The most modern form of Government

If by modern, up to date and so one we mean the most democratic that is.


Just look at the Economist's Democracy Index 2011 and one thing is very striking from those that their experts consider the most democractic.

Norway
Iceland
Denmark
Sweden
New Zealand
Australia
Switzerland
Canada
Finland
Netherlands
Luxembourg

Here are the top eleven countries in order. Nine of them are constitutional monarchies. Eight of them are European, of which five are EU members, of which only slots nine, ten and eleven are members of the single currency.

All this rather tells a tale, doesn't it? Constitutional monarchies defend people's freedoms more effectively than republics, whatever the likes of the ghastly Sir Graham Watson might think, Lib/Dem and avowed republican, might think. And the further there are away from the EU the better.

Aaronovitch rips himself a new hole

I think he is trying to be funny, but in that case he fails. David Aaronovitch, federastes superbum, has written a column today which deserves a read, (paywall).

In it he finally admits that he has lost the argument about the European Union and Britain's place in it, for which I suppose we should be grateful,

Judging by its newspapers and its politicians, the people of Britain don’t get Europe, don’t like Europe and don’t want Europe.

Interesting echoes of Farage's speech about Van Rompuy in the phrasing there.
But of course Aaronovitch then goes on to display the curdled arrogance of a disappointed man. Essentially he lives the Brechtian dictum of sacking the people.

Pro-Europeans, like him, have,

not just the battle, but the entire war.

but of course,

Without even losing the argument.

They/he is/are better than us,

we British pro-Europeans are beginning to sound more and more like Betamax enthusiasts arguing the superior merits of their systems against the unstoppable VHS tide

Oh yes, you see he and his sort are more intelligent than us, better than us, more refined than us in every way. It is just the blind stupidity of his country folk, and their dullard inattention that is the cause.

I have done my best, but nothing will persuade older Britons that the EU is not just some updated, endless episode of ’Allo ’Allo! or younger Britons to take any interest in it.

I have a message for Mr Aaronovitvh and those like him, being a believer in the European dream doesn't make you more intelligent, doesn't make you morally superior, more aware or in any way a better more rounded person. Far from it.

It makes you complicit in the economic destruction of much of Europe. It makes you happy to see the European Arrest Warrant cart away our citizens to foreign jurisdictions without any recourse to the civil liberties you trumpet elsewhere.

It makes you complacent in the field of democracy as you stand by and watch democratically elected governments usurped by a technocratic elite that will do your higher bidding.

I don't get the joke. Because it isn't funny.

Oh, and all that pap about becoming a few states of the US. Why would anybody want to do that anyway. We don't need to, we don't want to. And it would ruin the fun of liberty.

Belittling the Gods of Youtube

The BBC has been looking at the hit rates of various politicians on Youtube and has discovered something a little odd, well at least to them.

According to research conducted by the BBC - adding up the five most watched appearances by each of a series of high profile UK politicians - Mr Hannan and his fellow MEP, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, are the two most viewed UK politicians on YouTube at the moment.

Obviously this isn't because people are eurosceptic, not at all,

According to one media expert, the popularity of the Hannan and Farage clips do not suggest YouTube users are necessarily anti-European but that they, and people in general, like "someone powerful being brought down a peg or two".

Rubbish, it is a combination of the two. Hannan's famous attack on Gordion Brown was popular in part becasue nobody in the House of Common's would have dared say such a thing, and they would have been shouted down if they dared.

Also looking at the figures they are talking about they are rather downplaying the level of coverage
For example this,

The speech in which he likened the new president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, to a "damp rag" and claimed no-one knew who he was - a tirade for which he was later fined and forced to apologise - has been watched nearly 865,000 times.

 What they are reffering to is  the EUXTV version of the speech (today with 874,000 hits), but here is another version of the same speech, with 163,00 hits.

And of course the big daddy of them all the Auto tune version of the speech which to fate has over 3 million hits.

