"We trust citizens, we believe in their judgement, we believe in their decision," he told ruling socialist party lawmakers.
Nearly 60 percent of Greeks view Thursday's EU summit agreement on a new 130 billion euro bailout package as negative or probably negative, a survey showed on Saturday.
Ha ha cats and pigeons spring to mind. The markets will likely go mad tomorrow. Also adds extra pressure onto Cameron regarding a referendum - this EU issue is not going away is it 'call me Dave'?
One Eurosceptic Tory had an unusual reason for abstaining in the vote on an EU referendum: he didn’t want to lose a bet.I'm not sure what to make of this. There's a couple of lines that suggest he was mischievously joking to the journalist, or perhaps he was got at by the whips and so used a flippant story as cover for his lack of bottle. Or maybe it is indeed true, that he changed his vote, on a subject of national importance, to minimise his betting loses - to save 10 pounds.
Convinced that the rebellion would fizzle out, he had made a wager with a fellow sceptic that fewer than 60 Tories would vote against the Government.
The deal was that, for every rebel over the magic number, he would have to pay his colleague £10 and vice versa. When he walked down to the division lobbies last Monday night, he was taken aback by how many Tory MPs were defying the whips. He calculated that he must be a couple of hundred quid down and decided to abstain.
‘I was buggered if I was going to give him another tenner,’ he joked.
But the two sides in the debate had no idea what his motivations were for not voting. They both desperately tried to cajole him into supporting them as he sat on the Commons’ green leather benches during the division. Even the Chancellor, George Osborne, got in on the act, pushing him to back the Government.
This MP’s behaviour adds a whole new meaning to the phrase 'taking a gamble on Britain's future'.
Far from making the situation clearer, allowing investors to make considered assessments, this latest announcement made Western Europe's grotesque debt crisis even more acute, sowing further infectious spores of confusion.And then comes the warning, that we are heading towards significant and serious civil unrest at the least:
By late Thursday...and certainly on Friday, the warning signs were there. Global bond markets, by character more sober and smarter than the excitable equity guys, were voting against the deal. This is alarming. For it is only by selling more bonds that the eurozone's deeply indebted governments can roll-over their enormous liabilities and keep the show on the road.
Let's be clear – if global bond markets stop lending to a number of large Western economies, we are in the realms of unpaid state wages and pensions, transport chaos and closures of schools and hospitals – sparking the prospect of serious civil unrest. Forgive my intemperate tone, but these are the dangers we face. And I'm afraid the only rational response to Thursday's announcement is that the probability of such undesirable outcomes has just been increased.Liam rightly argues that the only practical solution to the crisis is an orderly breakup of the Euro, but that ain't gonna happen (my emphasis):
The eurocrats, of course, lack the guts to trim back monetary union to a more manageable size. Too much face would be lost. So "euroquake" fears, once viewed as outlandish, are gaining pace. Despite Thursday's deal, and all the reassurances of a "durable solution", the Italian government on Friday paid 6.06pc for 10-year money, up from just 5.86pc a month ago and a euro-era high. Such borrowing costs are disastrous, given that Rome must roll-over €300bn of its €1,900bn debt in 2012 alone. A default by Italy...would make Lehman look like a picnic.Gulp! In truth there's little in the piece that isn't anything that this, and many other blogs, haven't said for months if not years. But at least some sections of the MSM are starting to wake up, though almost certainly it's too little, too late.
“All in all, today’s [Italian bond] auction was not very satisfying,”Then in a further twist:
A new obstacle to solving Europe's debt problems - already!
Germany's constitutional court has suspended the right of a small parliamentary committee to approve urgent actions required by the eurozone bail-out fund.
Oh and Portugal's buggered as well:The court said it will investiagte whether using the small committee to decide EFSF matters infringed the rights of other politicians.
The nine-member group was set up to get decisions passed more quickly - however there is growing anger among German politicians and voters that they are being dragged into bailing out other nations with little or no consultation.
