Genius

Hollande says "non" to David Cameron's repatriation of powers

The French president, François Hollande, has told David Cameron that he is obsessed with his own problems and that he will veto any attempts to change EU treaties that Cameron asks for for his mythical renegotiation of our relationship with the EU.

David Cameron promised a whole raft of repatriations of power from Brussels if he wins the next election, including immigration, employment law and criminal justice. Repeated public statements by French, German and Polish politicians that they will veto any of these attempts has downgraded his renegotiation demands to an opt out from the legally binding requirement to support ever closer union and even that has been shot down in flames.

From day one the promise to renegotiate and repatriate powers from the EU has been a deception. Changing anything in an EU treaty requires the unanimous agreement of all member states of the EU. David Cameron knows this, every MP knows this, every civil servant knows this and all the media know this. It doesn't matter how many times someone says that the Tories will repatriate powers from the EU, it just isn't possible - power flows one way to the EU, it can't come back.

Alone? We're already Alone.

In terms of trade, Germany and Britain are meant to be. In sickness and in health, even if they can't stand the decisions their soul mate make. Well, money mates. Neither one can intentionally isolate from the other because it would lead to the financial collapse; or at least decline, of both superpowers. Therefore, the supreme leaders of Europe, i.e. The Germans, can't even consider the isolation of Britain if we were to depart from the EU. But that is the mere scrape of the UK/EU issue.

The European Commission made it perfectly clear to UKIP Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall MEP, if we were to carry on bombarding the establishment with our (wonderful) nonsense, they will... Relegate us to the status of Switzerland. Dam that's terrifying! Wait a minute, isn't Switzerland that prosperous global nation? Being a member of the European Free Trade Association, they are part of the European Union Internal Market through the Agreement on a European Economic Area (EEA), which took effect in 1994. To every threat an EU leader makes; every attempt to scare monger our weak, apprehensive and cryptic Prime Minister, there's a cascade of good news for the vision of an Independent Britain.

What is better than Briton's being legally able to freely trade with our true allies, the Commonwealth? Whist Cameron gets some sort of thrill out of getting attacked left, right and center (and that can be taken politically and literally), Ukip can see developed market economies emerged or emerging from Australia,  New Zealand, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa, India and many more. In the case of India, we should not be wasting billions on aid just to feed their endless plight. We should not bow to an Indian government which spends “tens of billions” on defense including the £13 billion deal we may have lost to the French, which makes it unacceptable to give further aid. Let's stimulate jobs and growth in India's poorest areas through interjecting trade, technical expertise and experience. In addition, Australia is crucial because it hosts a growing economy; a stable political and business environment; a skilled, well educated and multi-lingual workforce; a strategic time-zone and a competitive cost base. I can see a British-Irish union being the power house to such a bountiful friendship as we might never be one but we will, by no doubt, have a far more fruitful relationship than the present with a German lady who flirts with a Frenchmen's anti-British mantas.

I've always had a vision of a Britannia which will not be ordered and regulated by Europe, nevertheless free trade and the peace process in Europe is essential. However, the sort of EU project amplified by the Lisbon Treaty provides me a dire image of what awaits national sovereignty and identity across Europe, with Barroso's vision of a "Federal Europe" making the thought more tangible than ever.  I see it as our responsibility to lead Europe out of this disastrous and monolithic EU, and into the EFTA because - I know - that cherished 1940's spirit still lives inside us somewhere.

Hollande closer to Cameron than Miliband

François Hollande has beaten Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election, marking the start of some interesting times for the euro-fanatics.

Hollande is a committed europhile but he's a socialist whilst Angela Merkel is a conservative.  He wants to renegotiate France's relationship with Germany making it stronger but with a leftist tilt.

Looking at Hollande's manifesto, it all looks quite familiar:

Policy	Con/ Dem	Lab
Withdrawal from Afghanistan	X	X
Shared military	X
Separation of retail and investment banks	X	X
Unachievable "green" energy targets	X	X
Merge income tax and national insurance	X
Introduce punishing higher rate tax		X
Subsidised apprenticeships	X	X
Reducing corporation tax	X
More judges and police	X	X
Massive housebuilding scheme	X	X
Dropping retirement age
Same-sex marriage	X	X
Development funds for deprived areas	X	X
Pie in the sky plan to abolish deficit	X	X
Pandering to native minorities	X	X
More EU integration	X	X

On major policy issues, it seems the socialist Hollande has more in common with the Tories and Lib Dems than he does with his fellow socialists in the Labour Party.  Of course, there's barely a fag paper between the LibLabCon parties when it comes to anything important and the Tories have lurched to the left in recent years so it's hardly surprising.

Rumours abound that Hollande's election could drive a wedge between France and Germany that will bring the EU and the €uro crashing down round van Rumpy-Pumpy's ears but in reality it's unlikely to make all that much difference.  Eight out of ten laws in the UK come from the EU but it's even higher in France as they're in the single currency and Shengen.  Heads of state for EU member states mainly oversee the implementation of EU laws, it doesn't make much difference what colour their rosette is and Hollande is a europhile so don't expect any opposition to greater EU integration.