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Posts Tagged ‘EU’

The former Europe Minister Denis MacShane wrote an article on the EU intended to show that the EU is wonderful and the “Beastly Tories” will detach us from it which given the difficulties Greece is currently in, hardly seems a sensible approach to reality.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/denis-macshane-shame-on-those-now-sneering-at-the-european-project-1900566.html

However as an election has to take place in months, the Labour Party is dragging “any old has been” off the back benches to write “wicked Tory” articles on any and every topic they can, what a sad sack of shit this Labour Government has become.

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Whilst I could never understand the economic rationale behind setting up the Eurozone which was always a total nonsense to me, the political case was obvious for those who believed in a “United States of Europe”, another nonsense if ever there was one. But whilst I have no love for either, I certainly wish them no harm because the UK is outside the Eurozone and hopefully in due course we shall be outside of the EU too.

The Media is full of stories about the economic crisis in Greece which is in the Euro but in deep shit because of the way it ran its budget therefore the question is: “Will the richer Eurozone countries bail Greece out ? Is this the first test for the Euro and will the currency fail if they can’t or don’t do so ?” To be honest the real problem has nothing to do with this in any case in my opinion…

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I believe that it is becoming increasingly clear that the UK would be far better off outside of the EU however, even David Cameron has convinced his most die-hard anti EU party members, it is not a burning issue for the majority of the British electorate because like most EU citizens, they don’t see it as having much impact on their daily lives even though, it may.

In addition and historically, the British electorate instinctively distrust “clever, intellectual” politicians or those who wrap themselves in the Union Flag so, trying to get the EU as a central political issue that would engage the electorate is a highly fraught task. However, help may well be at hand in the unlikely shape of Nicholas Sarkozy, the French President, “Vive Le President !”

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To much amusement, there was an Opinion Poll commissioned by and published in the Observer that showed that Labour was ‘closing the gap’ with the Conservatives but as usual in the Independent, the rather more sensible subscribers put that into some perspective and, amusingly so. The ‘blogosphere’ may be guilty of many things but “Comments” on the broadsheets can often be just so constructive and worth exploration.

This comment was priceless, do follow the links – “IPSOS Mori polls are biased towards Labour because they don’t politically weight their sample. And with small samples (like this sample of 1006) that is important. The explanation is here: http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/faq-weighting (scroll down to “Political Weighting” and then to “Ipsos MORI”). “

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This is a deathly combination, a newspaper, The Independent fighting for survival and a political party, the LibDems knowing that they haven’t made the progress that they should have over the past 12-18 months, joining in a campaign of “Parliamentary Reform.

The Editorial and links to associated articles including Mr Clegg’s can be found here- http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-a-powerful-case-to-answer-on-the-restoration-of-power-1821274.html

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Although I don’t always comment and likely sometimes comment too much to stuff on the web but, an article by Dominic Lawson on Afghanistan in the Independent and the reader’s comments that followed, did make me stop and think for awhile about the predicament we are in currently. /www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/dominic-lawson/dominic-lawson-the-only-options-are-to-double-up-in-afghanistan-or-leave-1817739.html

Combined with Remembrance Sunday, the nasty little Sun inspired row on Brown’s handwriting and 6 British Soldiers bodies being repatriated today, the concentration of most people is on the “particular and specific” which is understandable. However and without wishing to be an “Armchair General”, we must also have an awareness of the broader picture too in deciding policy and as citizens, supporting that policy.

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Although I don’t really care for dealing with multiple subjects in one posting, as it is the end of October and the “News Stories” are frankly too boring and repetitive to bother with, endless reiterations with little to no insight, I thought that I might allow myself an “exception” because on both subjects, I have written already, there is little more to say.

The two current topics are Blair and the EU Presidency, the Kelly Report on MP’s Expenses and on the latter at least, from John O’Farell in the Independent some sound stuff.

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Although this entry is also political, my main thrust is about life and having a sense of humour. I will start it with a few things that cause me great amusement and I feel that I might try and share. In the 80’s when Maggie was PM, she was apparently very found of a BBC TV series called “Yes Minister” which was a comedy centred around a Tory Minister “Jim Hacker” and his two closest Civil Servants. Read the rest of this entry »

Although there may be one or two people who are, there is no xenophobic core of British citizens who “hate” our European neighbours, the majority of us are fond of the variety of customs that we meet there when we travel. Unlike our Fathers and Grandfathers, we come from a generation where “battle” is carried out on Soccer and Rugby pitches and not in mud and blood filled trenches, in this respect we Europeans are inheritors of the peace won then by our forefathers. Read the rest of this entry »