Reuters reports that the court's suspension of the smalll committee means the EFSF won't be able to start buying bonds in the secondary market because purchases must be agreed in secret, and the full German parliament can't meet in secret.
That leaves the ECB carrying the responsibility for buying Spanish and Italian bonds for a bit longer...
Monetary contraction in Portugal has intensified at an alarming pace and is mimicking the pattern seen in Greece before its economy spiralled out of control, raising concerns that the EU summit deal may soon washed over by fast-moving events.Oh and Belgium:
Belgium’s economic expansion stalled in the third quarter as European leaders struggled to contain a worsening debt crisis amid signs the region is heading toward a recession.And so on...
“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” Andrew Carnegie.From the Mail:
This is the same chap who voted against a referendum, voted to throw more of our money away at the Eurozone, voted for EU scrutiny of our budget and voted to approve of the Lisbon Treaty.
But no worries, shares are all up strongly this morning, so everything must be rosy in the garden.Just the math, something Europe is unable to do:
- Greece has €350 billion in total debt including about €70 billion in Troika "post-petition" loans; these are untouched.
- Of the €280 billion, roughly €75 billion is held by the ECB: this, like the Troika loans, will be untouched.
- This leaves just ~€200 billion in actual debt to undergo a haircut.
- Apply a 50% haircut to this debt (ignoring the fact that of this about €35 billion is held by Greek pension funds, and once the realization that Greek pensions have been cut in half dawns upon the population, the result will be the biggest riots ever seen in Athens yet).
- Total debt to be cut: just about €100 billion.
- Hence, of the total €350 billion, just €100 billion is eliminated, most of it used to backstop and service Greek pension and retirement obligations
- €250, or the residual, of €350, the original, means 72%, or a 28% haircut.
- Greek GDP was €230 billion on December 31, 2010 and declining fast.
- And that is how a 50% haircut is "cut" almost in half
The Private Sector Involvement (PSI) has a vital role in establishing the sustainability of the Greek debt. Therefore we welcome the current discussion between Greece and its private investors to find a solution for a deeper PSI. Together with an ambitious reform programme for the Greek economy, the PSI should secure the decline of the Greek debt to GDP ratio with an objective of reaching 120% by 2020. To this end we invite Greece, private investors and all parties concerned to develop a voluntary bond exchange with a nominal discount of 50% on notional Greek debt held by private investors. The Euro zone Member States would contribute to the PSI package up to 30 bn euro. On that basis, the official sector stands ready to provide additional programme financing of up to 100 bn euro until 2014, including the required recapitalisation of Greek banks. The new programme should be agreed by the end of 2011 and the exchange of bonds should be implemented at the beginning of 2012. We call on the IMF to continue to contribute to the financing of the new Greek programme.Words like; "We welcome", "we invite", "voluntary". 'In other words they've agreed bugger all. Talks are ongoing and the details haven't yet been agreed upon (if they ever will).
This afternoon, after a jolly at the cinema I took my wife to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford for her regular consultation with her neurologist. After the usual discussions about her health, we got onto Monday's vote as part of small talk while she went to be scanned. "I've just joined the TA" he says without prompting. I ask him why. "because very soon I want to be on the right end of a gun". This was the view of a consultant Doctor, in the NHS. Worrying times.Die Linke (Left) leader Gregor Gysi was electrifying. "It is the arrogance of power," he began, and never let go.
"Every week you come up with a different story about this crisis."
"We were told there would be no leverage and you have reversed everything in a matter of weeks. Now we learn that the 20pc loss will fall entirely on taxpayers. They alone will pay. That is the decision you are taking."
Green leader Jürgen Trittin rebuked Dr Merkel for hiding the true implications of EFSF leverage, particularly the plan to insure the first 20pc of losses on Club Med bonds.
"Why are you shying away from telling the people the truth? You must tell people what this leverage means. You must explain to them what the risk is, and why it is necessary. But you wriggled out of it."
"You came here three weeks ago and said there would be no leverage. This is the sort of thing that unnerves people."
And so it went on, raw red-blooded democracy.
