegemony of which Hitler would have been proud. Perish the thought.

I live a lot of my time in the heart of Europe and people are somewhat similar everywhere, of course. Where they differ is in what one might call ’shared atavism’. It is obviously easy for people in the BBC and the Labour Party to pretend that this doesn’t exist. Maybe that is because our ‘ancestral pattern’ is to keep the hell away from Europe. About once per century, we ourselves go mad and get involved. The last person to make a reasonable fist of that was The Duke of Wellington [sorry, but I think WWI and WWII were a disaster for Britain]. He, however, is not a figure in European history books whereas Napoleon is still universally a hero.

When Europeans think of ‘the English’ they often have only a narrow economic view of what Britain stands for. Democracy, so hard-won and so longstanding in Britain, has astonishingly shallow roots in swathes of Europe. Authoritarian elites using vicious Kafkaesque bureaucracies to control the serfs are absolutely run-of-the-mill, however. The next time you are staying in Prague and are woken at 6am by someone trundling dustbins around behind your hotel, pop down and ask why they get up so infernally early; you’ll be told with some pride that the Emperor Ferdinand told the Czechs to be early risers [I'm not joking about this, although you'll need to brush up your Czech first].

The BBC and the Labour Party have been allowed to create a caricature of English nationalism. Enoch Powell, who was a professor of Greek at age 25 and rose from private to be the youngest brigadier in the British Army, was pilloried for saying what probably 80% of Englishmen believed, and believe, to be true. G.K. Chesterton said:

“Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget; For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet.”

Daniel, you are an amiable soul with clever ideas. Your article displays a commendable desire not to ruffle feathers. But I think that the people of England are about to speak. If Cameron will not give them their say about the EU, their voice will be heard as votes for UKIP at the next general election. And as a result of that Cameron & co will likely end up as mere footnotes in that thick volume entitled: ‘Failures of Nerve in British Political Life’

William Hague's Worthless Words

The Conservative Shadow Foreign Affairs Secretary of State has just promised, at the Conservative Party Conference, to amend the European Communities Act of 1972, to prohibit further extensions of EU competence beyond those given in the Lisbon Treaty upon gaining power after a General Election. This is a gigantic and totally meaningless confidence trick being played against the British electorate. The Lisbon Treaty gives the EU legal status in its own right and furthermore gives that body, the EU itself, the powers to extend its own areas of competence as the EU alone considers as necessary within its own procedures. There is no need for the EU to ever again seek parliamentary consent for the further extension of its own activities. That is the very essence of the deep danger to democracy contained in the Lisbon Treaty and also WHY the traitors now leading Britain's Conservative Party must be made by their party conference to promise a referendum on Lisbon whenever the party comes to power, disregarding the then status of ratification by other countries. A legal challenge based upon the EU's own interference in the second Irish referendum procedures alone, made at conference this week, should prove enough of a marker to warn the EU against yet further implementation of Lisbon's provisions, which has also been illegally underway for months. William Hague has sold out his country, he may as well have stood on the stage in Manchester, pulled down the Union Flag and hauled up the hated circle of yellow stars on blue to the music of "Ode to Joy".

The European Project is now the ENEMY

A good article from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, this evening, linked here and concluding as follows:

The methods being used to force this treaty through after electorates have already spoken cross a line that may not be crossed. The European Project has become the enemy.

This is the treaty that Gordon Brown was too ashamed to sign in public with fellow EU leaders in Lisbon. Yet sign he did.

The question for David Cameron is whether he will continue this practice, or take a stand before any more pages are ripped out of our own Magna Carta. Go on, David, sock the usurpers between the eyes.

Mayor Johnson and a British referendum on the EU

It is being reported that Boris Johnson has come out in support of a referendum for Britain on the Lisbon Treaty whether it has been ratified or not. Let us look at what he actually said: In an interview with The Sunday Times, Johnson said: “If we are faced with the prospect of Tony Blair suddenly emerging, suddenly pupating into an intergalactic spokesman for Europe, then I think the British people deserve a say on it ... I do think it would be right for such a debate to be held, particularly if the upshot of the Lisbon treaty is going to produce President Blair.” This then is a spoiler against Tony Blair becoming the first EU President, deliberately targeted at those, on the Continent, making the decision on the the first such appointee to the EU Presidential post. It must surely go without saying that Tony Blair is among that small group of totally shameless and despicable politicians who emerged during the twentieth century in different parts of Europe. As such, it would be entirely fitting for him to become the first appointed head of the corrupt and anti-democratic EU. No decent man or woman would wish their name associated with such an organization after the affront of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process. The actual occupant of the Presidency, as Mayor Johnson is fully aware, is an irrelevance on the question of whether Britons should now accept governance under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty. It is brave of such a leading figure in the Conservative Party to have expressed this view in clear contradiction of the views of his party's leadership. We need it even more clearly spelled out please Boris, Britain needs a referendum on Lisbon, or if ratified, then on the EU, FULL STOP!

