The Europhile answer to everything - "In order to consolidate the euro we need to harmonise our economic, fiscal and social policies, hence we are going toward greater integration."

Daniel Hannan in The Telegraph reports the words of the French Prime Minister François Fillon as he supposedly tries to find a solution to the Euro disaster:
"In order to consolidate the euro we need to harmonise our economic, fiscal and social policies, hence we are going toward greater integration. We need to put in place an economic system of governance for the euro-zone. Great Britain is not part of the euro-zone; but the decision we take will have great importance for Great Britain"

I can do no better than repeat Dan Hannan's conclusion:

'This is, of course, the reflex response of the Euro-elites to any difficulty. Whatever the problem, the solution is always More Europe. Sadly, the fact that they have abandoned logic and reason doesn’t mean that the Eurocrats won’t push ahead. On the contrary, they have already started.'

With LibDems at the heart of government and an ever weaker William Hague seemingly disinterested in the problem of the EU, I have very little faith in David Cameron keeping the EU from getting even more involved in the UK's affairs.

Propagandising the EU

The EU have spent some more money on trying to get the European public to support the EU. The UK effort is centred on The EU and Me. Whilst the site starts with the rubric:

'The UK, as most of us know, is a net contributor to the EU budget. Therefore it’s understandable that people in this country want to learn more about how we benefit from our collective contribution. On this website you can find out how the EU helps with:

* Moving around Europe freely and safely
* Giving UK consumers a fair deal
* Making our food and environment safer
* Fighting crime and policing borders

'

It is unfortunate that the first news story about the benefits of the EU to the UK is this one:

'The European Commission is today asking the UK Government to repay €3.779m (approximately £3.3m) of European agricultural money due to late payments and overshooting the financial ceilings for 2009. This is part of a clawback from 19 EU countries of € 578.5 million of EU farm money unduly spent. This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure. Member States are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Commission is required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.'

That will get the British leaping to support the EU, won't it?

Of course the BBC are terribly supportive of the new site:

'The European Commission is making a fresh effort to persuade Britons they benefit from EU membership, with the launch of a new website.

The website, called The EU - What's In It For Me?, promises a "no-nonsense guide to what the EU delivers".

It has sections on travelling and working in Europe, the environment, fighting crime and consumer protection.

Only 36% of Britons polled by Eurobarometer said the UK had benefited from membership - the lowest in the EU.

The website also highlights projects that the EU has helped to fund in each region of the country, and aims to dispel what it describes as myths and "urban legends".

Despite the fact the UK is viewed as one of the most eurosceptical of the 27 member states, more than 80% of Britons who took part in a Gallup poll for the European Commission last year said they knew little or nothing about the EU.
'Filling a gap'

About half of the respondents (47%) said they would be interested in receiving more information.

The European Commission has, for some years, published a pamphlet giving its account of how the European Union influences daily life in the UK, and the new website is designed to do the same job online.

"We are really trying to keep things very practical," said Antonia Mochan, head of media at the European Commission's UK office.

"If someone wants information about the EU health insurance card, for example, they can come and find it. There is a video explaining how it works," she added.'

I especially like the wording 'Despite the fact the UK is viewed as one of the most eurosceptical of the 27 member states'. You see to the BBC the UK population is not Eurosceptic they are just viewed that way. Of course one way of testing this hypothesis would be to hold a referendum on EU membership but then that might prove quite how Eurosceptic the British are and the BBC don't want that.

Sunday evening catchup (part 1)

1. Paul Kedrosky reports

'Recent media reports citing information from China's electricity authority claimed that 64.5 million urban electricity meters registered zero electricity consumption over the past six months, equating to enough empty flats to house 200 million people.'

2. This is Money reports

'The European Parliament has launched a controversial new power grab, demanding the right to make tax raids on Britain. 

MEPs said they would approve a 2.9% rise in the Brussels budget – demanded by David Cameron rather than the 6% originally proposed – but only if they get powers to raise taxes.'

3. Archbishop Cranmer reports and analyses the EU's latest power grab as EU President Herman Van Rompuy informs us that

"The time of the homogenous nation-state is over…
The national and the European interest can no longer be separated; they coincide…
We have together to fight the danger of a new Euro-scepticism.
This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries.
In every Member State, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world.
It is more than an illusion: it is a lie!"

More catchups later...

Thursday night catchup

1. Iconic Palestinian image a hoax, says critic -

"This is not a Jewish issue, it's a democracy issue. If you can't trust the TV, the newspaper, what can you trust?"

