October 21, 2009
In for Hatter's Sake
Half in, half out of Europe – that’s great if you’re Norway
As Lisbon reopens the old splits, there is an alternative to full membership. But would it work for Britain?
Roy Hattersley
...To the rational observer, half in and half out seems exactly the right place to be — for Norway. Its economic agreement with Europe does come with strings attached, but none of them binds Oslo to policies that damage its national interests. Its relationship with the EU is exactly that which, 30 years ago, stickers in thousands of British motor-car rear windows were demanding: free trade without political union.
For Norway, Edward Heath’s promise has been kept. There has been “no unacceptable loss of sovereignty”. But as Norwegians will happily agree, Norway is special. An à la carte Europe is not available to Britain, although in Bergen and Oslo last week I dared not say why. Half in and half out of Europe is a status for small countries happy to remain on the margin of big decisions.
So the benefit we get from Europe is that clapped out political losers can posture and pretend they have influence, I wonder why Roy Hattersley thinks that is a price worth paying?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:21 AM
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October 16, 2009
EU Compulsory Indoctrination
MEPs call for compulsory 'EU lessons' in schools - Telegraph
Leaders of the centre-right EPP grouping in the European Parliament say there should be compulsory classes for 14-year-olds in all member states.
The calls are being led by Mario David, a Portuguese MEP: "All the debates about the constitution and then the Lisbon Treaty showed a great deal of lying, cheating and mistrust about the EU."
I think he meant "by" the EU not "about"...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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October 8, 2009
French Culture
Frédéric Mitterrand, France’s culture minister, was under pressure to resign after it emerged that he had admitted to paying “young boys” for sexual acts while on holiday in Thailand.
“I got into the habit of paying for boys...All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excite me enormously.
“One could judge this abominable spectacle from a moral standpoint but it pleases me beyond the reasonable.”
Mr Mitterrand, who joined the cabinet in June, was considered a great catch for Mr Sarkozy and proof of his “open” style of government; the minister comes from a grand Socialist family and is admired by many in the Left-wing cultural establishment. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the first lady, was said to have had a hand in his nomination.
Only under pressure to resign, and fighting back against it. After all this revelation was in his autobiography that he published a few years ago and no one raised a squeak about it then. That's european sophistication for you...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:35 AM
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October 6, 2009
Europe - a small union far away of which we know little
Nasty or nice? David Cameron needs a clear blue message
Support for the Tories is fragile. If voters believe that the leader cannot keep the Right in check, they will desert him
Rachel Sylvester
The rows over Europe matter because they reinforce the view that these are the “same old Tories” who are self-indulgently obsessing about their private concerns.
Europe is not a self-indulgent private obsession, it is not a how many angels on a pin head row it is the biggest bloody question are politicians are faced with and wanting to sweep it under the carpet so it doesn't frighten the voters is pathetic.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM
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October 5, 2009
Manchester Fudge
Too late for the Tories: Czechs dash hopes of delaying EU treaty - Times Online
Vaclav Klaus: "I am afraid that the people of Britain should have been doing something really much earlier and not just now, too late, saying something and waiting for my decision"
The loyal Tory bloggers will be saying "don't rock the boat" "victory isn't certain" "Dave has given a clear commitment and it is unreasonable to have two policies at once".
Bollocks.
Dave's promise is a cop out. We all know the it is almost certain that the Treaty will have been ratified before he gets in power. That is one of the reasons the Blairites are keeping Brown in power and encouraging the poor old chap to keep on right to the end. So refusing to discuss the likely outcome is a cowardly cop out. I don't blame him because he has a split party and his lust for power means he can't do the honourable thing and use the conference for debate rather than acclamation.
So while some may hold their noses and pretend all is right with the Tories I won't and will join with others and declare "NO REFERENDUM ... NO VOTE"
Posted by The Englishman at 6:44 AM
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October 4, 2009
Irish Surrender
Deep down, the Irish have never really wanted to be independent
Far to the land of slaves and fens;
A servile race in folly nursed,
Who truckle most when treated worst.
- Dean Swift
Posted by The Englishman at 7:20 AM
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October 2, 2009
A Message to All Fenian Scum from An Englishman
Are you going to roll over today and let the foreigners take over your country? I thought you had more balls and pride and fighting spirit than play at being the politician's poodles. Where's your fucking fighting spirit gone? All that talk of honouring the heroes who fought for Independence is so much guff when your masters in Brussels wave a few euros at you.
"From Devoy to O'Neill and John O'Mahoney, To Joe McGarritty and Michael Flannery, Sedition's our tradition and it won't just go away, Say it loud, say it proud that I will stay an,
Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Unrepentant Fenian Bastard, Respect to all who refuse to be mastered"
Posted by The Englishman at 6:29 AM
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October 1, 2009
The Votes That Really Matter
This is an important week for the politics and policy of Britain, but not for any reason connected to the froth of party conferences, prescription drugs or Sun editorials. The reasons lie across the sea in Ireland and across the channel in Germany, in the choices being made by voters there. Those votes can — and should — alter the choices and opportunities faced by Britain and, crucially, by its likely Conservative government.
Tomorrow a couple of million Irish voters will seal the fate of the Lisbon treaty, the document that hardly anyone has read and which will determine the powers and institutional structure of the European Union for at least the next decade. Having rejected the treaty in a referendum last year, the Irish are being sent back to the polls in order to give the right answer — from a European point of view — bribed to do so only by some “clarifications” about what the treaty will do and by a promise that Ireland can still send a Commissioner to do a non-job for plush pay in Brussels.
The whole charade should anger anyone who cares about democracy, and indeed about Europe. A constitutional exercise that when it began in 2001 was supposed to make the EU more democratic, transparent and comprehensible to its citizens is doing just the opposite.
And it's No, Nay, never, No, nay never no more ...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:50 AM
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September 30, 2009
I love the euro
It's that time of year again when many in the farming industry take an even closer interest in the value of sterling and what is going on in the international currency markets.
Of course such things are always important and the weakness of sterling has already served the farming industry pretty well over the past 12 months.
But the value of sterling is even more important now as at close of play on 30 September, the EU commission will fix the rate at which this year's single farm payments will be converted from euros into national currencies.
Damn - looks like it is down a cent and a quarter in the last couple of days, that's a few quid I've lost, but a lot better than last year. I bet on the pound weakening since the summer, because as badly run as the euro is, the pound is even more of a basket case for all the reasons we know and love.
Posted by The Englishman at 4:45 PM
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September 9, 2009
Common Agricultural Policy makes us unhealthy, infertile and stupid.
Selenium 'could make Britain more healthy' - Telegraph
The mineral, mainly obtained from wheat and other cereals but also brazil nuts, occurs naturally in the soil but only at low levels in Britain.
As a result consumption levels of selenium in the UK are about half what they should be.
Selenium is important to the immune system - especially for combating viruses such as the ones that cause flu - and hormone production.
It also reduces the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer, notably prostate. In old age, selenium is believed to help the brain remain sharp and active.
Blame the EU - Selenium is high in Canadian Wheat, we used to get a decent dose in our daily bread, but because we eat EU wheat now we don't.
(Luckily I eat Organic Weetabix every morning which is made from Canadian wheat, which makes it taste better than normal Weetabix. And no comments about what an odd choice of breakfast that is. One Weetabix with Kellogg's Cornflakes on top in a hemispherical bowl, topped with unrefined Muscovado sugar and semi skimmed milk, eaten with an Old English pattern spoon has been my breakfast nearly everyday for thirty years, it is only when the wrong sort of spoon or bowl or one of the ingredients isn't available that I haven't and then spend the whole day depressed... OCD? what OCD....)
Posted by The Englishman at 9:29 PM
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June 18, 2009
City to Fall to French Invaders
UK 'powerless' to stop EU regulation - Telegraph
"There will be a pincer movement on Britain," said a key aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking at a pre-summit briefing.
Europe's key proposal is for three new bodies to oversee banking, insurance and securities. Each would rank as EU "authorities" and have binding powers to dictate decisions over sweeping areas of regulation.
Britain cannot veto the proposals because EU single market laws are passed by qualified majority voting (QMV). While a few countries have reservations – Germany views the plan as "too ambitious" – London will struggle to put together a blocking minority.
It would be a serious political matter if the EU proceeded against vehement objections from the British Government. Any outcome depends on whether Mr Brown is willing to risk a showdown with Europe.
Mr Brown, risk, showdown, courage, not a chance; game over.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:42 AM
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June 17, 2009
Blair's bid to be God backed by Cameron
David Cameron ‘would not oppose’ Blair becoming first president of the EU - Times Online
Gordon Brown would support a Blair presidency warmly, The Times has been told, but friends of both men say that it would be in Mr Blair’s interests for the advocacy of his case to come from other leaders.
A senior Tory said: “There have been a number of ‘what if’ discussions and the feeling is that we have nothing to gain in being seen to try to block Blair.”
Having created everlasting prosperity at home, a summer of love in Ulster and solved the Middle East problem it is his due, or is that the other choices of failed politicians are even worse?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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June 11, 2009
Little Continental Mandy Up To His Old Tricks
Britain will 'obviously' join euro says Mandelson - Telegraph
Britain "obviously" remains committed to joining the euro following the currency's "success" in helping its members to weather the economic crisis, Lord Mandelson said.
Asked if the British Government would consider joining the euro, Lord Mandelson replied: "Does it remain an important objective for Britain to find itself in the same currency as that single market in which it interacts? Obviously yes."
Euro-zone europe being the only market we interact with then, but then he does get a pension from the EU which forbids him from not promoting it....
Posted by The Englishman at 8:18 PM
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June 4, 2009
Time to vote
Posted by The Englishman at 6:28 AM
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June 3, 2009
4th June Elections - The Real Issue
Forget wanting to punish our parties for corruption, for incompetence or out of loathing. The real issue in European elections is Europe. Cameron is wishy-washy on it as he tries to hold the Tories together on it. The Lib-dems are beyond the pale in this regard. The fringe parties are either irrelevant or nasty and if you are even fleetingly thinking of voting Labour then nurse will be along soon with some medication. UKIP may not be the sort of people you would want to invite to dinner, with one or two notable exceptions, but tomorrow I will lend them my vote.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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May 28, 2009
Freedom's Light Flickers Out
Europe to impose new lightbulb labelling system - Telegraph
By September this year 100W incandescent bulbs will no longer be sold in shops, followed by 60W bulbs in 2011 and all incandescent models by 2012.
As part of the same legislation retailers will be forced to label lightbulbs in Lumens from September 2010.
"Consumers have to be made aware that this is nothing to confuse them but this will actually help them to make the right choice,"
We will ban and legislate so that there is only one choice, the right choice and you will make it, you understand?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:46 AM
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April 23, 2009
EU Fishing - Accepting they got it wrong.
We've got it all wrong on fishing strategy, says EU - Times Online
Europe’s fishing industry is on the brink of suicide and several species are in danger of extinction after 25 years of policy failure,the European Commission said yesterday.
Officials admitted five key failings in the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy as they prepared to tear up the idea of a centrally dictated strategy. They launched the search for an alternative, saying that much of the responsibility for fishing must be returned to EU member states.
A surprising bit of good news - the first stage of any recovery depends on acknowledging your own faults. Darling, Brown, please note.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:20 AM
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March 16, 2009
The Real Story About Drink Prices
BBC NEWS | Health | Plans for minimum alcohol price
The BBC and the Lib Dims are still breathlessly excited by this idea, even though Gordon has scotched the idea and better informed people than BBC journalists point out the EU angle which scuppers it but then as they point out it is probable "that we have a strong element of kite-flying here, softening up public opinion for a massive tax hike on booze. That is the only legal option available to our provincial government." And that is something the Lib Dims and BBC agree is excellent.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:55 AM
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Teacher's Leaders Slam Success
Schools risk becoming Tesco-style identikits, warns teachers' leader - Telegraph
I'm not in favour of central control of schools but isn't it ironic that if our schools were as successful as Tescos then we wouldn't have a problem.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:44 AM
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March 8, 2009
Fenian Bastards Still at Work
Two Soldiers dead in drive-by attack on British Army base in Northern Ireland - Telegraph
Four other men were injured in the attack, when shots were fired from a passing car at the Massereene Army base in County Antrim, north of Belfast.
Now there have been deaths maybe the "narrative" that Tony Blair solved the Ulster problem and all is peace and light will be revisited; no news yet of condemnations from Gerry Adams or Ted Kennedy.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:44 AM
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February 25, 2009
Too dirty a word even for the French
Internet may change name of a town that became a dirty word - Times Online
Go on, guess which town in France is a "dirty word", that Mr Google might misinterpret if you added "tourist" or "hotel" to it.
