Tuesday, November 02, 2010

More Blood Pressure Pills, Nurse

Swearblogger Mr Eugenides suspended blogging the other day, giving the following reasons :

After a bit of soul-searching, I've decided to discontinue the blog.

Partly this is due to busy-ness in the real world, but that's only half the story. The other half is a noticeable dropping off in my levels of rage since the prime raison d'etre for that fury were ejected from office in May. I share the scepticism of some readers towards many aspects of the new government's platform, and worry that their reforms will be too timid, their policies wrong-headed, their instincts far from libertarian...

But what I don't have now is that same hate.
Well, Mr E, you can't say the government aren't trying to help :

Prisoners will be given the vote in general elections for the first time in 140 years after David Cameron conceded there was nothing he could do to halt a European court ruling demanding the change, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. On Wednesday a representative for the Coalition will tell the Court of Appeal that the law will be changed following legal advice that the taxpayer could have to pay tens of millions of pounds in compensation. The decision, which brings to an end six years of government attempts to avoid the issue, opens the possibility that even those facing life sentences for very serious crimes could in future shape Britain’s elections.
I don't know what makes me more cross - the way in which the EU spits in the eye of British democracy - no party in the UK could ever win a majority on such a platform - or the fact that Cameron's administration is caving in to them, then whining about how it's not their fault, a big boy made them do it etc.

“This is the last thing we wanted to do, but we have looked at this from every conceivable angle and had lawyers poring over the issue,” a senior government source said.“But there is no way out and if we continued to delay then it could start costing the taxpayers hundreds of millions in litigation.”


Well there is a way out - leave. Is there any point in voting at all as long as we are in the EU, if such a fundamental of our system is under the control of unelected judges - not only that but judges from countries with long histories of dictatorship, civil war and genocide?

At a time of unprecedented financial stringency, we've just handed over an extra 2.9% to the EU budget, in exchange for giving axe murderers the vote. Do we want a whingeing Prime Minister who demonstrably lacks that most important attribute - the ability to govern and to lead?


UPDATE - "British combat troops to come under French command"

7 comments:

JuliaM said...

"Do we want a whingeing Prime Minister who demonstrably lacks that most important attribute - the ability to govern and to lead?"

What we WANT is irrelevant. It's clearly what we've GOT...

Slagella said...

It's the ECHR which Britain was instrumental in setting up. Nothing whatsoever to do with the EU.

dearieme said...

Well, if it's the ECHR then we presumably can leave PDQ. So why don't we?

Laban said...

If it's nothing to do with the EU why will the EU (apparently) fine us if we ignore it ?

Anonymous said...

"Potential sanctions include suspension or expulsion from the Council of Europe — a separate body from the EU."

Blah blah blah whatever.
The point of these organisations whether officially part of the 'EU' or not is to chip away at Britains sovereignty until we are not longer an independant country.
They use a lot of tools to achieve this but the goal is the same.

We are now faced with the absurd situation that people locked up, considered too dangerous to society to walk the streets get to choose our government.

Sean Gabb
"Do you remember how Caligula appointed his horse as one of the Consuls for the year? Was this because he was mad, and he somehow thought the appointment would please his horse? Or was the act a deliberate humiliation of a still powerful and highly conservative aristocracy, the members of which now had to make public fools of themselves as they went about the business of consulting the horse on policy and fitting it into the traditional ceremonies?"

That it, its the same situation.

Mr Eugenides said...

Yep, talk about bad timing...

morningstar said...

Strange how Cameron finds it hard to tell the EU and the Court where to stuff their ruling...
but has no problem telling the UK Taxpayer to stick it up their arse instead !