Ah a good question...


2. Government minister of 'moderate' Indonesia regrets shaking Mrs. Obama’s hand -

'A conservative Muslim government minister admits he shook hands with first lady Michelle Obama in welcoming her to Indonesia but says it wasn’t his choice.

...

“I tried to prevent (being touched) with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me (so) we touched,” Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring told tens of thousands of followers on Twitter.'

So that's 'moderate'.


3. Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan ‘for blasphemy’ -

'A Christian woman has been sentenced to hang in Pakistan after being convicted of defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

Asia Bibi, a 45-year-old mother-of-five, denies blasphemy and told investigators that she was being persecuted for her faith in a country where Christians face routine harassment and discrimination.

...

The court heard she had been working as a farmhand in fields with other women, when she was asked to fetch drinking water.

Some of the other women – all Muslims – refused to drink the water as it had been brought by a Christian and was therefore “unclean”, according to Mrs Bibi’s evidence, sparking a row.

The incident was forgotten until a few days later when Mrs Bibi said she was set upon by a mob.'

Ah the the religious tolerance that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is famed for.


4. Islam Channel censured by Ofcom -

'Programmes on the London-based broadcaster had advocated marital rape and violence against women'

I presume left-wing feminists will be up in arms...


5. Baroness Ashton's empire: The EU diplomatic army that dwarfs anything our own Foreign Office could muster
-

'The so-called European External Action Service (EEAS) will have an annual budget of £5.8 billion and an army of ambassadors across 137 embassies, with up to 7,000 Eurocrats trained to pursue the EU’s foreign policy.

It will be run by Baroness Ashton, the obscure Labour quangocrat and Blair-appointed peer who last year was surprisingly nominated by Gordon Brown to be the EU’s foreign secretary – even though she has never been elected by British or European voters.'

Ah the EU spending money and self-aggrandising.

Saturday evening catchup

1) What is fairness? -

'I am now getting slightly weary about the debate about whether the changes (which let’s not forget need to be made) or fair or not.

Is it fair that next door there is the exact same house as what I reside in yet because they have 3 kids they get much more bang for their council tax buck? Is it fair that they have had child benefit for years when we have currently chosen not to have kids even though they clearly don’t need the money?

Is it fair that my wife and I both chose to get off our back sides and in an effort to get good jobs decide to commute around 250 miles a day? Is it fair that by doing this the £8,000 cost each will rise 3% plus RPI?'

Indeed?


2) 'Should we be sending £1.2 billion to the European Commission?' -

'Approximately 490,000 jobs are estimated to be lost due to the effects of the Coalition Government’s spending review. About seven thousand of these are likely to come from the army. Whatever you think about these proposals for reductions in public spending (I’m broadly in favour), it is a fact that we have been told that these cuts are occurring because there is no other option. There’s no-where else to find them. They’re not ideological (I wish they were); they’re unavoidable.

…So why is the budget for international aid going up by 37%? To clarify, this means that next year the Department for International Development will spend eight billion pounds. Yes, eight billion. In 2012, this will be twelve billion. This is partly due to Cameron’s pre-election promises not to reduce international aid, and partly due to the government thinking such measures would be unacceptable to the compassionate, broadly liberal public. Where, then, does the money go? Well, department running costs will be slashed by a third and aid to Russia and China will be reduced to zero. European_flag_outside_the_Commission However, last year, around £94m went to the ‘Democratic’ Republic of the Congo. £297m went to India, a country with citizens in appalling poverty, the fourth-largest economy in the world, and a space programme. £56m went to Zimbabwe. We gave Russia about £200k (which is being cut). £1.2 billion went to the European Commission. We have been giving millions of pounds to countries that have the most deplorable human rights records in the world, countries where it is doubtful that the citizens will ever see it.'

Well quite...


3) Andrew Gilligan says that 'Labour: London borough becomes 'Islamic republic' - Something that I blogged about earlier today.

'On Tower Hamlets council, we’re told, the IFE calls on allies who support its aims. It’s also accused of using its influence to help its friends rise to power. These friends include the Labour leader of the council – Lutfur Rahman.

Dispatches has been told that the IFE helped him win the support of Labour councillors.

...

Life at the Town Hall started to reflect religious practices and demands.

TED JEORY: Proceedings changed, they were adjourning more for prayer breaks, occasionally meetings cancelled during prayers, even during Ramadan as well.

