The EU Foreign Minister, Baroness Ashtray, has recalled the ambassadors of all 27 EU member states from Belarus and instructed them to return to their capitals to have consultations with their governments.
When the EU's foreign ministry was created, everyone was reassured that it wouldn't encroach on the foreign policies or operations of member states yet here we have the unelected multi-millionaire communist sympathiser, Cathy Ashton, controlling our ambassadors and setting our foreign policy.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has given a stark warning that the UK has run out of money and they will not fund any more tax cuts or spending increases with borrowing.
This is clearly a sop to the credit reference agencies who have threatened us with a downgrade. It also sets expectations low so when he finds a few million down the back of the sofa to pay for something nice everyone will be impressed by his financial genius and perhaps the big bad Tories aren't so bad after all. Or so the theory goes.
Meanwhile, the economic mastermind that is George Osborne is still handing over £50m a day to the EU and £23m a day in international aid to, amongst others, Argentina.
The answer to our economic problems does not lie within the EU. We can't afford the £50m a day membership fee or the extra £30m or so a day in extra costs related to membership. We can't afford the guilt by association that comes with membership of the EU damaging our economy. We can't afford to subsidise the crooks behind the global warming scam or the scam itself. We can't afford to keep imposing high taxes on people and businesses that stifle economic growth and increase reliance on the welfare state.
UKIP MEP and Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall, put in a fantastic first appearance on BBC Question Time on Thursday night, attracting applause every time he spoke.
The Minister for Communication, Ed Vazey's attempts to emulate Boris Johnson's air of foppish buffoonery failed to make him a hit with the audience and he spent most of his time with his face in his hands and a look that said "why did I agree to this"? Rather amusingly he argued that his government's Workfare programme was voluntary and had to be informed that it is, in fact, mandatory and those who refuse to take part lose their benefits.
The Labour Shadow Attorney General, Emily Thornberry, was pretty stereotypical of female Labour MPs and dropped a bit of a clanger by saying that Syrian rebels had plenty of weapons and didn't need any more. This on the day after a reporter had just been killed by a rocket fired by the Syrian army into a house in a residential area and amid reports from all sorts of agencies about the atrocities being caused by the Syrian authorities.
The other two guests were Cristina Odone, the Telegraph reporter, and the historian, Simon Schama. Simon Schama got the biggest laugh when asked for an opinion about Rupert Murdoch starting the Sun on Sunday and replied something along the lines of "there are very few things in this world I don't give a damn about and this is one of them".
Paul Nuttall was by far the most convincing, most popular and most human of the panelists. Small wonder than the phrase "Paul Nuttall" was the #1 trend in the UK on Twitter after the programme and #4 in the world.
The percentages don't quite add up because YouGov also round up the LibLabCon votes but without the source data and methodology (which YouGov don't publish) this is as close as you're going to get. UKIP has dropped a bit against the Lib Dems since Sunday for no apparent reason but it's bucking the trend and unlikely to reflect a real downturn in UKIP support.
An agreement has been reached for a second bailout loan for Greece, plunging the country further into unsustainable debt.
I wonder if they think taking on another
€130bn of debt is a "historic moment"
The terms of the pay day loan are still vague and it all hinges on private creditors "voluntarily" writing off of 53.5% of their debts. The Greek government is passing a law in case they don't agree to the "voluntary" write-off to force them to "voluntarily" write off the 53.5%.
Prior to the meeting, the EC, ECB, IMF, Netherlands, Austria and Germany had all said that they wouldn't be moved on a target of 120% debt to GDP ratio (ie. national debt would be no more than 120% of the total amount of money the Greek economy produces in a year) by 2020 but they caved in and upped it to 123%.
One of the conditions of the €130bn loan is even deeper austerity measures which is frankly bizarre given that a joint EC/ECB/IMF report was leaked last night that says the EU-imposed austerity measures have weakened the Greek economy and made it harder for them to meet their demands.
