Ah, the best laid plans ... Despite David Cameron saying his new plans re: Europe would not result in a "bust-up" between the Conservatives and Euro allies, the Tory leader has been publicly slammed by French Euro minister Pierre Lellouche.
Lellouche one of the more pro-Anglo bods in Sarkozy's cabinet has called Cameron's new European policies "pathetic" and has suggested they'll amount to the UK being amputated from the European body politic.
Cameron *had* promised that should the Tories get elected, we'd vote on whether Britain signs up to the Lisbon Treaty or not, but has had to back track now that the Treaty is due to become law regardless. Laying out his slightly altered Conservative vision, Cameron now says his government would fight for various powers to be returned to Britain, inflaming Pierre's rage.
In a Guardian interview, Lellouche gave an insight into how meetings between himself and the Tories have gone in the past. He says; "They have one line and they just repeat one line. It is a very bizarre sense of autism." I love the idea of William Hague, complete with sad baseball cap, just repeating the phrase: "Europe bad. Pound good."
Should Dave give up on the steamroller that is our future in Europe? Or is he right to continue to defend the UK's sovereignty?
David Cameron has laid out the Conservatives stance over the Lisbon Treaty in the wake of his party's somewhat embarrassing U-turn over a referendum.
"We cannot hold a referendum and magically make the Lisbon Treaty itself disappear," Mr Cameron told reporters today.
But, he promised, "never again" would power be passed to the EU, without a referendum, under a Conservative government.
"This is not about Westminster striking down individual items of EU legislation. It is about an assurance that the final word on our laws is here in Britain. We will make sure that this never, ever happens again," he said.
David Cameron's political rivals are having a field day after the Tory leader admitted his party is doing a U-turn over the Lisbon Treaty.
Cameron's admitted it's no longer possible for the Conservatives to hold a referendum on the treaty, after Czech president Vaclav Klaus was the last European leader of the 27 EU states to complete the ratification. In 2007, Cameron gave the public a "cast-iron guarantee" that they'd be given a vote on the treaty.
Labour have leapt on the about turn. Foreign Secretary David Milliband accused the opposition leader's position of Europe of being "is false and dangerous," while Mandelson joked that "Cameron's cast-iron guarantee has become very rusty indeed."
Some papers are taking the news better than others. The Guardian goes with the headline "Tory Leader soothes right with pledge to battle EU", the Telegraph goes with the slightly grumpier "Power drains away to EU as treaty gets go-ahead" while the apocalypse have arrived for the normally restrained Express (ahem) who proclaim "Britain: The End" on their front page.
Tony Blair's hopes of becoming president of the European Council are fading after his supporters failed to secure the backing of EU leaders.
Earlier Gordon Brown said Mr Blair would be an "excellent candidate" but Downing Street is now less optimistic.
Earlier Mr Brown had told the leaders at a fringe meeting at the EU summit that they should "get real" and grasp a unique opportunity to get a "strong progressive politician" like Mr Blair as president.
The prospect of a Blair presidency has also proved controversial in the UK.
Both the Tories and Liberal Democrats have said they would oppose it.
And a YouGov poll in Friday's Daily Telegraph suggested that less than a third of British voters would support Mr Blair's candidacy
What I want to know is who exactly makes up the almost a third, that would support Tony Blair's presidency, must have been his and the bush family.
But seriously, whether he gets the job or not, the fact that his name was even mentioned just shows how the EU actually works, they obviously don't care about the thoughts and feelings of the hundreds of millions in the EU and they will just do what they like. And soon we are to sign over all our rights to undemocratically elected leaders hell bent on money, power and destruction, but mind you, thats the kind of government we've had all along.
Czech Republic — Czech President Vaclav Klaus is the only European leader who did not signed the Lisbon Treaty and sent the documents to the Czech court because of concerns over the country’s sovereignty and violation of the Czech constitution.Czech Republic — Czech President Vaclav Klaus is the only European leader who did... more
Tony Blair should be made head of a stronger European Union that would be able to compete with China and the United States on the world stage, the Foreign Secretary said yesterday.