The European Parliament is in some ways just made for YouTube. The speeches are uninterrupted (well they look that way goven the way the microphones are set). A speaker has a set, short time to speak and that is it.

Equally the European Parliament has in recent months managed to get the videos of the speeches up online in pretty short order, pleanry speeches are downloadable now within an hour of the speeches being made (Committee speeches take a little longer).

But the bottom line here, why is it that two staunchly Eurosceptic figures with precious little access to mainstream media top the YouTube? Well what the BBC have failed to do is to look where the hits are coming from. In the case of Hannan, most are from the US where he has become a pouplar commentator. Inthe case of Farage upwards of half his hits copme from across the EU itself, where he is beggining to be seemn as the only serious voice of opposition to their own pro-European political establishments.

Yes they are both watched in the UK, far more than more mainstream politicians, and that is almost entirely due to their political prespective (and the fact that in a very dull firmanaent of political actors the two of them have oratorical skills). Why. It is simple really, the mainstream media reflects the Westminster political bubble and thuis fails to touch the population at large. It's issues are the issues of the establishment, its concerns are those of SW1 and NW1. Hanna and Farage speak to the wider public who's fears and concerns are little marked on the pages of our broadsheets and in the news rooms of our TV stations.

So it should come as no surprise that when the BBC describe Hannan and Farage as little known they fail to add the postscript, to us.

Pro-Euro Tory has an interesting view on press freedom

Bernard Geerlings is a youthful cove so maybe we should forgive him, but I am not so sure,

The press requires greater regulation in what lies and falsehoods are published. Political interpretation is a natural and desirable part of the press' function but the quality of journalism and the national interest demand that the press should be held to account where reckless lies and falsehoods are reported.

I wonder who he feels is qualified to judge what is in the national interest? Could it be people like civil servants?

Defenders of democracy must welcome increased power for a civil service and public bodies who serve the people and are accountable to the people through elected leaders.

Of course intelligent decent people agree with young Bernard,

It is no coincidence that the most educated press in the UK is euro-realist. It is also patently obvious to any student of European politics (pro or anti-European) that it is in Britain's interests at the very least to be a member of the European Union. Large sections of the press claim that it is the democratic will of the people to leave the EU. Whether or not most people want to leave the EU, this interpretation of democracy is not government for the people; it is mob rule. More than that, it is mob rule, where the mob is ruled by the media. The battle is between public servants and unknown media figures in the shadows of giant corporations.

It is all rather sad, if not worrying that this young chap displays such arrogance. Sad that he actually believes that media figures are unknown (has he never heard of bylines?) whereas in some way civil servants are accountable. Sadder still thyat he equates agreement with intelligence, and sadest of all that he is given spavce by a Tory organisation to promulgate what can only be described as deeply illiberal, controlling tendancies.

I am sure he will go far. Particularly as his organisation is supported by this lot,

Rt Hon Lord Brittan of Spennithorne QC
Rt Hon Lord Carrington KG CH KCMG MC
Rt Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben
Rt Hon Lord Heseltine of Thenford CH
Rt Hon Lord Howe of Aberavon CH QC
Rt Hon Lord Hunt of Wirral MBE
Rt Hon Lord Hurd of Westwell CH CBE
Timothy Kirkhope MEP
Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes CH
Lord Plumb of Coleshill DL
Tom Spencer
Ian Taylor MBE
Robert Walter MP

Labour are not fit to govern

hat just has to be the conclusion to make after the intervention of the new Obama, Chuka Umunna, Labour's Shadow Business Secretary. One has to wonder what British business did wrong to get the dribbling pair of St Vince and this fool as their representatives. here what words he uses when he involves himself in the 3 million jobs malarky stirred up by Roland Rudd and his cohorts in the Telegraph,

“It is crucial the UK is fully engaged in the European Union because that is the best thing for growth and British jobs. We already know, given comments which the Deputy Prime Minister and Business Secretary have made, that the Government’s detached position in Europe is detrimental to our interests. Now a significant number of business leaders, including Sir Richard Branson, have highlighted the risks the Government’s detached position poses for British businesses, warning that the Government’s failure to be fully involved in EU decision making could undermine the single market and the three million British jobs that depend on exports to the EU.