The BBC reports that the Greek government has agreed to "enhanced and permanent" external monitors to oversea the economic recovery. This is clearly a reference to the Dutch demands for permanent representation of the EC/ECB/IMF in Greece to make their financial decisions for them. The EU-funded BBC's wording suggests the agreement on this is a little softer than what the Netherlands were demanding but the Independent is more equivocal and it would seem that the Greeks have agreed to hand over permanent control of tax and spend to an unelected group of economists.
The unelected, EU-appointed Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has called the loan and further damaging austerity measures that are being inflicted on the Greeks a "historic moment". The protesters who've been rioting in Greece for the last few weeks might have a different opinion. As I said yesterday: this isn't a bailout, it's a coup d'état.
The German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has clearly had a good talking to and is now confident that a deal can be found to lend Greece more money to make repayments on the existing loans it can't afford to pay back, having previously told Greece there is no hope of survival and to declare itself bankrupt.
The most outrageous demand so far today is by the Dutch government who want permanent representation from the EC/ECB/IMF in Greece taking permanent control of Greek spending and borrowing. They already have an EU-appointed unelected Prime Minister, now they want to permanently bypass elected government with unelected foreign technocrats answerable to the EU Commission, EU Central Bank and IMF making all the decisions on the Greek economy.
This isn't a bailout, it's the next stage of an EU coup d'état. Italy has already gone through phase one (replacing the head of the government with an unelected EU-appointed technocrat), they'll be more than a little concerned if phase two is implemented in Greece.
You wouldn't know UKIP was trailing the Lib Dems by just 1% as it has pretty consistently for almost a year by looking at the headline figures because YouGov still insists on putting UKIP in the "other" bucket, despite snapping at the tail of the Lib Dems for months and the closest "other" party having half of UKIP's vote. Unlike Angus Reid, YouGov has yet to recognise that UKIP is virtually level pegging with the Lib Dems on a national level and could conceivably replace them as the third party in Westminster at the next election if the prediction of them losing all but 9 of their MPs is correct.
Some other statistics in the poll are interesting and make encouraging reading. Despite the perception that UKIP is a eurosceptic version of the Tories, 5% of people who voted Lib Dem in the last election and 1% who voted Labour intend to vote UKIP in the next election compared to 8% of Tory voters - UKIP attracts votes from left and right in similar numbers, including people who traditionally vote for the rabidly europhile of the LibLabCon. UKIP also attracts more women voters (7%) than men (6%), putting paid to the myth that it is an old boys and blazers club and attracts more working class voters (7%) than upper and middle class (5%). Support for UKIP is pretty even across England except for the Midlands where it falls short, although this is probably down to the "Wales effect" (YouGov, quite inexplicably, combines the Midlands and Wales which produces some strange and often irrelevant data).
YouGov's ignorance of devolution and national institutions has skewed some of the statistics. Indifference towards the British government's £9k a year university tuition fee regime in England has been artificially inflated by including Scottish opinions on a tuition fee regime that doesn't apply to Scottish students and support for grammar schools in England has been depressed by including Scottish opinions on a grammar school system that doesn't affect Scotland. The number of people having the opinion that the Church of England plays a valuable role in "Britain" has similarly been depressed by including the opinions of Scottish people whose national church is, of course, the Church of Scotland (still protestant but importantly, not English).
Most encouragingly, though, are the opinions on UKIP policies. A whopping 88% agree with UKIP's policy of increasing the tax threshold to take low earners out of the tax system altogether and 56% support UKIP's policy of rewarding families and married couples through the tax system. UKIP's policy of supporting and expanding the grammar school system is supported by most voters, as is UKIP's policy that universities should admit students based on academic ability rather than quotas.
