Irish voters who rejected the Lisbon Treaty in June will be asked to vote again on the issue next year, paving the way for controversial EU laws to be introduced in Britain. Predictable, but an affront nevertheless. read more | digg story
Tags: EU, Lisbon Treaty, Sophistry
Some of my military friends recently insisted that there would never be a European Armed Force. I would like to bring Eurocorps — effectively founded in 1963 — to their attention. From a speech by Lieutenant-General Pedro Pitarch, Commander Eurocorps: Now a future truly European military structure will require Eurocorps-alike headquarters. Believing that Europe naturally thinks or aims for its defence to rest on national headquarters belonging to the largest countries is wrong. Similarly, those who assert that national headquarters […]
Tags: EU, Eurocorps, Europe, Lisbon Treaty, Sophistry
“The ECB is doing whatever it takes to unclog the interbank market,” said Gilles Moec, from Bank of America, who described the move as “spectacular” volte-face and a belated recognition that the credit crisis is deadly serious. The monetary blitz was welcomed in Brussels, where EU leaders were meeting yet again, just days after agreeing to the most comprehensive bank bail-out in history. “We are not at the end of the crisis, we are still living in dangerous times,” said […]
Tags: economics, EU, Finance, Ideas, Liberty, Philosophy, Responsibility, Sophistry
The eminent Christopher Meyer writes in the Times: Those who think that there is such a thing as progress in international affairs – that we are capable of learning the lessons of history – have been brutally disabused by the Georgian crisis. You can have all the rules you like to discipline international behaviour; but they are not worth the paper they are written on if they run against fierce nationalisms and ethnic passion. … For here is the paradox […]
Tags: EU, Europe, International relations
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on the prospects for the European Union as the crisis develops: The euro fathers did not dispute that the euro might not survive a crisis, but they saw EMU as an instrument to force the pace of political union. They welcomed the idea of a “beneficial crisis”. As ex-Commission chief Romano Prodi remarked, it would allow Brussels to break taboos and accelerate the move to a full-fledged EU economic government. What a horrifying thought. read more | digg […]
Tags: economics, EU, euro, Finance, Money
Dan Hannan reports on the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, which has just voted to restore the EU’s national emblems and to give them greater prominence than before. This despite explicit provisions to the contrary in the Lisbon Treaty, added to get it through after the EU Constitution was democratically rejected. I attach my contribution: please do feel free to circulate it. read more | digg story
Tags: Constitution, EU, Sophistry
Reflecting on the demise of Lehman Brothers and on Bank of America’s purchase of Merrill Lynch, I revisited an article by recent US presidential candidate Ron Paul, posted on mises.org: Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven’t had capitalism. A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank. It’s not capitalism when the system […]
Tags: Business, economics, EU, Finance, Lehman Brothers, Money, Ron Paul
The creation of an EU-US common security area by 2014 and “convergence” on surveillance and data gathering, redefining “home affairs” as a matter of EU internal security. This story is reported at least by the Telegraph and the Guardian. The original leaked report is here. To say the least, I am to be convinced that this is a good idea. Telegraph | digg story Guardian | digg story
Tags: Authoritarianism, EU, Europe, Liberty, Privacy, Security, Terrorism
An illuminating article from Chris Heaton-Harris MEP. Some example budget items: National support programmes for the wine sector – £662m. European Foods Safety Agency – £58.3m. Jean Monnet programme and similar, to “support institutions active in the field of European integration” – £779m. EU as a Global Player – £6.2bn. Contributions to European political parties “which contribute to forming a European awareness” – £8.3m. Recommended reading. read more | digg story
Tags: Administration, EU, Europe, Waste
Steve Baker is the Conservative MP for Wycombe.
Steve was first elected to Parliament in 2010. He was previously an RAF engineer officer then a consulting software engineer. Find out more...
Steve holds regular surgeries in High Wycombe. If you would like an appointment, please contact me.
