Gordon Brown: retard?

Following on from the comments the other day by Batshit when he, apparently mistakenly, said that the new 'Not-the-Constitution' Treaty transferred more powers than Maastricht, Gordon Brown has made a little bit of an error.

"A&E have 5,000,000 more attendants each years because of our investment" according to Mr Dizzy is the proud call of our Prime Minister.

Does that mean that because they have thrown more of our taxes at the NHS more people are having accidents and getting ill? Because if that's right (and that's what it sounds like) then that's not really something to be that proud of. Unless Labour are trying to kill us off, which could explain a few things...

Single to anywhere, please

Am not entirely sane of mind. The reason for this is that I am on a rather interesting cocktail of (legal) drugs for the range of symptoms I am suffering from.

They're quite exciting and they're making all kinds of pretty shapes in my vision. It really does make dull things more exciting to look at when there are pretty patterns in front of them! They've also made the headache I've had for what seems a million years go away, but I'm still finding it quite tricky to breathe. It was just as well I didn't go to Brussels really, as it's been quite a kerfuffle over there.

Got a phone call from colleague who is out there that the Belgian police, instructed by we can only guess had ordered a peaceful protest to the new EU Treaty up for discussion to be taken down.

When they asked why they were taking the peaceful protest down, which was placed on an area called 'Area of Free Expression' the officer in charge said "because I can". That's nice, isn't it! He was also asked whether or not the removal of any opposition to the new EU Treaty, which is essentially the EU Constitution but without the dreaded C-word (yes, yes it is. Everyone else in the EU is quite prepared to say so except our lying, cheating politicians who should all be hung, drawn and quartered. Even Merkel herself and the hateful Giscard D'Estaing)was politically motivated, which he refused to answer.

He threatened to arrest three MEPs there: UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the party chairman Dr John Whittaker and the London MEP Gerard Batten. When it was pointed out that they had immunity as elected representatives of some 2.6 million British people the police said they didn't care and that they would "put them in a cell for 12 hours and sort it out there."

I wonder if they would bother to tell them what they were being arrested for? For not agreeing with the Euro-Elite? For having the audacity to point out that sneaking around for months holding secret meetings with civil servants, Ministers being called in front of MPs and not answering their questions about what the Treaty is going to say and for ignoring the calls of people across the EU that they don't want any more integration is a bad thing?

They were asked on what authority they were taking the protest away from, and the answer that came was "a higher authority." That's nice. Someone just says, 'take down the perfectly peaceful opposition to what we are doing here as the TV cameras are on it and they're representing the views of rather too many people' and it is done.

I really do wonder what people think they are doing. Like my favourite journalist George Pascoe-Watson when he refuses to mention UKIP in anything, even when talking about the EU, and in the paper today has an article by William Hague who has completely sold out on the EU, talking about the damage the treaty might do. But hold on, William Hague thinks the EU is a good idea! Ah, well. Why should politicians have to stand by what they promised the electorate when there are political editors out there quite willing to ignore facts and pander to their needs to convince eurorealists that they aren't the EU loving numpties that we know they are.

But back to Brussels. Or not, in my case. On the table is, once again, the possibility that Britain give up her veto in Justice and Home Affairs. Blair has said that he won't do this, but this is a man who took us into an illegal war, told us the EU Constitution was like the Beano and thinks that this country is in a good shape, so quite frankly I'd sooner believe my dead grandma than him.

A quick summary of the main issues on this from one of my previous posts:

Transferring Justice and Home Affairs issues into the first pillar would mean that all proposals to harmonise criminal law across the EU and matters of police cooperation would:
• Be agreed on by Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) in the Council of Ministers
• Come under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice which has until now had only a very restricted say on third pillar matters
• Gradually confer more power over criminal matters to the EU. Once the EU gains competence in a certain area the member states lose the right to propose new laws in that field of law
• Give the EU Commission the sole right to initiate legislation in these matters. By gaining a monopoly over the right to propose laws on criminal justice and police cooperation the EU Commission would enjoy greater power than it would have received from the EU Constitution under which it would have had to share the right to propose new laws.

With decisions being made by the Council of Ministers, it has already turned the British Constitution on its head, by allowing ministers - supposed 'servants' if one knows Latin these days - to dictate to Parliament. Now, even if a British minister votes against a proposal in the Council, he cannot put it out to pasture. Instead, the British Parliament would have to enact laws made by foreign ministers, unelected by the British public which were not supported by the British representative.

I'm sure I've mentioned them before, but this EU police force is already in existence:

EGF responds to the need to rapidly conduct all the spectrum of civil security actions, either on its own or in parallel with the military intervention, by providing a multinational and effective tool.

Their logo is a grey cruciform sword pointing upward; a grey flaming grenade, overlapped to the sword and surrounded by a grey laurel crown; 12 yellow five-points-stars upright, around the grenade and the sword.