“Ministers are out of touch with British businesses because they have severely compromised their ability to fight British business’ corner in Europe. To protect the single market and continue to attract inward investment, it is now crucial the Government repairs the serious damage it has done to our influence in Europe because, as so many business people tell us, if it fails to do so it will damage British business. We need a proper plan for growth and jobs in Europe as well as here in Britain, which the Government has failed to put in place.”

Right lets put this canard to bed once and for all. The idea that 3 million jobs depend upon our membership of the European Union is bunk.

Here is the Fact Check response to it,

Given this dearth of reliable information, we are left to choose between a dated estimate of jobs benefiting from EU-wide trade, but not necessarily dependent upon EU membership, and an EC estimate of jobs created across Europe, when looking at Mr Clegg's claim. Neither supports his assertion that three million jobs "rely directly" on the EU.

Quite.

This is hokum dressed up as fiction, and this collection of the great and not so good, know it. They claim that this is based on Government figures. But as has been proven, this is not the case. The claim came from a study conducted by NIESR which while agreeing that 3 million jobs are involved in trade, did have the honesty to point out that “there is no a priori reason to suppose that many of these [jobs], if any, would be lost permanently if Britain were to leave the EU".

These people are so devoid of arguement as to dress up fiction as fact and fear as good sense. It is as if when we leave the EU, suddenly nobody would do any trade with our friends across the Channel. Tell that to the Chinese, the Americans, the Swiss and the Norwegians. Not being members of the EU, none of them ever do any business with the EU do they?

BNE is deliberately and maleavolantly dishonest, and should be revealed as such. I am one of the few people I know who will lose their job when we finally leave, and I will be delighted when that happens.

Sticks in the craw

Cathy Ashton has put this statement out about the death of Vaclav Havel,

“It was with great sadness that I learnt today of the death of Václav Havel. He was a man of immense courage, who fought for freedom and democracy in the most difficult circumstances.
Václav Havel was one of the great Europeans of his generation, who went on to become an inspirational leader of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. His name will forever be synonymous with the successful struggle for freedom in Central and Eastern Europe and the reunification of Europe.
Václav Havel's commitment to freedom was unwavering, despite great personal cost. His involvement with the Charter 77 movement was an inspiration to all those fighting for democracy
around the world.
Yet despite all his achievements, Václav Havel remained a true man of the people, a modest man whose unique sense of humour always shone through. His legacy will live on through his writing, but most of all through his extraordinary life story, which will inspire us all long into the future.I send my sincere condolences to his family and friends and the Czech people. “

Can I just remind people that in 1977, when Havel was publishing Charter 77, that great statement of the Freedom of Concience, Cathy started work at CND.

That in 1982 while he was midway through a 4 year gaol term , she was the Treasurer of that organisation.

An organisation that very publically backed the Comecon countries and would have ensured that people like Havel would be crushed for good.

She fills me with contempt.

Thank God she and her cohorts lost then, thank God that she and her cohorts will lose again.

Shame on her, if she only recognised that word.

The Great Recession

Eurofound's is an EU Agency. It is supposed to, according to its website

provide information, advice and expertise – on living and working conditions, industrial relations and managing change in Europe – for key actors in the field of EU social policy on the basis of comparative information, research and analysis.

And in the way these things work it produces documents, documents after documents, read by few and paid for by many.

However I spotted something in one that came out today,

The Great Recession has destroyed many jobs and the recovery has been shallow, with few new jobs being created. Where are new jobs going to come from?

It is describing these times of our as 'The Great Recession'. What is interesting is that it thinks that the Great Recession is over, so what pray is happening now?