I alongside other UKIP Hillingdon representatives recently attended a Launch for the Greater London Assembly Campaign. There I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Miguel-Angel Meizoso, a charming man who had been threatened with arrest an subsequent deportation for something not that he had done but something that he might do ! This is the European Arrest Warrant in action. (mjs)
As you can see our MEP Gerard Batten is on the case. Thank Heavens UKIP stands up for the ordinary citizen against the clumsy ignorant might of the EU. (mjs)
Parliamentary questions 2 March 2011 E-001715/2011 Question for written answer to the Commission Rule 117 Gerard Batten (EFD)
Subject: Dr Miguel Meizoso and the European Arrest Warrant Answer(s) My constituent Dr Miguel Meizoso is facing immanent extradition to Spain on a European Arrest Warrant, which accuses him of a fraud he has not committed but allegedly ‘wants to commit in the future’. The EAW is issued by a Spanish ‘investigative magistrate’ on a private complaint without any further judicial or prosecutorial scrutiny. If extradited, Dr Meizoso may be kept in pre-trial detention without charge for up to two years, solely at the discretion of the magistrate.
The ill-defined ‘crime’, the oppressive procedure, and the very office of ‘investigative magistrate’ are all peculiar to the Spanish inquisitorial legal system. In response to criticism, the Spanish Government has now pledged to abolish ‘investigative magistrates’, a relic of the Franco regime, in the future. Meanwhile, an EAW from an ‘investigative magistrate’ still must be obeyed without question under the EU doctrine of ‘mutual recognition’. Dr Meizoso is not even allowed to place the evidence of his innocence before a British court.
1. Does the Commission consider ‘investigative magistrates’ in Spain to be a proper authority to issue a European Arrest Warrants?
2. Does the Commission think that an EAW should be used for a preliminary investigation before a charge is laid?
3. What safeguards against the outrages of inquisitorial legal systems of some EU Member States are provided in the EAW framework to protect the liberties enjoyed under English law for many centuries, especially freedom from arbitrary arrest?
4. In view of Dr Meizoso’s case, is the Commission satisfied with the operation of the EAW system, and that it includes sufficient safeguards against unfounded, unjust and malicious accusations?
5. Will the Commission take steps to improve the situation by repealing the framework decision on the European Arrest Warrant and leaving it to the national governments to make appropriate extradition arrangements on a bilateral basis?
As Dr. Meizoso says ” Why (does) the British and European media keep silent about my case ? Why (does) the fate of law abiding citizens who stand for Justice & Democracy not matter to the media ? ..
The German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has told Greece to stop prolonging the inevitable and declare itself bankrupt.
A join EU Commission/ECB/IMF report says that Greece will be unable to meet its target of getting national debt down to 120% of GDP by 2020 even if it implements all of the EU's austerity demands.
In order to get the promised EU/IMF payday loan, the Greek government needs to agree a 70% write-off with its private creditors. Apparently this will take four weeks to arrange and Greece needs €14.5bn of someone else's money to service its debts on the 20th of March. That means a bailout loan has to be agreed no later than Tuesday to give the Greek government the 28 days it needs to negotiate the 70% write-off.
The EU was supposed to have agreed the bailout loan on Wednesday but they decided to make Greece wait until Monday for a decision. The most likely reason earlier in the week was that they would try and screw more concessions out of the Greek government because Greece getting the bailout loan was believed to be a foregone conclusion but Schäuble's comments and the EC/ECB/IMF report cast doubt on that theory. Could they be holding back because they're genuinely unsure whether they should let Greece fail?
Apparently, US banks are already preparing for a Greek default and if the rumours are to be believed, Greece is being managed into default. If they do default and crash out of the €uro there won't be many Greeks complaining. They've seen prices go through the roof since the Drachma was replaced, interest rates pegged unacceptably high to suit the Franco-German Empire and now devastating EU-imposed austerity measures when they're in trouble.
