2 Months ago something quite extraordinary happened. An emotional Prime Minister announced his pending Resignation. The German President - Angela Merkel - seemed humbled, European Politicians shook their Heads in disbelief ...............
Britain voted the leave the European Union!
Admittedly it was a very small Margin - but a Vote is a Vote - and about 1.5% of those who did decided to vote Brexit. Suddenly, Politicians who had been ridiculed for years were vindicated. Nigel Farage - Leader of the UK Independence Party looked triumphant and announced June 23rd should be our Independence Day. Sir James Goldsmith - whose euro-sceptic Referendum Party ran in the 1997 Election - must have finally sighed "I hate to say I told you so - but I told you so" - and on it went.
Britains Poltical Establishment went into Meltdown. Jeremy Corbyn - whose Mettle was sorely tested during the Campaign - and whose efforts many Labour Supporters felt were left wanting - steadfastly refused to do what David Cameron did on June 24th. The Tories became a rudderless Ship as leading Frontbenchers announced their Leadership Bids. The rumbustious Boris Johnson looked set to become Cameron’s successor - until Micheal Gove plunged a Knife in his back, then - in turn - was also trounced in his hopes to become Prime Minister.
Then, the 'People' took to the Streets in what can only be described as a very skewed Statement of "People Power!" Pro-European Demonstrators called for a second Referendum and protested at who exactly? They missed the Point, and this wasn't a Decision made by Parliament - it was a Decision made by.............the People, so we were given the bizarre Spectacle of People trying to dissolve the People - and elect another! TV Journalists interviewed some - and while it was a Vote by Britain about - and for - Britain - those German, French etc Accents were furious at why 'they' should now leave the EU!
This seemed like the equivalent of a Warsaw Pact country leaving the Pact. That a complete destructing of the Eurocracy has to start concurrent with a re-structuring of the domestic Executive, Legislature and Sovereignty. That the career structure for cynics might try and recidivate - if they want to look like Generalisimo Franco in 1936 and his response to Spanish Democracy - Krushchev to Nagy in 1956, Brezhnev to Dubcek’s reforms in 1968 - or Yaneyev's Gang of Four in 1991 to Gorbachev’s.
Then, how about when Airbus threatened to close its UK Operation if Britain voted against the EU? That's like Brezhnev warning Dubcek that he'll shut down the Kalashnikov Rifle Factory in Czechoslovakia if Prague decides to cede from the Warsaw Pact in 1968. Not particularly democratic while also revealing the iniquities of the MIC - something Eisenhower warned about in 1960 - and how it could interfere with the civic Life of the US.
Others criticised the older Voters who voted Brexit. Millennials - 16 to 35 year olds - who weren't alive when those Voters did so in the 1975 Referendum, seemed oblivious to why that Vote went the way it did, and what it was for.
There were those that thought these Decisions should be left to the Political Elite. It was - when David Cameron had the Referendum in his 2010 Manifesto. That he threw it open to the Demos in Democracy scotches those who felt that this ought to have been left to Parliament. If he hadn't it'd be rather like a European Commission who wouldn't even forward Policy to the European Parliament to vote on. So even pro-Europeans must see that their process was applied in this instance (the Public being the equivalent of the Euro-Parliament). Their reaction to the Vote is like a Commission who decide that a "yes" or "no" Vote in the Parliament is somehow invalid. In that context even the EU has to accept our decision.
Euro-Sceptics were branded Racist, an insult to anyone who realises that People entering Britain because of their EU Passport means those who don't have one can't. How the EU merely expands the Borders of Racism because of this. That a Euro-Chauvinism developed - no less racist than any Alf Garnet Characters might have been in BBC Sitcoms. How the very Policies of the European Union have spawned reactionary Groups like the Front Nationale in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. How the EU seemed to benefit white, northern Europeans at the Expense of the Mediterranean Countries. To see how serious this is no-one ever envisaged Martin Webster ever becoming an MP like the Nationalists in France have now, while the BNP can only manage a few Councillors. It isn't any of those things. The EU ironically acted as a Catalyst to Racism.
Then there were others....
"The Environment would suffer" someone said, except Friends of the Earth were created in Britain - the Worlds most respected Eco-Lobbyist and Research Organisation - before we joined the EEC in 1973. Human Rights was another - but Amnesty International was started in Britain in 1961. It was these that prompted me to ask if we've become too dependent on the EU for everything, and that it almost implies that we've somehow forgotten how to do Environment and Human Rights completely. That a moral Bankruptcy meant we could always rely on Brussels and Strasbourg for these things. The positive thing here is; now we can rediscover how - and shrug off the Eurocomplacency that has developed in the last 43 years. It's that "They should do something about it" thing isn't it - except after June 23rd 2016 there is no "They" anymore, just you or us!
Also, the combination of the industrial Lobbyists and their influence on the Commission - and the Impotency of the European Parliament - a Pseudo-Legislature that in reality just legitimises Commission Directives - means that concessions to the Environment and Human Rights are just Crumbs that fall from the European Round Table. A very small Carrot offset by a very large Stick!
In the Debate before the Vote Frances O'Grady - the Leader of the TUC - lamented how Industries were "crushed by Bankers" in the 1980s. This isn't entirely true, and the huge Closures of Coal and Steel which made 100s of 1000s unemployed was done as much for ideological Reasons as economic. She should meet the Latvian who complained how - once in the EU - many Latvian Business's were closed - even viable ones - to align the Country with the European Union. That this is no less ideological than Thatchers Government doing same in Britain. Subsequently, about a 3rd of the Population has now left Latvia - severely depleting her Workforce. That something like 800,000 People leaving a Country of only 2.5 Million amounts to severe Depopulation. This is akin to the ideologically driven Collectivizations that caused the Soviet Famine of the 1930s and turned Ceaucescu's Romania into Absurdistan - where the Presidents Dogs ate more nutritious Food than a People living in South East Europe's Market Garden.
This continued in Southern Europe - where Euro-policies have caused 50% youth unemployment. However you look at this - it is either chronic and brutal indifference - or that same Ideologically driven Policy making and application.
This brings me to this.........
That while a veritable army of Poles, Balts, Slovaks and other former Warsaw Pact Citizens arrived in more prosperous European Countries - what does this say about the failure of the EU to develop their Economies so they don't have to migrate? What does it also say about the unfortunate consequence of what is effectively Economic Migrancy? It also implies that a Centric attitude existed in the EU that meant any Benefits supposedly felt by those Countries never got that far.
Then Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness got involved. Seeing how the Referendum showed Ulster was a pro-Europe Area, and how the Vote might estrange the Province from the Republic he mooted an Irish Reunification Referendum. This was a bit opportunistic and while many Loyalists might have been pro-Europe they still aren't pro-united Ireland. Your Enemies Enemy isn't necessarily your Friend and all that!
Britain gets more Money from the EU than she puts in apparently, or at least so we were told. So, if we are the 2nd largest Contributor to the EU how can we be? Does this imply that Germany gives the EU so much that it supports us - not to mention Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the former Warsaw Pact - all at once? The problem I have with Euro-Subsidies is how Money goes to the EU - then comes back. Why can't we keep it and decide what we do with it? Having read something someone wrote in support of the EU - and my being involved with an Anti-Poverty Campaign in Wales in 1999, I would say that a paltry £2.5 Billion from 2014 to 2020 isn't much of a return on our £10 Billion a year investment. I realise that that amount is sent by the UK as a whole - but while EU Subsidies are meant for the most needy of regions - Wales being one of them - where the other £58 Billion goes is a question for those responsible. Despite the Subsidy Economy in Wales - Cymru voted Brexit!
The French Prime Minister summed it up - although maybe unwittingly - when he said that the Referendum was a "Jolt" to the complacency and arrogance of the EU - prompting them to reconnect with the People. but why did the second largest contributor to it have to leave before he finally said it? People had been telling him this for years. His attitude isn't just at the highest echelon of the EU either. I could say that it applied at an every day level too. What this has finally also proved - and that is just how patronising the EU is (that, "let them calm down, be sensible, and have a second EU referendum" attitude, and how undemocratic. Anyone who voted against has to keep schtum in Company and Social Media for fear of recriminations.
But then, when you have an Organisation that employs 10,000 People - all paid more Money than he or she in Downing Street with the Nuclear Launch Codes, the desire to continue with it must be very tempting. Quite a lucrative Gravy Train if you can get on it. The Machinations to garner support in the daily lives of everyone as omnipresent as the Reactionists attitude proved.