Why the EU is doomed in spite of the 2nd Irish vote!!!

A brilliant post from Natalie Solent last evening on Samizdata which is linked here so you may read the comments AND quoted in full for extra emphasis:

After this, anyone who likes the EU is a weirdo

Natalie Solent (Essex) European Union

(14)

"She's a communist. A real one."

Some thirty years ago I, then a bookish sixth former, attended a week long "Introduction to Philosophy" course at London University. One of the tutors was a commie. She was quite pleasant, introduced us to philosophy more than adequately, but truly, really was an actual no-kidding self-declared communist. First I had ever met.

I and some of the other kids from various different schools on this course found this even more interesting than Logical Positivism and we all tried to get into debate with her about it. Got nowhere, of course. A woman who had been defending the party line in all its various manifestations for decades was more than capable of disposing of the arguments of a bunch of seventeen year olds.

All of us but one - there was one boy who did, just about, make an impression. The tutor had some particular link with East Germany and this boy simply repeated, politely but insistently, several very basic statements about that state. "Nobody is allowed to leave." "They have a wall and and barbed wire to stop people escaping." "If you try to escape they shoot you." And when he said this he sounded honestly astonished that anyone could be - could allow themselves to have become - the sort of person who would sincerely defend East German communism. It was not just wrong but weird. I mean, what? The wall, the shooting people, and she says she likes that?

I am moved to write about a communist I met thirty years ago because the second referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty will be held tomorrow. The European Union is not remotely as bad as Communism. But there are some very basic things wrong with it and this referendum has brought them out. The European Union will not accept a vote against it. It will not allow a vote at all, if it can get away with it. If people do vote against something the EU wants it makes them vote again and again, knowing that the donors and volunteers for the opposing side will be exhausted eventually, as will the voters, whereas its side has bottomless coffers and power to keep on pushing till it gets its way. The European Union lies to get what it wants. The Lisbon treaty is the rejected Constitution under another name. The Lisbon Treaty is deliberately written in confusing language so as to hide what it means. That is what con-men do. The Lisbon Treaty is a con.

I think that anyone who has allowed themselves to become the sort of person who would sincerely defend these lies and abuses of democracy should be regarded as a weirdo. Amazing, and not in a good way. Yeah, sure, people might be bribed or bullied or bored into doing what the EU wants - all these I can understand, if not admire. But the "neverendums", the Constitution written like the small print of a dodgy timeshare agreement - you say you like that? I mean, what?

Of course my view as to how such people should be regarded counts about as much as a "no" vote three referenda ago. What is more to the point is that I am almost sure that in Britain at least, my "should" has become, or is in the process of becoming, an "is". At some point during the Lisbon treaty saga normal people in Britain became embarrassed to actively like the EU. This does not mean that they cannot be bullied or bribed or bored into going along with it, as the Irish will be tomorrow, if the polls are to be believed. But when did you last meet a person who passionately and proudly supported the EU? And what were they, some sort of weirdo?

Irish bullied to change their vote!

A disaster for decency. A bigger disaster for democracy. Hope now appears exhausted across Europe! Only President Vaclav Klaus now seems to stand between the Continent of Europe and a new dark age.

Irish should recall Blair's apparent blood lust!

Many British seem to have amnesia on the subject of Blair's love of bombing. The first evidence was Operation Desert Fox which took place in the year following his first election, that'right way back in 1998, recall that event from here, from which comes these quotes:

At the end of Operation Desert Fox, what has the Anglo-American combine gained? A total of 62 Republican guards killed and a few hundred wounded? The damage to civilian life and property has been extensive. At least this is the testimony of Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. Even if we await the assessments of independent sources, it is unlikely that these will approximate to the Anglo-American exaggerations.

Americans can put it down to President Clinton's impeachment difficulties, but what was the British reason for so shrill and excited a participation in the operations? It wouldbe a sobering experience for Prime Minister Tony Blair to replay the video clips of the simulated vigour of those battle-damage reports outside 10 Downing Street........

When the BBC interviewed the ``brave'' British Tornado pilots in Kuwait after their successful sorties in Iraq, the pilots had their backs to the camera, scared of being identified by the people. Why this fear if they were operating on behalf of the people of Kuwait where the RAF Tornado squadron sparked?

Remember Blair's deviation to Kuwait City to sit at the controls of one of the Tornado Bombers that had taken part in the raid, details of the reports in the press seem to have disappeared. Recall the high altitude bombing of Serbia, unapproved by the UN, who was the greatest cheerleader for these raids and which western politician the most vocal in demanding the continuation and intensification of these raids -none other than the man The Times today tells us, read here, will soon be the President of the hundreds of millions of mostly decent and peaceful EU citizens - Tony Blair. All the rest is more recent and less forgotten history! What value Irish neutrality in an EU with such a man at its head? VOTE NO!