Make things difficult

The Citizen's Initiative is the democratic veil thrown over the EU system by the Lisbon Treaty. Anmended and mucked around with in order to stop awkward voices being raised.

WARMING UP FOR THE CITIZENS' INITIATIVE
A CONFERENCE HOSTED BY
COMMISSION VICE-PRESIDENT
MAROŠ ŠEFČOVIČ

There is a conference about it in January


And they asking for participants. But in the way of things I cannot for the life of me work out what is all about, because I do not have  microscopes for eyes.

Sort it out, or at least read Kosmopolit's ripost to EU websites (its about the new EP one, but the point stands).

HT Quarsan

Sir Julian, the Parliament's Grand Dame exposes the paucity of Labours federastic wing

Ooo, hark her! Sir Julian Priestly the former Secretary General of The European Parliament has coughed up a piece of bile over his morning gauffre. This man risen to a devalued knighthood for his services to the cause of the EU in Britain, alongside that other great worker against our national interests, Mr Prune, the oleaginous Sir Graham Watson). Safe is his Waterloo fastness, that town redolent of the end of a previous dream of united Europe, he fires off his turgid distress. It lands, moist and quivering, on the plate that is the website of the Labour Movement for Europe.

Apparently he is not overly keen on the results of last week's European Council. But boy does he lay his disappointment on like pancake.

Even on its own terms the December EU summit plumbs new depths of government mendacity and incompetence.

Amongst his attack is the entirely inaccurate argument that Cameron has failed on his own measure,

As to our special pleading for the banks, financial services, hedge funds etc., nothing has changed. EU financial regulation is and will continue to be decided by qualified majority. There was no veto on that; there will be no veto- quite rightly because financial services regulation is part and parcel of internal market rules. The only thing that changes is that the 26 will now develop the habit of working together on the broad range of economic policy, and that the voice of the most economically liberal, free market, high finance-friendly member state will no longer be heard. One would have to be exceptionally naïve to imagine that the 26 will refrain from discussions about any aspect of EU economic and social legislation simply out of consideration for a government that has of its own free will boycotted their meetings.

He demands that Britain should have signed up to the deal, claims that we are isolated, friendless and even thinks that Milliband is in some way better (what would Ed have done? Much the same I guess). Then he blows his own arguments away. Because he would admit, surely that signing up to something that was ill-defined and not fit for purpose is pointless.

So his claim that,

Two elements needed to solve the crisis are absent; the financial firewall has been shored up a little but without any clear undertakings from the European Central Bank, which appears to have forgotten that its core task above all others must be to preserve the currency it administers. And, most importantly, growth- not merely no plan, but hardly warranting a mention at the summit. Without a plan for growth, social, industrial and infrastructure investment, there will be no sustainable strategy for tackling the debt.

rather suggests that Cameron was right not to sign up.

Of course for Sir Julian, and why be shy about your title Sir Julian, why accept the gong if you don't use it? For Sir Julian, it isn't the realities of the situation that matter, it isn't that the EUs leaders are clueless in the face of the Frankenstein's monster of a crisis that their own ambitions have unleashed upon the peoples of Europe, it is that we are not communitaire, it is that the Prime Minister did not dash up the gunwales, to stand foursquare upon the EU's sinking ship, that so riles him.

Go back to sleep Sir Julian, switch on Euronews and let nurse tuck you in. Your dreams are all to naught and your life's work is in tatters. Such a shame.

This will really annoy our Continental Friends

As we know, Standard and Poors has warned all the Eurozone countries, including the AAA pack, with a one or two tick downgrade. Now according to Zero Hedge, Moodys has been so impressed with the deal struck last week that they are threatening much the same.

