Britain's relations with the EU following Brixit

The EUCO yesterday issued a report on its relations with what remains of EFTA, the once British led group of free trading sovereign nations that unsuccessfully fought to fight back the corporatism, restrictive trading and coercive arm-twisting practices of the entity that has today become the EU, as so fittingly illustrated by this picture available on Twitter last evening.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office under William Hague should be preparing the strategy for our once-again independent and sovereign nation after we are free of the restraints of the EU. Rejoining EFTA, should be one option presuming we would be invited and welcomed.

In this blog's view bruised feelings on the Continent would be likely to last for some considerable time, and that diplomatic efforts on EU relations during that early period would be largely wasted, not least as other national exits would almost certainly follow.

Britain's most prosperous periods of history were those when our foreign policy acted as though Europe barely existed, but was an unhappily placed lump of land, with often fractious inhabitants, making a long circumnavigation to our markets a necessity. Thus we broke free of the ties, burdens and wars resulting from our flirtations with the Hanseatic League, freed by the bravery and exploits of the first Elizabethan Merchant Adventurers. 

Such is the spirit we need today, EFTA can wait!

The Sickest Story, so far, for this Sorry Century

A sight to shame every living European! 

     The leaders and titular heads of the destroyers of our democracies and much normal human decency, parade the Nobel Peace Prize, incredibly awarded by non-EU Norway to the bureaucratic unfeeling giant bureaucracy that is the real EU, just at the moment when their greed driven drive to sew disharmony across our Continent appears to be reaching its apogee.

Nigel Farage MEP on Slovakia.

Interesting to see UKIP finally adopting my old "Ironies" logo which I devised and first suggested to them many, many years ago..... at the Scarborough Conference!

Watch the opening of their various videos on UKIP TV!

The French linchpin to the euro begins to falter & Barosso's hols!

There is a lesson from the financial markets that France can now no longer ignore, as the graph on this link to Bloomberg makes startlingly clear. The spread between the interest rates between French and German 10 year bonds rose to almost 90 bps during the past week. On 16th September last year, this spread stood at only 38 bps. The steady progression mirrors what has successively occurred to Greek, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian Bonds spreads against Germany.  The same fate now awaits France! Such a lesson can no longer be ignored by the politicians of France's leading party who face re-election next year. More background and data may be found here and here.

Illustrating this point was an interview by the BBC Today Programme with Jacques Myard  this morning which can be heard at 3 minutes 50 seconds into the audio available from this link. Mr Myard is a deputy of the National Assembly in France for President Sarkozy's ruling UMP party. Earlier in the same audio recording you can hear German disgust, among other doubtful comments, over the frequently shifting EU position as exemplified by the letter from EU Commission President Barosso, of whom there appears to be an apt picture of an earlier vacation from the Daily Mail, linked here, and reproduced below:

Britain's leaders should be alert enough to the dangers now upon us, to remove themselves from the excesses of holidaymaking stupor, so vividly represented in the image above, and return to prepare the nation for what is to come, as urged by this blog for the past two mornings.

Vince Cable, who again appeared on the BBC TV morning news show this morning, badly needs extra support, at the highest possible level, from both his party and the Conservative Party! Namely from the absurdly titled Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister himself!

Barosso declares it as an EU wide crisis!

Deutsche Welle, reports on the contents of the Barosso letter, raised in questions to Trichet at the ECB this afternoon, read here, a quote:

"It is clear that we are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro-area periphery,"

Jean-Claude Trichet, himself, in his responses repeatedly made clear the absolute obvious fact that the extended capabilities for the EFSF could not be left hanging in the air until national parliaments returned from their vacations, by repeatedly stating the 21st July agreement must be implemented fully and innediately!

Most worryingly, he seemed unprepared for one obvious burning question, that if Italy's borrowing costs approach the level thay will receive from Greece under Greek Bailout 2.0, will the Italian contribution, mentioned as €13 billion by the questioner, still be forthcoming?