Confirmation that many Tories are Europlastics and have no interest in getting us out of the EU:
One 2010 rebel confessed the vote was about more than Europe. The MP said:Update: Just seen WfW has posted on the same thing.
“I’m actually not particularly anti-European. If there was a referendum tomorrow, I’d vote to stay in. Supporting the motion was partly about keeping faith with the people who sent me here and partly about taking a swing at No 10.”
...leaders last night appeared to be little closer to settling their long-standing differences on those issues.That firmly comes under the category of no shit Sherlock. But don't worry chaps, we have another meeting this weekend. So that's now a meeting about a meeting about a meeting. I think. I've lost count.
"...she is on a diet and then helps herself to a second helping of cheese"That would be the 6"4, adonis, David Beckham lookalike that is Sarkozy. (As an aside has anyone else noticed the similarity between Sarkozy and Lumiere the candlestick in Beauty and the Beast?)
"I endeavour to comprehend the present extraordinary state of railway matters when everyone around seems mad. Stark staring wildly mad. The only sane course for a sane man is to get out and keep quiet."And I intend to do that, keep quiet, well for a couple of hours at least. Didier Reynders, the Belgian finance minister's left the EU gathering on Sunday early to see the new Tintin film and I'm about to do the same this morning - the film opens today at my local cinema. I'll stick a review up later, that is if, while I watch a Belgian save the world, the Euro doesn't collapse in the meantime.
Two Tory MPs are so scared of David Cameron’s pro-EU thought police that they have hidden their identities when giving radio interviews on the subject.The broadcast can be heard here.
One said that wanting to leave the EU was ‘the love that dare not speak its name’. The other attacked Mr Cameron’s broken pledge for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Both knew that the Tory whips would destroy them if their names became known.
So their words were spoken by actors, as if they were dissidents in some foreign dictatorship.
Frankly, those who start spitting about voting UKIP can bugger off and do just that if it makes them feel better. They may get a momentary warm glow of satisfaction, but what they could end up with is another five years of Gordon Brown.
Think on that, if you're one of those people. And then think about the word 'self-indulgent'.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will get on with trying to support a party leader who is trying his best to rescue the country from the Euro-mess created by the present lot.
Some people seem to have forgotten that it was Gordon Brown who reneged on his manifesto pledge for a referendum, not David Cameron. Cameron could never deliver on it if he wasn't in government. Brown was and didn't. That should tell you all you need to know.If there's one positive aspect of tomorrow's pointless referendum 'debate' is that the notion of any kind of Euroscepticism from the Tories has been dynamited completed out of the water...and then some. As Autonomous Mind argues:
Before people can set about fixing something they have to understand exactly what is broken. At this time not enough people realise what is broken. This Parliamentary debate and the furore surrounding it will help more people on that journey of understanding. No matter what the outcome of the debate itself, the charade that brought it about will bring about some positive benefits.
Earlier today I tweeted...
"Can anyone identify a single EU power this government has repatriated so far? Taps fingers waiting..."Nope I can't either, he continues:
Needless to say, a good few hours later I am still waiting. And that is partly why Conservative MPs are so annoyed by the government’s stance on the EU Referendum vote. If David Cameron had set out to ratchet up the heat in advance of this debate he couldn’t have done a better job. It is an object lesson in how not to handle his party.The whole piece is worth reading in full, if only for the entertainment value, and he concludes (my emphasis):
And if he doesn’t deliver at that point? Well, many will have to ask themselves some very searching questions. And one will be, am I in the right party?It's happening oh so slowly but if even the great Tory sage Dale is having doubts then Cameron and the Tory party is in a little bit of trouble.
But she is quite wrong to insist that she exercises her own judgement on these matters: she is a mere delegate of Brussels, and by refusing the British people a referendum on this fundamental constitutional issue, she helps to shield the EU government from the wrath of the electorate. In due course, civil society will learn to ignore the law and EU institutions, and will turn, instead, to civil disobedience; for other than capitulation, this is increasingly the EU citizen’s only option.You've read that right, a Tory MP is warning of dire consequences of not listening to the people. They've been warned (again).