As a result, the communiqué does not change our view that the crisis is in a critical, and volatile, stage, with sovereign and bank debt markets prone to acute dislocation which policymakers will find increasingly hard to contain. While our central scenario remains that the euro area will be preserved without further widespread defaults, shocks likely to materialise even under this 'positive' scenario carry negative credit and rating implications in the coming months. And the longer the incremental approach to policy persists, the greater the likelihood of more severe scenarios, including those involving multiple defaults by euro area countries and those additionally involving exits from the euro area.

Given that they are also treporting that the UK's rate is stable, how annoyed will the French and others be if despite everything they do they get a downgrade and the UK, Switzerland and Norway are the only ones not to be hit?

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By your actions you shall be judged

Yesterday's overall think piece on the BBC website highlight the Boris, Patterson wavemaking over the European Council summit is interesting. Lord they even gave Farage the pull quote in the piece.

If he lets this go on too long without there being a referendum it will wreck and destroy his government”
Nigel Farage

Which is all to the credit of Robin Brandt, who it looks as if write the piece. So far so even handed.

But then I made the error of scrolling down. The comment section is disabled after 990 comments, and by default shows you the 'Editors picks'. The editor has chosen 7 key comments to reflect the debate (closed I am sure just un time to stop it rolling over the 1000 mark).

Lets look at those picks,

805.Eddy from Waring
7th December 2011 - 16:09

The real struggle is not between a greater and lesser degree of "democracy", defined to suit whoever's agenda. It is between civic, enlightened, liberal values represented by the EU, and dark, primitive, tribal, aggressive cynicism, embodied by many of the nationalistic foamers. Again.
rate this -19

Comment number 801.
Landscape27
7th December 2011 - 16:06

Get rid of all the politicians & let the whole of the EZ inc the UK be run by technocrats. Countries use the phrase this country or that country PLC, so lets let the businessmen run them. My tongue is somewhat in my cheek, but as long as there was still some kind of recourse left to the people, why not? After all we have a politician with a degree in geography, would business people do any worse?
rate this -13

Comment number 151.
sledger10
7th December 2011 - 8:51

To be honest - the way things are going I could not rule out the UK joining the Eurozone and adopting the Euro!
As the old saying goes - "if you can't beat them, join them."
The UK is very weak now compared to what it was even as much as 10 years ago and certainly in the last 3 years we have dropped like a stone - yet Germany, France, Netherlands and others have strong economies.
rate this -101
Comment number 150.
Jimmyarchbold
7th December 2011 - 8:50

The overwhelming factor in preserving British interests is the survival of the Euro. Eurozone fiscal union with re-introduction of old currencies of member states in tandem with the use of the Euro will provide a micro-economic barometer that will provide intense focus on diverging performances and structurally significantly 'beef up' the 'Euro club'.
rate this -6

Comment number 149.
labarbe
7th December 2011 - 8:50

Let's just stop all the bickering, moaning, gnashing of teeth etc. and just get on with it! We are in the EU - for better or for worse- so our leaders should get their heads down and start working like hell to get the best out of our membership that they can. No posturing, no point-scoring, no being macho or petulant, just get working for the good of all of us in the UK, now!!
rate this +2

Comment number 144.
gorlestongirl1
7th December 2011 - 8:47

The EU discussion needs to be sorted, once and for all, referendum please.
rate this +72

Comment number 140.
anotherPen
7th December 2011 - 8:45

Whether or not the UK should “grab back” legal powers previously given to the EU is pure sophistry. There was never any need for the UK to join the EU in the first place and we can leave it whenever we wish by not paying its dues.
rate this + 88

So we have seven, of which the first 5 are pro European Union and in some cases pro Euro currency, then we have two that are anti, one just deamnding a referendum.

Looking at the public rating the anti-Euro comments are up there in the 78's 80' positive, the pro EU are negative.


It rather gives away how the editor thinks. And goes some way to explain the paucity of proper balanced comment on the BBC.

How does one cease to be eligible for a pension?