Anus?
Agay?
The town of Condom on the river Baïse (Note the double dot on the i, we don't want any dirty slang here..)
No, none of these. In fact the town has a name so revolting, so associated with deviant behaviour and disgusting people I feel compelled to hide it below the fold...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:16 AM
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February 23, 2009
German Desire For World Domination
Europe backs hedge fund oversight and haven crackdown
| Reuters
Chancellor Angela Merkel: "We have today underscored once again our conviction that all financial markets, products and participants must be subject to appropriate oversight or regulation, without exception and regardless of their country of domicile, This is especially true for those private pools of capital, including hedge funds, that may present a systemic risk."
The statement also urges definitive actions against tax havens and uncooperative jurisdictions.
Ah! International Capital, private pots of money in countries we don't control, we demand the right to control them or we will take action, they all have hook noses and eat babies, we demand their immediate surrender......
Posted by The Englishman at 6:49 AM
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February 22, 2009
Making Alan Stanford Look Like a Two Bit Loser
How to make a million in five years (become a Euro MP) - Times Online
Well, Brussels is a bubble that has escaped the recession, thanks to the many millions that European taxpayers pour into the pockets of Euro-parliamentarians and Eurocrats alike.
In Britain, we complain about bankers’ bonuses and about the denizens of Westminster and Whitehall who cushion themselves financially through perks and pensions while the economy totters.
However, the Euro fatcats – enjoying allowances that, by my reckoning, enable them to save £1m during a single parliament – vastly outpace the British for sheer effrontery, and they do so without having to account for themselves.
It's not Antigua or any other offshore tax haven you want to go to make bucketloads of cash... and you don't risk getting caught..
Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM
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February 13, 2009
Cowards and Appeasers
Anti-Islamist politician Geert Wilders refused entry to Britain - Times Online
Mr Wilders, 45, an MP in the Netherlands, caught a British Midlands flight from Amsterdam this afternoon brandishing his passport and boarding pass. He said he would have to be physically restrained from entering the country. “I’ll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs,” he said.
”It is easy to invite people you agree with, it is more difficult to invite people you disagree with and this is the proof of the pudding," he said.
"I am going to Great Britain because I was invited by another politician (Lord Pearson of Rannoch). I am a democrat, I am serving freedom of speech. They are not only being nasty to me they are being nasty to freedom of speech.
He added: "They (the British government) are more Chamberlain than Churchill."
The Home Office decision to refuse Mr Wilders entry on account of his views provoked Maxime Verhagen, the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, to call David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to protest at the decision. “The fact that a Dutch parliamentarian is refused entry to another EU country is highly regrettable,” Mr Verhagen said.
Lord Pearson asked Home Office minister Lord West of Spithead: “Do you think this situation would occur if Mr Wilders had said ban the Bible. If it would not have occurred, why would it not have occurred? ...The violence is coming from the Jihadist, the violent Islamist, and surely the Government in doing what it has done is therefore guilty of appeasement.”
Lord West replied: “I certainly don’t think we are guilty of appeasement in any way whatsoever. I don’t want to go down the route of discussing a hypothetical case of what if he talked about this, what if he talked about that.”
He told peers: “Under European law a member state of the European Economic Area may refuse entry to a national of another EEA state if they constitute a threat to public policy, public security or public health.”
Posted by The Englishman at 7:13 AM
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February 2, 2009
Will the Pawl hold?
Wildcat oil strikes: Europeans are finally waking up to the demise of democracy - Telegraph
Angry people across the EU are discovering the fine print in all the treaties signed by their leaders, says Janet Daley.
One of the most frightening thoughts about Europe is that as the ratchet has been tightening there will only be one way for it to loosen. Not by gentle unwinding but by smashing the pawls.
(Pawl? You know your mechanics, its the finger that pushes or pulls and holds the gear wheel, which together with it makes up a ratchet....)
Posted by The Englishman at 7:12 AM
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January 18, 2009
What will happen when Germany wakes up?
Monetary union has left half of Europe trapped in depression - Telegraph
Events are moving fast in Europe. The worst riots since the fall of Communism have swept the Baltics and the south Balkans. An incipient crisis is taking shape in the Club Med bond markets. S&P has cut Greek debt to near junk. Spanish, Portuguese, and Irish bonds are on negative watch.
A great ring of EU states stretching from Eastern Europe down across Mare Nostrum to the Celtic fringe are either in a 1930s depression already or soon will be. Greece's social fabric is unravelling before the pain begins, which bodes ill.
Each is a victim of ill-judged economic policies foisted upon them by elites in thrall to Europe's monetary project – either in EMU or preparing to join – and each is trapped....
Fixed exchange systems – and EMU is just a glorified version – rupture suddenly. Things can seem eerily calm for a long time. Politicians swear by the parity. Remember John Major's "soft-option" defiance days before the ERM blew apart in 1992? Or Philip Snowden's defence of sterling before a Royal Navy mutiny forced Britain off the Gold Standard in 1931.
Don't expect tremors before an earthquake – and there is no fault line of greater historic violence than the crunching plates where Latin Europe meets Teutonia.
Greece no longer dares sell long bonds to fund its debt. It sold €2.5bn last week at short rates, mostly 3-months and 6-months. This is a dangerous game. It stores up "roll-over risk" for later in the year. Hedge funds are circling.
Traders suspect that investors are dumping their Club Med and Irish debt immediately on the European Central Bank in "repo" actions.
In other words, the ECB is already providing a stealth bail-out for Europe's governments – though secrecy veils all.
An EU debt union is being created, in breach of EU law. Liabilities are being shifted quietly on to German taxpayers. What happens when Germany's hard-working citizens find out?
This could get very, very ugly very quickly. Batten down the hatches, withdraw and make secure are the sensible orders of the day.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:21 AM
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January 16, 2009
Testing the EU's freedom of expression
Did the 'EUSSR' tamper with Czech art exhibit? :: Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
The legends and mystique surrounding the Czech art controversy just will not go away. The latest story has it that lego bricks were added to the Denmark exhibit to remove an incendiary resemblance to the Prophet Mohammed.
David Černý, the artist behind the whole thing, spoke about the EU's (or should it be the EUSSR) sense of humour failure.
"If we are not able to look at ourselves with fun or taking ourselves so seriously then we going back to the past of the Iron Curtain again, not being able to speak or have freedom. During Communism the only thing that was really forbidden by the state, bureaucracy and government was humour. If we unable to have fun about ourselves, you could say Europe is going back to that."
Complaints about the installation were discussed on Wednesday afternoon by Coreper - the EU's powerful and secretive committee of national "permanent representatives".
Milena Vicenová, the Czech Permanent Representative, told Coreper that the issue was one of principle.
"Having spent 50 years behind the Iron Curtain we appreciate freedom of expression," she said (roughly).
Is that a rough translation or does it mean she told them robustly? I hope the latter because it is about time someone dropped a few Fs on them.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:06 AM
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January 14, 2009
Taxpayer to 30.48cm the bill for metric stupidity
'Metric martyr' Janet Devers will not pay legal fees towards her failed prosecution by Hackney Council for selling fruit and veg in pounds and ounces on her market stall.
Yesterday at a formal hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Ms Devers was told the taxpayer would foot the bill for her costs incurred by Hackney Council's aborted case.
She was also formally found not guilty of four charges under the Weights and Measures Act, as the authority failed to present any evidence against her.
Excellent news, shows that standing up to the Metric bullies pays off, but the campaign continues..
(h/t commentator on newspaper for headline)
Posted by The Englishman at 6:56 AM
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January 12, 2009
The Nations of Europe
Britain 'disappears from map of Europe' in a controversial European Union sculpture to be unveiled on Monday in Brussels.
Conservative Roman Catholic Poland is depicted by a sculpture of priests raising the rainbow flag of the gay movement, subverting the iconic image of the American soldiers planting the Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima.
France is represented by a map of France covered with the inscription "Strike!".
The Netherlands is shown as having sunk beneath the sea in the aftermath of climate change and all that appears above the waves are the minarets of mosques,...
EU officials have expressed concern... why?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM
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January 4, 2009
EU Hacking Your PC
Police set to step up hacking of home PCs - Times Online
THE Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant.
Under the Brussels edict, police across the EU have been given the green light to expand the implementation of a rarely used power involving warrantless intrusive surveillance of private property. The strategy will allow French, German and other EU forces to ask British officers to hack into someone’s UK computer and pass over any material gleaned.
The authorities could break into a suspect’s home or office and insert a “key-logging” device into an individual’s computer. This would collect and, if necessary, transmit details of all the suspect’s keystrokes. Police might also send an e-mail to a suspect’s computer. The message would include an attachment that contained a virus or “malware”. If the attachment was opened, the remote search facility would be covertly activated. Alternatively, police could park outside a suspect’s home and hack into his or her hard drive using the wireless network.
Posted by The Englishman at 8:57 AM
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December 28, 2008
EU Tube (Money down the)
EU Tube The European Union’s answer to YouTube the internet video sharing phenomenon, has backfired, with audiences shunning many of the clips intended to promote pet subjects in Brussels.
Eighteen months on from the creation of EU Tube many of the videos posted on the website have attracted only a few dozen viewers.
An EU Tube video entitled Controlling the Use of Chemicals in Europe has been watched 56 times. Another film, Better Rights for Temporary Workers, has attracted 70.
EU Tube’s attempts to adopt street language have also misfired, with ventures such as a three-minute “euro-rap”, which urges young viewers “you gotta be a part of” a united Europe.
And few of them seem to be supporters: One visitor, Opaz, writes: “It’s like Nazi Hitler Youth propaganda with aggressive music. Be a part of what? The destruction of our nations, homelands and security so that the rich can own and control us. Overlords of EU go to hell!”
Posted by The Englishman at 6:30 AM
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December 27, 2008
No wonder we love them so much
EU spends £2bn each year on 'vain PR exercises' - Telegraph
New research by Open Europe, a think-tank that supports EU reform, has found that so-called European "information" campaigns are one-sided and boast a budget that is bigger than Coca-Cola's total worldwide advertising account.
One publication, entitled How the European Union works, described the EU as "a remarkable success story".
Another English-language "information" pamphlet claimed the EU "is delivering a better life for everyone" and described the single market as "a winning formula."
The researchers also found a European Commission document that admitted: "Neutral factual information is needed of course, but it is not enough on its own. Genuine communication by the EU cannot be reduced to the mere provision of information."
Money well spent with children running through the streets spontaneously declaring their love for the EU and its leaders, with only a few miserable nay-sayers confined to their ghettos; all is rosy in Euroland....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:59 AM
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December 18, 2008
48 Hour Slavery
BBC NEWS | Politics | UK work time opt-out under threat
If I'm not free to sell my own labour how I want to then I am a slave. Simple as that.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:46 AM
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December 12, 2008
And it's no, nay, never, No nay never no more...
FREE MARKET FAIRY TALES: When ‘no’ is simply not an option
Hell hath no fury like a politician scorned & absolutely nothing, not even radical Islam hath fury like a Euro-politician scorned. This morning dear readers, please pity poor poor Ireland. A few months back, the Paddies had the temerity to tell Brussels to stuff their constitution treaty. Failed. Wrong answer. How predictable was it that they would be forced to sit the exam again.
Time for another chorus:
Posted by The Englishman at 7:22 AM
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December 7, 2008
If customers don't like it, they don't have to buy.
Man told to follow EU rules when selling vegetable leftovers from his garden stall - Telegraph
Mr Cookson said he decided to set up the small stall at the end of his drive so the fresh vegetables from his garden did not go to waste, labelling bags of them with prices, and relying on the honesty of passers-by to leave cash in a piggy bank.
He said: "It is not a business, just a way of offering vegetables to others and preventing them going to waste. The vegetables are bought by people going to and from the local pub. If customers don't like it, they don't have to buy."
Last weekend he received the letter from Northumberland County Council informing him that a trading standards officer had visited the stall, and informing him that "most fruit and vegetables are required to be sold by weight". It was accompanied by four pages of guidance on the rules governing weights and measures, setting out the European Union requirements.
Is it legal to sell hempen rope by the yard, or must it be in metres?
Posted by The Englishman at 11:55 AM
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November 21, 2008
EU Chicken Feed
Jack Sprat: my kitchen gadget wish list - Times Online
....in these hard times, I suspect that the gadget of the year is that fantastic, self-powering device that turns kitchen food waste into delicious, chef-ready protein in a handy capsule. It's the chicken. Less than £10 for a good layer, lives in the garden, great talking point.