According to the website:

SYMBOLIC DESCRIPTION

On a background of blue sky, the cruciform sword symbolizes the force, the laurel crown the victory, and the flaming grenade the common military roots of the police forces; the twelve golden stars represent the twelve stars of the EU flag.

If an inflatable bulldozer can result in incarceration based on political opinions are happening only a few miles away where our own Prime Minister is present, what will happen in the future when we have armed police forces who are answerable to people who are unelected and unaccountable to the people of this country, and who are governed by the European Court, who has a mission statement of furthering the cause of the European Union.

I have seen the future, and I do not like it.

are they going to ban draught drink?

Fair enough question from Father Trixy as we sit watching the news that we are soon going to have nanny state labels on alcohol.

Alcoholic drinks will carry new health warning labels by the end of 2008 under a voluntary agreement between ministers and the drinks industry.
The labels will detail alcoholic units and recommended safe drinking levels.

I find alcohol rather useful, actually, particularly if I am stuck talking to someone who is very dull. So, for me, a safe drinking level depends rather on where I am and who I am with.

What gets me about this move, however, is that this is how the smoking fascism started. First we had little warnings, then bigger warnings,(I always go for the ones about smoking cutting ones sperm count because they won't do anything to me) then we weren't allowed to smoke in certain places, then the warnings had pictures on them (some of them are rather amusing) and soon only criminals will be allowed to smoke.

How long before our drinks get covered in stupid labels, and then we are only allowed a certain number of drinks, and then we are only allowed to drink at certain times, and then drinking is banned altogether?

And my father does have a point: how are they doing to put the warnings on pints of beer? Or is that a rather handy way of getting rid of that irksome unit of measurement?

How did I miss this one?

What the European Union has done for us, from A-Z

A is for Arsenal Arsène Wenger and Thierry Henry's exercise in footballing elegance (with barely a British boot on the pitch) would hardly be possible without Europe's open transfer market
So you're saying that having a British team with hardly any British players is a good thing? Interesting. Also, are you aware of what the EU are trying to do to football? May I suggest that is possibly has more to do with the money offered. Oh, and the EU are trying to stop non EU players from joining British clubs, and they were trying to get the EU flag flow and the EU anthem played for matches with clubs from the EU.

B is for borders During a journey from Belgium to Luxembourg to France to Germany to Poland a passport had to be shown only once and then cursorily
If open borders facilitate legal trade, then it will also facilitate illegal trade, but to a greater degree. If you think this is a good thing, I am not expecting any more articles in the Guardian about people trafficking.

C is for climate change 27 governments have just agreed the most ambitious package ever to tackle global warming. If the US, China, and India followed suit, the future would look less bleak
Doesn't that just rather prove the point that, even if humans did have much to do with climate change, this stupid idea of Fortress Europe is backward looking and pointless? The UK should not be ignoring countries like India and China, but the EU seems determined that we must only look at them as a threat. And also, the sheer arrogance of EU countries telling other countries they must cut carbon emissions, and thus not develop, and then bleating on about eradicating poverty makes me scream.

D is for democracy dictatorships in Spain, Portugal, Greece and all over eastern Europe are in the dustbin of history
But alive and well in the EU where the European Commission are the only EU institution to make laws, and the Commissioners who are the guardians of the treaties, cannot be sacked by the people they claim they represent.

E is for the euro On trips across much of Europe, travellers no longer have to change currencies and no longer come home with a pocketful of useless coins
Economics text book over here, please. Having a single interest rate for vastly different economies is a bad thing. Ask Italy. Or Germany. Or France.
And since when was currency 'useless?' Even if one never went back to the country, surely all those little coins would be rather useful to hurl at stupid guardian journalists who write lists full of shite?

F is for flights Stag parties in Prague? Shopping in Barcelona? How could we afford it without the cheap airlines enabled by deregulating European air traffic
Well, it's called competition. It's what happens in a market economy. Basically, even though the different sectors of the airline industry could be called oligopolistic, as a whole it's competitive. I would suggest that the ability for consumers to compare prices easily on the Internet has made the industry move slightly more towards the Utopian 'perfect competition'. But hold on: I thought we had to combat climate change, and flights were bad? I'm all confused!

G is for Germany Until anchored in the EU, Germany caused untold grief to most of us
Ha! If anyone from UKIP said this, can you imagine the cried of 'racist' from the pages of the guardian? That is, once the sandal wearing gaggles of hairy jumpers had picked themselves up off the floor. Yes, Germany did cause lots of grief. But so did Russia. For a lot longer. And Germany didn't join the EU for quite a few years after the Treaty of Rome. And they didn't actually have any desire to go to war again.


H is for homebuying The British mania for that place in the sun is a result of the EU requiring members to open their housing markets to foreign EU citizens
I think people bought homes abroad before the EU...However, the EU has failed spectacularly to stop 'land grab' in Valencia. But let's just keep quiet about that one, eh?