One of the central Myths about the EU was how it prevented another War in Europe. To say this is to ignore why Germany is one of the most powerful economies in the world and that of the Continent. Marshall Aid gave them the biggest incentive of all not to wage War in Europe again, (ditto for Italy and others in receipt of the Program), while if the EU was meant to prevent another European Conflict then why wasn't it implemented in the late 1940's after WW2 instead of the end of the 1950s? Although it failed the League of Nations was within Wilson's Presidency straight after WW1. Also, the EU actually failed to prevent war in Europe when Yugoslavia descended into Conflict in the 90's, ominously a lot of it happening in Sarajevo. It didn’t stop the continuing Violence in Ireland either - despite both Britain and the republic joining in 1973. The Good Friday Agreement resolved this - and it was completely independent of the European Union.
Economic stability?
The recent Fortunes of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland are in conflict with this, but it gets worse.
After the European Commission was disbanded in 2000 because some Commissioners were committing extreme Fraud a Group of Ombudsmen were appointed to monitor the EU - particularly its dealings with the industrial Lobbyists. These People were supposed to be independent - but when they were researched it turned out some had connections with the same Companies behind the Economic Slump of 2008. Considering how impotent the SEC were in the US at preventing what eventually led to 2008, I found it distressing that these same people could be involved in the political process of the EU. That it has been said that 2008 will happen again because that Bubble has been replaced by an even bigger one. When that one bursts the implications for any economy bound up with the EU are obvious, and will be far more disastrous than something that came from Wall Street.
This is why Brexit wasn't the economic disaster Scaremongers would have us believe and might even be a safeguard against what could happen in Europe. That to wrest our Economy from the toxic Morass of the EU couldn't have happened at a better time.
How about a potential collision with Russia?
The EU was very hostile towards any Russian involvement in Negotiations over the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Agreement in 2013. They refused any Input from a Country who has dealt with Ukraine for over a thousand years. This finally led to the ousting of President Yanukovych and Ukraine descending into civil War in its eastern Regions. It also led to the Annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. This is all very worrying as it turns Ukraine into a battleground of East and West. It's like it's becoming the new East and West Germany, the fault line that divided the World until 1989, but far bigger than the Brandenburg Gate.
To be continued……………………….
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Martin McGuinness revealed an Inconsistency when he called for an Irish reunification Referendum against the Backdrop of the Brexit Vote. That while he used the Stats for Ulsters pro-Europe Vote as a Mandate for his mooted Referendum he forgot that his own People fought against another Union - the Act of Union of 1800. It was through this that the last Vestiges of Irish Sovereignty disappeared and the O'Niel's finally laid to rest as her Rulers. That a similar process was at work with that that began happening with the European Union. Some of us voted against it in the Gratton Parliament.
ReplyDeleteIt's now 5 Months since we made our Choice, and we're no nearer enacting Article 50 than we were on June 22nd. If Czechoslovakia can have their Revolution in November 1989 and their first democratically elected President since the 1930's by December 29th why don't we seem to have made any Progress? Does this imply that the EU is more intrusive that the Warsaw Pact was? I didn't think it was possible. Those Communist Governments dictated everything from the Job you could do to who you could marry.
ReplyDeleteAlso, President Obama inadvertently exploded the Myth the EU somehow acts as an Economic Bloc - protecting its Signatories from larger Economies. If that was true why is an American President telling us to vote Remain? Does this imply the Opposite? That the EU is in fact a Conduit that compromises those Countries with any larger Economies?
This means we would be better off enacting Brexit when dealing with the US.
What bothers me is we've already seen how undemocratic EU Supporters are with their 'Dissolve the People and elect another Demos' - and Clinton Supporters in America with their Response to the recent Election. If we've seen this from their Foot-soldiers what can we expect from their Politicians?
If those 'Remain' Voters filibuster Brexit then what happens next? We find ourselves in conflict with America - whose President elect has already pledged his support for the 52%.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the pro-Europeans scared of?
Too many Banknotes to put in the Washing Machine, Documents to shred?
It finally looks like MPs remembered who pays their Wages, whose Votes put them there, who finances everything from the Civil Service to every Department and Employee, who bought and maintained those impressive Buildings in the UK Capitals and elsewhere, by triggering Article 50.
ReplyDeleteNow we can shrug off Euroapathy and rediscover the things we actually invented. Eco-Politics, Research and Lobbying (Friends of the Earth), while Human Rights Activists might be astonished to know that the Notion of HR was inspired by the Anti-Slavery Legislation of 1807 and 1833.
That we can retain a Legal System that started with Ranulf De Glanville and Magna Carta, which - in turn - inspired Constitutional Politics everywhere - from the Framers in Philadelphia to new Democracies in Eastern Europe.
This, concurrent with Events in America also means a Rediscovery of why and how rather than what. "Birth of a Nation" 2016 seems a poignant Film in this Context as Emancipation helped the US re-establish its Constitution, rendered null and void before the 13th Amendment of 1865.
For a very long time Germany has enjoyed the Benefits of being the EU's most powerful Economy. After Brexit they suddenly also have to accept the Responsibility of being that. That means having to pay into the EU where we used to - thus before, we took on some of that.
ReplyDeleteMoney that has subsidised those that joined in 2004 was partially paid by us, ditto for those affected by the Crash of 2008. Germany had a Taste of what it means to have to spend on somewhere after the end of the DDR, when the former, prosperous West Germany had to spend on the former Communist East. I remember the Cartoon of a Merc welded to a Trabant to illustrate this.
When other Countries join, and that includes a Serbia that was bombed flat by NATO in 1999, that task increases. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are Kosovar Albanians who are opposed to full Independence because retaining Autonomy with the Serbs means they join as part of a Euro-package, thus what some have described as a 4th World Country has Money spent on it to join the 1st.
Germany - from the CEO of the very large Corporations to the Blue Collar Worker - could see a double Figure increase in VAT to pay for all of this. A Nightmare for any Politician who has to announce this in any Election Campaign. Either that or those Incentives that prompted those who have joined start to diminish as Germany doesn't adapt its post-Brexit Subsidies.
We might also see a restructuring of our Tax System - in place since 1975 - which maintained our Contribution to the EU, that it might even be reduced. Being that 2nd largest Contributor meant we must have been spending more on the EU that we were here. After all is anyone going to suggest we have been subsidised by Spain or Portugal for example?
So, many of the Arguments against Brexit in a German context has nothing to do with Right or Wrong, the Environment or Human Rights, and everything to do with Money. Heck, they've been banging on about the 'Socialist' aspect of the EU - now some of those very wealthy, pro-European Germans are going to have to put it into practice.
If Berlin decides it won't increase its Eurospend to compensate for the post-Brexit absence of ours somewhere like Latvia might even rediscover those Business's that were closed by Riga's pro-Europeans pending Subsidies in a steroid Economy almost as managed as that of the Warsaw Pact.
While they do this we start to do same with the very things we invented - Eco-lobbying and activism (Friends of the Earth) and Human Rights - set in motion in 1833....... here!
"If they held Elections in Ceaucescu's Romania and disagreed with the Vote they'd dissolve the People and elect another!"
ReplyDeleteThis is what they said about the Government who hosted the last Warsaw Pact meeting in 1989, which said it all about how a small Group of 'People' dictated the terms to a much larger Group, then killed very many of them - all in the name of the 'People' in December of that year. In the Words of a BBC Foreign Affairs Correspondent "The People featured rather a lot in the Rhetoric - but not very much in the reality".
More that 2 years since the Brexit Referendum and we are no closer to a Package that will work in our post-EU Lives. The problem has been compounded by those who don't want a Brexit at all and the infighting between those wanting a "hard" and those wanting a "Soft" Brexit, while all of this ignores the fact that the Problem isn't no Brexit/Brexit at all! It's the chronic indecisiveness caused by all of this which finds its way to everyone from someone who doesn't know whether they'll have a Job once Brexit happens - because they've been pummeled with anti-Brexit Propaganda by the 'Remain' Lobby - to an American President who has all but given up on a Britain that can't seem to organised the proverbial in a Brewery. Both of which are extremely damaging! We might be in this Morass but the rest of the world isn't - and while we are locked in this post-referendum Atrophy that rest of the world gets on with its day-to-day!
I feel scornful of those who reacted against the Referendum - reminding them that they 'protest' against a decision made by the People and not a Policy by a Government. That while they force a 2 year long filibuster even David Cameron was grown up enough to resign when the Result reversed his pro-European Mandate.
The People who should be applauded but never seem to get much publicity are the Better together Group who have spent most of that time trying to find, and convince People about, what the best Policy should be and what needed doing once that Decision was reached.
The thing is, while they do this Placards proclaim "No to Brexit" - which could provoke a Backlash, cause Violence and create yet more uncertainty.