"But the idea that we have more chance of getting our way and seeing our values spread by being outside the EU is barking, quite frankly."I'm actually quite hurt...well, on reflection, maybe not.
I feel for them I really do.
From Norman Smith BBC News Channel chief political correspondent, today:All three major parties now imposing three line whips on their MPs to vote against EU referendum motion on what's a "backbench debate"
Amid reports that Gaddafi has been killed this is the joint statement by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso*:The reported death of Muammar Gaddafi marks the end of an era of despotism and repression from which the Libyan people have suffered for too long. Today Libya can turn a page in its history and embrace a new democratic future. We call on the National Transitional Council to pursue a broad based reconciliation process which reaches out to all Libyans and enables a democratic, peaceful and transparent transition in the country.I also wonder what Tony Blair has to say?
I've noted before on this blog about the perils of an 'in or out' referendum. It won't be the foregone conclusion that some expect. Not least because all of the media, with the exception of the Daily Express, all support our continued membership. The discussion will be skewered accordingly.this Treaty shall apply to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man only to the extent necessary to ensure the implementation of the arrangements for those islands set out in the Treaty concerning the accession of new Member States to the European Economic Community and to the European Atomic Energy Community signed on 22 January 1972.In short, under the UK's accession treaty 1972, the Isle of Man can freely trade goods without non-EU tariffs, but it maintains its own control on virtually everything else.
It is scarcely conceivable that the Prime Minister is turning next week's vote into a John Majoresque trial of strength with his Eurosceptic MPs. Let's be clear about the terms of next week's debate: the outcome will have absolutely no impact on Government policy, and with Labour and the Lib Dems expected to oppose the idea of an 'in-out' EU referendum (or at least, in Labour's case, abstain), it seems all but impossible that the motion could in any case be carried. The vote may well turn into a John Majoresque trial of strength with Eurosceptic MPsIn order to 'detoxify' the Tory brand, Cameron always wanted to park the EU issue. So how's that going, Cameron?
The talk in Government circles tonight is of a compromise amendment that could allow the frontbenches and the rebels to unite. Perhaps that is achievable. But if he presses ahead with a three-line whip, Mr Cameron risks up to half a dozen resignations by ministerial aides, the biggest rebellion of the Parliament and a potentially irreversible rift with large sections of his party.
The Prime Minister should have shrugged his shoulders, told all those on the Government payroll to take the afternoon off and headed Down Under, where he could have watched as 50 or so Tory MPs backed a referendum to no effect whatsoever. Whoever advised him to do otherwise should be taken out and shot. Mr Cameron may have made one of the worst decisions of his premiership.
As the Tories continue to faff about on a meaningless referendum debate due to be held on Monday, the Euro crisis continues unabated. All eyes are on Sunday's meeting as the EU tries to thrash out a deal to save the Euro. The markets expect something big, but it's clear that intractable problems exist between France and Germany:The talks are deadlocked, reflecting a deep rift between Euroland's two great powers. The French fear the EU's €440bn EFSF rescue fund will not be enough to shore up monetary union without mobilising the might of the European Central Bank as lender of last resort. It is a view shared by UBS, Citigroup, RBS and the US Treasury.It's hard to see any kind of concrete proposals being announced on Sunday, certainly not any that will get passed the 17 Eurozone national parliaments - it took nearly 3 months to get July's relatively proposals to get approved.Paris has grave doubts about Mrs Merkel's demand for larger "haircuts" – perhaps 50pc – for Greek bondholders. Such a move risks triggering default, crystallising crippling losses for French banks and courting "Lehman-style" contagion.
Mr Sarkozy's task is made harder by bail-out fatigue and mounting euroscepticism in the Bundestag.
"If there isn't a solution by Sunday, everything is going to collapse,"It's quite possible, and with deep irony, that as Cameron and his merry band of Europlastics debate the finer points of repatriating powers back from Brussels on Monday, the whole damn thing is collapsing around their ears.
