Nigel Farage on Newsnight Tonight

Apologizes in advance for the short notice. Nigel Farage will be on Newsnight tonight BBC2 at 22:30pm to support the oil strikers. UKIP is one of few to support the the oil strikers against EU regulation.

Former EU Commissioner Lord Mandelson will also appear on the programme , but dont expect any support for the strikers from Mandelson as he is still being paid by the EU. "He gets his salary as a minister from us, £104,000 a year, but he also gets £78,000 a year from Brussels – plus a very generous pension in the future, the whole deal amounting to a cool million pounds.

"And if he doesn't obey his oath to uphold the interests of the EU then they can take it away from him, as they have already tried to do with another retired Commissioner

Also UKIP's Lord Pearson will be on the Daily Politics Show tomorrow
(3/02/09) on BBC2 at 12pm noon.

NEWSBLIGHT

Last night, Lord Mandelson was the subject of a pussycat interview with Kirsty Wark on Newsnight, one of the BBC "news" programs that long ago convinced this author that the BBC news was no longer worth watching. The first part of the interview was about the now "famous" (because the media have worked it up to be so) comment by Shriti Vadera about the "green shoots" she could supposedly see in the economy. Listening to other comments, it was clear she had been caught out by a sly journalist, slanting his/her question in a way designed to catch out the interviewee. This is a well-practised tactic and one of the ways in which the media generate their own agenda.

But more importantly, Ms Wark questioned Lord Mandelson about the government's intention to sell off part of Royal Mail, most likely to the Dutch company TNT. Lord Mandelson warbled happily along, smiling and preening, and explained that things in the Royal Mail were jolly well not good enough and that the government were determined to change that. If it took the presence of a "partner" company to improve the service then so be it. Lord Mandelson said that he was "passionate" about the universal service obligation.

Well, yes, Lord Mandelson should be passionate about the universal service obligation because its his job, as a member of our provincial government, to carry out the instructions from our real government in Brussels, which is to ensure that that universal service obligation is provided within a steadily decreasing state service with all the rest sold off into the private sector to ensure that the market for postal services is "liberalised" in accordance with the two EU Directives that require it.

Why on earth is it that journalists like Kirsty Wark, and presumably by extension, the whole Newsnight team, are incapable of discovering the simple fact that the government is OBLIGED to sell off the Royal Mail and its nothing at all to do with Lord Mandelson? Its a simple, elementary fact to discover. Is it because they are the real Little Englanders and simply cannot see beyond Dover?

71% Against Britain Joining the Euro

A BBC poll has found that 71% of people would vote against Britain joining the euro if it were put to a referendum. The survey of 1,000 adults revealed that just 23% would vote "yes" to joining the European single currency, while 6% said they were unsure.

Only 15% said the recent fall in the value of the pound against the euro made them more likely to vote "yes", while 69% said it made no difference.

Sixteen countries now use the euro, which was introduced 10 years ago. Slovakia became the latest country to start using the currency on New Year's Day. Similar surveys carried out by the BBC in past years show how the pattern of support for the euro has changed. The last time it was this least popular was in November 2000, when 71% were opposed to it and just 18% were in favour. At its most popular in January 2002, 31% of people said they would vote "yes" to joining, while 56% opted for "no".

Last month, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the UK was "closer than ever" to joining the euro and that the "people who matter" in British politics were contemplating giving up the pound.

But Labours Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said that while joining was still the government's long-term policy aim, such a move was "not for now".

Meanwhile, the shadow foreign secretary told the Daily Mail newspaper that the Tories under David Cameron "would never join the euro".But have the Conservatives' ever used the word "never" with respect to the euro in any election manifesto ? NO !

The UK Independence Party which wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union, burned a bundle of euro notes outside the Bank of England today to mark the single currency's 10th birthday. Dr John Whittaker, UKIP MEP for the North West, said the credit crunch had now exposed the euro's "real weakness".

"While all economies are suffering, some eurozone countries are now in an impossible position," he said. What these countries need is lower interest rates and devaluation but, stuck in the euro, there is nothing they can do."

There was a very strong media interest today from the BBC,SKY,PA + several others.PA did interview with Michael Mcgough and then Gerard. Tomorrow is a low news day so hoping for some coverage the press boys were very happy.