I'd like to see Better together get the publicity they deserve in this very difficult transition period, who seem removed from the Polarity of Brexit/Remain, Hard/Soft, Advocates - and who ought to have and promote whatever Environment and Human Rights Elements included in their Agenda. Currently, both are bound up with the EU - the latters Human Rights Act 1998 dependent on EU Human Rights Law and litigative Infrastructure.
Firstly, neither Brexiter or Remainer should gloat at what happened in Parliament recently. It doesn't mean a Victory for either, it means more Misery and Uncertainty for Millions of People who don't know if they'll have s Job in any Future, whether or not Britain will have any Human Rights Law, or if we need to draft a Bill of Rights independent of the EU, or how the myriad other things that affect our lives will be affected. 2 and a half years since the Referendum and it's the People who have been let down not the Politicians.
ReplyDeleteI also think it was a bit irresponsible of certain People to resign almost as soon as the Result was announced. Nigel Farage left the 52% Leaderless while David Cameron left Britain without a Constitutional Mandate. He ought to have accepted the Result as part of his Election Manifesto and begun the Process of an EU Exit Strategy. Instead, his Successor has been put in an unenviable Position, and has seen what Mandate she might have had diminish in the Farce that it has become. Rather than Corbyn baying for her Removal and yet another Election whose Victor will look like an opportunist Carpet bagger winning because of what shouldn't happen rather than should, he should be working with the Prime Minister towards a Solution to the Morass.
I also disagree with a Comment that compared Brexit with Prohibition. I'd say it was the opposite and the EU was a noble Experiment that failed and had unintended Consequences.
What all MPs should realize is how whoever negotiates the conclusive Deal needs to from a Position of Advantage rather than being compromised. When the President of the most powerful Country in the World presents the Prime Minister with an Ultimatum like he did last year that is very serious. When they go to those Meetings without any apparent Support in the Legislature whatever they are offered or argued for is compromised. The Referendum isn't partisan Politics, or the usual Parliamentary pre-amble to any Election. This is why whoever the PM is they have have the Trust, and be able to trust and have the Support of Parliament whatever Party or EU Opinion it subscribes to.
ReplyDeleteIs this Brexit ...... or Bulshit?
ReplyDelete23rd of June 2016 was the Date of the Referendum and we are no nearer a Solution than we were on June 22nd that year!
The MPs appearing in this Farce are being paid £78000 a year for this non-result, Cabinet Ministers £142,000. It has used up Acres of Hansard (the Journal of Parliament) while the Referendum itself cost £129 Million. It is estimated that all this has cost our Economy £550 Million a Week since. (Multiply that from June 2016 to now and you might need a Chair and a stiff Drink).
Then we are being told we might have another Referendum while some say Brexit might not happen at all. What the Public Furore could be at either is incalculable. Money and Human Resources squandered in nothing more than a squabbling Talk Shop. A Job creation Scheme for Pollsters and Pundits. I remember the Insurrectionary Attitude against the similarly fiscally and socially expensive Poll Tax.
Czechoslovakia ended Decades of Fascist and Communist Dictatorship in the 4 Months since the Velvet Revolution and Havel's Election. The first democratically elected Leader the Country had had after the all stifling Warsaw Pact. They completely restructured everything. Society, Constitution, social Infrastructure, Economics and even Morality. Havel wrote extensively about the corrosive moral Crisis caused by Communism. A moral Bankruptcy where everything could be blamed or praised of the Party and no-one accepts Responsibility. If they can do all that why are we having to put up with the longest Filibuster in History?
Also, while they bicker about Business and Politics is anyone talking about Human Rights? The Human Rights Acts 1998 is hugely bound up in EU Law so shouldn't someone be draughting a Bill of Rights independent of it?
When we (note I say "we" not they) vote on the 23rd we should write "why are we even doing this?" on the Ballot Paper. We shouldn't be having Euro-elections almost 3 years after the Referendum.
ReplyDeleteWhile they filibustered Brexit they also filibustered other things like anti-slavery!
If the recent EU Election was a national Election the Commons would now have a Brexit Party Government and Liberal Democrat Opposition. If Labour and Conservative thought People might change their Minds after the Council Elections they were very wrong. People weren't just making a protest Vote a few Weeks ago, then it's Business as usual in the next one.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Nigel Farage ought to be Prime Minister with a hefty Mandate, but while we were foisted with the unelected Gordon Brown after Tony Blair resigned it looks like Boris Johnson might move into Downing Street when Theresa May leaves.
I notice Boris is using the Word "deliver" like Tony Blair did in a recent Interview. Mr Farage never has, and while Blair inherited all that 1997 Stuff from us (a creative not Conservative Comment) which gave Creative Economics a huge Boost, how can we continue that Momentum with the 'Paperwork'?
Meanwhile, all the Bun Fighting aside, here's something that gets scant Mention anywhere .....
ReplyDeletehttps://fullfact.org/europe/eu-and-human-rights/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwxMjnBRCtARIsAGwWnBP42P5uniEEO9Trak-TmnDIv72soovFPaaqSnHaMGPkPTAge8RKancaAnmcEALw_wcB
It's a Webpage that attempts to allay Fears that leaving the EU will affect Human Rights in Britain. This is something that seems to be ignored by the Political, leave, remain, hard or soft Brexit, but it shouldn't.
The Page attempts to present Facts but is still vague in some Areas and contradictory in others. It says how the EU "may protect" where the european Court of Human Rights doesn't. So this must mean that that will be affected once we do a Brexit.
It also tells us that the Treaty of Lisbon (an EU Treaty) is being used increasingly across the Continent. Thus, this also implies that Human Rights are bound up in the EU.
What all of this means is Human Rights Groups and Lawyers ought to be putting forward Recommendations to whoever becomes Leader after Theresa Mays resignation and during Brexit. That she, and they ought to have had a Commission working on a Bill of Rights very soon after June 2016.
It would be a tragic Irony indeed if the herculean Task of reclaiming Democracy at loçal and regional Government and the EU should flounder as the very Rights that guarantee it are ignored.
We need a Bill of Rights that works with the European Court of Human Rights (which isn't EU), and independent of the EU and the Lisbon Treaty (which is). Sooner rather than later! The Black Gap left in any Interim caused by Delay could be exploited by all sorts of People.
ReplyDeleteAs the main Political Parties start realising that they might have to fight to become the Opposition, let alone the Government, it isn't just them who are no longer Heir Assumptive to Power.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1992 General Election I worked for a BBC Radio Station. Part of their Coverage was a live Broadcast from the Studio with several Academics commenting on the Candidates, Results, Policies and Punditry. At the end, and to the Astonishment of everyone, it was announced that John Major had won. Many thought he wouldn't, most of all one of said Academics. He shook his Head in Disbelief as he put his Documents in his Briefcase. All those Charts and Graphs, Lists of Stats and Calculus.
"I don't believe it" he said. "I spent 4 Weeks interviewing People and never met a single Tory"!
While Doublespeak Politics has finally been discredited, the continuous Job Creation Scheme for Pollsters and Pundits lost the Public Imagination and Credibility ages ago.
After all, love him or loath him, if they had all been right, and if he had taken any notice, President Trump would still just be plain old Donald.
Eurirony ......
ReplyDeleteHow many Companies and Individuals have spent huge on compliance with EU Legislation on the Environment? How many of us have dutifully done our bit to contribute to the Eco Cause? How much have we paid in VAT to pay the Eurocrats to administer all of this? How much Eco Blackmail did the Remainers apply, telling us Brexit could roll back Eco Law?
The other day I was Cycling on my eco-friendly Ebike using no Fossil Fuel at all (apart from the tiny amount to charge it). I saw some People closely linked to the European Union get into a Car. I thought they might be going to Bristol or something (although still cyclable even without an Ebike). To my astonishment they drove about 300 yards down the Road to use a Facility.
Good to see the EU leading by example huh!
The EU and Ebikes .....
ReplyDeleteEN 19154 states that you can ride an Ebike in Britain as long as it's Peddle assist, goes no faster than 25 Kmh with the Engine (obviously you can go faster, but either freewheeling downhill or manually), and the Motor is no more powerful than 250 Watts.
I have no problem with the Peddle Assist. After all Cycling is exercise as much as fun and transport, while using Cycle Tracks is probably better than congested Roads these days (which you couldn't do if it was Throttle controlled because it becomes a Moped). While 25 Kmh is fast enough in most Environments.
The Wattage on the other hand might have been fine in somewhere like Holland or the flatter Regions of Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany, but 250 Watts does occasionally struggle to negotiate the Hills here. EN 19154 is a Euro wide Law, so maybe after Brexit we might see an increase to 350 Watts to cope with the hilly British Environment.