I only ask because of this odd exchange in the House of Lords. Lord Pearson has been highlighting for a while how former EU officials and Commissioners are in reciept of an EU pension that has as part of its conditions a rule about not annoying the EU, or indeed harming its interests (though the way they are going that should disqualify almost everyone working in the Berlyamont now).

Any how he asked about our dear Deputy PM, for of course not only was Mr Clegg a fornmer MEP, (whose pension is not covered by the rule) but he was also a member of Leon Brittan's cabinet, and was thus an official (whose pensions are covered by the rule).

So he asked in November the following

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Nick Clegg, receives a pension from the European Commission; and, if so, what is the annual amount of that pension, and whether the terms of that pension constrain his actions.

OK simple enough. To which Lord MCnally answered,

The Deputy Prime Minister does not receive a pension from the European Commission.

Well of course he doesn't thinks Lord P. He is still wet behind the ears, the guy won't hit pensionable age for decades. Lord P tried again, and the story gets, dare I say, odder,

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord McNally on 15 November (WA 140), whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Nick Clegg, is eligible to receive a pension from the European Commission; if so, when that pension will become payable; what will be its annual amount; and whether the terms of that pension constrain his actions.

Stop wriggling dammit and answer the question.
The answer came back

Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Whip, House of Lords; Liberal Democrat)

The Deputy Prime Minister is no longer eligible to receive a pension from the European Commission.

Eh? No longer. So he was, and now he isn't? And when did he decide to forego that pension, and why?

Farage is 'archaic and jingoistic' but right

The newish Euro webzine Next Europe is finding life pretty tough. It loves the EU but even it must admit that, well, not everything is rosy.

It is pantomime season in the UK and everyone’s favourite Eurosceptic panto villain, Nigel Farage, has been doing his very best to capitalise on the current crisis in the EU. In a recent address to the European Parliament, Farage continued his attack on EU President Herman Van Rompuy calling him the noisy assassin of nation-state democracy. Amongst his archaic and jingoistic rhetoric Farage managed to articulate one interesting point regarding the unelected nature of some European leaders and now national leaders in the case of Italy.

Interesting range of aggressive epithets towards Farage

Archaic: Of, relating to, or characteristic of a much earlier, often more primitive period.
Jingoistic: Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism.
Rhetoric: Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous

So it is pretty clear that Mr Farage isn't your favourite in the Parliament of Fools that is the Strasbourg assembly. But despite this you grudgingly accept that he has a point. The current actions of the European elite are indeed, or at least certainly look like an affront to representative democracy.

As a matter of interest, what is archaic about believing that governments should be chosen by their electorates? What is jingoistic about thinking that it is perfectly reasonable that a country decides how it governs itself and with whom it trades and interacts? (In UKIP's case we wish to trade and interact with the whole world and not be constrained by the EU). If you wish to see 'chauvanistic patriotism', then can I suggest you look at the words of the partisans of the European Union, who become daily more shrill and dogmatic in their belief that nothing, not referenda, not people, not government's not anybody or anything can stop the march to a single entity called Europe.

And rhetoric? It is otherwise called public speaking, or shall I say oratory - a less loaded word, and embarrasingly to those who wish him ill, Mr Farage seems to do it better than those he opposes in the European Parliament.

And as the archaic, no doubt jingoistic and rhetorical saying goes: If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck - well it probably is a duck.

The words of the unelected Italian Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola that you highlight,

“The absence of political personalities in the government will help rather than hinder a solid base of support for the government in the parliament and political parties because it will remove one ground for disagreement,”

also smack of archaic rhetoric, rhetoric that would fit well into the mouth of a Mussolini or a Stalin.

More Propaganda films from the European Parliament

Just let me get this straight. Here we have the European Parliament propaganda channel EuroparlTV attempting to rewrite history.

It flags up the Hubble Telescope, the SoHo probe these are heralded, the obvious idea is that they were in some way EU inspired. The only key project that is entirely EU driven was the launch of Mars Express.

And yes the Beagle Mars Explorer. You remember the Beagle, it was a massive success according to this broadcast.