Greece should have left the €uro before things got out of hand. Without wanting to sound like a broken record where Iceland is concerned, they have really set the bar for economic recovery. They're forecasting a budget surplus next year and Fitch have just upgraded their credit rating to investment grade, citing their "unorthodox crisis policy" as the primary reason for their recovering economy. The "unorthodox crisis policy" involved letting its banks fail, prioritising their own citizens over foreign investors, reducing interest rates and imposing restrictions on foreign currency transactions - none of which is an option to Greece while it's in the €uro.
Is there some unspoken rule or perhaps a hidden clause in Labour's various illiberal laws that says Labour politicians are exempt from punishment under them?
He had it coming to him eh Flo?
Only a month ago Diane Abbott broke Labour's oppressive anti-racism laws with her statement on Twitter that "White people love playing divide and rule". Her punishment? A going over on the internet, some negative press (not the Guardian though, naturally) and ... well, that's about it.
Now a Labour councillor from Sunderland, Florence Anderson, has incited terrorism "appealing to the IRA to find it in their hearts to bomb the next Tory conference" on Facebook. Her punishment? Suspension from the Labour Party and ... well, that's about it.
UKIP is often criticised by LibLabCon for being unconventional but I think it's a fair bit easier to justify calling an unelected Belgian nobody a damp rag than racism, inciting terrorism and attacking pensioners.
A UKIP member was assaulted by a Tory councillor at an election count in Lymington last month.
Cllr Penny Jackman:
beat up a pensioner
The surprising attack on 72 year old UKIP candidate, Mike Beggs, by Councillor Penny Jackman has just been made public by the Southern Daily Echo. Councillor Jackman has apologised and it would appear that Beggs has accepted the apology and isn't taking it any further.
Councillor Jackman took exception to an election leaflet that Beggs had produced criticising the Tories in Lymington - and Councillor Jackman in particular, who is quoted as saying "let's shut the buggers down" - for trying to evict their local cricket club from the cricket ground it's called home for the last 175 years. Jackman verbally abused Beggs and then slapped him in the face, breaking his false teeth.
It looks like the Tories are still the nasty party ... at least in Lymington.
The meeting of €urozone ministers which was due to rubber stamp Greece's pay day loan tomorrow has been downgraded to a conference call which won't be able to approve the bailout loan.
Apparently, Greece hasn't done enough to convince the EU that they will implement their damaging and deeply unpopular austerity demands so they'll have to wait even longer to get their hands on the cash. Without the cash Greece would default and bring down the €uro so they will get the money anyway, this is just the EU reminding the Greeks who's boss.
Greek MPs vote in favour of the EU's austerity demands last night but not without significant opposition both in the parliament building and on the streets.
In the end 199 MPs voted in favour of the EU's demands whilst 74 voted against. All the main parties suffered rebellions by their MPs, resulting in 44 expulsions from New Democracy, Pasok and Popular Orthodox Rally. MPs were swayed by the doom prophecies of the EU-appointed unelected Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, seemingly oblivious to (or more likely uninterested by) the rioting on the streets in Athens in protest at what they were doing.
It is estimated that between 80-100k protesters were out on the streets of Athens attacking police (who apparently ran out of tear gas), setting fire to buildings and looting. The city of Athens only has a population of of about 655k.
Greece's problems stem from joining the €uro in 2002. Suddenly finding itself using a stronger, German-backed currency, borrowing became cheaper and easier. So they borrowed and they borrowed big - far more than they could pay back if the €urozone gravy train was ever derailed. Then came the train wreck and they had to be bailed out, along with Ireland and Portugal just to be able to default on part of their debts rather than all of them. And now they have to be bailed out again to do another partial default.
Greece didn't meet the criteria for joining the €uro and went into it on the back of a lie - a lie made all the more outrageous by the fact that everyone knew they were lying, even the EU who supported their entry nonetheless. Greece had a large public debt and budget deficit before joining the €uro, now they have a huge public debt and a budget deficit so large that the EU has demanded sweeping austerity measures that will put millions out of work and below the poverty line in return for which they will let them get even further into debt with a pay-day loan to cover the €14.5bn bond repayments they need to make next month.