Meanwhile, I finally told EU activists to fuck off because this is now year 4 since the Referendum, we are no nearer a Resolution than we were in 2016, the Remainers have shown themselves to be undemocratic, campaigning against a Referendum NOT a Government Policy or Decision from the High Court. Brexit People have proved to be nothing more than a Distraction - a fractured Mess of Indecision, and all of which is just a huge Filibuster that costs us more than half a Billion a Week.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about as exciting as watching Paint dry!
After that long it's starting to look like Brexit has given Politicians and Pundits, both pro and anti European, an Excuse not to do anything else. Just how much Effort have they given the Modern Slavery Act for example?
ReplyDeleteI realized how much Damage was being done by the Indecisiveness when I did some temporary Work last year. It was for an American Food distribution Company and they were offering their Temps Work ongoing until Feb 2019. This was when we were supposed to do our Brexit and even they - a huge Company - didn't know what would happen after it. They were affected and they weren't even an Anglo-European Company so how many other People had their Employment compromised by all this "Should I stay, or should I go" Nonsense? Seems the Clash might have been right about all the Palava in this "Safe European Home"!
ReplyDeleteBetter Batteries ...... The Eco arguement!
ReplyDeleteThe Reason a Lithium Ion Battery is finally thrown away is because it has reached its discharge Limit. There are only so many times you can charge and discharge a Lithium Ion Battery before it becomes useless. You might have had to buy a new one for your Phone as it gradually runs down after less time. That Laptop that used to last 15 Hours now only does 5 or 6. Ebike Batteries are the same.
So, you have a 13ah Battery that will do about 40kms. You use that up quite rapidly and are always having to charge it up, sometimes from empty. It has an estimated 800 Charge Cycles before it needs replacing. Because you have to do this very often you might do so every evening. Thus, you only get about 2 and a Half Years from it. If you had a 30ah Battery you will get about 2 and a Half times the distance, thus it doesn't have to be charged up so often and it might last 6.25 years. Instead of Landfills filling up with spent Batteries every 2.5 years that Process is slowed right down and reduces the Pollution caused. In that extra time Improvements to the Technology can be added to your Bike, and those made since.
The Government offered a refundable Grant for People who bought an Ebike. You would buy it, send the Receipt to the Department of Transport and they would give you a couple of Hundred Quid. Maybe they should do this for anyone wanting to upgrade a Bike as long as it is used as their regular Transport.
The People's Vote, the hidden Problem.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone noticed that the German Economy is in trouble? And this isn't just a Blip on some Frankfurt Graph either. It's a severe Morass that shows little sign of immediate Improvement.
Germans have expressed a Desire for a Referendum of their own, and this was before their current Problems. They obviously saw that our Brexit foots them with the Bill for funding once the 2nd largest Contributor (Britain) leaves.
What happens if Germans decide to have a Vote of their own - against the Backdrop of their ailing Economy, as they resent paying into an already contraversial EU? Add this to those who want a Referendum and it won't just be us becoming a former EU Country.
So we have our People's Vote, where Remainers dissolved those People from 2016 and elected another, and we end up staying in the EU. Suddenly we see Germany go in the opposite Direction and we become the EU's biggest Contributor. .........
You can figure out the rest!
Also, if the Problems the EU had were when both Germany and Britain were in it how is this going to improve anything?
I think this 'Peoples Vote' is a bit deceitful. That when Germany can't or won't continue to fund the EU they want us to become its main finacier. This is what they aren't telling you, but behind the Scenes the Bundesbank knew the German Economy was heading for Trouble ages ago. If they didn't they wouldn't be running it.
ReplyDeleteCan't or won't? It's either/or maybe both, but not neither!
Germany will either find its Treasury can't continue to pay Brussels, or anyone involved in their VAT System might stop charging it with Customers, or refuse to hand it to the Tax Man. History shows us that when the German Economy goes into Meltdown it does so spectacularly. Their Crisis of 1923 was the Precursor to the rest of the World in 1929. They also have a History of refusing Payment. In that instance it was War Reperations after WW1.
Even Countries that Euro-Rhetoricists would say have the most to gain from it want to leave. Greece, the most devastated Country in it wants to abandon the Euro and reuse the Drachma. They hope it will help write off the huge Debts they incurred, mainly with Germany - while seeing the EU as a Conduit for it. To them the EU isn't Subsidies, it's Debts and Loans. As Frankfurt tries balancing it's Books it might foreclose on some of these anyway.
And while all this happens we end up paying for all of it. After all, the poorest Countries will use their Subsidies to pay off their Debts a desperate Germany wants repaying. So I'm not surprised they are touting for our Vote.
And it isn't Socialism - rather like the $700 Billion Bailout of Wall Street in 2008 wasn't.
We should do our bit to help these Countries, but not via the EU.
ReplyDeleteHere's a thing ....
ReplyDeleteIn the Melee of Brexiteers and Remainers, Referenda and People's Votes has anyone noticed no-one is mentioning Stuff like Levenson or Chilcott anymore?
What would have happened if the Iraq War had been subjected to a Referendum?
And here we are, still reading the latest Bulshit about Europe. However much more Money spent in Parliament, even more Money lost every week, since my previous Post here on the Subject. Politicians, for or against, who seem to think we work for them these days.
ReplyDeleteThe Problem they have now is however it goes the Fragility of due Process has become apparent. People might even start thinking they've been playing a Game with us in an already compromised Environment. Post Iraq, post David Kelly, post Chilcott, post Levenson it might prove the Nail in the Coffin of Parliamentary Credibility.
There's one Question People might also ask if, or when, we do a Brexit; How much Money have we given the EU as it's second biggest Contributor since June 26th 2016?
ReplyDeleteSomething I was aghast at hearing was how Boris Johnson hadn't nominated a Commissioner in Europe after Julian King vacated his Office. Brexit won't have all the Ceremony of our handing Hong Kong to the Chinese but at least Chris Patten was there right up until the Charter was in Beijing. It's the worst exit strategy the Prime Minister could have done. A Diplomat might call it chaotic, leaving us prostrate before the EU, a General would call it a Rout with no Deployment to cover the Withdrawal.
ReplyDeleteJulian King described it as like Saigon when the Americans withdrew, but even as the Helicopters flew from the Embassy ARVN Soldiers still put up a Fight.
This isn't even that!
Here's something that contains an erroneous Zone.
ReplyDelete"After the financial crisis in 2008, the EU imposed a couple of directives – MiFID and MiFIDI II – which sought to constrain the actions of the financial services sector. The sector, which is mainly based in London – London being the least regulated European capital – balked at this and some of them signalled their intention to leave the EU. Given that the financial sector is one of the the main funders of the Tory party, the Tories have bowed to the bankers and hedge fund managers and initiated Brexit."
Except it fails to mention that Gordon Brown, Labour not Conservative Chancellor, removed what Regulation governing the financial Sector that was left after Thatchers deregulation of the 1980's.
What has happened here is another of those counter-productive things .....
ReplyDeleteLike Blair and Bush hoping that Oil Production in Iraq would unite the Country has proved fallacious as each Region vies for control of it, Gordon Brown must have known that he was playing right into the Hands of the likes of Nigel Lawson who was Thatcher's Chancellor!
B+2 ......
ReplyDeleteHere we are, several days after Brexit, with some Thoughts.
The Psuedo-liberal Organisation called the EU must now be facing a Crisis of Legitimacy as other Member States start asking if they need to be in it. Germany now has to foot the Bill as its second biggest Contributor has left. The others start asking if EU Subsidies can continue as Frankfurt looks at the Balance Sheet and sees far more going out than coming in. The old Scam doesn't work anymore as any long term Unemployed in Athens could tell you.
Here's how it worked.....
Stavros in Greece wants to borrow Money from Klaus in Germany. Klaus lends it to him. He then uses it to buy BMWs from Dieter, also in Germany. Dieter has made his Money from the Sale and Stavros still owes Klaus the Money.
This has been how it happened everywhere.
So, while Stavros has either been foreclosed on, or has paid back the Money and finished it somewhat wiser this couldn't go on for much longer.
If Germany decides on its own Euro-Austerity Program those others begin to wonder if the reduced Subsidies are worth the Restrictions and start lobbying for a Referendum of their own.
The same would apply if Stavros spent the Money on Volkswagen's - however the Germans pronounce those Vs and Ws!
ReplyDeleteIs the Euro obsolete?
ReplyDeleteProbably .....
Just because a Country might have a Euro Economy doesn't mean Workers earn the same, or pay the same, as other Euro Economies. There are huge differences between those in Germany and those in Spain for example, while Greece wants to abandon it completely.
Czechish People don't want it because it has made everything more expensive as their Government adapts their Economy to the Criteria necessary. It's the same in other Eastern European Countries that have always had a lower APR Index than the West.
