Prescott

Anyone who has read Prescott's biography knows that out of every page pours a hatred of Tory toffs, a disdain for authority as well as a massive chip on one's shoulder. But hey don't let that stop you joining the very establishment you rail against:



hattip: OldHolborn

Display The Flag Or Else...

From the Mail:

Brussels has fined Britain more than £150million for failing to display the EU flag on a string of projects part-funded by Europe.

Several schemes were also penalised for failing to use the flag on their letterheads.

The fines relate to £3.8billion given to the UK by the European Regional Development Fund over a seven-year period.

But don't worry the Coalition's on the case:

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles condemned the ‘over-bureaucratic rules’ surrounding ERDF money.

He said he would be pressing the European Commission to cut back on ‘needless bureaucracy’.

That's ok then.

hattip: EUReferendum

Legal Challenge To The Digital Economy Bill

As I blogged here back in March, aside from the justified draconian criticisms of the Digital Economy Bill, the other problem with it, is that it could be challenged under EU law. This is precisely what is now happening, as TalkTalk and BT are going to the High Court to in effect challenge the legality of the Act. The BBC reports:

BT and TalkTalk are seeking a judicial review of the controversial Digital Economy Act, BBC News has learned.

The two internet service providers want the High Court to clarify the legality of the act before it is implemented.

The act was "rushed through" parliament before the general election, they say.

Both think it had "insufficient scrutiny" and question whether its proposals to curb illegal file-sharing harm "basic rights and freedoms".

In particular TalkTalk and BT are attempting to seek:

clarity as to whether the act conflicts with EU legislation.

It could conflict with Europe's e-commerce directive which states that ISPs are "mere conduits" of content and should not be held responsible for the traffic on their networks.

It may also be in contravention of the privacy and electronic communciations directive, said Mr Heaney.

I simply find it astonishing that a mere humble blogger like myself, with no training in EU law, was able to predict this, yet our elected legislators neither knew nor cared. The coalition's response to the challenge?:

But the coalition government told the BBC it had no plans to change it.

"The Digital Economy Act sets out to protect our creative economy from the continued threat of online copyright infringement, which industry estimates costs the creative industries, including creators, £400m per year," read a statement from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

"We believe measures are consistent with EU legislation and that there are enough safeguards in place to protect the rights of consumers and ISPs and will continue to work on implementing them."

We shall see. Leaving the EU element aside from moment, it's interesting that the unpopularity of this Act is reflected by the Your Freedom website which has more than a few requests to repeal it.

"It’s time to have your say. After all – it’s your freedom", the website promises. The coalition attitude to the Act? "We have no plans to change it?"

This listening to the voters marlarky is going well isn't it?

EU Membership (Referendum) Bill Take 2

Following on from Douglas Carswell's unsuccessful attempts in the last parliament, Tory MP Peter Bone has introduced a Private Member's bill on Britain's membership of the European Union; it had its first reading on Monday:

Mr Peter Bone, supported by Mr Philip Hollobone, Mr Christopher Chope, Mr Douglas Carswell, Mr Nigel Dodds, Mark Reckless, Philip Davies and Mr David Nuttall, presented a Bill to require the holding of a referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union; and for connected purposes.

The second reading is not until March next year. It looks like Douglas Carswell et al were busy chaps on that day:

United Kingdom (Parliamentary Sovereignty) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Christopher Chope, supported by Mr Peter Bone, Mr William Cash, Philip Davies, Mr Douglas Carswell, Mark Pritchard, Mr Philip Hollobone, Mr Brian Binley, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Mr David Nuttall and Mr John Whittingdale, presented a Bill to reaffirm the sovereignty of the United Kingdom Parliament; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March , and to be printed (Bill 26 ).

Why's this a Private Member's Bill? I thought parliamentary sovereignty was something that Cameron promised before the election. Oh I forgot, yet another Cameron broken promise.

Referendums Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Christopher Chope, supported by Mr Peter Bone, Philip Davies, Mr Mark Field, Mr Philip Hollobone, Mr Douglas Carswell, Mr David Nuttall and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, presented a Bill to provide for minimum turn-out thresholds for referendums; to impose restrictions on holding elections and referendums on the same day; to facilitate combined referendums on different issues; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 18 March, and to be printed (Bill 30 ).

European Union (Audit of Benefits and Costs of UK Membership) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Philip Hollobone presented a Bill to require the Secretary of State to commission an independent audit of the economic costs and benefits of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 10 June, and to be printed (Bill 35 ) .

European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Philip Hollobone presented a Bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and related legislation; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time ; to be read a Second time on Friday 1 April, and to be printed (Bill 42 ) .

Rights Bill

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Mr Philip Hollobone presented a Bill to set out certain principles in a United Kingdom Bill of Rights; to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998; and for connected purposes.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 13 May, and to be printed (Bill 43 ) .

All of these are unlikely to be successful, Private Member's Bills rarely are. The are susceptible to being talked out which is precisely what happened last time.