Liberal Democrats have argued for a referendum on whether Britain stays in or leaves the EU. We are the only party confident enough to put the pro-European case to the British people on the big issue facing us – and let the people decide...will vote against and so will the Tories, on a whip. The vote is not even binding on the government who have made it clear many times that they won't hold one. Yet to avoid embarrassment in case of breakdown of party discipline, due to the campaign building up a head of steam, Cameron has been brought forward the vote to Monday - nothing to do with the fact that plans for a mass lobby of Parliament, similar to the Lisbon Treaty, were in preparation. Oh no.
So expect Cameron to use the intervening days to craft a position on Europe that will sway his backbenchers; a position that speaks of repatriating powers, and perhaps of a potential referendum in the next parliament, given certain conditions.One wonders what the 'wait 'till Dave gets in' brigade now thinks? As Johnny Rotten once said; "ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"
Yet the markets are acting (again) like they anticipate an agreement, despite experience to the contrary as the BBC's Robert Peston observes:Spokesman Steffen Seibert said a "package" of measures would be agreed upon at the EU summit in Brussels this coming Sunday.
"But nevertheless, the chancellor reminds [everyone] that the dreams that are emerging again, that on Monday everything will be resolved and everything will be over will again not be fulfilled," Seibert said.
Something slightly odd is going on.What's noticeable is that the tone of language used to describe the crisis is getting darker, Peston talks of possible Armageddon:
Markets are behaving as though European governments will definitely agree a rescue package for the eurozone next weekend and that the rescue package will sort all Europe's financial and economic woes.
But, by contrast, when I talk to ministers, regulators, bankers and investors they all say - which is a statement of the obvious - two things: that such a rescue cannot be taken for granted; and (perhaps more importantly) that whatever is agreed will not solve the eurozone's fundamental problem.
To state the bloomingly, bleedingly obvious, a domino effect of collapsing banks, triggered by their inability to borrow because of creditors' fears that the banks could not withstand sovereign defaults, would be the kind of Armageddon that would obviously be better averted.Even the hugely Euro- sympathetic Independent talks of possible meltdown and the return of a Great Depression:
The concerns of a lack of solution is echoed by a fine piece in the Telegraph, in which Liam Halligan rightly concludes that there are only, in essence, two options:The rush to unwind would create massive doubts over the health of individual institutions, leading to a drying-up of credit. Lending would collapse, bankruptcies would soar and co-ordination among European policymakers would be nigh-on impossible to achieve. We would face financial anarchy on a scale big enough to throw Europe – and much of the rest of the world – into another Great Depression.
So we need a solution. And it's a solution that must accept collective responsibility. The north may want to blame the south but that is the wrong strategy. In the event of a euro meltdown, the northern creditors would suffer as much as anyone else. Berlin and Paris will now have to take political risks to come up with a solution. But it's better to take political risks – including a sharing of the burden between creditors and debtors – than to face monumental economic failure.
There really are only two coherent endgames, the first being that the euroland moves rapidly towards a fiscal union, the eurocrats’ dream. The prospects of that being successful are zero. Anyone who thinks otherwise knows nothing about European history and even less about contemporary politics.The only other durable scenario is...
...that the euro, in as orderly fashion as possible, is broken up. That, in my view, is the “something” now required, before this grotesque monetary experiment causes not just economic stagnation, or even a global financial meltdown, but fully-blown human conflict.Both of these options for different reasons are unpalatable; the first is particularly to the Germans and the second is to the EU. So what is happening is a game of trying to 'magic' a third solution which doesn't exist. Cue another round of weak proposals, superficial announcements, market turmoil and the lack of any coherent strategy. But time is running out fast.