Naughty Boy Jack - Defra, UK - Animal health and welfare - Animal by-products - composting - Q&A
Under the UK Animal By-Products Order 1999 (as amended) it is illegal to allow livestock or wild birds access to catering waste which contained meat or products of animal origin, or which came from a premises handling meat or products of animal origin.
Catering waste is defined in the EU Regulation as ‘all waste food including used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens.’ This definition also includes catering waste from vegetarian restaurants and kitchens. The Regulation does not make a distinction for catering waste which is only vegetable matter...
...If you keep poultry, you may compost your kitchen scraps at home, but you must do so in an enclosed container.
Don't blame me that you can't feed you chickens scraps - it is an EU law and we all know that they don't do such things on the continent..
Posted by The Englishman at 6:45 AM
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November 12, 2008
How I like my carrots is none of your business
Reprieve for curvy cucumbers and crooked carrots as EU bends rules - Times Online
Knobbly fruit and amusingly shaped vegetables, the staple diet of local newspapers, caption competitions and That's Life!, are set to return to the shops in a reprieve from strict European Union laws.
The regulations covering the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetable are expected to be abolished today by EU agriculture officials... but the vote will be a close call owing to opposition from France, Italy, Spain and Greece. It is expected to pass now that Germany has swung behind the move, which was supported strongly by Hilary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary.
“I think a large dose of common sense is required here,” Mr Benn told The Times. “Frankly, if shops want to sell, and consumers want to buy, funny-shaped carrots and turnips then I do not really see what the problem is.”
Benn speaking sense? I must be still suffering from that bonfire smoke....
Posted by The Englishman at 5:26 AM
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November 10, 2008
EU Accounts Ground Hog Day
We have a right to know where the EU's millions end up | Marta Andreassen - Times Online
Here we go again. Today, for the 14th year in a row, the European Court of Auditors will unveil their report, telling us that they refuse to clear the EU accounts. What's worse, no one will really seem to care. We are told that the accounts won't be cleared until 2020 - if then.
Having worked inside the Brussels nomenklatura and having being sacked for my insistence that financial controls have to be strengthened, I am not surprised to find that nothing has changed other than the arguments deployed to defend this state of affairs. What the auditors have been saying for years is that most of the payments made by the Commission from its ｣70 billion-a- year budget cannot be deemed legal or regular. That is, that they cannot confirm those payments have been made to the correct person for the correct purpose and for the correct amount. It stretches credulity to insist, as the Europhiles do, that this does not mean that there is fraud.
It's not just that too many have gone native, dreaming of their part in constructing that shimmering vision of “Europe”. It's that they've forgotten what a Parliament is for, which is not simply to pass legislation, but to hold those who implement it to account. Only a complete cynic would note that those who do complain, those who do insist that this situation must change, start to find their own activities, their own expense accounts, say, subjected to audits of much greater detailed scrutiny than are applied to the accounts as a whole.
Posted by The Englishman at 5:09 AM
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November 9, 2008
BBC Reporter wound up by the Queen Mother
Which 'national treasure' said this? - Scotsman.com News
Edward Stourton, one of the BBC's most respected broadcasters, has claimed that the Queen Mother was a "racist" and "ghastly old bigot" as he tries to flog his book; "It's A PC World".
"'It will never work, you know,' she declared, using the already long out-of-date term the EEC. 'It will never work with all those Huns, Wops and Dagos.' The words were delivered with the eyes on maximum, tiara-strength twinkle, but I am afraid I froze.
"The Nation's Favourite Grandmother was in fact a ghastly old bigot, a prey to precisely the kind of prejudice which had driven the conflicts the European project had been designed to prevent. What she had said was nasty and ugly. Politically correct is what I felt the Queen Mother most emphatically was not and I was shocked."
Hugo Vickers, a royal commentator and the author of Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, was dismayed by Stourton's revelations. "These things were said to him at a private lunch party and I think they would have been said for effect, possibly to amuse him or possibly to surprise him," he said. "The Queen Mother lived in another age and she did say these sorts of things. Trying to put her into a box of political correctness is as silly as trying to put the sea into the sky."
"I remember talking to her once and she referred to the 'beastly Germans'. She did not like Germans but that was because her brother was killed in the First World War and her other brothers returned from the conflict as broken men. The Queen Mother didn't like any foreigners, to be quite frank. She probably didn't even like the English that much."
Hats off to the Old Girl, how she must have enjoyed winding up a prissy politically correct BBC reporter, and what was it she said that was wrong......
Posted by The Englishman at 5:49 AM
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November 4, 2008
Duff Message on Europe
Liberal Democrats support EU symbols (Andrew Duff MEP)
Speaking in the debate, Lib Dem leader Andrew Duff, the President of the Union of European Federalists said; ""We all remember the blue flag with the yellow stars in the enormous demonstrations which broke communism and set these countries on the road to EU membership. We all remember the playing of the anthem at the Brandenburg Gate after the fall of the Berlin Wall.. because the symbols inspired the hearts and emotions of ordinary European citizens."
Strangely I don't remember the EU flag being waved at the demonstrations, I have searched Google images and Youtube and can't find any demonstrations then which feature the flag - can you? He couldn't be mistaken could he?
"The Liberal message is that only a stronger and reformed EU can tackle the insecurity of the financial markets, the problem of climate change and the threat of a more assertive Russia. The true British interest lies in a strong Europe - and not in the whingeing and isolationism we get from the Tories."
At least that is clear, he couldn't be mistaken could he?
Posted by The Englishman at 5:50 PM
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November 2, 2008
Stamping on Dissent
Whistle-blowers say council targeted 'metric martyrs' - Telegraph
Three former Hackney Council inspectors have told how they were instructed to single out Colin Hunt, 60 - one of the original metric martyrs - and his sister, Janet Devers, 64, for "enforcement action" because the pair had campaigned against the ban on imperial measurements.
One ex-inspector, who worked for Hackney for four years, said: "The manager told us that we had to teach Janet and Colin a lesson and focus our enforcement efforts on them rather than any other traders who used imperial measures or sold goods by the bowl. We knew it wasn't fair, but if we objected the managers just said we should do as we were told.
There are words to describe bullying local officials like that, but they are unsuitable for Sunday Morning...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:12 AM
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October 26, 2008
Hutton proposes Army surrender to the French
John Hutton backs European army - Times Online
John Hutton has become the first defence secretary to back a French plan for a European army, branding those who dismiss it as “pathetic”.
Hutton said: “France is one of our closest allies, militarily. The French believe very strongly in this type of role. If we can support it, we should. I’m not one of those EU haters [who think] anything to do with the EU must by definition be terrible. There’s plenty of them around. I think frankly those kind of views are pathetic”
Nothing wrong with joint operations with the French, holding the line whilst they have lunch for instance, but this is an anti-NATO anti-American move, trying to divert resources from NATO and our own national interests to a glorious Napoleonic Europe. Add me to the ranks of the "pathetic".
Posted by The Englishman at 8:07 AM
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October 19, 2008
Metric Matyrs Update
The final victory is not yet won - Telegraph or as the "unlinked, unloved, unimportant" EU Referendum has it It ain't a victory...yet. We live in hope of the glorious day.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:18 AM
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October 12, 2008
Mandelson's Greek Pleasures on Queen KYacht
Peter Mandelson joins richest Russian on his superyacht - Times Online
Peter Mandelson gave trade concessions worth up to £50m a year to Russia’s richest man who has entertained him on his superyacht.
The encounter on the 238ft yacht, Queen K, in Corfu this summer was the latest in a series of social meetings between Mandelson and Oleg Deripaska — known as the “king of aluminium” — during the politician’s term as European Union trade commissioner.
At the time of Mandelson’s Corfu holiday his trade department was a few weeks into a fresh investigation into aluminium foil tariffs, which could have hit one of the Russian’s companies.
The Sunday Times was told by an authoritative source that he had been an overnight guest on the boat, a European spokesman said: “He exercised his role as commissioner despite his friendship with Mr Deripaska.” He refused to say whether Mandelson had stayed on board.
Of course we know that Mandelson is a pretty straight sort of guy so of course there is nothing to worry about...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:28 AM
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The EU and Market Matters
EU Referendum reveals that the EU commission has known for at least a year that there have been disastrous "shortcomings" in its system of financial regulation. This system includes the measures for the application of the "mark to market" rules which lie at the heart of the current banking crisis.
The commission has also known that changes to the system were urgently needed to prevent a repeat of the "market turmoil" of the summer of 2007. Yet, despite a massive effort, it has only just been able to deliver drafts of these vitally needed changes.
What is particularly damning though is that the commission is actively hiding its part in what amounts, probably, to the most serious regulatory failure in the history of mankind – certainly the most expensive.
As they are busy doing sterling work there exposing the red tape that is behind the crash, and how the solution offered is more red tape, let me highlight a less weighty matter, but further evidence of the corrosive effect of the bloody continentals on the British trading system.
Market trader 'in shock' at conviction for selling fruit and veg by the pound - Telegraph
In September last year, Gunther Verheugen, the European Commission's vice-president for enterprise and industry, said Brussels never intended to criminalise those who sold in pounds and ounces.
But days after Mr Verheugen made his remarks trading standards officials from Hackney Council, accompanied by two police officers, arrived at Mrs Devers' stall to confiscate two sets of imperial, non-metric scales
Magistrates ordered Mrs Devers, from Wanstead, east London, to pay just under £5,000 in costs and told her she would have a criminal record after being found guilty of eight offences under the Weights and Measures Act.
The "metric martyr" was also convicted of selling vegetables for £1 a bowl rather than counting them out individually, a common practice among Britain's estimated 40,000 market traders to help customers confused by metric measures.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:12 AM
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October 10, 2008
The Fedarists Rag
'Sovereignty threat' after European parliament adopts flag and anthem - Telegraph
The European parliament has officially adopted an anthem and flag which were left out of the Lisbon treaty for fears they appeared federalist.
Supporters of the symbols said they would send "a political message to our citizens".
The Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff, a European federalist, said opposition to the move was nothing but "petty nationalism".
And I have a clear "political message" back...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:43 AM
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October 7, 2008
Zealots prevent LHC Black Hole forming?
Large Hadron Collider broke down because of bad soldering on a single connection - Telegraph
"It is very probable that there was a connection that wasn't good," said Lyn Evans, project leader...he did not think a single fault in 10,000 connections was bad, but "it cost dearly".
Perhaps they were using lead free solder?
John Brignell: March of the zealots
"A classic example was the ban on lead in solder. It was completely unjustified by available evidence yet imposed virtually without serious thought. Leadless solder is not only considerably more expensive, it is unreliable, being subject to dry joints and cracks. We are talking about people being killed here, for there are now many applications of electronics on which human lives depend, let alone livelihoods. Notably, military applications were excluded."
H/t D Ambler
Posted by The Englishman at 7:07 AM
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October 6, 2008
Rats and Sinking Ships
Stricken Iceland sends out financial SOS - Times Online
Financial turmoil has led to renewed calls from labour unions for Iceland to join the EU and adopt the European single currency
Every country for itself as European unity collapses in an attack of jitters
Germany shattered any semblance of European unity on the global credit crisis last night by announcing that it was ready to guarantee €568 billion of personal savings in domestic accounts.
The massive liquidity crisis in the banking system has already nudged the Irish Republic and Greece into unilateral – and probably illegal under EU law – action to guarantee the deposits in national banks. Faced with a choice between the possible collapse of their banking systems and violating EU competition rules, the two countries opted for what they saw as the lesser evil. Now Germany, which at the weekend rejected French plans for an EU lifeboat fund, has taken the decisive protective step, and it is said to be plain that other European states will have to follow suit.
Early today the Danish Government guaranteed all bank deposits in Denmark ...
EU Referendum: Oh shit!
...if they do decide to throw way the rule book, the game is over, The EU is on its way out. After all, if the rules are useless for a crisis, what use are they at all?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:50 AM
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October 2, 2008
Shipping them to Germany for Thought Crimes
'Holocaust denier' arrested at Heathrow - Times Online
A leading Holocaust denier was arrested as he flew into Britain yesterday, accused of running an internet site that insisted that the Nazis had not murdered millions of Jews.
Huh? you think. Didn't realise that was a crime here now.
