Booker's Column 31 July

The Booker column in The Sunday Telegraph is as always a good read for all British Subjects, use this link.

The Sunday Quote No. 121

The Sunday Quote:

''Necessity may well be the Mother of Invention but Procrastination is the Father of Degradation''

Alex Lewczuk MA, (Lecture 1985) Academic and Broadcaster

Those British values in full

By Dr Helen Szamely

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Britain, and England in particular, have been in the fortunate position throughout large swathes of history of not having to define her identity. You simply knew what it was to be British (or English, often interchangeable to the great fury of the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish).

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When there were definitions, they tended to be contradictory, as Orwell noted so perceptibly in The Lion and the Unicorn. The British are peace loving and domesticated, yet adventurous, warlike and conquerors of the greatest empire in the world.They are practical and indifferent to abstract ideas yet almost all modern political philosophy was produced in England and Scotland. (In fact, one could argue that the tragedy of the twentieth century was that German political ideas overtook British ones, but that is for another time.)

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The British are tolerant of other people but have historically disdained all habits but their own and have cheerfully spread their own ideas to far corners of the world. (Now, of course, they complain that Americans do the same in a far less intrusive fashion.)

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The English invented the idea of common law, the sense of property and a civilian police force, yet for centuries England was acknowledged to be effectively ungovernable outside certain areas.

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The British are individualistic and eccentric yet love the idea of order and similarity. One can go on for ever and, indeed, on could argue that most nations hold in themselves very similar contradictions. The definition of Britishness or Englishness has always been difficult.

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Shakespeare did a good job at a time when the country was going through various severe crises. Kipling, especially in his Puck of Pook’s Hill and Rewards and Fairies stories and poems, created a certain image of Englishness, one that he struggled to define in other works as well. Kipling was, in many ways, an outsider in England and it is often outsiders who pay more attention to the definitions of the society that has adopted them.

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I recall having an extremely interesting conversation at the IEA with Lawrence Hayek and a Dutch gentleman.

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The three of us had been born in other countries and come to Britain at various times of our lives and various periods of its history. The two things we agreed on were that England was the most wonderful country in the world and that the English did not appreciate it. Buchan, too, would have supported that conclusion.

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Consider that most English of all English characters, Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel. He was created by a Hungarian writer, Emmuska Orczy. The film of the book was scripted by Lajos Biró, a Hungarian, produced and directed by Alexander Korda (need I say what nationality he was) and the part was acted by Leslie Howard, who had been born in England to Hungarian parents.The film came out in 1934 and was seen as a jolly adventure story.

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During the war (when Howard worked hard for the British cause and was killed when a plane he was travelling in was shot down by the Luftwaffe) there was something of an attempt to define Englishness. It was easy to say what Britain was fighting against but what was it fighting for? The two directors who worked hardest to answer that question were Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger, the latter being, yes, you’ve guessed it, a Hungarian who, according to one website

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“In 1938, [he] joined the Hungarian coterie of Alexander Korda, and like his compatriots he had much to invest in the dream of England as an outpost against tyranny and beacon of decency in a Europe turning to fascism.”What he invested was his imprint on films like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (though, as a matter of fact, I understand why Churchill wanted to ban it), Canterbury Tale, I know where I’m going (this one about Scotland) and various others.

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The attempt to define Britishness was not always successful but the films are consistently interesting. It seems we have no useful Hungarians around at the moment. So, it is left to the Daily Telegraph to produce a list of ten (why not twelve?) elements of what the core British values are.

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One cannot help admiring the attempt (even if The Scarlet Pimpernel is probably more fun) especially as it is wonderfully free of the sort of mawkishness that seemed to overwhelm the British media in the wake of the London bombs.

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“Many countries try to codify their values in law. Some oblige their citizens to speak the national language; others make it a criminal offence to show disrespect to the flag. But statutory patriotism is an intrinsically un-British notion. We prefer simply to set out, in general terms, the non-negotiable components of our identity - the qualities of the citizenship that Muktar Said Ibrahim [one of the bombers of July 21] applied for.”

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The ten components are :

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The Rule of Law

The Sovereignty of the Crown in Parliament

The pluralist state

Personal freedom

Private property Institutions (non-statutory)

The familyHistory

The English-speaking world

The British character

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Very nice, too, and about as hard to assess as they were in Orwell’s day. The British character is impossible to define as everyone will do so differently. I have been told by eurosceptics that unlike those nasty Europeans, all the British ever wanted to do was to be left alone.

