Cui Bono, Mr Pachauri?

Emperor Barroso has urged the boss of the Tata Foundation, Rajendra Pachauri, to sue UKIP MEP Paul Nuttall for pointing out that Tata stands to make £600m from trading "carbon credits" under the Carbon Trading Scam Scheme invented by ... erm ... Rajendra Pachauri.

Nuttall's speech is as follows::

Mr. Barroso,

Recently we have heard that there is to be a closure of the Corus Steel Works in Teeside, in North East England. This is due to the EU target of a reduction of 20% of Carbon emissions. Thanks to "Carbon Credits", Corus can no longer afford to employ over 5,000 Steel workers including suppliers.  We also have the spectacle of the British government admitting that its hands are tied on this issue by punitive EU Competition Law.

The real gain to Corus from stopping production on Teeside is the saving it will make on its carbon allowances, allocated by the EU under its Emissions Trading Scheme which will be worth up to £600 million over the next three years. As the head of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, is the head of the Tata foundation, one must ask "qui bono?" Needless to say, Tata of India owns Corus.

Is it now official EU policy to offer incentives to companies to close plants, such as Teeside, so that they can out-source their business to countries such as India, or is there a more personal interest at stake here?

Cui Bono, indeed.  Pachauri is clearly a blagger, he managed to get himself appointed to the management team of the IPPC and oversaw the creation of the "carbon credits" pyramid scheme yet he has no relevant qualifications.  A PhD in industrial engineering and economics doesn't qualify someone for this sort of thing.  So how exactly did Pachauri manage to blag his way into this job?

Viaticus Sermo.

EU To Steal Britain's Gas ?

BRITAIN’S vital North Sea oil and gas supplies are to be taken over by Europe under emergency plans revealed for the first time in Brussels yesterday. EU leaders are demanding control of British energy reserves to prevent power blackouts that have left millions of eastern Europeans without heat in Arctic weather due to the Russian gas blockade.

Euro-MPs are calling for the creation of a European gas reserve, made up of British and Dutch supplies, which member states can tap into in the event of any future shortage.The transfer of ownership would be enacted under secret powers written into the Lisbon Treaty. It gives Europe the legal power to take over individual states’ supplies to “ensure security of energy supply in the Union”.

Ultimate control over Britain’s vast natural gas and oil fields – by far the biggest resource within the EU – will fall to Brussels if the new treaty, which has already been ratified by Britain, is adopted throughout Europe.

Last night, however, there were calls for Britain to stand firm against the seizure of our oil and gas. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: “Brussels has already stolen our fish. Now they want our oil and gas. These are vital resources to Britain and we demand that the British Government vetoes these proposals. This shows how vital it is that the UK holds a referendum on our future in the European Union.”

Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is right to say that the EU needs to help eastern Europe with its energy security. But giving the EU control over our national energy reserves is totally the wrong way to go about it.

Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP for London, said: “Conservatives will continue to resist any moves towards EU common energy resources. The Common Fisheries Policy has already decimated our fishing industry. An EU common energy resource policy would do the same to what little is left of our oil reserves.

Russian and Ukrainian officials and energy firm executives were yesterday locked in crisis talks in Brussels in a bid to break the deadlock over blocked supplies that has hit power deliveries to 10 EU countries. Meanwhile, in a closed-door meeting with high-ranking European politicians, Mr Barroso said the current crisis showed the need for urgency in adopting a common EU energy policy. Mr Barroso added that he would soon have the legal auth ority to take over control of energy reserves under the Lisbon Treaty. He said the new powers were necessary because requests to national governments to detail what gas reserves they had available had produced no response.

MEPs also called yesterday for control over Britain’s dwindling natural resources. Austrian Hannes Swoboda and Dutchman Jan Marinus Wiersma said there was an urgent need for a European gas stockpile.Mr Swoboda said: “Some countries are not happy with the idea but it is absolutely necessary.”

Mr Wiersma added the plan would involve stockpiling gas from producer countries such as the UK and the Netherlands to tide over vulner able member states in the face of future crises.

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.

Any excuse

The press this week has been full of stories about Britain considering joining the Euro in an attempt to beat the effects of the global economic crisis. The latest debate was prompted by the President of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, announcing on French radio that Britain was closer than ever before to signing up to the single currency.

Although I find this very worrying I sadly do not find it surprising because many of our politicians secretly (or not so secretly as is often the case), harbour a wish for Britain to step further into political integration with the European Union. The latest whisperings are another example of their contempt for the very anti-Euro British public whom they are meant to serve.

I do not agree that our decision regarding joining the single currency should be based on purely economic considerations; the Euro is not simply an economic tool – it is very much political and therefore the political implications of joining have to be considered within the argument. It angers me that the supporters of the Euro are currently trying to suggest that Britain would be better off as a member of the Eurozone, claiming it would have helped as the credit crunch bites harder and we enter into a recession.

Perhaps this argument would hold some economic weight if only Britain was struggling in these difficult times but the very point is it is a global economic crisis! Also if Ireland is any example then membership of the Euro certainly doesn’t prevent recession, mass job losses and a collapse of the housing market. And being part of the Eurozone means the country does not have the power or the flexibility to respond in the way best for that individual country.

Current times are hard and look like getting worse. This is a global phenomenon and there will be no easy solution. It is disingenuous for Europhiles to use this as an opportunity to champion their pre-conceived beliefs – but then those who long for a European federal super-state will use any excuse to further their cause!