Rather than follow the failed EU model, Greece needs to follow Iceland's lead and devalue and default - they are expected to have a budget surplus next year. The €uro is too expensive for bankrupt Greece and their debt repayments are unsustainable. They need to default on their repayments and leave the €uro. This will inevitably lead to their expulsion from the EU straight-jacket (even though it would be illegal to expel them but I don't imagine it would stop them anyway) but if it doesn't then they should leave of their own accord. Defaulting will free up capital to pay pensions and wages and clean up after the rioters who have been telling them in quite blunt terms that they don't want them to do what they're doing now.
Outside of the €uro, interest rates can be slashed which will stimulate foreign and domestic investment and outside of the EU they can concentrate on their own people rather than being forced to work for the other 491m EU citizens who don't live in Greece. After defaulting, Greece won't be able to afford to borrow so they will have no choice but to live within their means but they will have their own currency back, control of their interest rates and a unilateral moratorium on debt repayments until such time as they can afford to start paying them back. Greece would be in a much stronger position to negotiate with their creditors if they were faced with the prospect of their bonds being written off.
The EU has, of course, welcomed the decision of the Greek government to ignore the wishes of the Greek people and agree to the EU's austerity demands but have postponed a decision on whether to actually hand over any bailout cash until next month. Whether the Greek people accept this affront to democracy has yet to be seen but as they've accepted an unelected, EU-appointed technocrat as Prime Minister, the chances are that they'll set fire to some more stuff and then accept it.
Jakob Whiten, UKIP's candidate in the Ibstock, Heather & Battram by-election, is asking for help leafleting in the last few days before Thursday's election.
This is an important by-election as the people of Ibstock, Heather and Battram have a real choice and alternative from the LibLabCon. We are working around the clock delivering leaflets and canvassing. If you can help, please contact me.
The ward is in North West Leicestershire, not far from Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It's a pretty safe Labour seat but it's not unwinnable!
Greek MPs are currently debating the EU's austerity demands while outside their parliament building, thousands of Greeks are rioting.
There has been so much violent unrest in Athens today that the Greek police have run out of tear gas and are asking for more supplies. There is an unconfirmed report that the EU's private paramilitary, Eurogendfor - known to have been in Greece since the end of last year - are in Athens.
There are apparently at least 12 buildings on fire in the vicinity of the Greek parliament, including 2 banks and a Starbucks. Metro stations near the parliament building have been closed by the police to keep protesters away but there are a few small groups of protesters milling round, presumably waiting for something to happen. Worryingly, the Communist Party seem to be the most effective group at mobilising supporters on the streets and the Communist-affiliated PACE union have announced their intention to fill Syntagma Square where the parliament building is located with protesters tonight.
There is considerable opposition to the austerity bill in the Greek parliament, although not as much as there is on the streets of Athens. The bill is unlikely to fail because nobody has the balls to admit that Greece has to default and leave the EU and the €urozone to survive but it is likely to bring down the government in the process.
You can follow events on the Athens News website and live cams are available here and here (cams are going up and down).
The Greek Prime Minister, Lucas Papademos, has warned that failing to accept the EU's austerity measures would "set the country on a disastrous adventure".
He went on to say that "The social cost of this programme is limited in comparison with the economic and social catastrophe that would follow if we didn't adopt it".
Social catastrophe? Perhaps he should have a look out of the window to get a sense of perspective?
Isn't it interesting that in Greece, protesters are rioting and throwing petrol bombs outside their parliament building but they're allowed back every day to do it again but you can be arrested as a terrorist for reading out the names of dead soldiers at a war memorial near the British parliament?
Lucas Papademos, the Greek Prime Minister, has gone on TV today calling for calm as about 4,000 protesters protested outside the Greek parliament (they're allowed to do that in more enlightened countries) and begging MPs to vote in favour of the EU's crippling austerity measures designed to try and keep the €uro going for a bit longer while they await divine intervention.