As Richard North superbly illustrates, one of the Achilles' heels in how our country is governed is the way our local councils are funded - remove their revenue stream and effectively we put them over a barrel :That people are reaching the limits of tolerance is illustrated by events in Wiltshire where a downturn in car park income has triggered the classic (and economically illiterate) response from the local council. It has put up charges to make up its income shortfall, the effect of which – according to local traders – has driven business away.Like all councils, the ones in the county where I live - Oxfordshire - are having to find significant savings. Funnily enough it comes as no surprise that any savings won't come from salary reductions or other costs (my emphasis):
Such is the level of protest here that the council leader has not ruled out a U-turn at a full council meeting on 8 November, again illustrating how, when expressed at a local level, people power can have an effect.
We are an equal opportunities employer and we offer generous holidays, training and development opportunities, a final salary pension scheme and a wide range of family friendly policies and working patterns.I lost my final salary pension scheme (like may others in the private sector) over 5 years ago. Nevermind, despite the desperate economic situation the public sector tries to continue as normal. Instead any savings will come from services:
As usual it's the vulnerable that are picked on first. This is made explicit by numerous councils attempting, among other measures, to introduce parking charges on disabled drivers:LIBRARY users have expressed scepticism that the service in many Oxfordshire communities can be saved from closure by using volunteers.
They claim the plans revealed by the county council last week could mean Oxfordshire will be robbed of a modern library service.
A SUPPORT worker has called on Cherwell District Council to reverse its controversial decision to charge disabled blue badge holders to park.My local council, in Oxfordshire, has put forward similar proposals this week.
Badge holders may park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours but in general not where there are restrictions on loading or unloading – indicated by yellow kerb dashes and/or signs on plates. (You may wish to check whether a particular local authority has chosen to exempt Blue Badge holders from this restriction.)So fine, charge disabled drivers for parking spaces, they'll just legitimately park on yellow lines - free of charge - instead and much more besides.
...newspapers like to pretend they are the font of all knowledge and will rarely acknowledge other sources. Guido is used to being referred to by newspapers as a mysterious unnamed gossip website whenever we are leading on some scandal the papers are too timid to touch.Maybe that's true however...
In the case of our friendly commercial rivals at the Mail and the Telegraph we can only presume they don’t get it. In the last month for every reader referred to this blog by the Mail, Guido sent them 14 readers, for every reader sent by the Telegraph website, Guido sent them 12 readers. This asymmetry is counter-productive, Guido suspects they still have the print mindset, where a paper is held by the reader and holds onto the reader from cover to cover. Online the readers know the next story is really just a click away, anywhere and everywhere.
All the research suggests that linking-out doesn’t just give readers a better service, in increasing the utility to the reader websites get more traffic when they press the back-key to return, you don’t lose many. The Spectator is the biggest referrer to Guido followed by ConservativeHome, we in turn send them a fair chunk of traffic in return. Linking works in our mutual interests.
A demonstration of truly astonishing lack of self-awareness. He has become infected as a result of being in the 'Westminster Bubble' with his own self-importance.
Cameron's referendum lock proposal was always bollocks, now we can see it in action. One wonders how long it will be before the Tory party wake up.A Government statement to MPs yesterday made clear that no national poll will be held in Britain over plans for a £380billion emergency fund designed to support Greece and other debt-laden eurozone nations.
Some MPs believe the establishment of the European Financial Stability Mechanism, which requires changes to the EU constitution, should trigger a vote in the UK under the Coalition’s so-called “referendum lock” law.
But Tory Europe Minister David Lidington said the proposals did not need to be ratified by a referendum in Britain because only nations in the euro currency system were affected.
And the back of the letter...
In summary the key quotes are:It has come to our attention...that the above light [side of my house] is being obstructed by a shrub, which may be growing on your property and overhanging the highway boundary ...under the Highways Act 1980, and for the safety of the public, we have to maintain full operation of street lights and this includes unobstructed illumination of the highway.Guess what's coming next?
...it is the owner's responsibility to maintain vegetation to meet this requirement.