Or in reality from AFP

Beagle 2 Mars Lander Doomed From The Start

Severe organisational failures lie behind the loss of Beagle 2, the UK-lead space probe to Mars which vanished shortly before it landed on the Red Planet late last year, an official inquiry reported Monday.

Investigators were not able to place the blame on a single failure or shortcoming, an official told a press conference in London.

However such were the worries about the mission ahead of its launch that one leading member of the European Space Agency (ESA) said that he had wondered whether it might have been better cancelled.

 And remember, Europarl TV is such a good deal as was revealed this week,

A TV channel for the European Parliament, which has only 830 viewers a day, costs £7 million a year.

EuroparlTV shows parliamentary conferences and committee sittings and also educational video recordings to MEPs and staff, according to the Sun.

The channel started its operation in 2008 and so far it has cost £26 million. Most of the shows telecast on the channel are translated into 22 languages, including Irish, which is spoken by around 80,000 people.

The channel was labeled by critics as "an expensive joke" and "a propaganda tool."

Help: Can somebody translate

Just seen this invitation on the Trading Standards website

Growth and Regulation: The Only Way is Up

CIEH, in partnership with TSI and LBRO, are proud to be organising the 2012 Year Ahead Event taking place 2-3 February in Stratford-upon-Avon. The theme this year is Growth and Regulation: The Only Way is Up.
This highly reputable event plays an important role in shaping the regulatory services' agenda.

Want to have a run on the Euro?

To go with the excerable video I highlighted yesterday that has since been picked up a few places elsewhere is this pdf press kit (HT @Quarsan )


Not only is it filled with ripe absurdities like this piece of paranoia,

The folder contains open files related to this press kit as well as high- resolution images of euro banknotes and coins, images of people handling cash as well as footage on the production of euro banknotes. This material may be used for publication, but only for reports on the euro. You will be asked to sign the disclaimer to ensure appropriate use of the material.

To this,

The coins... have a European side and a national side, featuring a symbol of the respective country. As such, they subtly help people to identify more closely with the European Union, of which their country forms a part.

The single currency is a symbol of economic and monetary integration. It facilitates business generally and payments for goods and services abroad specifically. The creation of the euro area in a continent as disparate as Europe is a significant achievement.  Over 330 million people now use the euro
.
Ten years on, the Eurosystem has reaped the practical benefits of having a common currency, notably in terms of the cash cycle and banknote  procurement. The benefits – as well as the lessons learnt from this broad and deep collaboration – will continue to bear fruit in the future.

To this,

Yes, you are being invited to take part in a run on the currency.

Farage on the Cameron Sarkozy talks

Via PA

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage described Mr Cameron's visit to Paris as "part of a softening-up process by European leaders on Britain".

Mr Farage said: "We know what Sarkozy and Merkel want - a solid fiscal debt and political union. To get this, they require a treaty change.

"Cameron, however, wants to help them but does not want a UK referendum on Europe. This meeting is about trying to square that circle."

Mr Farage said the Prime Minister should use the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" of the euro crisis to "act in British interests" by renegotiating UK relations with the EU.

"That he refuses suggests that he prefers the polite applause of Paris, Berlin and Brussels to the wishes of the British people," he added.

ECB glorifies 10 years of the Euro : Timing is everything

This video has been made at some cost (looking at the graphics) to celebrate the 10th anniversary over the Euro notes and coins by the European Central Bank. It must be noted that the comments section has been disabled - I cannot imagine why.

The disembodied voice is placed somewhere of the coast of the Azores, and the whole thing is just utterly ill timed and ill-advised. It makes the priceless observation that the notes are 'thicker in parts', bit like the Eurozone.

What I have learnt from this is that until the 1st of March Drachma are still legal in Greece.

Chaps, don't get rid of them now for God's sake, you might well need them soon enough.

Towler on tour

An article up on the Economic Voice.