I is for international clout Europe's sum is greater than its parts when it comes to making a difference internationally
Like at the WTO, when as a group it makes sure that developing countries remain poor by insisting that the trade policy of 27 countries is protectionist? The influence of the EU is declining, whilst other countries like India and China are waxing. So why should we limit our choices and stay on the sinking ship?

J is for jobs Working anywhere in Europe is now easy and occurring on an unprecedented scale
Yes, and the number of unemployed in Britain is rising, whilst there are shortages of workers in Eastern Europe; migrants are living in tents in Hyde Park and people like me can't afford to get on the property ladder because of the spectacular increase in demand.


K is for Kosovo The biggest challenge. EU is preparing to steer the province to independence in its first such mission
Funny. When my dad was working hours and hours of overtime over Kosovo, it was NATO he was working for.

L is for London As Europe's pre-eminent financial centre, the City of London has benefited enormously from the single market
Bing! Thank you for playing! The EU hates the fact that the City of London is more successful than Frankfurt and yet didn't join the EU. Especially since they also trade more Euro than Frankfurt. Which is presumably why the EU is trying to shut down the City by bringing in damaging regulations like the Market in Financial Instruments Directive, which will be one step further to the financial centre switching to New York.

M is for market The single one of goods and services has been a boon for European consumers
Too small. Too Fortress Europe. And the protectionist policies of the EU have harmed British consumers. Like higher prices for shoes, and an extra 20 quid a week on a food bill because of the CAP.

N is for nationalism It ain't what it used to be
True. Now it's EU nationalism. Well, apart from the rise of nationalist parties like Front National and the BNP because of the desire for the EU to erase national identities and cultures. Force people together, and the split will be bloody.

O is for openness What the EU has done best in expanding from an original six to a current 27 countries
Any back up for this? I don't understand why those countries in Eastern Europe went from Communism to, well, borderline Communism. Apart from money in the short term, I suppose.

P is for peace Don't take it for granted in the continent that gave us Auschwitz.
Back to attacking those Germans again! Look, matey. It was NATO and trade and a lack of money and desire to have another war that kept the peace.

Q is for queueing Less and less of it on the borders between EU countries
I'd rather queue for a bit and know who was in the country, personally. Maybe that's just me being fickle?


R is for regions Remote and poorer areas of Europe benefit from structural funds that amount to a great social democratic exercise in wealth redistribution
Yes, they get hand outs instead of developing and being competitive. What a jolly good idea! I mean, it's worked so well in Sub-Saharan Africa...And I also really don't see why my money should go to pay for the public services in other countries, when the ones in the UK are shite.

S is for soft power if the EU's so bad, why does everyone else want to join?

I would have thought that the comment above would go some way to explain that. Or have you already forgotten that you wrote it?

T is for transport All of Europe is being knitted together by road and rail infrastructure projects
Like road pricing controlled by Galileo! Hurrah! Like the open skies deal which means foreign airlines can pinch slots at LHR instead of making their own airports work properly. Jolly good!

U is for unification In 2004, when eight post-communist countries joined, made Europe whole (nearly), democratic, and free for the first time ever
Except that the EU is not democratic, so that kind of blows that one out of the water.

V is for variety From Krakow to Florence to Edinburgh to Seville, no union has ever comprised such splendid diversity
So why try to eradicate it? Why, if it's so good, can't we have imperial measurements, for example? Or different currencies? (which I think you said earlier were bad...)

W is for welfare The European social model cushions the effects of globalisation
THAT IS A BAD THING, YOU FUCKING MORON!!!!!!!!! Jesus. I mean, where do you start? Have these people no brain? Globalisation makes everyone better off, except the lazy people who are currently being propped up by spastics in the EU.

X is for xenophobia National prejudices start to break down the more the citizens of Europe mix and meet
Were we not allowed to talk to people from other countries before the EU, then?

Y is for yard Europe encouraged all countries to unify measuring systems
Which means we won't be able to use yard. And since most of our exports go to America, where they use imperial measurements, how is this good? And also, I thought you just said above that differences were a good thing? So why are these ones not good?

Z is for Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe and his henchmen are barred all over Europe, at British insistence, but only because Britain is in the EU
How do you know that? What a stupid thing to say. Again. The UK has not done enough towards Zimbabwe, but I don't understand how us crawling to the EU to try get something done about sanctions is in any way beneficial.

here's hoping

According to the UN, nearly a third of the world's species of animals and plants may become extinct within 50 years.

Hmmmm. I wonder if creatures living on the earth have ever become extinct before due to climate change?

Oh...yes....



It must have been all those naughty humans taking holidays on nasty airplanes.

If this is true, I hope 'scientists' who say what their paymasters tell them to say are included in the list.

message for Alan Rusbridger

Dear Alan,

I have seen your article in the Independent today, and correctly surmised that you are a moron.

Thus, out of the kindness of my heart, I have provided you with a handy guide which you may find useful.

Yours sincerely

Trixy