David Miliband said that the new EU president needed to be someone who “stopped the traffic” in Washington and Beijing and was guaranteed the highest access to world leaders.
The Foreign Secretary told the BBC that a Blair presidency would be “very good for Britain as well as very good for Europe”.
Mr Miliband is a Blairite, but Gordon Brown has also supported Mr Blair’s candidacy from the start. Labour MPs believe that the Prime Minister’s short-term ambitions would be helped by an EU president who so antagonised the Tories. In addition, if Mr Brown lost the election and hoped for an international post, having Mr Blair in such a powerful role would be no disadvantage.
Mr Miliband told the Andrew Marr Show that the Lisbon treaty gave Europe a more efficient system for running its affars. “It needs to take that opportunity, otherwise we will find the world run by America and China without any reference to us,” he said. “It all comes down to what the heads of government want the job to be. It’s about whether or not Europe wants a strong leader in that position. I think that hasn’t yet been resolved in the minds of a number of Europe’s leaders.”
It appears us mere humans are missing something here, Tony Blair, one of the most deplorable and hated (by normal thinking people anyway) could rule over the EU, and in turn the EU will rule over us, are people forgetting we chased him out of office as he was so detested?!
Further proof to the fact that this is a dictatorship, not a democracy, and we do not choose our leaders, and we do not make the rules, hell we don't even have the slightest say!
And why Blair? for his wonderful work in the middle east? why didn't he get the Nobel prize then?
also i'm guessing George Bush turned the job down, so second best ey?Tony Blair should be made head of a stronger European Union that would be able to... more
Every Thursday the PlayStation Store updates across the globe, bringing specific content to individual regions as well as demos, trailers and downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. This week’s European Store update was rather mundane, with an NBA 2K10 demo, some special offers, videos and two dynamic themes. However, Mike Kebby, SCEE PlayStation Store Team member, has promised that next week’s update will be far bigger.Every Thursday the PlayStation Store updates across the globe, bringing specific... more
Europe's overexploited cod fisheries are still at risk and catches must be cut by a quarter next year in all zones except the North Sea where measures have yet to be decided, the European Union executive said on Friday.
Northern cod populations have fallen from 250,000 tonnes in the 1970s to around 50,000 tonnes today following decades of overfishing and quota-busting.
If the plan is approved by European fisheries ministers in December, fishermen in west Scotland would also face a 54 percent cut to their haddock quota and a 25 percent cut to the amount of whiting they can land.
Europe's fisheries chief this year called for sweeping policy reform after chronic overfishing for decades pushed 90 percent of stocks beyond sustainable levels.
Fishing fleets have grown too large, fines are too low to deter quota-busters, and fishermen are forced to put ever-increasing effort into locating and catching the dwindling European stocks.Europe's overexploited cod fisheries are still at risk and catches must be cut by a... more
Every year, the top book publishers gather together in Frankfurt Germany at a public show. This is a photograph of the gorgeous public hall where the 2009 book fair took place. This image was taken today.Every year, the top book publishers gather together in Frankfurt Germany at a public... more
The long making of the European Union should receive a fresh impetus after the approval of the Lisbon Treaty, drawn up to replace the European Constitution that was rejected in referendums in France and Holland. The Treaty provides for increased powers for the EU especially in foreign policy and a system of double majority decision which will come into force in 2014.The long making of the European Union should receive a fresh impetus after the... more
DUBLIN (AP) â Irish National Liberation Army says it's renouncing violence in Northern Ireland, will disarm.DUBLIN (AP) â Irish National Liberation Army says it's renouncing violence in... more
After a humiluating defeat in last year's referendum, this time Ireland backed the EU's Lisbon Treaty by a 2/3 majority.After a humiluating defeat in last year's referendum, this time Ireland backed the... more
This is an interesting article about what the EU is doing with the vitamin and supplement industry.This is an interesting article about what the EU is doing with the vitamin and... more
Sonumbra by textile architects Loop.ph, was designed with the needs of the developing world in mind. The tree-like web captures sunlight during the day, while providing shade from the sun. Then at night, it converts the solar energy into power to light up in beautiful patterns.