Also, the Arguments for a single Currency might have worked when you traveled through Europe exchanging Pounds, Francs, Marks, Lira and Pesetas. That, or having to buy Travellers Cheques everywhere was time consuming and inconvenient. Not to mention paying a Commission every time.
The advent of the ATM Card changed all that.
In the comparatively primitive 2005, when People still had Pentium Computers and used XP (still better than Windows 10) I went to Hungary. We travelled through France, Belgium, Germany and Austria, with my Companions using Debit and ATM Cards for everything, Fuel, Food, Accommodation, Beer and Cash. It was the same in Hungary, the ATM automatically exchanging Sterling to Forints, and we never saw a Bureau de Change or Wechsel ever. They still paid a modest Fee every time, but you do anyway.
I'm not even sure there will be an EU in a few years.
We, the 2nd biggest Contributor, have just left the Building leaving the first - Germany - to cover the Deficit. How long will it be before the Germans elect a Euro-Sceptic Prime Minister because of this?
Some People might say that being a Euro-Sceptic was somehow Nationalist but it isn't. You want a Socialist Arguement against the EU? Ask anyone who went to a Food Bank for a Carrier Bag of Groceries what they might say to the EU that paid Farmers to destroy Produce. Milk poured down Drains, Eggs deliberately smashed by the 1000's, Crops ploughed back into the Ground. Others paid by Brussels to "set aside" Land. All to keep Prices artificially high while they couldn't afford to feed themselves or their Families.
ReplyDeleteThe unforgettable Confrontation Bob Geldof had with what was the European Economic Community, asking why there are Food Mountains and Drink Lakes in Europe while Africans starved?
Then there is the Prospect of a German Retreat. Could it be argued that German Euro-Scepticism is the Antidote to what some feel is neo-Europaische Wirtschaftgemeinshaft? That diminished German involvement in Europe reduces the Risk of what happened in Greece?
In the 1980's they used to calculate the average Wage. Any Mathematician will tell you that to do this you have to add up the Figures, then divide the total by the number of Figures. What happens if one of them is huge, like the Income of the top Strata of Earners? This was how Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson could tell us the average Wage was higher than most average People actually earned. So what happened when Countries like Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal had their Economies brought into line with an Economic Powerhaus like Germany? How did anyone calculate an Average so they could join the Euro? Everyone knows Athens did some hefty creative Accountancy to become worthy of the Euroclub. This proved to be a Steroid Economy and the Result was disastrous.
It was obvious that the most powerful Country in Europe would dictate the form and value of the Euro. Why do American Politicians always curry Favour with the most powerful Electoral Colleges in the Union during an Election? For the same Reason. In pre-Euro Europe how did the Drachma fair against the Deutschmark? How much more spending power did Sterling have against the Lira? How is this not going to affect the European and Euro Economies?
Why could Germany and Japan trounce all over the League of Nations in the 1930's? How do some Countries stymie the UN Security Council with a Veto?
Theoretically, all Countries in the UN are equal, but I'm not sure the American, Russian, Chinese, British or French Delegates would be too bothered if Luxembourg attempted a Veto. Why, with the World Bank and World Trade Organisation, do we have the G9?
ReplyDeleteDead Pop Stars will not save you ....
ReplyDeleteHow many times did EMI remix and re-release Beatles Product? Paul McCartney and Wings, George Harrison - even Ringo Starr? Everything from the "Love me do" Picture Disc, that Boxed Set of Singles, "1962-66" and "1967-70", to those Anthology Albums with umpteen "Strawberry Fields"? Other People covering their Songs, all of it?
This couldn't even save a Record Company, so why do People somehow think it'll save them now?
Now we have left the Euro Pact there might be some Culture that starts to look like Sovok did in post Soviet Russia. There's even a rather crusty Cover of "Let it be" which could fall into that Category.
The Civil Service has to be careful. Suddenly Sir Humphrey Appleby - who began his Career as a 1992 Graduate - is a late 40's Eurocrat who knows nothing else except a Maastricht Britain. There are 1000's of former Oblast Administrators and regional Party Bosses who could tell him what happened to them after 1989.
As Dead Pop Stars could not save Record Companies Prime Minister Johnson has to convince everyone from President Trump to the post-Brexit EU that any Trade Agreement is something more substantial than Nostalgia or an abstract %!
They could ask; "10% of what Mr Prime Minister?" "What does Britain create or make? What Services does it offer? What Mineral Resource does it produce?". Nostalgia they have, but that isn't something in the Now that can be traded on. As the EMI Parlophone Story tells you, playing Beatles Games will not save you ...... however many digital remixed Reissues they might have sold.
Meanwhile, January next year could be a complete Disaster for Britain.
ReplyDeleteWe do our Brexit - still with things still unconcluded - and America inaugurates it's pro-Europe President. The Trump Presidency brings into focus just how long, too long, the Brexit Arguement has raged. It was June 2016 we decided to leave the EU, 4 Months before Trump was even elected. He was Eurosceptic, and said several times during his Presidency that he would deal favourably with Brexit Britain. Unfortunately, he only ever talked about it. Now at the end of his Term, and losing election for a second, we do not have a Trade Agreement with America. Boris Johnson has said that we probably won't with President elect, Joe Biden.
Our Prime Minister was one of the Brexiteers told by Biden's former Boss President Obama that Britain would be forced to the back of the queue in any Dealings with America.
Because of this, would the EU take us back and forgive us if we abandoned Brexit?
Probably not because it wouldn't be in their Interests to do so. Now is their big Chance to jump that Queue and set up trade Deals of their own. They have envied our special relationship with America since Churchill and Roosevelt and now they can have one at our expense.
Brexit has turned into our Jarndice and Jarndice. Akin to the Chancery Case in Dickens "Bleak House" that went on for so long it devoured many People and left nothing at the end of it.
People might gloat at the American Election Result, but whoever our Prime Minister is has nothing to fall back on in dealing with America. Even if Trump resigned, was impeached or even gaoled during a second Term we would at least have our Agreement.
This is not an old grey Whistle!
Now we have nothing and will have to compete with America, Europe, Japan, India, China and Russia, while watching our Stature with Washington diminish!
Brexit should have been done and dusted by 2018, with all Deals and Agreements established.
Maybe someone should do another Caricature ......
ReplyDeletePresident Biden holds court. He's sat on his Throne on Pennsylvania Avenue, the World's Leaders lined up to receive his Patronage. Britain looking like Boris is treated like the naughty Boy, stood in the Corner, Face to the Wall. Dominic Cummins is outside hustling for Favour from the Leaders as they come out.
"So what can I do for you Ms Merkel?" President Biden asks.
Instead of the Jarndice and Jarndice Brexit Civil War, pro-Europeans should have heeded what David Cameron did after the Referendum. Took the Result on the Chin and make way for the necessary and best Deals we could get in a post-Brexit Europe, and the equivalents with America.
Even if we scrapped Brexit and the EU took us back all we can offer them now is the Money as the 2nd largest Contributor as we are prostrate before both them and Washington.
What I thought astonishing about Obama/Biden - and even most of the Legislature - was how, during the Bailouts of the Slump in 2009 they never told those CEOs that there was a Caveat attached to the Money. That People were right in saying those Institutions were too big to fail, and if they had the whole World would eventually shutdown, but they should not be run by the same CEOs who caused the Morass. Once the Money had been paid those CEOs file for Bankruptcy and new Bosses appointed.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't and those People not only continued running things they even paid themselves Bonuses from the public Money meant to save the Companies and their Clients Money, Livelihoods and Homes.
Subsequently within a year of his first Term Barack Obama had Demos across America in protest. If he and Biden wanted to do the right thing politically and morally that wasn't it, while no-one in the Legislature seemed to suggest anything else.
And while Obama pushed through the remaining TARP Payments as President Elect in October 2008 ($350bn), although he might have voiced disapproval of the Bonuses paid to People responsible for the Mess in 2008-9 none of this became particularly public until July of 2009. His insistence on Transparency in Wall Street hadn't penetrated the Bonus Culture before and during the first 6 Months of his Presidency. As this, and the $800bn economic ressucitation Program, formed the Start of his Government and that was public Money, he ought to have insisted on a thorough Audit during the Crisis.
ReplyDeleteHis expressed Concerns about Bonuses are a bit like Trump's supposed Support of post-Brexit Britain. Sounds great as a Political Soundbite, but it ought to have been backed up. People would have been justified in asking him to take those responsible to task once he became President, like they might Donald Trump and Boris Johnson for the lack of a Trade Agreement. The problem is many of those Companies who received TARP sponsored the 2008 Obama Election Campaign.
Considering the Disaster a Hillary Presidency would be Donald Trump saved the Democrat Party from itself in 2016.