Dr Toben was arrested in transit from America to Dubai, the court was told. Tina Whybraw, for the Crown, on behalf of the German authorities, said that he was accused of committing the offences in Australia, Germany and other countries...When police boarded the aircraft Dr Toben had moved seats “to avoid detection” and told officers “you can’t arrest me on British soil”, she said.
The extradition request is being made under the European Arrest Warrant, a fast-track procedure to allow criminal suspects to be sent between European states.
The warrant, which came into force in January 2004, abolished the principle of “dual criminality” that existed under old extradition laws. This means that someone in Britain can be extradited for something that is not a crime here - as long as it is a criminal offence in the state requesting extradition.
The reform was rushed through in part as a response to terrorism after September 11. Ministers also argued that it would speed up a cumbersome and slow extradition process, helping criminals to be brought more swiftly to justice.
Critics pointed out, however, that people could find themselves charged with an offence they did not know existed because racism or xenophobia, for example, can be interpreted differently in different jurisdictions. The spectre of “thought crime”, a person facing trial for broadcasting xenophobic or racist remarks such as denying the Holocaust on an internet chatroom in another country - as alleged against Dr Toben - was the very criticism raised against the warrant before it took effect.
Lord Filkin, then the Home Office Minister, said when the legislation went through Parliament that no one would be extradited for conduct that was legal in Britain.
Yet again we see how the Government lies and how laws brought in to cover terrorism are abused to destroy freedom.
I know nothing of Dr Toben, but even if he is the most unpleasant little shit in the world he should not be in prison here for a thought crime that isn't illegal here. If we can send an Australian to Germany for an internet thought crime, how soon will it be a British Subject exercising their right to free speech on a computer here who is sent off to some European court for some other thought crime.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:24 AM
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September 26, 2008
Sarkozy "pleased to see" Pope
Anything in a dress gets these Frenchies going....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM
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September 23, 2008
EU Blogger Silenced
England Expects: "ironique et eurosceptique"
I am sad to announce that from henceforth England Expects shall be consigned to the dustbins of history. I say this with a heavy heart, but it is the case. And this is why.
Yesterday I was summoned by my Secretary General and informed that a formal complaint had been made about my posting on this blog. My activities were found to be in contravention of the Staff Code of Conduct....
More at EU Referendum: Freedom of speech – EU style
That, ladies and gentlemen is freedom of speech EU-style. Where they can, they shut down debate and, if they could, they would close it down on the blogosphere and everywhere else.
Posted by The Englishman at 8:07 PM
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September 8, 2008
Freeing Britain from the EU Monolith
Britain 'should be able to opt out of EU deals' - Telegraph
Mr d'Estaing will tell the conference organised by the Daily Telegraph and campaign group Global vision: "Integration is vital for Europe: it is a question of scale that will become vital in the world of tomorrow. The European Union has already come too far with the project of closer integration to stop now.
"However, we have to accept that not all countries share the same vision, or are comfortable proceeding at the same speed. If countries such as Britain do not want to move to the next stage we should be prepared to agree with them on a special status that would preserve close ties, but avoid them acting as a brake on the progress of others."
More of a case that we should free to not have our progress braked by the others methinks.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:52 AM
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August 19, 2008
France, signs of improvement.
Supersize ... moi? How the French learnt to love McDonald's - Times Online
Stop any Frenchman on the street - and we stop plenty - and he will shrug and snarl and say that he doesn't eat in McDonald's, either.Yet an awful lot of people do eat in McDonald's. In this city of all things haute cuisine and gastronomique, you will find almost 70 restaurants under golden arches, with even more dotted around the outer suburbs. That's much the same as London, but with only a third of the people.
McDonald's, or “macdoh” as it is ubiquitously known, is France's dirty secret. In 2007, as you may have read on our business pages, the chain's French revenues increased by 11 per cent to €3 billion (£2.3 billion). That's more than it generates in Britain. In terms of profit, France is second only to the US itself.
As the French have begun to adopt Anglo-American working practices, they have also begun to adopt Anglo-American eating practices. One oft-quoted statistic is that the length of the average French meal has fallen from 1 hour 22 minutes in 1978 to a mere 38 minutes today.
My God, if they start washing as well they could become a serious competitor as Britain circles the plug hole.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:55 AM
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August 17, 2008
Save Our Sprays
Food costs 'to soar' after pesticide ban - Scotsman.com News
CASH-strapped consumers face yet more soaring food prices because of plans by Brussels to ban commonly-used pesticides.
Farmers' leaders in Scotland predict rises of up to 50% on some staple items such as cereals, potatoes and fruit at a time when food price inflation is already at its highest for almost 30 years.
The EU says it wants to ban a range of up to 50 chemicals for use on crops because of their potential hazard to human health. They contain ingredients, which have, in high doses, been linked to cancer and other conditions.
But farmers say the products have been used safely for decades with no evidence of harm to humans. Banning them would lead to a dramatic reduction in crop yields and a consequent increase in food prices.
More here - and how you can help:
Posted by The Englishman at 7:21 AM
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August 15, 2008
It has never been hard to tell the difference between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.
Reasons to be cheerful: Scots are among Europe's happiest - Scotsman.com News
THE traditional image of Scots as dour, doom-laden pessimists was shaken yesterday by a new Europe-wide survey showing them to be among the happiest people in the Continent.
The research, carried out across 24 countries, found Scots are failing to live up to their caricature. They are now the happiest in Britain and the third most contented in Europe, beaten only by the Swiss and the Danes.
Now I gather that being beaten by Swiss and Danes is the sort of thing to perk up a dull afternoon in a dungeon I'm not sure it is reason enough to make a whole nation cheerful. I wonder if not that the Scots have suddenly become Tommy Tickles as the lap up the English cash but rather that the rest of Europe, the euro zone, has become more miserable.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:10 AM
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August 12, 2008
Smoke Gets in Eu Eyes
QUESTION ASKED IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, 9 JUNE 2008 Godfrey Bloom asked the following written question of the European Commission with reference to secondary smoke. According to the Commission Green Paper "Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level", more than, "79,000 adults" die in the EU per annum from the effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Given that the impact that such a Directive will be considerable, both economically and socially, could the Commission please name three or four people who have died from ETS within the European Union in the last two years?
ANSWER, 18 July 2008 "The nature of the epidemiological evidence on all risk factors, be they chemical or other, is such that it does not allow to identify the victims at individual level but only populations"
GODFREY'S REPLY? Thank you for your response. For press purposes I can therefore take the answer "None". Obviously I am only interested in facts not speculation by interested parties, either the Commission or the Tobacco Industry.
AVRIL BOYLE, an MEP with Fine Gael, has called for a ban on tobacco throughout Europe by 2025.
As an interim measure, members of the EU are talking of banning lobbying on public health policy by tobacco and associated trades. Such trades might include hospitality, vending machine companies, tobacconists, etc. Although these bodies and all who work in them will still be taxed as usual, officers in the field of public health policy will be prevented from giving them an audience:
More from England Expects
So next those that argue against AGW will be denied a voice since they are deemed to be supporters of the oil lobby.
H/t JBB
Posted by The Englishman at 8:09 PM
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European Crap Art News
Giant inflatable turd escapes moorings and brings down electricity line - Telegraph
De gigantische drol, getiteld 'Complex Shit', was op een exhibitie in de tuin van een museum in Bern opgesteld toen een windvlaag het kunstwerk ter grootte van een huis 's nachts de lucht inblies.
L'oeuvre "Complex Shit" de la taille d'une maison a atterri à 200 mètres de son emplacement original, dans le jardin d'un foyer pour jeunes. Sur son trajet, elle a arraché une ligne électrique et a endommagé une serre du foyer
Fliegender Hundehaufen wütet in Bern
De opblaasbare hond ter grootte van een huis werd zo'n 200 meter meegevoerd door de wind en beschadigde elektriciteitsleidingen
Posted by The Englishman at 7:55 AM
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August 11, 2008
Brussels Hidden Turkeys
EU bureaucrats outnumber British army two to one, say campaigners - Telegraph
A study released by the Open Europe think tank, which wants to control the influence and scale of the EU, has found that 170,000 people now work for EU institutions.
The group claimed that the difficulty of finding out how many officials worked in Brussels showed a lack of transparency and left the EU open to "influence from lobbyists."
Open Europe said the figure is nearly six times more than the 32,000 Brussels bureaucrats which EU bosses have traditionally claimed are needed to run the EU.
Who would have thought it, the EU being economical with the actualitie, it is the only thing the EU is economical with.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:21 AM
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August 7, 2008
Electricity Causes Frog Muscle Spasm
Britons face bigger bills as French Government caps energy prices
British families could find themselves subsidising households in France after the French Government ordered a 2 per cent cap on electricity price increases yesterday.
EDF, which supplies homes on both sides of the Channel, raised its prices to British customers by 22 per cent only two weeks ago. It also put up its charges for gas by 17 per cent - but it will not be allowed to increase French prices by more than 5 per cent. ..
Steve Webb, the Liberal Democrat energy spokesman, said: “EDF will have to make up the shortfall somehow. They may have to look to customers in countries where the markets are less interventionist, like Britain.” He added that the French announcement drew a stark contrast with what he saw as fundamental flaws in the British market that failed to protect consumers. “Energy prices are not like the price of baked beans,” he said. “It matters if people cannot afford to pay, so leaving it all to the market is just not acceptable.”
Liberal Democrat politicians are not like other politicians, it matters if people don't vote for their policies, leaving it to the voters is just not acceptable, they must be imposed by higher authority.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:04 AM
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July 21, 2008
The EU wants to register your guns
Handguns are available legally in most of Europe, and only now is the EU drawing up plans for a central firearms register.
Can't find much on it - seems to be a goldplating of Directive 91/477 by additional directives - fighting crime, of course that makes it all OK for yet another central register, doesn't it?
Posted by The Englishman at 1:48 PM
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How the CAP money should be spent
Don't slip on a subsidised banana skin | Carl Mortished - Times Online
Some good has come out of the soaring cost of food: a pile of one billion unspent euros. The money was earmarked under the Common Agricultural Policy to subsidise farmers in Europe. But the soaring world price of grain and milk has made EU farming competitive and subsidies unnecessary.
Unfortunately, taxpayers are unlikely to see a penny because the European commissioners have other ideas than writing cheques to national treasuries. Instead, the commission wants to give it all away to UN organisations...
Even assuming that money is not squandered on fleets of Toyota Land Cruisers for UN aid workers, this is a lost opportunity to show that the EU has truly changed its attitude towards agriculture, that it no longer believes that governments should manipulate trade in food. The EU should use the surplus to demonstrate that high food prices can stimulate large-scale, profitable investment in the production and distribution of food in poorer countries.....
Instead of protectionism and taxes, we could insist on free and unfettered trade in food. We could fight for the right of foreign investors to purchase and trade agricultural land, to farm and sell crops at market prices. Instead of handouts to subsistence farmers who never rise above subsistence, the billion euros could be the seed capital for a farming fund that would invest for profit alongside farmer entrepreneurs in Africa, seeking good returns and dividends producing food on a large scale.
Some might call it colonisation, but unlike handouts it might produce food surpluses in places where there are now shortages. That would bring down prices in places where borders are open and where trade is free. It would be political heresy, but that is what we need.
And with France protecting its banana growers it has as much chance as I have of rolling over in the morning to find Carla Bruni has slipped in under the linen... well maybe not even that much of a chance.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:37 AM
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July 20, 2008
Bendy Bananas and the EU - again.
EU rediscovers taste for bendy cucumbers - Times Online
It's official: European diktats on the size and shape of fruit and vegetables are bananas.Even the European Commission now wants them scrapped to avoid wasting good food in times of global shortage.
The commission, in a step backed by the UK, will this week attempt to reform strict rules governing standards on such matters as the colour of leeks, the bendiness of cucumbers and the shape of carrots.
In a vote in Brussels, Britain, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Germany will support moves to reform the marketing standards amid fears that they are making the world food crisis worse.
However, France, Spain, Italy and other countries are expected to oppose the plan, claiming that the standards “play an important role in market operations while protecting consumers”. Critics suspect they are just protecting their vested interests.
These would be the rules that the euro fedarist insist are just myths then...
Euro-myths? Most of them are just plain bananas... - UK Politics, UK - The Independent
The Myth
Bendy bananas are banned by Brussels. (Bananas must not be excessively curved.)
Posted by The Englishman at 7:25 AM
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July 15, 2008
Independent Britain - PR
Campaign for an Independent Britain
The latest edition of Campaign for an Independent Britain's tabloid
newspaper FREE BRITAIN is now out - with lots of coverage about the defeat of the EU's Lisbon Treaty and our TIME FOR TRUTH campaign.