[many more designs at the link...]Sonumbra by textile architects Loop.ph, was designed with the needs of the developing... more
A sharply divided European Union failed today to protect the bluefin tuna, as Mediterranean countries refused to back even a temporary ban on catching the fish, which is prized by sushi aficionados.
The European commission wanted a temporary ban on commercial fishing until stocks recovered, but Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, France and Italy – which have strong fishing lobbies – blocked the move.
Environmentalists said the failure to bring in a ban was a further step toward the bluefin tuna's commercial extinction.
"They are pushing tuna to the point of no return," Xavier Pastor, of the Oceana protection group, said. "It is deplorable that the EU member states who are mostly responsible for the depletion of bluefin tuna stocks refused to agree to a measure that would have helped to reverse the situation."
The commission had hoped the EU would present a united stand at the next meeting of the inter-governmental International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), which manages the conservation of tuna. It now seems unlikely that a ban on fishing bluefin tuna will be pushed through when the group meets in Brazil in November.
"ICCAT members have to realise that the very future of this iconic stock depends on it," said the EU fisheries commissioner, Joe Borg.
Stocks of bluefin tuna, which has been hunted since Roman times in the Mediterranean, have dwindled for years, with Japan taking about 80% of bluefin exports. .Large fish are now a rarity. Fishermen often catch small tuna before they have reproduced and fatten them in cages until they are big enough for sale.A sharply divided European Union failed today to protect the bluefin tuna, as... more
The European commission today threw its support behind a campaign to outlaw trade in endangered bluefin tuna, meaning that efforts to rebuild stocks of the species could begin next year.
At a meeting in Brussels, the commission agreed to support Monaco, the first country to ban bluefin tuna trading, in its attempt to have the fish listed internationally as an endangered species.
Although a complete ban on trade in bluefin tuna is supported by EU member states such as Germany, France, Britain and several others, the move could yet be opposed by the big players in Mediterranean fishing: Spain, Italy, and Malta, the centre of the European bluefin industry.
"If agreed, the Cites' vote in March 2010 would result in a ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna," said the commission.
The depleted stocks of the fish in the Mediterranean have hit almost extinction levels, according to experts, with bluefin tuna thought to below 18% of the total in 1970.
Stocks of the fish were decimated throughout the 1990s. Around 80% of the bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean is exported to Japan for conversion into sushi after the fish have been fattened for several months in European fish farms.
"Bluefin tuna has become endangered because of disgraceful fisheries management in the EU. The suspension of trade is a last resort and it merely buys the EU time to put its fisheries management in order," said Saskia Richartz of Greenpeace.The European commission today threw its support behind a campaign to outlaw trade in... more
The Duchess of York (yeah, that Fergie!) is facing the possibility of being arrested by Turkish police. It has been claimed that she broke the law by taking part in a television expose on the treatment of orphans in the EU-wannabe country.
The duchess, along with one of her daughters, Eugenie (who happens to also be the Queen of England's granddaughter) - wore disguises as the visited Turkish orphanages for the ITV documentary.The Duchess of York (yeah, that Fergie!) is facing the possibility of being arrested... more
Refugees of war are not criminals or potentially violent people but are men, women and children victims of violence, trying to escape. This is not a difficult concept to understand, but Italy rejects refugees treating them like criminals, like commodities, like waste. Berlusconi's government is criticized for its behavior by the EU and UN, but doesn't give a damn.Refugees of war are not criminals or potentially violent people but are men, women and... more
Washington, 4 September (WashingtonTV)—The European Union warned Iran on Friday that it could face confrontation and tougher sanctions if Tehran refused to negotiate on its nuclear program.Washington, 4 September (WashingtonTV)—The European Union warned Iran on Friday that... more
![The Frankfurt Book Fair [pic]](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/asset/900/466/12/wu5924_60x45.jpg)