ReplyDeleteWar with Russia, War with Iran (already War with Syria as Defence Secretary), we would be at war with someone or other had she won.
Meanwhile, a Euromillions Lottery Winner couldn't have funded either main Candidate in the 2008 Election Campaign. Ironically, Obama's Democrat Campaign cost $760,370,195 which was more than twice that of the GOP John McCain at $358,008,447, while both dwarfed that of Independent Ralph Nader at $4,187,628.
Hillary was a naughty Girl in 2016 and filched the entire Fund for her Campaign in 2016. How can this be healthy for Democracy, while it goes some way to explain why a Country of 330,000,000, with Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton, being the wealthiest in the World couldn't field better Candidates when Trump was elected. All this, and how the controversies surrounding GWB's Elections, Trump's and the current Debacle demonstrate that maybe there should be some Electoral Reform in America. What would $760million look like piled up in a Room?
Back in Europe a Trump Victory might have made the EU more receptive to allowing us to scrap Brexit. The 2nd largest Contributor bolsters the Eurobloc against its Negotiations with America. That doesn't apply now as EU Countries elbow their way forward in the Queue. Recent Reports of Boris drafting premature congratulatory Messages to Trump's 'Victory' suggest some of this. That the Government were hoping the incumbent would win says they knew where they would stand if Biden won. Once the President Elect knows this Boris is compromised.
I Hope that Biden/Harris isn't going to be a more of the same, pseudo- liberal Puppet Show like the Clinton 90's, and how the Blair/Obama Era was here. One where some were patronages and others just patronised.
ReplyDeleteEverything up to and including Trump's Protest at the Result and the latest Hirings and Firings at the Pentagon are because the Democrats didn't field a better Candidate in 2016. But then, how could they, with cost prohibitive Campaign Expenditure and a Party Elite with first Refusal on it? Somewhere in America might have been a liberal who could have been a much better President than Hillary, but they don't have the Funding.
ReplyDeleteThe anti-Trump Protests in 2016-7 weren't only futile, and looked undemocratic, George Sorros ought to have directed his Ire at the Democrat Party for allowing themselves to be beaten by "The Donald"!
Pro-Europeans might scoff at Brexiteers, but the Referendum ended like it did because they couldn't successfully counter Nigel Farage's Argument. But then Europe didn't acknowledge there might have been a Problem until after it. Francois Hollande shrugged and admitted that maybe they were losing touch with the Public.
The whole Campaign Funding Issue is susceptible to manipulation. And is it democratic? Neo-liberal advocates of Market Forces might say that the Money put up in support reflects the Opinion of the Electorate, but it doesn't. If it did Obama would have gained more than twice the amount of Votes for John McCain, but he didn't.
That, and everything else has yielded too many Controversies in recent American Elections and Biden starts his Presidency with a 'did he or didn't he' question mark against it.
And I will use what happened 30 years ago as a Template to assess more recent Stuff.
ReplyDeleteFor example, there are no Comparisons of the Revolution in the Ukraine to what happened in Eastern Europe. Gorbachev would not intervene should those Countries decide to remove their Regimes. Support for People like Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel and Ion Iliescu was almost universal. As many questioned Events in Kiev as supported them.
The CFE Treaty ratified by Gorbachev and Bush Senior was the correct Conclusion to the Cold War. Subterfuge and outright Illegality has violated it with NATO deployed in what should be neutral Territory.
The Lebanese Hostage Crisis - as outlined in a Documentary by Granada TV called "1000 Days" shows the Link between its Resolution and improving Relations with Rafsanjani's Tehran. This was scotched by America and never capitalised on in the 90's.
Who was going to argue with the end of Apartheid?
There were so many things happening then that have no equivalents now, including a certain War in Iraq with no UN Mandate and a supposed Arab "Spring" which wasn't anything like pro-Democracy in Eastern Europe.
Walesa hoped Obama would re-establish the Moral Authority America might have had 30 years ago. He didn't!
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening in America at the moment is horrible.
ReplyDeleteTrump is launching a counter to the Result which allegedly made Joe Biden President. Commentators have suggested Biden's "mental decline" could force him from Office, making Kamal Harris defacto President. This should not be compared to what happened in 1963 when Lyndon Johnson was same after Jack Kennedy was assassinated. What is happening now is BEFORE Biden even becomes President, not several years after the Inauguration. Voter's could argue that they didn't vote Harris for President and if there was something wrong with Joe Biden this should have been disclosed during the Campaign. JFK was elected and served as President, even though he was killed in Dallas, which prompted Johnson's impromptu Presidency in November 1963.
So America now has a President Elect who some believe isn't fit to rule, a miffed Candidate who is calling it fraud and an unelected Vice President elect who could end up in the oval Office.
Almost as soon as he took Office in 63 Johnson became part of the Campaign for Elections in 1964. He might have won quite decisively but today's Electorate could ask if Kamal Harris would allow herself to be subjected to the same Scrutiny. If she didn't former President Trump, love him or loath him, is within his Rights to question it.
Is there something wrong with this Election?
ReplyDeleteIn 1960 JFK won but with a tiny Majority of a few 1000 Votes in Illinois. He had a terrible Back Injury that caused excruciating pain and he was having Cortizone Injections. Despite all this Vice President and Republican Candidate Richard Nixon who was a very close second didn't use that to question Kennedy's Victory, citing how the Democrat Candidate only won by a few 1000 and was on Steroids.
No Candidate Roosevelt ran against claimed his crippling Polio made him unfit for Office. Roosevelt's moral High Ground, Skill and Determination won through and he was President in spite of his Disability.
But this Election looks mirky before Biden is even sworn in next year. If he does have to leave Office Americans can say that they used him as a Trojan Horse to facilitate a Harris Presidency. There could be other things too.....
Why is Rudolph Giulliani involved in the Backlash? Surely, if everything was fine he would take it on the Chin and congratulate the Winner. If Trump continued with his current Stance he would say "Look Donald, the Games up and admit defeat huh!"
When he was Mayor of New York the City was in a terrible state. He didn't just clean up the Streets, he cleaned up the City too.
Does he sense the same things wrong with the Democrat Party or this Campaign that he did when he was Mayor?
Why is he staking his Reputation on this Backlash that might otherwise be regarded as a lost cause?
The mere Fact the Democrats can't see the difference between what happened immediately after Kennedy's Assassination and this suggests as much a moral Decline as a mental one.
I write as someone who has never voted Conservative - since 1982!
How the Democrats of now are the Product of the Scuzzbag 90's isn't very encouraging!
ReplyDeleteThat maybe post-90's liberalism is about powdering Noses, having a Pills and Potions Business and a Laundry.
ReplyDeleteThey did dub Tony Blair "Cocaine Socialism" after all!
Try living in the Post-90's Theme Park called Portishead, where all those now middle aged 90's People came!
ReplyDeleteAmerican Democracy is becoming the laughing Stock of the World. Too much Barnham and Bailey Bullshit, and a very dangerous Liability as the supposed Leader of what used to be the free World. John Pilger was right in how there was no-one to vote for in 2016, while there was no-one to vote for this year either.
ReplyDeleteBrexit and Racism ......
ReplyDeleteThere has been a continuing, rather sweeping, Attitude that anyone who was pro-Brexit was also Racist.
This is completely wide of the Mark and ignores several important Facts ....
The EU is an institutionally racist Organization. Completely northern centric it totally ignored the Plight of millions of unemployed in the South. It's Emphasis was focussed on its northern Half. This was rather like the Attitude towards the Balkans before and during WW1. One that said they were inhabited by exotic People with unpronounceable Names who weren't regarded as Europeans. The former Yugoslavia is not only as European as Paris, Brussels and Berlin - it is also the Gateway to and from the Continent via the Bosphorous. People's first point of Contact from Asia Minor.
A new Iron Curtain has been developing in recent years, further east. It now forms a Frontier with the Russian Federation - ironically built by former Warsaw Pact Countries once imprisoned behind the Previous divide. Those west of it are both NATO (in violation of the CFE Treaty) and European Union.
How the Euro works is racist.
It was obvious to anyone that a Euro Currency was going to be influenced by its most powerful Economy. That that was going to be Germany. Countries going into the Euro had to align their Economies with Germany to gain acceptance. This caused inflation in many - particularly eastern European Countries - whose Wages couldn't keep up. Czechish Peoples opinion of the EU was tempered with the Knowledge that everything started becoming more expensive - while in Poland a similar thing has happened. The advent of the ATM has rendered Arguements for the Euro obsolete anyway. The days when you had to use a Bureau de Change travelling across Europe are long gone. A homogenised Currency everywhere in it is another Facet of that Racism that did away with myriad Differences that made the Continent so attractive.