If you would like to see an on-line copy of FREE BRITAIN and perhaps order copies for distribution to your friends and neighbours, please visit http://www.eurosceptic.org.uk/freebritain
Posted by The Englishman at 8:56 PM
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July 12, 2008
The Glorious Revolution - Now Over
The Glorious Revolution began modern English parliamentary democracy: never again would the monarch hold absolute power, and the Bill of Rights became one of the most important documents in the political history of Britain.
We used to be so proud of it, what ever happened? The advances of liberty enshrined in it are being dismantled and the Catholic inspired absolute rulers in Europe are regaining the powers of the Jacobite Monarchs.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:33 AM
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July 10, 2008
Cleaning the EUgean Stables
Tory MEPs' anger as David Cameron orders 'deep clean' of expenses - Telegraph
Conservative MEPs have reacted furiously after David Cameron ordered a "deep clean" of their expenses and ordered them to accept public scrutiny or leave the European Parliament.
An anonymous letter from a group of MEPs, said to represent a "minority" of those serving in Brussels, and threatening to sue the Conservative leader if he carried out his threat to de-select them, was made public.
In it, the MEPs said there would be "no incentive" for them to go on trips to the Parliament's alternative base in Strasbourg if they could not cash in on lucrative expenses, and complained about the prospect of eating in cheaper restaurants and cutting out "that extra half-pint of lager" from their expenses claims....
A spokesman for Mr Cameron confirmed that the letter was genuine and said he was "unsurprised" to receive it.
She added: "He was pleased, in fact, because we are getting things out in the open and he is not afraid to have a row over this.
Excellent - it is hard for Dave to portray himself astride his trusty white charger as a champion of decency unless the troglodytes come out and fight - up to now they have all resigned and gone to ground when challenged, and I think this anonymous bunch will do so too when identified (The Guardian claims Roger Helmer is behind it.)
Posted by The Englishman at 6:48 AM
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June 26, 2008
MEP pig sticking - Update 2 - It is Now Censored
The original exposé has now been removed from Youtube, I wonder why....
UPDATE 3 - It seems to be back now, maybe it was a proxy problem...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:04 PM
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MEP pig sticking - Update
YouTube - Response to RTL TV
Kathy Sinnott MEP makes a heartfelt reply about how unfair it all is and how she worked all night and had a ten hour flight and..., I couldn't hear the rest as I laughed too loudly!
And only 12 people have bothered to watch it, and nobody has commented ..yet!
Posted by The Englishman at 3:11 PM
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MEP pig sticking - an excellent sport
It is not often German TV has me laughing out loud, German humour being what it is, but this cruel hunting of MEPs as they try and claim their daily attendance allowance at 7:00 am before buggering off for the day had me guffawing. The cornering of Hiltrud Breyer, of the German Green Party, as she tried to go to ground in the lift was especially sweet to an old huntsman.
HattipEU Referendum: Caught red-handed ...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:00 AM
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June 22, 2008
Forvik - my kind of place
Tiny Shetland island declares independence - Yahoo! News
The owner of a tiny island in off Scotland declared its independence from the United Kingdom on Saturday, saying he wanted the territory, population one, to be a crown dependency like the Channel Islands.
"Forvik owes no allegiance to any United Kingdom government, central or local, and is not bound by any of its statutes. There will be no income tax, VAT (value added tax), council tax, corporation tax, or any of the other taxes instituted by the British government. I also invite anyone from any country in the world, who supports these aims, namely to become free of liars, thieves and tyrants in government, to become a citizen of Forvik,"
Where do I sign up?
UPDATE - here
Posted by The Englishman at 6:53 AM
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June 21, 2008
Handbags!
J’accuse: Peter Mandelson rounds on Nicolas Sarkozy - Times Online
Wouldn't you love to hold the ring for those two, though I bet they fight like a pair of girly men, all scratching and flailing hands like an epileptic Duracell bunny.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:38 AM
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June 19, 2008
Great Britain Dies on Kinnock's Orders
Peers vote on delaying EU treaty
Lord Kinnock said delaying the vote would put the UK "on the sidelines", while ratifying it would put Mr Brown in a stronger position to "safeguard the ...
The BBC has now edited the news story so I can no longer quickly find out what Kinnock of Bedwetter said, just as well I suppose as I might tip the scale of what is considered to be illegal thoughts if I knew.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:06 AM
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June 18, 2008
Quote of the Day
The British are still lovers of liberty | William Rees-Mogg - Times Online
But let's not forget the EU is as much a threat to our freedom as the surveillance state...Brussels, like the Clintons, is extremely reluctant to recognise defeat.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:15 AM
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Rules the Waves
Royal Navy warships may form part of EU fleet being planned by France.
This must have something to do with the myth of a common defence force that rabid eurosceptics were told off for promulgating. Of course Britain would never surrender its defences, would it...
And if the Froggies want one of our ships may I suggest we offer the the flagship of the Second Sea Lord in his role as Commander in Chief of the Royal Navy's Home Command (CINCNAVHOME).
Posted by The Englishman at 6:31 AM
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June 17, 2008
Sign here please
Posted by The Englishman at 9:04 PM
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June 16, 2008
The Lights Are Going Out Because of Europe
EU rule kept half a million homes in the dark - Times Online
Blackouts that plunged 500,000 homes into darkness last month were compounded by European environmental restrictions over the use of coal and oil-fired power stations, The Times has learnt.... industry sources say that a key factor was the European Union’s Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), which sets strict limits on the number of hours that some of Britain’s largest and most heavily polluting coal and oil-fired power stations can operate before they have to close in 2015. The time is measured in “stack hours” — the length of time that chimney stacks, rather than individual generation units, are in use...
The problem has been made worse because it affects coal and oil-fired stations, two of the most flexible sources of power generation. While nuclear plants need plenty of time to boost their power output, operational oil and coal-fired stations can be fired up quickly to generate more energy.For power stations that have more than one burner, this has created a clear economic incentive for plants to be switched off unless they are being operated at full capacity, or until wholesale power prices increase enough for them to be economically viable to be turned back on.
Power industry executives said that the rules had contributed to mounting instability on the network because increasing numbers of power stations were not being run at any one time, reducing the margin of spare capacity and the ability of the National Grid to boost supply rapidly at times of crisis.
Yet again the insane micromanagement of our lives in the name of Greenery by the EU has catastrophic affects.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:44 AM
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June 14, 2008
EU Threatens Our Food Supplies
EU Pesticide Rules Would Slash Food Production in UK - Business - redOrbit
EUROPEAN proposals for pesticide control would outlaw four fifths of the chemicals used by UK farmers and cut crop yields by between a quarter and a half, says a body representing growers, food manufacturers and government advisers.The British Crop Production Council published its disaster warning yesterday in an attempt to shock Ministers and Euro-MPs into intervening before a proposed rewriting of the European Commission rules on plant protection products takes effect towards the end of next year.
A spokesman said last night: "It is a typical European story. These proposals have been under discussion for years. Everyone assumes the dafter elements will be talked out but they disappear into various committees, which are lobbied by all sorts of people, and get worse. And by the time they come back, we are running out of time. The proposals now on the table are due for implementation in late 2009 but we saw them not much more than a month ago."...
The agricultural consultancy ADAS, a privatised government agency which still advises Defra, worked with the York-based Pesticide Safety Directorate ...said the lowest impact would be a 25 per cent drop in crop production in the UK; it could be as much as 53 per cent.
New rules for European crops would imply the need to ban imports grown to different rules elsewhere - meaning huge jumps in prices.
ADAS representative James Clarke told the forum that brassicas would become uneconomical to grow; wheat prices would have to rise between 30 per cent and 120 per cent; and potatoes 49 -100 per cent.
The BCPC says the chemicals are being singled out because they can be dangerous rather than because they actually do damage. Colin Ruscoe, chairman of the BCPC's executive arm, commented last night: "Petrol is dangerous. We are calling for a proper assessment of risk."
Posted by The Englishman at 7:39 AM
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June 13, 2008
And It's No, Nay, Never; No, Nay, Never, No More ...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:36 PM
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EU referendum: Ireland rejects Lisbon Treaty
EU referendum: Ireland rejects Lisbon Treaty - Telegraph
Irish voters have thrown the EU into disarray by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty, the government conceded.
Tomorrow we can watch as the bastards work round it but today is a day for Guinness!
And whatever other bloggers might think there is only one suitable choice for the music.
Posted by The Englishman at 1:22 PM
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Full coverage of the referendum results
The Lisbon Treaty - News from ireland.com
One to watch today, with fingers crossed.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:06 AM
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June 8, 2008
Pickles Fails to Finger the Rubbish Rulers
Weekly bin collections may be scrapped - Telegraph
The Defra policy document puts forward plans to cut weekly collections, shrink the size of wheelie bins and roll out new "bin taxes" of ｣466 a year, and recommends changes to planning rules so new homes get a reduced service.
These cutbacks should be adopted by all local authorities, it adds.
Eric Pickles, the shadow communities secretary, said: "This shocking document proves that ministers in Whitehall are behind the cuts to weekly rubbish collections, over-zealous bin fines and shrinking the size of household bins."
No Pickles, Defra are merely the willing lapdogs of the real masters in Brussels.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:20 AM
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Only 27% of Britons want us to remain a full member of the EU, but all the major parties do...
Britons want looser ties with EU - Telegraph
British voters would back radical moves to negotiate a new, looser relationship with the European Union, a survey has shown.
The Global Vision/ICM survey found that when British voters were asked about their ideal relationship with Europe, 41 per cent chose one based simply on trade and co-operation. Some 27 per cent wanted Britain to stay a full EU member while 26 per cent wanted to withdraw altogether.
If the "trade-only" option were offered in a referendum, 64 per cent said they would vote in favour. Asked what should happen if Britain sought to negotiate a looser relationship but other nations blocked the move, 57 per cent said the UK should leave the EU, while 33 per cent said it should stay in.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:14 AM
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June 3, 2008
Swill makes sense
EU food chief: Lift BSE ban to cut grain prices - Times Online
The EU ban on the use of animal remains to feed pigs and chickens should be lifted so that grain can be diverted to millions of starving people, one of Europe’s top food safety advisers has told The Times.Patrick Wall, chairman of the European Food Safety Authority, questioned whether it was “morally or ethically correct” to feed grain to animals in the midst of a global food crisis.
He said that there was no scientific reason to maintain the ban.
Of course appealing to the EU on moral or scientific grounds is pointless, but showing that it might lower prices might do it. The swill feeders of the UK used to dispose of 1.7 million tons a year of biodegradable material in the most natural way possible, now it is dumped in landfill to the delight of vermin.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:01 AM
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May 31, 2008
Thriving because of global warming and not being in the EU!
How global warming is good news for Greenland's economic climate - Scotsman.com News
RARELY a month goes by without another scientific survey proclaiming that Greenland's ice sheet is melting faster than previously thought. But for the 56,000 people who live on the giant Arctic island, climate change is now being seen as an opportunity rather than a threat: a passport to prosperity, perhaps even independence...
Few could deny Greenland's Inuit understand the effects of global warming better than anyone on the planet. They have had a front-row seat to see the glaciers retract and the sea ice thin, altering a traditional way of life that has existed for 3,000 years. But global warming is also heating up the economy.
The fishing industry, which accounts for almost all of its exports, remains strong. Having opted out of the European Union in 1979, Greenland is not restricted by fishing quotas, and stocks remain healthy.
Let's leave the obligatory bowing to the native's wisdom, how they understand the global situation from their kayak and instead feast on that last paragraph. If we can't leave the EU straight away can we for the sake of our fishermen and the fish at least quickly leave the Common Fisheries Policy?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:39 AM
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May 30, 2008
Milband "not straight" according to Hague
David Miliband 'misled MPs over EU embassies' - Telegraph
Miliband "not being straight"? As a first approximation if his lips are moving and sound is coming out he is lying so why the surprise?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:14 AM
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May 28, 2008
Out, Out, Brief Candle!
Blackouts sweep the country in electricity shutdown - Business News, Business - The Independent
Britain was hit by electricity blackouts as a string of power station shutdowns wreaked havoc on the national generating system yesterday.....