Please notify me within the next 14 days....whether you will be able to carry out this pruning work...Or:
If you are unable to, or we do not receive a reply within the next 14 days, we will arrange for the work to be carried out by our Contractor and may seek to recover the cost from you.Seek to recover costs? Unfortunately - for Oxfordshire Council - the tree / shrub does not reside on my land, according to my deeds, so I sent the following email clarifying that in response (click to enlarge):
Since my email; arguing that the tree / shrub does not grow on my property I've had no further response from the council. And this is the tree / shrub, in question, over 2 months later (taken today) - still uncut:
As the dust settled after Slovakia's rejection of the euro bailout, politicians all over Europe were trying to figure out how a tiny party with just 22 MPs and only 300 members had managed to put such a spanner in the works – a feat that had eluded far bigger eurosceptic parties in the other 16 eurozone countries.Slovakia will undoubtedly pass the bailout measure eventually, as predicted, but what is significant is one by one democratic EU countries, such as; Finland, Germany and Slovakia are starting to say no to Europe:
The soon-to-be-ex-prime minister, Iveta Radicova, was in no doubt that it was the fringe Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, a member of her own ruling coalition, that had sabotaged the bill and caused the government to collapse. In an ill-tempered press conference following Tuesday night's vote, she railed at the "irresponsible" and "populist" politics of the SaS, which she said had failed to realise that "we are a small and export-oriented economy, and we need partners around us".
Slovakia’s cry of defiance has not been entirely pointless. Richard Sulik – the speaker of parliament – has caught a mood of popular disgust that goes far beyond his own country.The flawed EU 'not even God can sink this' ship has hit the democratic iceberg.
But it would be disingenuous to deny that my decision is dictated in part by my increasing disillusion with the attitudes of the Conservative Party. I am finding it ever more difficult to defend the policies of the Coalition, not only on my key issues of Europe, and of climate and energy, but on a range of other matters besides.I think a congratulations and a special mention to the dogged efforts of Autonomous Mind is in order here, who, in no small part, has consistently made Roger's contradictory position more and more difficult to defend.
“I’d rather be a pariah in Brussels than have to feel ashamed in front of my own children,”
As expected, Greece has missed its targets:In the fiscal area, the government has achieved a major reduction in the deficit since the start of the program despite a deep recession. However, the achievement of the fiscal target for 2011 is no longer within reach, partly because of a further drop in GDP, but also because of slippages in the implementation of some of the agreed measures....but despite previous claims to the contrary, surprise surprise Greece will still get the next tranche of 8bn euros:
Meanwhile it's not long now until Slovakia agrees to its share of the bailout. The Euro is a wonderfully unique experiment in trying to defy the economic laws of gravity.The EU, IMF and European Central Bank say Greece is now likely to get 8bn euros (£7bn; $11bn) more bailout cash.
It came as they said Greece's fiscal target for 2011 was not achievable.
"Once the Eurogroup and the IMF's executive board have approved the conclusions of the fifth review, the next tranche of 8bn euros will become available, most likely, in early November," a statement said.
"I announced to my coalition partners that I will tie today's vote on our future in Europe with a confidence vote," Radicova said in a decision that follows deadlocked talks in her four-party coalition on expanding the fund.It's the classic; "it's vote of no confidence in the Government, we'll be isolated, we'll vote again if it's the wrong answer" kind of bullying when it comes to EU matters
"It's unacceptable for a prime minister to allow the isolation of Slovakia," she told reporters after the liberal coalition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party insisted it would vote against the crucial euro area deal.
"I'm sorry our coalition partner did not accept an offer of a possible compromise," Radicova said, adding she hoped the changes to strengthen the European Financial Stability Facility could be salvaged with opposition support in a repeat vote.
"It's my great wish to have a successful vote today but if it's not successful, we'll have to hold a repeat vote," said Radicova.
This is Janet Daley in the Telegraph's advice on solving our current economic woes:So the least mentioned factor in these formulae for growth is the most critical one. It is not the banks, or the corporations, or even the small and medium-sized enterprises so beloved of politicians that can save us from catastrophe – it is us [women].Now, while rather bravely steering off onto a slightly sexiest path, my experience of women shopping is a little different to that described by Janet. It instead goes something like this:
And for households, read women. The decisions about how much household income is spent on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis – and on what – are overwhelmingly in female hands.
