A Scary Halloween

I don't find Halloween nearly scary enough, so I thought this picture might help.

Would Adam Smith have Approved?

In the USA, christians often ask the question, "what would Jesus do?" Those of us of a more secular bent, are however not much different. We frequently read commentators claiming that some political philosopher or other would take some view or other. The name of this blog even, is a case in point.

In a letter to the Herald, Alex Orr claims that Adam Smith would be a Europhile:

Our open single market established with the European Union involves more than 500 million people and allows for the free movement of goods, capital, services and people across that Union, something of which Adam Smith would undoubtedly have approved.

So is he correct, would Adam Smith indeed be cut from the same cloth as Ken Clarke? Read this and make your own mind up:

No regulation of commerce can increase the quantity of industry in any society beyond what its capital can maintain. It can only divert a part of it into a direction into which it might not otherwise have gone; and it is by no means certain that this artificial direction is likely to be more advantageous to the society than that into which it would have gone of its own accord.

A criticism of regulations, the very reason for the EU's existence.

Little Englanders All

Serf is not alone, many of his compatriots secretly think the same:

Some people have called for a referendum on whether powers over fishing, farming, rules and regulations, law-making and borders being returned to the British Parliament from the European Union. Would you support or oppose a campaign to hold such a referendum?

• Strongly in favour of such a campaign 45
• In favour 32
• Against 9
• Strongly against 3
• Do not care 11

So say the results of a You Gov poll (PDF) for the Speak Out Campaign Just a couple of things I want to point out here:

1. Almost noone is strongly against. Seeing as the result of such a referendum is almost certain to favour repatriation of powers, this shows a very tiny number of EU enthusiasts.
2. Even among Lib Dems, 37% were strongly in favour. How a eurosceptic can vote Lib Dem, I do not know, but there is obviously still a lot of work to do, to let Lib Dem voters know exactly what it is they are voting for.

Eurosceptics Roundup

The round up is up at the Devils Kitchen.

Is Turkey European?

Discuss..................................

What to do with the Plonk

I could have got rid of a reasonable amount of it, but they rejected my offer and are to open a tender.

THE European Union has opened a tender to sell off unwanted wine lakes in France to be used in industrial products.

So the next time you are cleaning your engine with industrial solvent, just think it could have started life as a bottle of wine. In a completely unrelated piece of news:

Tax on alcohol should rise to reduce binge drinking among teenagers, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has said.

Joined up Government anyone?

An Official Inquiry into the costs of EU Membership

How would you like to support the idea of an official inquiry into the costs of EU membership? Well now you can:

The Bruges Group wants you to join with us in the important campaign to force the Government to create an independent and official inquiry into the price we are paying to be members of the European Union.

Just go over there and follow the instructions.

Tough on Immigration

Our Glorious Leader, in the knowledge that his lies on immigration have been rumbled, has vowed to be much tougher this time. His tame Pit Bull has been telling the world that Romanians and Bulgarians, will not have the automatic right to work in the UK next year, unlike their more fortunate Polish counterparts. Thats the theory anyway. The reality?

EU law means the Government can’t stop people coming – so permits will only drive people into the illegal economy.

Read that carefully. Under EU law, all Romanians and Bulgarians have the right to come to the UK. The system to be put in place simply means that they cannot work legally. So my question to you is this: A Bulgarian who has been unable to find a job at home is now faced with an option

1. Stay where he is unemployed
2. Come to the UK and work illegally

Personally I would choose option number two.

Something which not enough people are aware of is exactly what free movement of people means. Open Europe spells out one very big problem with it:

While EU law allows the Government to restrict numbers coming to work for companies in the UK it currently forbids it from stopping dangerous criminals from entering the country, or deporting them if they commit a crime in the UK.

Seeing as crooks have more reason than most to wish to move around, this part of the law is a complete criminals charter. Probably in place to make a power grab in the area of justice much easier.

Hat Tip, Daily Pundit

Another Slogo Option

It doesn't mater how fast you chase the European Commission, you never catch up with the money. This fact can be expressed as EU = mc12, where EU is the immovable object, mc = mass corruption and 12 is the number of years that it has been impossible to perform a budgetary audit. Courtesy of The Anglo Saxon Chronicle

Dog Bites Man

Its not really news, but it is important:

European Union auditors are expected to highlight irregularities in EU spending for the 12th year running as they make their annual report.

Thieving bastards, since 1957.

Together

Sulking in the corner of Europe

Completely worthless comment from the Graniad on the subject of the EU:

Just ignore for one moment the pointless regulations, farce over the proposed constitution, and trade battles with the US. The EU has many faults, but José Manuel Barroso made some very good points in his Chatham House address.

Nice reasoning. Just ignore for one moment the holocaust, invasion of Poland , and his stupid mustache.........