EU Referendum: A taste of things to come
....analysts are warning that said the shortage of power was symptomatic of under-investment in Britain's energy generation infrastructure and indicative of its current fragility.....anticipates of a generating shortfall of 35,000 megawatts by 2020, but problems are expected even before 2014, by which time we will have closed down the nuclear and coal-fired power stations that now generate 47 per cent of our electricity. The coal-fired plant closures are being forced by the EU's large combustion plant directive ....calling on the government to build new power stations to reinforce the crumbling infrastructure. This, of course, the government cannot do without contravening EU state aid prohibitions.In the meantime, the government's obsession with wind farms soaks up money and costs us a fortune without contributing anything significant to the Grid, while no decisions have yet been made on building nuclear power plants.
Yesterday, therefore, was a taste of things to come. Many experts in the generation sector believe it is a miracle that we have not suffered major outages until now, and fully expect more to follow. One cold winter, some believe, will bring prolonged power cuts.
It cannot be said, though, that this is entirely the fault of the EU. Once again we have the poisonous combination of EU action and provincial government inaction, the two in harness guaranteeing to make a bad situation worse.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:34 AM
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May 27, 2008
Welcome to your future. An EU mindset that is arrogant, anti-democratic and frankly scary
European Parliament to ban Eurosceptic groups - Telegraph
The European Union assembly’s political establishment is pushing through changes that will silence dissidents by changing the rules allowing Euro-MPs to form political groupings.Richard Corbett, a British Labour MEP, is leading the charge to cut the number of party political tendencies in the Parliament next year, a move that would dissolve UKIP’s pan-European Eurosceptic “Independence and Democracy” grouping.
Under the rule change, the largest and most pro-EU groups would tighten their grip on the Parliament’s political agenda and keep control of lavish funding.
Mr Corbett’s proposals will also give the President of the Parliament sweeping powers to approve or reject parliamentary questions.
Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, claimed that the move goes hand in hand with the denial of popular votes on the new EU Treaty.
”Welcome to your future. This shows an EU mindset that is arrogant, anti-democratic and frankly scary,” he said.
”These people are so scared of public opinion they are willing to set in stone the right to ignore it. Freedom requires the governing elite to be held to account. They must be getting very worried if they are enacting such dictatorial powers for themselves.”
Posted by The Englishman at 8:07 PM
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May 20, 2008
The Telegraph asks why Britons are fleeing the UK
Why are so many Britons emigrating? - Telegraph
Two million British citizens have left the UK in a decade, the greatest exodus from the country in almost a century.
The Office of National Statistics is expected to release figures later today showing that more than Two million Britons emigrate in 10 years
In the same year, over 500,000 foreign nationals arrived in the UK, which gives a total of almost four million immigrants over a decade.
Why are so many Britons emigrating?
Is it the prospect of a better life elsewhere, or are British citizens repelled by life in their native land?
Has globalisation made it easier to settle abroad?
>More on: Your View >
Can't think why at all......
Posted by The Englishman at 6:42 AM
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Big Brother
A massive government database holding details of every phone call, e-mail and time spent on the internet by the public is being planned as part of the fight against crime and terrorism. Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies would hand over the records to the Home Office under plans put forward by officials.The proposal will raise further alarm about a “Big Brother” society, as it follows plans for vast databases for the ID cards scheme and NHS patients. There will also be concern about the ability of the Government to manage a system holding billions of records. About 57 billion text messages were sent in Britain last year, while an estimated 3 billion e-mails are sent every day....
The proposal has emerged as part of plans to implement an EU directive developed after the July 7 bombings to bring uniformity of record-keeping. Since last October telecoms companies have been required to keep records of phone calls and text messages for 12 months. That requirement is to be extended to internet, e-mail and voice-over-internet use and included in a Communications Data Bill.
And how the MPs squealed like pigs when we demanded to see the receipts for the goodies they have been claiming from our taxes....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:38 AM
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May 11, 2008
Cameron - lackwit
I was going to comment on a speech by Cameron;
"I don’t want to leave the European Union and I'll tell you why. This is a trading nation..."
But Timmy has already shown how Cameron is making the classic mercantilist mistake. and for a stronger comment we have:
The Devil's Kitchen: Cameron: still a lackwit, know-nothing arsehole
Posted by The Englishman at 7:49 AM
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The elephant
Christopher Booker - Telegraph
Thank heavens for Jeff Randall. In all the coverage of last week's devastating Government report on the collapse of our postal services, nowhere was there any mention of the key part played in the disaster by the EU - until Mr Randall broke media silence in Friday's Daily Telegraph.
Yet the report itself made no secret of the fact that the trouble has been our dutiful compliance with EU postal directives,... Other EU countries, as it says, have not been idiotic enough to comply.
But in another glaring instance of that familiar "elephant in the room" syndrome, the EU's part in this awful story was wholly ignored - until Mr Randall delivered his blast on Friday. Still one wonders how any journalist who had actually read the report - just 36 pages long - could have missed it.
Especially when some bloggers spotted it.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:43 AM
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Continental Scam
Terry Wogan is a problem, says Eurovision chief Bjorn Erichsen - Telegraph
He said: "It is something you love to hate. It's something to laugh at. It's something continental. It's a scam. It's ridiculous. The British like to distance themselves from it."
Yes, that sums up Europe for us - and Eurovision...
Posted by The Englishman at 7:22 AM
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May 5, 2008
Eurocrats and theocrats want our abasement
God, climate change and EU : May 2008 : Bruno Waterfield : Foreign : Telegraph Blogs
The Gods Squad, various clerics, imams, vicars, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, Grand Muftis (is there a collective noun for them?) and rabbis, all trooped into the European Commission’s Berlaymont HQ on Monday to fight the good fight against us “greedy” consumers and our nasty CO2 emissions.It is perhaps fitting that an out of touch, unpopular and referendum-phobic EU should look for divine help. After all both the eurocrats and theocrats have plenty in common. Both are a pretty preachy bunch and like nothing more than to lay on the guilt trips. Most importantly, both derive their authority from a higher source than the public.
Climate change has become the new orthodoxy for our times.
Truly it is a religion, be afraid, very afraid.
Posted by The Englishman at 9:01 PM
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Nemo tenetur seipsum accusare
Loophole on spouses' evidence to be closed - Scotsman.com News
HUSBANDS and wives will no longer be able to refuse to give evidence against each other in court, under a planned change to the law announced by Kenny MacAskill.
The justice secretary said he intends to repeal the legislation on so-called "spousal compellability" in a move that is intended to address fears that couples are exploiting the legal loophole to avoid jail sentences....
A quick glance and it seems like an outmoded loophole needing to be changed. The reason they are not allowed to give evidence for, or against, each other is: "partly because it is impossible their testimony should be indifferent, but principally because of the union of person; and therefore, if they were admitted to be witness for each other, they would contradict one maxim of law, "nemo in propria causa testis esse debet"; and if against each other, they would contradict another maxim, "nemo tenetur seipsum accusare." No one should be forced to give evidence against themselves." Of course we have lost that right now, having to hand over encryption keys, names of drivers etc. And as we see a further assault on this ancient protection yet again it is worth looking across the pond to the last great hope of freedom.
"The maxim nemo tenetur seipsum accusare had its origin in a protest against the inquisitorial and manifestly unjust methods of interrogating accused persons, which [have] long obtained in the continental system, and, until the expulsion of the Stuarts from the British throne in 1688 and the erection of additional barriers for the protection of the people against the exercise of arbitrary power, [were] not uncommon even in England. While the admissions or confessions of the prisoner, when voluntarily and freely made, have always ranked high in the scale of incriminating evidence, if an accused person be asked to explain his apparent connection with a crime under investigation, the ease with which the [384 U.S. 443] questions put to him may assume an inquisitorial character, the temptation to press the witness unduly, to browbeat him if he be timid or reluctant, to push him into a corner, and to entrap him into fatal contradictions, which is so painfully evident in many of the earlier state trials, notably in those of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton and Udal, the Puritan minister, made the system so odious as to give rise to a demand for its total abolition. The change in the English criminal procedure in that particular seems to be founded upon no statute and no judicial opinion, but upon a general and silent acquiescence of the courts in a popular demand. But, however adopted, it has become firmly embedded in English as well as in American jurisprudence. So deeply did the iniquities of the ancient system impress themselves upon the minds of the American colonists that the States, with one accord, made a denial of the right to question an accused person a part of their fundamental law, so that a maxim, which in England was a mere rule of evidence, became clothed in this country with the impregnability of a constitutional enactment." Brown v. Walker, 161 U.S. 591, 596-597 (1896)
So the wheel turns and we return to the "inquisitorial and manifestly unjust methods of interrogating accused persons, which [have] long obtained in the continental system..."
Posted by The Englishman at 7:17 AM
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April 25, 2008
The Choosing of Our President - Not that we will be consulted.
There’s more about those behind-the-scenes talks about the new European Union President created by the Lisbon Treaty. The secret discussions are shaping up to be a power struggle for control of Europe.
During a June 19 summit of European heads of state and government the question of who will be the EU’s first president will trigger a race for supremacy in Brussels.
Tony Blair’s much-vaunted candidacy is seen as one that would consolidate an inter-governmental approach to the EU that dismays Federalists and defenders of the Commission’s powers.If he takes the post, it will be a clear signal that the new President is to be a major international power player, a development regarded as being at the expense of other EU institutions.
EU officials are worried that a new President, especially if Mr Blair, will muscle the Commission out the lead during global climate change talks in Copenhagen next year.
Tony Blair - Not eurofedralist enough for the EU! I believe the Pope considers him a liability in the church for being too Catholic as well.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:05 AM
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April 23, 2008
Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt?
MEPs vote to cover up expenses inquiry - Telegraph
Members of the European Parliament voted yesterday to cover up a report showing widespread abuse of allowances worth £125 million every year.
They also threw out demands from a public information watchdog for scrutiny of generous pension perks.
What do you expect if you put pigs in charge of their own feed store? They don't even care any more that we can see how corrupt they are.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:35 AM
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April 22, 2008
Miliband and Mugabe, pots and kettles.
David Miliband accuses Robert Mugabe - Times Online
At least Mugabe allowed his people a vote on who rules them, he might be being a bit naughty about abiding by the result, but at least he let them vote unlike the traitorous Miliband who lied and squirmed as he refused us the chance to vote about who rules us. Mugabe should take no lessons from Miliband and his EU cronies on democracy; that he should take a lesson from something even smaller than Diddy David, say something 7.62 x 39 mm, is another matter.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:05 AM
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April 20, 2008
The pipes, the pipes are calling
Pipe down! Brussels slaps a noise order on heart of Scotland - Times Online
....bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from Brussels.From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85 decibels.
Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels....
Pipe majors claim it is virtually impossible to play quietly or to tune a band when the musicians are wearing earplugs, raising the prospect of a cacophony at showcase events such as the Edinburgh military tattoo.
And the difference will be what exactly?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:55 AM
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April 18, 2008
Europe Stinks
It wafted in on the morning wind and immediately set noses twitching.
When a curiously "organic" odour swept across southern England today the hunt was soon on to discover the source. ..the finger of suspicion was pointing towards our continental neighbours.
With a fresh easterly wind in the air, at first it seemed the stink may have been le stink - confirming the longheld suspicions of some about Gallic smells.
But a closer look at the direction of the wind turned suspicions towards Germany and the Low Countries.
Now it appears the invasive stench may in fact have been der stink or der gestank to be precise.
Posted by The Englishman at 5:23 PM
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April 15, 2008
The rest of the world? Sod EU!
Planet Ark - Europe's Food Supply Not At Risk From Biofuels – EU
"We see that we don't have an enormous danger of too much of a shift away from food production towards biofuels production," European Commission agriculture spokesman Michael Mann told a daily news briefing....In Europe biofuels are still a fledgling and marginal industry and overall supply should remain bolstered by imports, the Commission says.
Who cares if those little brown people go hungry when we buy their food to burn in our cars? It keeps our farmers happy! Result! Triples all round!
H/T JBB
Posted by The Englishman at 9:10 PM
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April 14, 2008
The poor die because you want to be green
Tesco green fuel ‘adds to climate change’ - Times Online
Tesco has made false claims about the source of the green fuel sold at its service stations, according to an investigation that found that the chain sold one of the most environmentally damaging types of biodiesel.
An investigation by Greenpeace found that 30 per cent of the biofuel in Tesco diesel came from palm oil. A litre of Tesco diesel typically contains 5 per cent biofuel.
Researchers from the group bought biodiesel from a Tesco filling station in Edmonton, North London, on April 3 and sent it to Germany for analysis by ASG, an independent laboratory.
The remaining 70 per cent of the biofuel was from soya more sustainable than palm oil but linked to concerns about global food prices as fuel companies outbid other buyers.