How To Tell When You're Getting Old

Prince said: “The internet is completely over. All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you.”

Bless!

Europe Knows What It Needs to Do

From the Wall Street Journal (my bold stuff):

The question now is what is to be done that both ensures the survival of the euro and is also politically feasible. On one thing the eurocracy agrees: it must not trigger an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty, lest voters be given another chance to let their masters know just what they think of the European Project, and torpedo it. Less kindly put, fight fiscal deficits but maintain the EU's democratic deficit at all costs.

These quotes from the article are great / accurate too:

"Europe is irrelevant to the 21st century."

And (my emphasis):

Europe's refusal to bear the burdens of maintaining a sensible world order has diminished its influence around the world. Ask anyone in the White House to name the three European Union presidents, and most will have trouble naming one. Why bother communing with an area the size of America that won't spend enough on its military to police its own backyard, or make a meaningful contribution to the war on terror — Britain being the notable exception.

We're being dragged down by our membership.

hattip: ironies too

Labour & Poverty

Here's a little gem from @BevaniteEllie aka Labour's Ellie Gellard:

Oh dear oh dear. Aside from the fact that Ms Gellard appears clueless as what the primary functions of a country's constitution should be, she seems blissfully unaware that the UK already has a written constitution; it's just famously not codified. There's a difference.

Parliament can, and do, rewrite parts of it by passing bills. So instead of turning the whole country's legal system upside down, which she is clearly implying (for what admittedly is not an ignoble cause) all Parliament needs to do is pass a Child Poverty bill.

And wait...

They already have, under the last Parliament:

Yvette Cooper is to publish plans to place a legal duty on all future UK governments – including any future Tory administration – to abolish child poverty by 2020.

The proposed bill, to be discussed in cabinet tomorrow, will establish four separate targets in primary legislation, Cooper, the new work and pensions secretary, said. "I am absolutely clear that this is about reducing inequality, and being bold about what a future Labour government's vision represents. It is not simply about reducing poverty. It will embed a desire to reduce inequality in our society in legislation."

Passed in 2010, one wonders why it took Labour so long? Well simple, because after 13 years in power, with the Labour putting into practice of using the state to 'get rid' of child poverty, this was the net result:

The full scale of Labour's failure to help the poorest in Britain was laid bare yesterday with revelations that hundreds of thousands of people were being plunged into deprivation even before the recession hit, and that the Government had been unable to make any impression on the numbers of children and pensioners in poverty.

And what did Labour think was more important than the cause that Ms Gellard thinks we should change the constitution for (my emphasis)?

Ministers were forced to admit that they had all but abandoned Labour's historic promise to halve child poverty by next year, telling The Independent that the state of the economy meant that saving jobs had to be the priority.

Still, it's nice to know that her privileged education wasn't wasted.

EU X-Factor

Sort of. Rummaging around EU press releases, as you do (well it was Argentina vs Germany in the World Cup - a classic case of pity they both can't lose) I came across this little beauty:

“Music against poverty” 2010: get your message out!

Something needs to be done to fight poverty worldwide... so join our fight with your music as the weapon to get your message out!

Two winners will be chosen from across the 27 EU countries: one chosen by our jury of professionals and the other by Internet users.

A great chance to take part in an event with wide media coverage!

To join, just submit your song and enter the Music against poverty contest. Nothing could be easier.

You’ll have your own webpage where you can advertise your song and explain why you want to fight poverty.

You can join us if:

you're an EU citizen between 15 and 25 years old
you can write a song on fighting poverty around the world
you submit your song before 30 September 2010 at noon CET.

Of course the EU could help fight poverty a bit better by not actually closing steel plants or increasing people's fuel bills. But never mind, just a mere detail. On to more important things; what can we win (see, the url says prizes)?

First of all, you get to do your bit in the fight against poverty.

Excellent that gets the conscience bit out of the way, but there's more...(my emphasis):

...you can also get to record your song in a professional studio, and perform at a widely publicized event in Brussels during the European Development Days in December 2010. Accommodation and travel expenses paid!

I bet they are, after all it's only our money. Now it's not for me to say that any willing participants won't be altruistic about this, but the precedent suggests otherwise - all publicity is good publicity, especially for budding singers hoping to make the big time.

And the net result from a song trying to fight poverty? Bugger all.

Referendum...

This is a picture of outside Parliament on Wednesday 27th February 2008 lobbying for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (3 hours it took me to get in)


And this is the same place since 2008, campaigning for a referendum on changing our voting system:


So guess which one we will be getting?

A referendum on a new electoral system is to be held next year, the BBC has been told.

Your Freedom Website Continued...

Following on from my previous post, I would like to highlight the following which is in the about section of the Your Freedom website (my emphasis):

Please understand that we won't able to respond to ideas that relate to laws and regulations that are outside the remit of central government – including those that fall under the jurisdiction of Europe, devolved administrations or local authorities.

It makes a complete mockery of this statement on the front page:

It’s time to have your say. After all – it’s your freedom.

Utterly shameless.

hattip: The Talking Clock