And two years ago, councillors attending meetings which did go ahead during Ramadan were met with a new request, in an email from a council officer.

CLLR PETER GOLDS (Conservative), Tower Hamlets council: It suggested that all councillors should refrain from eating.

ANDREW GILLIGAN: So councillors felt they were being ordered not to eat during Ramadan.

CLLR PETER GOLDS: Yeah, and there was certainly an implication of that.

ANDREW GILLIGAN: What was your reaction to that?

CLLR PETER GOLDS: I wasn’t the councillor that raised it, but I was concerned because I do think we are, this is a multicultural borough and certainly the Muslim population is large and important but it is not the dominant culture in the borough.'

Hmmm...

Read and understand that the war between Islam and the West continues apace

The Times report on the variety of foreign fighters lining up to fight the Western troops in Afghanistan, quite a disparate collection and worrying enough on its own but it was the following line that really caught my eye:

'The fighters from the IMU and its splinter group, the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), moved to Pakistan’s tribal belt after being driven out of Afghanistan with the Taleban in 2001. They brought with them thousands of family dependants... they are viewed as a growing threat by countries such as Germany, where they have succeeded in penetrating the Turkish expatriate community, as well as recruiting German Muslim converts.'

Still want Turkey to join the EU?

The EU finds that important independent source of income

The Telegraph reports that:

"The European Union is drawing up plans for its first direct tax with a "green" levy on petrol, coal and natural gas that could cost British consumers up to £3 billion.

Proposals expected to be announced next month would give the EU its first funding which would not come from national governments.

Algirdas Semeta, the new European commissioner for taxation, is planning a "minimum rate of tax on carbon" across the whole EU as a "priority".

"In my estimation it is possible to start discussions," he told European Voice, a weekly Brussels newspaper. "There is currently the right momentum."

A similar proposal was considered so controversial that it was shelved without discussion five years ago.

The plan to push for more financial independence from national governments comes as the EU attempts to build a more powerful position in the world.

...

Herman Van Rompuy, the new EU president, has already thrown his weight behind the idea of new taxes.

The new tax would lead to direct rises in petrol and energy bills and additional price increases due to higher costs for industry.

Open Europe, the think-tank, has calculated, on the basis of the shelved 2005 proposal that set a £9 levy on a tonne of CO2, that the cost of the new tax to British businesses and consumers would be £3.2 billion. The final cost could be even greater if electricity, generated from natural gas, was included in the levy.

Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, warned that "a single EU levy is an unnecessarily inflexible tool" that takes no account of existing national taxes or measures to cut climate change. "

Now if David Cameron wasn't scared of being portrayed as a Euro-sceptic or climate change denier he might make stand on this issue. However as on so many issues I expect David Cameron to remain mute and let more momentum slip away from his election campaign.

The future of Internet browsing choice

Microsoft reveal that:

"Over the next few weeks, Microsoft will begin offering a “Web browser choice screen” to Internet Explorer users in Europe, as required by the European Commission. Internal testing of the choice screen is underway now. We’ll begin a limited roll-out externally next week, and expect that a full scale roll-out will begin around March 1, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule."

Read the whole article to see how it will work and how happy Microsoft are!

To summarise, Windows 7 users will have Internet Explorer automatically "unpinned" from their task bars as part of the choice process and users will get a screen warning that they have "an important choice to make", before getting the list of what Microsoft describes as "leading browsers".

Of course the web savvy will already be using alternative browsers and those that don't will not really understand that there is an alternative to Internet Explorer or what that means, they just want to access the Internet.

Data Security EU style

The Schengen Information System (SIS) holds information regarding immigration status, arrest ­warrants, entries on the police national ­computer and a multitude of personal details about EU residents. So you would think that access to this database would be restricted very carefully. Would you, would you really think that?

In fact it seems that:

"large amounts of confidential personal information held about British citizens on a giant computer network spanning the European Union could be accessed by more than 500,000 terminals."

Statewatch are worried:

"Statewatch, a group that monitors civil liberties in Europe, said it was aware of a case in Belgium where personal information extracted from the system by an official was sold to an organised criminal gang.

"It is well known that the greater the points of access, the greater the number of people who have access and the greater the chance that data will be misplaced, lost or illegally accessed," said Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch. "The idea that mass databases can be totally secure and that privacy can be guaranteed is a fallacy.""

and so am I. This is a fraudsters idea of heaven; get one dodgy person with access to SIS on your side and the world is your oyster.