From tomorrow fuel suppliers will be legally obliged to ensure that at least 2.5 per cent of the petrol and diesel sold in Britain comes from crops...
And so we've watched as the price of corn skyrocketed by 80% in the past two years, world wheat prices jump by 70% and dairy prices surged by 90%.
This is threatening millions of people worldwide and sparking protests around the globe. So far we've seen deadly rioting in a number of countries, including India, Egypt, Indonesia, Peru, Haiti, Pakistan, Thailand, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
Growing middle class and bio-fuels are blamed - Telegraph
From the villages of Bangladesh to the slums of Haiti, millions of the world's poorest people have been cast into even greater penury by sharply rising food prices. At a stroke, this swift and devastating change in the global economy - which has gone almost unnoticed in the rich world - has inflicted immense suffering.
Rice is the staple diet in both these countries and its price has doubled in the last 12 months. If you happen to live in Dhakar or Port-au-Prince, this effectively means that your already meagre standard of living has suddenly been cut in half. Riots and violent demonstrations have been the result....
Soaring food costs risk 'starvation and unrest' - Telegraph
The world's poorest countries face starvation and civil unrest if global food prices keep rising, the head of the International Monetary Fund has said.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in Washington that "hundreds of thousands of people will be starving". "Children will be suffering from malnutrition, with consequences for all their lives," he said.
And not a word about whose law it is that is forcing us to burn food in our cars.... if you need a hint it is two letters and rhymes with "fuck you".
Posted by The Englishman at 6:28 AM
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April 3, 2008
The future "President of Europe" resigns
The 'Teflon Taoiseach' quits amid inquiry into corruption - Scotsman.com News
HE WAS dubbed the "Teflon Taoiseach". But Bertie Ahern – the most successful Irish politician for more than half a century and the man synonymous with the Celtic Tiger economy and the peace process in Northern Ireland – has finally come unstuck.
Bertie Ahern said of a previous crooked Taoiseach Charles Haughey
“He had an immense ability to get things done and he inspired great loyalty amongst many of his followers both inside and outside Fianna Fáil.In recent times, these achievements have become clouded by the revelations that are the subject of inquiry by the Moriarty Tribunal. History will have to weigh up both the credit and the debit side more dispassionately than may be possible today, but I have no doubt its ultimate judgement on Mr Haughey will be a positive one."
Will history be as kind to Bertie? But then as he is hoping to be President of Europe, he has every qualification to be so, will he care?
Posted by The Englishman at 6:47 AM
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March 30, 2008
The Decline and Fall
The Gurkhas and FSA: how they are related - Telegraph
Four stories much in the news last week, each causing the Government serious embarrassment, highlighted again the remarkable missing dimension in the way politics are now discussed, the "elephant in the room", which is that our real government is no longer in London but in Brussels....
It is one thing for our politicians to conceal how much of their power to run this country they have already surrendered to Brussels.
But unless journalists become more clued-up as to where that power now resides, ever more of the media's coverage of British politics will be reduced to irrelevant fluff.
...It is certainly thought-provoking to consider just how many iconic British firms have recently passed into foreign ownership....
Even BAE Systems, our largest remaining aircraft, shipbuilding and defence company, is now based largely offshore. Since it sold off Royal Ordnance, our Armed Forces must now rely on Continental companies to supply all their ammunition.
So, if this picture of national decline tempts us to shoot ourselves, we will first have to buy the bullets from France.
Posted by The Englishman at 8:17 AM
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March 28, 2008
The Froggie went a'Toadying
President Sarkozy embarrasses Gordon Brown over EU treaty - Times Online
President Sarkozy of France embarrassed Gordon Brown yesterday, heaping praise on his “courage and loyalty” for ratifying the EU treaty without a referendum.The president said that every other European leader was grateful to Mr Brown for not blocking the replacement to the EU constitution....
“It is not simply a matter of a one-night stand. I believe that we can go in to next-day breakfast as well,” Mr Sarkozy said at a joint press conference with Mr Brown.....
A Le Monde columnist called this “a shameless exercise in toadying intended to win, at whatever cost, the approval of his audience”.
Is it all over yet, can we take down the bunting and stop lusting over Carla? If it hadn't been for her long legs Gordon would have been in grave danger that we actually noticed what a little eurocreep he is.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:50 AM
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March 26, 2008
Minced Facts
I try not to do euromyth stories unless they seem credible and have more than one Daily Mail source, but it appears along with others I was fooled about the mince.
EU Referendum: They not only get it wrong, they continue to get it wrong
Whoops, sorry, but they should still be hanged.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:20 AM
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March 25, 2008
The case for hanging EU bureaucrats
Butchers vow to fight planned EU ban on Scottish mince - The Daily Record
Brussels penpushers want to end the sale of properly aged beef mince - to prevent foodies poisoning themselves with raw steak tartare.Farmers and butchers say the move will push up prices and make the family favourite less tasty.
And food bug expert Hugh Pennington says the new rules won't make beef any safer.
The new health rules state meat used to make mince should be cut less than six days after an animal's slaughter.
The FSA opposed the moves but have admitted defeat and are now in the process of informing butchers and food processors that the new rules must be implemented immediately.
It's feared the regulations will also push prices up as meat has to be processed more quickly - or binned if it misses the six-day limit.
The changes have been approved to protect consumers, mainly French, from eating potentially contaminated steak tartare - made from ground up raw steak mixed with egg and herbs.
The plans are the brainchild of health commissioner Markos Kyprianou, who quit last month. He outlined his crackdown in 2006 in the catchily titled Annex III, Section V, Chapter III, point 2 ( B ) to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.
On his official EU webpage, Kyprianou said: "What I want to achieve is a Europe where all citizens, whether in northern Finland or in Sicily, in Porto or in Paphos, know and appreciate that they can enjoy food confident they will be safe, and that their rights will be well protected."
Tell Eurocrats to go hang - this reheated idea is still pure mince - Scotsman.com News
Meat, particularly beef, is hung to improve both its texture and taste. Enzymes in the meat soften the muscle tissue, making it both tender and more flavoursome, but this takes time and it has to be done under refrigeration. Many butchers survive the pressure from the supermarkets simply because they still prepare their meat in a traditional way and refuse to slap it on the counter only days, or hours, after slaughter.
Just compare two similar cuts of meat, one from the cheap end of the supermarket range and one from a local high-street butcher, and taste the difference.
Beef in Scotland is produced to be eaten after it is cooked, particularly mince. After three weeks of hanging, there may be bacteria in the meat, but this will be eradicated by the cooking process. Well-hung Scotch beef mince is not designed to be eaten raw.
I have no problem with people in eastern Europe who want to eat it raw, but we should not have to change the way we prepare meat just because of the way they want to eat it. It is a typically bureaucratic response from the EU. Rather than telling those who like steak tartare that they eat it at their own risk, we have to change our ways to fit in with them.
Hang'em all, for at least three weeks.
After drowning them in sloe gin...Winemaker faces £30,000 bill for eurobottles - Telegraph
The EU says it is illegal to sell his nine liqueurs - including bramble, walnut, ginger, sloe and strawberry - in his traditional 37.5cl bottles. They must measure 35cl instead.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:35 AM
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March 21, 2008
Little European
Serbs must choose: EU or isolation - Scotsman.com News
SERBIA has completely lost Kosovo and now needs to decide whether it will make efforts to move towards the European Union or choose total isolation, Jim Murphy, the Europe minister, warned yesterday.
There is no other choice but the all loving and powerful EU! You will be assimilated! (If I was a Serb leader I would be on a plane to Peking, that would wake the EU up.)
Posted by The Englishman at 7:04 AM
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March 14, 2008
La Geugle?
EU paves way for rival to Google - Telegraph
The European Union's competition watchdog has appoved the use of €99m (£76m) of French state aid for a consortium attempting to build an internet search engine to take on Google....Following an "in-depth examination," the European Commission decided that the Quaero project "brings positive externalities for the community as a whole."
However, Quaero "is not spontaneously underpinned by the market owing to divergent interests within the consortium and to uncertainties regarding the project's chances of success," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.
The consortium plans to make the Quaero engine available for personal computers, mobile phones, televisions and other media platforms.
The project was unveiled by former French president Jacques Chirac in 2005, who billed it as a Franco-German attempt to compete with Google.
However, some of the German development team split from Quaero in 2006 to pursue their own, "complementary" search engine, dubbed Theseus, which won approval from the EU watchdog last year for an injection of German aid.
Of course we all know how you can't expect a search engine to prosper without state aid, how could you set one up without committees, government guidance and years of planning? Next you will be proposing the ridiculous notion that a couple of bright kids could start one in a garage and make gazillions from it, that's not how it works in the EU.....
Posted by The Englishman at 8:12 AM
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March 6, 2008
INSTRUMENT of SURRENDER
EU referendum is Brown bread | Gordon Brown | constitution | The Sun |HomePage|News
GORDON Brown last night killed off hopes of a referendum on the EU constitution for good.The “listening PM” ignored the demands of nine out of ten British voters and denied them the say he promised.
Mr Brown broke Labour’s 2005 general election pledge as he ordered his foot soldiers to reject a referendum.
INSTRUMENT of SURRENDER of the United Kingdom including all islands.
Near Luneburg. March 5, 2008
1. The British Parliament agrees to the surrender of all British Sovereignty in the United Kingdom, to the EU. This to include all naval ships in these areas. These forces to lay down their arms and to surrender unconditionally.
2. All hostilities on land, on sea, or in the air by Eurosceptic forces in the above areas to cease at 0800 hrs. British Double Summer Time on Thursday 6 March 2008.
3. The British command to carry out at once, and without argument or comment, all further orders that will be issued by the EU on any subject.
4. Disobedience of orders, or failure to comply with them, will be regarded as a breach of these surrender terms and will be dealt with by the EU in accordance with the accepted laws and usages of war.
5. This instrument of surrender is independent of, without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender imposed by or on behalf of the EU and applicable to the member states as a whole.
6. This instrument of surrender is written in English and in German. The English version is the authentic text.
7. The decision of the EU will be final if any doubt or dispute arises as to the meaning or interpretation of the surrender terms.
Posted by The Englishman at 5:49 AM
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March 3, 2008
We want a referendum
MPs face EU referendum pressure after poll - Telegraph
MPs were under huge pressure to support a referendum on the new EU treaty after the biggest test of public opinion on the issue so far showed almost 90 per cent of voters want a ballot.
The mini-referendums, organised by the cross-party I Want a Referendum campaign group, were conducted in 10 marginal seats held by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.
These included those of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, Jim Murphy, the minister for Europe, and Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman.
In total, 88 per cent of respondents backed a referendum on the EU Reform Treaty, which was signed in December in Portugal and became known as the Lisbon Treaty. Voters were also asked if the UK should approve the treaty. An overwhelming majority - 89 per cent - said no.
The turnout of 36.2 per cent was higher than in most local elections.
I have nothing to add except I hope the two protesters who have scaled a crane in Parliament Square are up there to check its suitability for attaching hempen ropes for the traitorous bastards who are giving our country away without our agreement.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:17 AM
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February 26, 2008
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Secret report reveals massive MEP fraud - Times Online
A report on the misuse of expenses by MEPs is likely to be kept secret by the European Parliament despite growing calls for it to be made public.
The internal audit exposes money-making scams without naming individuals and shows “embezzlement and fraud on a massive scale”, according to the MEP who revealed its existence.
But parliament insiders said that today’s meeting of the budget control committee would not result in publication because senior figures were afraid of setting a precedent on publishing confidential auditors’ documents.
Chris Davies, the Liberal Democrat who revealed the existence of the internal audit, said: “I don’t think it will be made public because the poachers are in charge of the game park. MEPs might introduce reforms after the next elections when half of them have changed because it is just too embarrassing for them now.”
The report can be viewed by the budget control committee only on condition that it goes into a sealed room, does not take notes and does not reveal its contents.
Neither of the two biggest groups in the European Parliament — the Socialist group that includes Labour MEPs and the EPP that includes the Conservatives — would declare an official position on publication last night. The Lib Dems and the UK Independence Party will both call today for it to be released.
But Chris Heaton-Harris, a Conservative MEP on the committee, said: “It would be much easier if this discussion was had on the basis of the facts rather than on hearsay. They are worried about parliament’s reputation being damaged but it has already been damaged.”
So Mr Cameron, you claim to be all for honesty and transparency, why aren't your lot clamouring for it to be published, or have they got their snouts too deep in the trough?