In the end you have to ask; whose Economy is the Yardstick by which the Euro is to be decided? Suffice to say it wasn't Ireland or Portugal. Isn't it also somewhat odious to have a Currency that says to all others theirs is worthless and should be replaced? What else is also worthless and needs replacing?
ReplyDeleteThe Brits abroad was always meant as a derisive Comment on People from Britain wanting their British Beer, British Food and British Football. So how is it any different if a few People from Northwest Europe do the same? That they want their Northwest European Currency, Rules and Flag.
Nothing else matters ....... just the Idea! Where have we heard that before?
The Euro is also an old fashioned Idea.
15 years ago, in a World with less internet, fewer Mobile Phones and still with terrestrial TV we went to Budapest . We travelled by Van via France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria. Everything on the Journey, from Petrol to Accommodation, was paid for either by Card or Money from an ATM. Not once did we queue up at a Bureau de Change or buy Travellers Cheques. The pro-Euro sales Pitch was meaningless. Whether we paid in Stirling, Euros, Austrian Marks or Forints Transactions went through like we never left Britain. Thus, why did we need the Euro after all?
And it hasn't just affected People in some eastern Countries.
Poland 20 years ago would sell you about 6 Zloty to the GBP. That is now more like 4. So if someone from comparatively wealthy Britain has diminished spending Power there what must it be like for the Polish who are having to compete with what might be called the Euro-Mark?
That new Iron Curtain is having the same effect on People in the Baltic Countries that Walter Ulbricht's Wall had on East Berliners. While East Berliners suddenly couldn't commute to or see Relatives in the West after 1961 Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians can't do same into Belarus or the Russian Federation. Ethnic Russians in Latvia are separated from Family in Russia while People can't even tend Allotments only a Mile across the Border. In an Economy where agrarian self-sufficiency is crucial this causes considerable Hardship.
ReplyDeleteThe whole Idea of a Wall separating West from East in what used to be the Livonian Empire is reminiscent of the Teutonic Knights defending Christendom from the barbaric Slavic Hordes. Not too chauvinistic then!
Back in the Balkans, before Bosnia Hercigovinja was wrecked by Civil War and another form of Chauvinism imposing itself on others Sarajevo was regarded as a Microcosm of how a multi-Ethnic, multi- denominational World should be. Christians, Moslems, Jews, Atheists, and Gypsies worked rested and played together in a City that was the epitome of cosmopolitanism.
America descends into ersatz Civil War.
ReplyDeleteAlthough many have expressed everything from absolute disgust to complete Support at the recent pro-Trump Demos in the US there are historical Precedents - the most famous being what happened in Chicago in 1968.
That was described as a Police Riot as Mayor Daley (Dem) ordered Police to clear anti-war Protests coinciding with the Democrat Party Conference. The resulting Violence which seemed to show America on the Brink of internal Collapse prompted the Election of Richard Nixon, and a Presidency that created a new Jargon in the Realm of Controversy. The Suffix "Gate" would be attached at the end of a Name or Verb to illustrate it's notoriety - in response to the Watergate Burglary.
So what we are seeing now isn't entirely new.
The difference is it is being watched by Moscow and Beijing who have said it shows an America that can no longer represent the democratic World, while Beijing has compared Events in Washington to the storming of Hong Kong's Legislature. Something America supported, but doesn't want on its own Doorstep. And how the Media has become a Tool in the Battles for, or against, Candidates rather than objective Observers and Reporters.
I see it as very distressing and shows how America seems to be becoming a Liability as the World's leading Democracy. Trump was elected because of a moral Deficit in the Democrat Party that had been usurped by an arrogant Assumptiveness. You could say; was there an Election in 12 years that Hillary didn't think she should be President? She only conceded to Obama in 2008 reluctantly. Maybe she thought the Office was hereditary by Right of primogeniture.
Democrats might gripe at what is happening but they have to admit Failure to field Candidates that might have prevented a Trump Presidency in the first place!
And if Trump was just Barnham and Bailey Politics, elected because of a Lame Donkey Candidate in 2016, the Stage Management that is American Democracy in recent years has gone way too far. This time they gambled with the future of what someone once called "the Free World". Whatever the Minutiae of any Biden Policies People are starting to see it all as some high stakes TV Game Show.
ReplyDeleteSo how about "Who wants to be President" with former Tizwaz Presenter Chris Tarrant? Done using the same Format as his "Who wants to be a Millionaire" Show but with Election Candidates! They might stage apparantly "under Wraps" Boxing Matches but even this 57 year old can remember the Ali-Frazer Pre-amble as both Boxers appeared on TV deliberately goading each other and how contrived it all looked. The actual Contest wasn't but the Promotion most certainly was.
ReplyDeleteBut while they do this Moscow and Beijing regard it all as a Joke. Even during the Cold War - when there was only one other Contender, the Soviet Union, they weren't like this. It should be even less appropriate now there are 2.
It looks like Biden Foreign Policy is Obama in continu'um. Same People who ran it then are running it now, who were behind the Disasters in Libya, Syria and Yemen, the deliberately provocative Policy towards Russia and a tepid approach to Europe. That some of the same corporate Interests that were involved in dealing with the Middle East and North Africa have resumed representation is also apparent.
ReplyDeleteHe did seem to acknowledge the Question of Student Debt which was raised very soon after being elected, signing a Bill that suspends Loan Repayment until the Autumn, but it could be seen as a Sop to his Base rather than a Reform. Many were hoping he would drop considerable amounts of it, but he didn't.
How much of anything he could do is stymied by the Republican Congress, while his Stance on China seems rather ambiguous.
In all fairness it wouldn't matter who took the Presidency this year because very recent developments like Covid19, the shattering Economy, Unemployment and growing enmity with Beijing makes it a poison Chalice whoever they are!
It seems the Guardians William Keegan has weighed in, comparing Britain's current problems with those of Suez - and how Brexit is like France severing a Partnership with us to stop Egypt nationalising the Suez Canal.
ReplyDeleteElsewhere in the Article he tries blaming the Food and Fuel Crises on Brexit, saying how it has discouraged EU Workers coming to Britain - many of whom to drive Trucks.
This isn't entirely true. Many People returned home to Eastern Europe to be near Family should they or theirs get ill with Covid19. Stranded in expensive Britain, isolated, whatever Money they had dwindling - some wish they'd done it sooner. Eastern European Governments are glad of their Return, having spent lots of Money raising and educating them - only to have them go abroad.
Truck Drivers????
Same applies with this as those winging Chinaphobes. Pro-Europe Remainers relying on cheaper Drivers from abroad - pricing our Drivers out of the Job. A Health Crisis occurs, those EU Drivers go home to Families, and suddenly Britain is a Nation of former Truck Drivers, replaced by now absent cheaper Labour from elsewhere. While Mr Keegan might go back to the Suez Crisis, I could the 1980's and a certain very right wing, monetarist Prime Minister buying Jarulzelski's cheap Coal while our Mining Industry was closed down. Chinaphobes spent recent years enjoying all that cheap Consumer Goods, cheap because it was made in China. Then concurrently slagging off the Country for all those Foibles.
Truck Drivers in Britain have gradually left the Job for other Reasons. Many of which started long before the Vote of 2016. Wages that haven't kept up with Inflation, dwindling support Infrastructure like Catering and Showers, introduction of overnight Charges when they do a Stop, fewer places to do this anyway, and a growing lack of Respect. Not to mention increasing Congestion as we gradually disappear in Autogeddon. I think they do a great Job in increasingly difficult and very stressful Circumstances.
One of the stupidest things that has happened to them is the veritable Catch 22 all this has caused. That after 10 consecutive Hours of driving they have to stop, except there's a Dearth of anywhere to do so, caused by the afforementioned.
ReplyDeleteAnd why was Jarulzelski's 80's Communist Polski Coal cheaper than ours? The same Reason all that cheap, brand name Stuff from China is. Those of us who remember the 1980's know how People like Lech Walesa were put under House Arrest and Soldarnosc was banned. It proved something of a Paradox as our monetarist, very right wing Prime Minister made anti-Warsaw Pact Speeches - while supporting their Industry at the expense of ours. Most of our manufacturing Base was closed down during our time in the EU and while what remains of our Truck Drivers have to weave around Angela Merkels BMWs and Jean Castex's Renault's how many British Leyland Vehicles are driving around Germany and France?