You ask people to ignore the bad side of something whilst look at the good side? That said, he doesn't even lay out any advantages we have got from our membership.

I would go further and say that the UK's semi-detached stance vis-à-vis the union of which it has been a member for over 30 years is destructive for both the UK and Europe as a whole.

That, dear readers is the closest he gets to an argument in the entire piece. I think it has been bad, therefore it must have been. Like most Europhiles, his detailed knowledge is a little sketchy however:

When the UK is among those calling for more trade liberalisation, isn't it hypocritical for the (British) trade commissioner to be seen enthusiastically defending such a crude and unwarranted protectionist measure?

Its another reason to hate him, but he is actually doing what is expected of him Peter Mandelson is not a British Commissioner, so much as a commissioner who happens to be British. It is no more than his job description demands.

The Core

I know the constitution is a completely boring subject, but this story's headline caught my eye.

The European Commission is starting to take a position in the expected re-negotiations of the EU constitution, with communication commissioner Margot Wallstrom saying the "core" of the current text should be the "departure point."

So my rhetorical question is this:

Should a constitution have any parts to it that are not core, and if so what is the point of a constitution?

Fact Check: Video Blogging

A commenter by the name of factcheck, assures me that the post about video blogging contains an important error. factcheck gives us a quote from the draft:

non-economic activities such as blogs and other user-generated contents without an economic objective and all forms of private communication such as e-mails and private websites, do not fall within the scope of the directive.

So it seems that the media misrepresented it. However though I stand corrected, I still have a question concerning blogs. Does Guido Fawkes blog have an economic objective? How about Conservative Home, or even my humble offering with its Google pennies?

Then there is You Tube, which contains video diaries, takes ups of politicians, archives of internet TV channels as well as adverts. Some of these are commercial, some not. How will the rules work?

The quote can be found on page 13 of the following PDF document: Draft Regulation

Together Since 1957

To celebrate 50 years of European Union, we needed a logo apparently. So the EU held a contest and is now proud to show the winner:

Maybe its just me, but the logo seems incomplete. The word Forced, should come before together.

Perhaps someone more talented than me could have a go.

Make the European Union work better

His Excellency El Presidente Barroso, has a few words of advice for us Britons:

Mr Barroso said the UK could "drive from the centre or sulk at the periphery" He asked Britons to move on from the for-and-against Europe debate and concentrate on how to improve the EU.

Three things:

1. There is a third option of sticking our tongues out from outside
2. The for or against Europe debate has not been solved.
3. Like an out break of bird flu, the best way to improve the EU would be to eliminate it.

EU to Regulate Video Blogs

Being a shy and retiring type, I have not as of yet, posted any videos on this blog. If the EU gets its way, I never will.

The European Commission proposal would require websites and mobile phone services that feature video images to conform to standards laid down in Brussels.

They are upset that the changing nature of media is taking some of it out of their sweaty grip. It make sense that Internet Television should be treated the same as terrestrial, but typical Brussels, they want to control You Tube and Blogs as well.

Business See the Light

Once upon a time, big business was very Europhile. They saw the EU as an opportunity to grow their business. That has changed however, as this poll reveals:

New ICM poll of 1,000 businesses:

• 52% think the EU is “failing”
• 54% think EU over-regulation “outweighs” the benefit of the Single Market
• 60% think the UK should renegotiate to reduce its involvement in the EU to free trade only

This is excellent news, as a continuation of this trend would leave the EU very friendless indeed.

Unfit for Human Consumption

A small story about how regulations are more about power than anything else.

The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the UK for allegedly failing to deal with hygiene problems at a Lancashire dairy.

Fair enough, I hear you say, if we are stupid enough to give up our sovereignty, we have to accept the consequences. Also if what they are selling is unfit for human consumption, then something should be done. But there is more to this than meets the eye. The story ends with the following sentence:

It (the company in question) has been forced to call in receivers, and will close on Friday.

So the EU wants to pursue legal action against the UK government for failing to apply EU law to a company that will close down tommorrow. Is this really a good use of resources? Can this really be about protecting consumers, or is it a turf war?

The French love the EU

We saw what the golden boy of the French Right had to say about an EU constitution. Now the golden girl of the French Left is giving her answer.

The European Union needs to become more transparent, socially conscious and environmentally friendly if it wants to move forward, French Socialist presidential frontrunner Segolene Royal said on Wednesday.

You'll find little argument over transparency from us, but socially concious? We already spend €600 Billion per year on unnecessary regulations. How much more would you have us waste?

The EU had to be a counterweight to the United States, she said.

Not in any way explaining why the USA needs a Socialist Empire as a counterweight, nor what the European Serfs would gain from such a thing. Why should she, its up to us to understand her wisdom.

The one thing that is clear however, is that come 2007, a win for right or left will mean nothing from our point of view. The French love the EU, and their politicians continue to tread the path to Euro Serfdom.