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No doubt, the greatest empire in history was created by people wanting to be left alone. And what of the fact, as the old song had it, “every war we fought we won”? None of those wars were on British soil.

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Furthermore, time was the British character was defined as a “can-do” one.

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Would that sill be true now, I wonder.The English-speaking world has, of course, grown out of England and her ideas. What people talk of as the Anglosphere is that: freedom, justice, rule of law and other issues: small government, enterprise, individualism.

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How much of that has survived successive twentieth century governments, not to mention the great European project?

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As one gets to the more specific values, one sees a wish-list. I wish this were still true (if it ever was, of course).

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No one is above the law? Well, I am not sure that is true about this government in itself and in the ideology of group politics. As I said in my previous posting, Cherie Blair QC would have been horrified if the sort of “rights” she thinks are essential to Muslim girls were applied to Anglican ones.

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That applies to the third item as well.But, of course, the one that is particularly ridiculous is item number 2. Really the leader writers of the Daily Telegraph should know better. “The Lords, the Commons and the monarch” have not constituted “the supreme authority in the land” for decades. There is the small matter of the European Communities Act 1972 and ECJ judgements.

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Personal freedom? Private property? Tell that to the people who can no longer own or sell handguns or run well regulated clubs; or to the foxhunters; or to the businessmen whose scales were confiscated because they disobeyed the diktats of the metric regulators; or to the farmers whose animals were slaughtered even though there was no sighn of foot and mouth disease anywhere near them.

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It is not that I object to any of those core values. Far from it, though I would like to see some of them a little better defined. And, naturally, I agree wholeheartedly with number 8, history. The teaching of history is absolutely essential.

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The advantage of British history is that through its imperial aspect (warts and all but good things and all, too) they can incorporate and provide a “story” for all those who come to live here.

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It is just that until we deal with our problems they will remain a wish-list. Britain is, of course, in many ways an idea and it is the idea that those who come here often subscribe to. But the idea has been tarnished and there is no point in providing definitions until it is bright and shining again. And, one has to sympathize with the leader writers of the Daily Telegraph. How many of them are Hungarians? In the circumstances their effort is very creditable.

Ice cold in Devon

A work of art valued at £ 42,500 consisting of a bottle of water containing melted ice from the Antarctic, has disappeared after being put on display at a literary festival in Dartington Hall South Devon.

Investigators believe that a thirsty tourist drank the prized exhibit.

An intergrated British Army

The New European Army

by Dr Richard North

Dawn breaks. Out of the belly of an Airbus A400M "Eurolifter" military cargo transport whines a squat armoured vehicle.

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Powered by an innovative diesel-electric motor, this Swedish-built "SEP" vehicle is equipped with a high-power French built cannon and turret, and the magazine is stacked with French shells, manufactured to EU CEN standards. The vehicle bristles with high-tech sensors and threat detectors, also Swedish built, and is protected by a new generation of "electric armour", made by an European armament consortium.

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The "Eurolifter" took off from Eindhoven, the headquarters of the European Air Transport Command, under commands issued through the EU military headquarters Command Information System (CIS), the Permanent Joint Headquarters for EU military operations, in Northwood, North London, and was guided en route by the EU's Galileo satellite global positioning system.

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To reach its destination, it was refuelled from a European-built Airbus A330-200 and its passage was safeguarded by Eurofighter patrols, each aircraft armed with next-generation European medium-range air-to-air Meteor missiles.

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Tranche 2 Eurofighters now fly overhead, launching French-built Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missile at targets over the horizon.Already, in the distance, Italian-built Panther reconnaissance vehicles are roaming the countryside, while French-built, high-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) scour the hinterland for potential threats.

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As more "Eurolifters" land, they disgorge from their holds the first of many German-built MAN tactical supply trucks, which immediately move to the designated positions shown on their in-cab, German-built logistics support system screens.

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Meanwhile, officers, schooled in tactics and European doctrines at the EU Military college, gather in their hastily set-up command centre, consulting the latest intelligence from the GMES earth observation satellite, beamed via the European Union Satellite Centre in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain, while awaiting final orders from Force Command in Brussels.

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Above the command centre flutter two flags. One is blue with a ring of 12 yellow stars, symbolising the first full-scale deployment of the European Rapid Reaction Force.

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The other is a Union Flag. It is only this flag - which was made in China, as were the soldiers' uniforms – that identifies the British Army contingent, in action circa 2020 as an integral part of the ERRF, the New European Army.