Hardly a reciprocal Gesture from the Continent, and while those Truck Drivers count the BMWs and Renault's during grueling work Hours, their Schedule can be up to 16 Hours a Day. While being paid for the 10 Hours of Driving, many don't get paid for the Hours of waiting. Their Vehicle might spend Hours being loaded or unloaded at a Depot, or they might have to wait for somewhere to open but they don't get paid for those Hours. How many People would put up with that year in, year out? While we reminisce - how about the Battle the TGWU had about the "Spy in the Cab" the compulsory introduction of the Tachograph? This means those Drivers couldn't do paid overtime, even if they wanted.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Covid19 affect our Economy particularly?
Britain's Manufacturing Industry was closed in the 70's and 80's - replaced by a Service Industry. The Problem is, while you can stockpile Goods for the proverbial rainy day you can't Services. Thus, we had nothing to fall back on.
Being in the EU did nothing to protect our Manufacturing Industry, like increasing EU Legislation did nothing to make Truck driving more attractive to the many who have either voluntarily or involuntarily left the Job.
ReplyDeleteIronically, while Thatcher took advantage of the Human Rights deficit in 80's Poland to obtain a cheap Product - Employers in Britain did the same as they could pay migrant Drivers less and offer reduced Working Conditions.
How many British Companies have closed after 1975 when we joined the EEC? How many Industries effectively disappeared in this Country after then? It doesn't mean making these things has stopped because someone somewhere still does it ....... except us. Are there as many British Leyland Vehicles in Germany as there are BMWs in Britain? Who ultimately owns what Steel Industry that still operates in Britain? The last British built Ship to slide down a Slipway did so in 1989.
ReplyDeleteBecause of this there wasn't a Stockpile of Goods to sell during the recent Health Crisis. You might not be able to make it, but you might continue to sell it, running a skeleton Staff in your distribution Department.
Some eastern European Countries particularly have seen sharp declines in Population. The Baltic Countries particularly, and Latvia specifically, have been worst affected by depopulation with UN Figures at 18.2%. That's a staggering amount of People in a Country with less than 3 Million anyway, and a Figure not seen in Europe since the Famine in Ireland forced many to emigrate to America and Australia. So you can imagine Riga's Government being very concerned that their human and fiscal Investment in People from the moment they are born is squandered if they decide to go elsewhere.
If Brexit Boris had insisted on Neutrality with the Ukraine War, and his Predecessor Brexit Theresa hadn't got swept into the post-Maidan Frenzy Britain might have been in a better Position to have acted as a Mediator with Moscow and Kiev.
ReplyDeleteMany of our most famous historical Figures like Margaret of Scotland and Wessex, the Davids, Henry and Alexander of Scotland, and all their derivatives* are descendants of Yaroslav of Kiev and they have descendants living to this day who might see the War as a Civil War amongst the Rus which needs to end.
* = All are associated with that Period you might call the Robin Hood Era - from the time of King Richard to that of Edward 1st.
One thing Euromaidan proved was how bad EU negotiating Skills were in 2013.
ReplyDeleteFor an Organisation pledged to prevent War in Europe their whole approach seemed to be exactly the opposite, while if those Skills were up to the mark than the EU-Ukraine Deal would have gone through.
They'd have found a way to accommodate legitimate Russian Concerns and Involvement.
ReplyDeleteThey completely failed to empathise with the Russian Perspective.
Even during the Cold War both sides arrived to see the Situation from the others position.
I'll have to find lots of Stuff I wrote about our Commonwealth and why in the Preamble and Aftermath of Brexit we should have worked to rediscover it.
ReplyDeleteSadly neglected in recent Years, the Commonwealth - which once established our Presence the length and breadth of the World - has become a mostly ceremonial and sporting Organisation.
But what people didn't realise was how it gave us a Framework for Trade and Diplomacy that hadn't gone away and just remained dormant.
While there are many developing Economies in it there are also the developed ones like Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and in the more enlightened World of the late 20th Century there was scope to help those worse off within it. Create Partnerships rather than Subordinates in an Empire.
Then we could have had leverage independent of the EU on the Worlds Stage, with our own trading Partners, and made us one of the more substantial Players in any Negotiations.
This would have made us far more effective in any Dealings with the US, Russia and China.
Maybe the new Government should work on this to preempt the American Election, so by the time whoever wins assumes Office we are in a much better position to negotiate that elusive Trade Deal.
ReplyDeleteNot Joe Biden ......
ReplyDeleteThe universal Premise of Brexit was that we were being screwed by the EU - be it politically, seeing our legislative Independence dwindling to unelected Organisations in Europe, economically - paying our more than we received in EU Grants, agriculturally - where People were paid not to produce some things and over produce others (the Set-aside System was a Farce), and having unfair Competition imposed, Fiscally, where EU MEPs received more Money via Salary and Expenses than the British Prime Minister, and how it seemed less democratic despite all that.
So why would anyone who voted for it become juxtapositional Joe?
An American President, running American Politics, Economics, the Judiciary and everything else American.
But there seems to be via Biden's Wikipedia Entry for example.
I reminded a pro-Trump Supporter that if he won Trump will be running the same America Biden has been for nearly 4 years - not Britain. Not the Britain that that individual works for, pays Tax into, lives in, decides the Laws they live to, and runs the Economy they earn and spend in.
After all, wouldn't it be somewhat inconsistent to support an "America first" Candidate by putting your own Country last?
We might have known our Man in Washington during the Kennedy era, who was regarded as a defacto member of 'Camelot' - but his Job Description was about representing our Interests in America, not American interests here.
And why would anyone concerned that the EU and NATO were steering us on a collision Course with Russia (writing about some of this as long ago as 2008) support the Foreign Policy of a President who seems to be doing exactly that?
ReplyDeleteAnd if Biden and Trump are the best American Politics has to offer then not only has the whole Barnham and Bailey Machine run amok - we would be right to keep it at arms length and look for Alternatives. After all, other Countries developed their own Alternative with BRICS and didn't panic over Sanctions. If they can then surely London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and other Capitals should.
ReplyDeleteWho's panicking Freddie?
The Barnham and Bailey of American Politics matched only by the Barnham and Bailey of YouTube. I suspect there are other Channels called "Unseen" and "Unspoken" too!
ReplyDeleteBut as we saw with Rage against the War Machine, the quintessential YouTube, Social Media 'Protest'(?), by and promoted by, a lot of that stuff seems a bit feeble in the real world.
It seems the EU have decided to chastise Viktor Orban for his Peace initiative.
ReplyDeleteMiffed at how he met Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping they've relocated the forthcoming Summit that was planned to take place in Budapest.
As punishment they will now hold the Event in Brussels.
Mr Orban described the move as "childish".
Not only does this look pathetic by the Standards of any reasonable People, it also shows that the EU have obviously forgotten their own Remit.
Here's what the Unions Architect Robert Schuman had to say on Europe's role in keeping the Peace;
"World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it."
That's from a Page of their very own Website called the Schuman Declaration - 70 years of Solidarity.
I think Mr Orban acted very proportionately considering how dangerous the Situation is becoming.
And while the EU seems to have scant Regards for it's own Mandate - as written by it's main Architect - namely making Efforts proportionate to the Dangers that threaten World Peace - which Mr Orban was trying to do, I wouldn't put it past them to circumvent their own Constitution and either rotate the Presidency elsewhere, or not at all.
ReplyDeleteSocialist leaning People might wince at Viktor Orban's conservatism but Robert Fico of Slovakia has similar Views on the War and he's what you might call a Social Democrat.
He's another who thinks the current Policy should stop.
Besides which, anyone who respects and understands Democracy would appreciate that Orban's Ideology is something we can argue about later.
The thing is, if the current Policy is allowed to continue there might not be a Later!
The Commonwealth ......
ReplyDeleteAlthough it has largely become a ceremonial and sporting Organisation the Commonwealth is a Structure that has existed for Centuries and was something we should have developed in the pre and post Brexit Era. While the EU was becoming increasingly toxic and a continuous Cause of Headaches for British Prime Ministers having to negotiate yet more Concessions we had to make to it, then the Liability that was steering us towards a War with Russia, the Commonwealth wasn't.
Rather than being an Instrument of Empire as it's Detractors might call it it becomes a Network of Partnerships, run rather like the very successful Chinese Belt and Road initiative. We provide the Countries with Infrastructure and they provide natural Resources. All this instead of toxic Loans that they can never repay and keeps them economically stunted.
Because we didn't not only have some joined the BRICS Scheme, the Jewel in the Crown -India - has Leaders who are now meeting Vladimir Putin rather than any of our Prime Ministers of the last 10 years.
The BAR Scheme has helped make China what it is now from a Country once providing less than 3% of the World's Industrial Produce, while we could have done it from a far more economically advantaged Position.
I'm not saying we'd have become the second most powerful Economy in the World but we would certainly have been far more influential on the World Stage.
I wrote about some of this around the time Brexit became a subject of Discussion.