Just smile and nod Lucas, it always works for me
Appearing next to the EU ring of stars logo probably wasn't the cleverest move when Greeks are rioting about the EU's austerity measures (even burning German flags to protest at the fourth reich's interference in Greek affairs) but then if he was a clever man, Papademos would have told the EU to bugger off by now and defaulted. Iceland was in technical default a couple of years ago but are now predicting a 3% growth in the economy and a budget surplus next year. Iceland let its banks fail, looked after its own citizens, stuck two fingers up to foreign investors and devalued its currency. Greece isn't allowed to let its banks fail, it has to look after all EU citizens, it's not allowed to stick two fingers up to foreign investors and it can't devalue its currency.
Greece needs to find €14.5bn in 5 weeks time to make bond repayments and it doesn't have the money. The only plan the Greek government has is to borrow the money from the EU and IMF but in return, the EU wants devastating cuts in Greek spending, EU control of the Greek budget and their sockpuppet heading the government. Greece can't afford to pay back the loans it's already taken out, let alone billions more.
Back in November (before the EU effected a coup to remove Papandreou from office) we said that Greece needs to forget about the EU/IMF bailout plan, default on its debts, withdraw from the €uro and reintroduce the drachma at a cheap rate to stimulate the domestic market. There is no conceivable way out of the current economic mire that Greece finds itself in whilst remaining a member of the EU and the €urozone.
Paul Nuttall MEP is on The Political Spot on Channel 4 tomorrow at 6:55pm talking about the Union for the Future policy.
There has been a great deal of interest in the policy which calls for a renewal of the union on a federal basis with effective and equal devolved government for all four member states of the UK. That interest has resulted in a number of new members and defections from other parties, mostly from the English Democrats.
I'm told that the policy has a couple of gaps that need addressing before it is published in full and that it will definitely be for devolved government with a devolved executive (ie. an English Parliament) and not a Grand Committee of British MPs elected in England as claimed by one of the English Democrats' main financiers.
UKIP is contesting an election in 2 weeks' time in the Ibstock & Heather ward of North West Leicestershire District Council.
Where are the other three candidates Kim?
The Lib Dems are desperate to revive their flagging fortunes and win this by-election judging by Kim Wyatt's leaflet which is almost entirely negative and consists mainly of comments about the Labour and Tory candidates living outside of the ward.
According to Wyatt's leaflet, voters have a choice of Labour or the Lib Dems and the Tory can't win. In fact, if you read the leaflet, you would be forgiven for thinking that there were only three candidates in the by-election. The Lib Dems have gone to great lengths to mislead voters, making no mention of the UKIP, Green or Independent candidates and even going as far as doctoring the Statement as the persons nominated published by the council to show only three candidates.
We are told that the returning officer at North West Leicestershire District Council is so unimpressed at the doctoring of an official document and using it to mislead voters and exert undue influence over the election that it has been referred to the police.
Just to clarify: the UKIP candidate, Jakob Whiten, doesn't live in the Ibstock & Heather ward either. He does, however, live within walking distance of Ibstock and went to school in Ibstock. He says that he loves Ibstock and spends a lot of time there. He also doesn't try to mislead voters.
The EU is trying again to get its logo put on football shirts and other sporting outfits and to have the EU logo flown at sporting events.
MEPs voted 5 to 1 in favour of having the "European flag" on the clothing of sportsmen next to their national flag and flown over major sporting events such as the Olympics. All Lib Dem MEPs voted in favour of the idea which even the europhile Labour and Tory MEPs thought was a step too far and opposed.
UKIP MEP, Paul Nuttall, said:
It is nothing more than sheer EU propaganda and vanity. The EU has never been so unpopular and yet here you are, wanting to stamp your ugly flag on sporting stars in the vein hope you can force people to love you.
Stuart Parr is a 
Jamie McCaffery is Deputy Chairman of UKIP New Forest East and a well known civic English nationalist.
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