So it is not just Conservative electoral prospects that are damaged by the Government’s inability to connect with women – it is the economic future.
The report is based on a miss-translation - the original refers to an upgrade of the existing fleet, purchased by the Greeks in a deal negotiated in 2001.
No prices were mentioned in the original report - just letters of intent. The work has not been done, with the options of basic refurbishment and capability enhancement.
This version of the Abrams, with a fuel-hungry gas turbine, would in any event hardly be suitable for civil disorder/coups ... they would run out of fuel mid-morning, just idling in Independence Square.
Nick Boles told a fringe event that he would only engage with the issue when it became one of the top five issues of concern to people. Brandon Lewis MP echoed the point at IPPR’s own fringe. Meanwhile, Ben Page from Ipsos-MORI explained that Europe was one of the least important issues for British voters concerning well under 10 per cent of voters.Leaving aside that the usual top ten issues, particularly immigration, all have an EU element to it, which politicians cover up to absurd levels, there is also another issue which never comes anywhere near the top of voter's concerns either:
Can you guess what it is? Funny how that, in contrast, it gets far more prominence and coverage despite the fact that voters' don't give a shit.
“He’s got a very bad throat,” one Cabinet minister said to me, to explain why David Cameron had given such an underwhelming speech at the party conference. It started badly, with poor overnight briefing, a hurried re-write and ended with weak delivery to a three-quarters full conference hall.And this was one of the lines in his speech:
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."Oh dear oh dear, a speech scripted by T-shirts.
It's now being reported that the Prime Minister won't be telling us all to pay off our credit card bills in his speech at the Tory party conference this afternoon, after the idea got a fairly terrible reception this morning.Oh FFS! The Eurozone, and possibly the world economy, is on the brink of the abyss, Greece is ripe for a coup d'état and this is the best the Tories can do? It is draw-droppingly pathetic.
BRUSSELS (MNI) - Disbursement of the next tranche of EU-IMF bailout aid for Greece cannot be guaranteed unless Athens meets all the conditions agreed, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the Eurogroup of EMU finance ministers, said Wednesday.Then, whoops, Greece says... er... we can't meet the targets:Greece has made "enormous efforts," Juncker acknowledged, but Greek authorities "must know that they have to respect the objectives defined by the Eurozone."
"The conditionality is of primary importance," he said. Before the next disbursement of loans to Greece in mid-December can be decided, "it is necessary that all the conditions defined by the Eurogroup be respected."
"If this is not the case, it is not guaranteed that the transfer of the next tranche of aid can take place," he added.
Stocks took another hit Monday after Greece admitted it won't meet its deficit reduction targetsSo what to do, what to do? Well easy, fudge it and carry on lending:
Eurozone finance ministers gave a clear indication they were preparing to paper over Greece’s failure to hit international lenders’ mandated budget targets for 2011, saying they would now evaluate Athens’ performance based on goals that combine both this year’s and next year’s finances.But don't worry:The decision came a day after Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos acknowledged Athens would miss the 2011 benchmarks, which the European Union and the International Monetary Fund had set as a prerequisite for disbursing an essential €8bn bail-out payment that is already past due.
By combining 2011 with 2012 targets instead, the EU appeared to be preparing to fudge this year’s missed benchmarks, paving the way for the closely watched aid payment, which Athens says it needs in a matter of days or it will run out of cash.
...senior eurozone officials warned they were likely to extract new concessions for 2013 and 2014 in the coming days before signing off on the new money.Ah that's all ok then. Meanwhile in reality land, a European bank could be about to break-up, potentially the first casualty of Greek contagion:
BRUSSELS—Dexia SA's shares fell sharply for a second-straight day Tuesday, as Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said the French and Belgium governments may act to help the troubled bank amid signs that it could be split up.How's this EU-free conference going, Cameron?
The troubled French-Belgian bank said in a statement after midnight Monday that the bank's large portfolio of legacy assets is hampering it structurally, following a five-hour emergency meeting Monday evening.