Posted by The Englishman at 7:15 AM
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February 24, 2008
Eurovision Turkey
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Fowl Eurovision entry for Ireland
Eurovision Song Contest feathers may be ruffled by Ireland's decision to be represented in May's cross-continental competition by a puppet bird.
Sheer Genius!
(Though a little bright and loud for me this morning..)
Posted by The Englishman at 9:33 AM
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Don't mention.....
Christopher Booker's Notebook - Telegraph
A shock-horror report in last week's Sunday Times, based on the latest annual "barometer" from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), showed that the cost of new regulations to UK businesses, according to Government figures, had soared last year by a record £10 billion.
Their total cost since 1998 is a staggering £66 billion. All this, according to the article, could be blamed on the Labour Government. Nowhere did it mention the EU.
But a look at the BCC's press release shows that the origin of these regulations were clearly apportioned between the EU and our own Government. And by far the most costly examples, such as the regulations on working time (£16 billion), vehicle emissions (£9 billion) and data protection (£7 billion), all originated from Brussels.
Of the top 10, eight were based on EU directives and the remaining two both had a strong EU dimension. These 10 alone imposed a total cost of £43 billion.
In other words the suffocating cost of these laws can hardly be blamed just on Messrs Blair and Brown. They emanated from what is now in most respects the true government of our country. One can understand why politicians are so anxious to hide this. But why should journalists be quite so ready to follow suit?
Thank goodness for the few who don't, the blogs and the crossover where we can learn the truth.
Posted by The Englishman at 9:25 AM
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February 21, 2008
Euro MPs, thieving corrupt bastards try to cover up their thieving corrupt practices to prevent voters knowing what thieving corrupt bastards they are.
'Criminal abuse' of expenses by Euro-MPs - Telegraph
A secret European Parliament report has uncovered "extensive, widespread and criminal abuse" by Euro-MPs of staff allowances worth almost £100 million a year.
Senior Euro-MPs and European Union officials have tried to hush up an internal audit that found severe problems and endemic misuse of funds worth at least £98.4 million a year, more than £125,000 for each of the 785 Euro-MPs.
Such is the extent of the abuse found in a sample group of 167 Euro-MPs that "terrified" parliamentary authorities have shrouded the report in secrecy and security.
Harald Rømer, the secretary-general of the European Assembly, was asked late on Monday night by Hans-Gert Pöttering, its president, and a group of senior Euro-MPs, to take measures to ensure that there was no "collateral damage" from the report.
"We want reform but we cannot make this report available to the public if we want people to vote in the European elections next year," said a source close to the decision.
Just when you thought the rotten stench of the EU administration couldn't get worse, it does.
The red mist is starting to descend....
Posted by The Englishman at 6:32 AM
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February 16, 2008
The Wiltshire Cure for EU caused job losses
BBC NEWS | England | Wiltshire | Museum seeks Bowyer memorabilia
Trowbridge museum is looking for memorabilia on the town's Bowyer plant which is due to close next month as part of a review by owners Pork Farms.An exhibition looking back at the pie company's 200 year connection to the area begins on 15 March.
Pork Farms is closing the factory and investing in a Nottingham plant to be able to continue producing Melton Mowbray pork pies under EU laws.
If we can't carry on making Pork Pies down here in Wiltshire how about stopping all those bacon producers claiming to use a Wiltshire Cure unless they are in Wiltshire.
Posted by The Englishman at 2:44 PM
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February 4, 2008
Franco German Humour
Our humour is faulty – let’s bring on Basil - Times Online
The Germans cannot see the funny side of French humour. And the French are appalled at German jokes. So how does Arte, the television station created to forge Franco-German cultural bonds, programme comedy?
Enter John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson and Joanna Lumley. According to Arte’s executives, only British humour bridges the Franco-German border and attracts viewers in both countries.
And judging by the tired old jokes The Times prints, they really do need help...
Si quelq'un te dit que l'argent n'est pas tout c'est probablement ton chef
If someone tells you that money is not everything, they’re probably your boss
Es heißt ja, dass es Pflanzen gut tut, wenn man ab und zu nett mit ihnen
redet - also gehe ich in den Garten und beleidige das Unkraut
Plants grow very well if you speak kindly to them every now and again. Which
is why I sometimes go into the garden and insult the weeds
Attention: Si tu places à côté une statue de Jeanne d'Arc, tu risques la
prison pour possession d'héroïne
Warning: anyone with a statue of Joan of Arc risks prison for heroine
possession
Posted by The Englishman at 6:08 AM
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February 3, 2008
Spot the biggest scammer
Cyber-savvy town gets rich on eBay frauds - Times Online
HUNDREDS of people in the poor Romanian town of Dragasani have grown rich by conning eBay online auction customers with deals that seem too good to be true - and often are.
With few local jobs available in this industrial town in Romania’s Valcea wine-growing region, defrauding eBay customers has became a popular career path for many of Dragasani’s young people.
The scammers have even put the new town hall up for sale on eBay, the mayor admitted last week. “I mean, who would want it?” he asked.
Despite growing concern about online frauds, the European Union has poured £150,000 into computer training courses in Dragasani over the past three years in “special recognition” of its IT skills.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:31 AM
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February 2, 2008
Graham Watson "a luxury the planet cannot afford"
Eurosceptics plumb new depths - Graham Watson MEP
"Once again, the anti-Europeans have shown what a waste of time and money their presence in Parliament is."
I'm sure the Lib Dim Watson would like them to be removed from the Parliament so that no dissenting voices are heard, but I have a feeling their presence is far less a waste of time and money than the presence of Mr Patio Heater Banner and the rest of the simpering yes men.
Posted by The Englishman at 8:29 AM
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French Kissing
Tony Blair casts himself as a candidate for European president - Times Online
Tony Blair is speaking remarkably fluent French these days, as listeners to France’s main radio station discovered yesterday.
The former Prime Minister, who once boasted solid schoolboy French, has suddenly mastered a new political vocabulary and held his own against the country’s toughest interviewer.
For 20 minutes facing Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, a veteran inquisitor and boss of the Europe-1 station, Mr Blair showed off his French which has become suspiciously slick of late.
The reason for the timing of his resignation as our Glorious Leader is becoming clearer, though Mike Smithson would bet against Tony getting the job - Gordon is not going to like it.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:54 AM
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January 29, 2008
Fifty pieces of silver - the price of treachery
Britannia loses her place on British coins - Telegraph
The image of Britannia, which has graced British coins for centuries, is to be removed from the 50 pence piece as part of a redesign by the Royal Mint.
Gordon Brown personally approved the change as one of his last acts as Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite his current campaign to push Britishness...
I wonder what the Jelly Bellied Flag Flapper would like instead...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:24 AM
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January 28, 2008
Who really runs Scotland?
EC urged to put brakes on M74 project - Scotsman.com News
The Greens claim ministers and the companies involved in the tender process broke two key European Union directives and are calling on the EC to intervene and halt the project.
The official complaint is the latest stage in what has been a protracted battle between the environmental lobby and the Scottish Government over the £500 million project....
The extension is designed to link the M74 to the M8, west of the Kingston Bridge in Glasgow. The five miles of motorway are estimated to cost about £500 million.
The project has been backed by business groups, local authorities in the area and the current Scottish Government – it was previously supported by the Labour-led Scottish Executive.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:14 AM
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January 27, 2008
BBC - it is the unique way we are funded that...
Fears of bias as BBC gets £141m in EU loans - Times Online
THE BBC last night faced accusations of pro-Brussels bias as it was revealed that the corporation had taken out £141m in “soft” loans from the European Union.
The broadcaster has taken out three separate low interest loans from the EU-backed European Investment Bank (EIB) to fund the expansion of its growing commercial empire.
It also emerged that the BBC has received grants from the EU worth £1.4m over the past five years.
You would never have guessed from the BBC's treatment of the EU......
Posted by The Englishman at 8:18 AM
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January 21, 2008
EU Referendum: They lied yesterday; they will lie tomorrow
EU Referendum: They lied yesterday; they will lie tomorrow
An absolutely stonking column on the Lisbon treaty from William Rees-Mogg hits the streets in The Times today, the title of which we have borrowed for our own post.
With the strap line, "The Lisbon treaty is a dangerous betrayal", Mogg tells us he is against the treaty "because it involves an important constitutional transfer of powers from the European nations to the European institutions, from national democracy to supranational bureaucracy."
There is no need to re-invent the wheel. Go to the site and read the piece in full – and fume.
Posted by The Englishman at 6:41 AM
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January 20, 2008
EU Treaty "unlikely to be beneficial to the UK's position in Europe" - Official
BBC NEWS | Politics | EU treaty 'same as constitution'
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee's report, entitled Foreign Policy Aspects Of The Treaty Of Lisbon, claims there are only two small differences in the area of foreign policy between the treaty and the abandoned constitution.
These were the addition of two non-legally binding declarations proposed by the UK and the change of the title Minister for Foreign Affairs to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
"We conclude that there is no material difference between the provisions on foreign affairs in the Constitutional Treaty which the government made subject to approval in a referendum and those in the Lisbon Treaty on which a referendum is being denied," the report said.
It also accused the government of seeking to downplay the significance of new institutions, such as the creation of a new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security.
This was "unlikely to be beneficial to the UK's position in Europe", it said, and called on ministers to acknowledge their true significance in public.
And that is about as close as a bunch of MPs can to saying that the Government has acted like lying traitorous bastards.
Posted by The Englishman at 7:21 AM
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January 19, 2008
A dozen to save us from the decimal - your help needed.
New 'Metric Martyr' puts faith in trial by jury - Telegraph
woman who is being prosecuted for selling vegetables by the pound branded the case against her "disgusting" yesterday as she made her first appearance in court.
Janet Devers, Britain's latest "metric martyr", vowed to continue trading at the stall set up by her mother at the height of the Blitz in 1940.
The 63-year-old made a brief appearance at Thames Magistrates' Court in London where she elected to be tried at a Crown Court in front of a jury, in the first prosecution of its kind for six years.
After the hearing she said: "I am much happier about having a jury trial because you won't get 12 people on a jury who will find me guilty. It's in the hands of the public and I hope they all support me."
I share her trust in the sense of the people - but it all costs money.
Donations can be made in a number of ways either:
* by cheque or postal order through the post,
* by credit card over the telephone 0191 565 7143
email: metricmartyrs@btconnect.com
Postal address is:
Metric Martyrs Defence Fund
PO Box 526
Sunderland
SR1 3YS
Posted by The Englishman at 8:08 AM
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January 11, 2008
Thank Heaven for Little Girls.....
Cecilia Ciganer 'called Nicolas Sarkozy a womaniser' - Times Online
...a character assassination...
He is a French Politician, that's not a character assassination, it is a job description.
Posted by The Englishman at 8:27 AM
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January 10, 2008
RIP Democracy in Portugal - 25 April 1974 - 10 Jan 2008 - No Flowers Please
Portugal yields on EU treaty referendum - Times Online
A referendum on the controversial redrafted EU constitution was ruled out by Portugal yesterday after pressure from Gordon Brown and President Sarkozy.
The decision by Portugal not to hold a referendum but to ratify the treaty through its parliament will come as a huge relief to Downing Street and the Élysée Palace, which feared extra pressure on them to hold a public vote. The revelation of top-level phone calls will, though, only increase suspicions that the European political elite have coordinated efforts to avoid a repeat of the referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005...
As with Labour’s last manifesto, Mr Sócrates had promised a referendum on the EU constitution during election campaigning. Like Mr Brown, Mr Sócrates argued yesterday that the pledge no longer applied...
And to think it was only in 1974 that the Portugese overthrew an authoritarian dictatorship to establish a democracy. It was nearly bloodless that time, let's hope it is again the next time.
(Worstall - get planting those carnations...)
Posted by The Englishman at 6:23 AM
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January 7, 2008
Darling, the candle's nearly finished
Darling: I want answers over energy price hikes - Scotsman.com News
ALISTAIR Darling has summoned energy regulators into a Whitehall meeting to discuss the cost of power after one of the UK's biggest energy suppliers announced double-digit price increases.
Sweet, he has been allowed to get out his crayons and write a letter to break the boredom of doing sod all because Uncle Gordy won't let him. Obviously it is hard to understand why retail suppliers put their prices up when the wholesale price goes up, I mean wholesale prices are nasty Tory things that evil capitalists do to each other, but fuel prices effect Labour voters and so why should they also go up?
But if he does want an explanation he could try the Devil...
Posted by The Englishman at 6:55 AM
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