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That is the reality of what awaits us - not fiction, not a Eurosceptic fantasy but fact, based on my analysis of current MoD equipment procurement plans and co-operation agreements.

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The result will be that, as British armed forces undergo major re-equipment and transformation over the next decade, not one of the major systems will be of British design or manufacture.

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In physical as well as organisational terms, the British Army will be wholly integrated into the European Rapid Reaction Force - the New European Army - no longer able to act independently without permission from Brussels.

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More to follow soon.

Preventive measure

At the Downing Street press conference this morning Tony Blair said ''I will not give an inch to terrorists ''

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So the new law which gives ministers the power to draw up an exclusion zone banning demonstrators ''within radious of a kilometre of parliament square '' is a demonstration of forthcoming metrication rather than a preventive measure to counter terrorism.

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Or perhaps it is just double thinking.

Terrorism, a French reaction

By Dr Helen Szamuely

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Yesterday evening I attended a talk by a Spanish expert on terrorism – ETA, IRA and the new-fangled Islamic variety.

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He was superlatively knowledgeable and I shall cull his talk for various comments in future postings.

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The first and rather amusing comment that needs sharing is his description of what happened for some years between Spain and France over the question of ETA and its leadership who tended to escape the Spanish police after some terrorist outrage or assassination and find shelter in France.

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It was, the expert said, very difficult for the Spanish police, because France did not want to co-operate, publicly doubting for years after King Juan Carlos installed a democratic system that Spain was a democracy.

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Not till the late eighties did that attitude change and not till very recently have the French started arresting ETA “dignitaries”.

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This was slightly puzzling to all listeners since France has never been known as a protector of democracies, as was confirmed by an article in today’s Daily Telegraph, which tells us that France has unilaterally decided to end a European Union embargo against Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba.

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Presumably, the hope is for fattish commercial deals in the future but in the present this has brought some (though not too much) embarrassment as well as a certain lack of communautairisme.

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As the article puts it:
“Apparently emboldened by the French overture, Cuban authorities responded by launching the largest wave of dissident arrests since 2003, when almost the entire dissident leadership of the Communist-ruled island was rounded up.”

Of particular embarrassment was the fact that a number of the arrests were made outside the French embassy as the demonstrators protested against the deal. 19 of those arrested are still in prison.

One of those arrested and later released, the 60 year old economist Marta Beatriz Roque said that
“… the aborted protest was organised after France broke the EU embargo and invited the Cuban foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque to a Bastille Day celebration at the French embassy, from which dissidents and democracy activists were excluded.”

What was that slogan? Something about liberté came into it, as I recall.

Unlawful killing

'' Last Friday was a dark day for this country. So, of course, was 7 July. If we really are involved in a war of civilizations, let us be sure that our civilization is not destroyed in the battle, so that we end up little better than those who wish to ruin us.''

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Stephen Glover The Daily Mail 26 July 05

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Tony Blair this week added his voice to the official expressions of regret over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes in the anti-terrorist shooting error in London by the Metropolitan Police last week.

"At the same time therefore, in expressing our sorrow and deep sympathy for the death that has happened, it is important that we support them in doing the job they have to do in order to protect people in this country," he said.

Foreign secretary Jack Straw added: "I don't have any precise information about his immigration status here. My understanding is that he was here lawfully."

Maybe he was but clearly there was nothing lawful about the killing of Jean Charles de Manezes.

In fact there is now a shortage of precise official information as to why and how this young Brazilian electrician was killed by an armed Police Officer from the specialist CO 19 unit.

The best support that can be given to the British people in these difficult times of terrorist attacks is the knowledge that facts of this killing are not 'swept under the carpet'.

The British public need to know that the Police are not a law unto themselves in order that proper support can be given with confidence. The metropolitan Police commissioner in a recent statement admitted that ''this could easily happen again''. That is an appalling admission. It is Sir Ian Blair's duty to ensure that incidents like last Friday's do not happen again and if they do most certainly not easily and definitely not as an inevitable consequence of a series of basic police systems failure.

Perhaps now is a good time to ask: '' is our Police service (once referred to as the Police force) properly accountable with a workable complaints procedure.'' On current evidence one fears the answer is no.

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On Sunday this blog called for the resignation of Sir Ian Blair as well as the head of the Metropolitan Police's CO19 unit. A call that I repeated live on the BBC Radio Cleveland current affairs programs at 12.50 pm .

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This blog in the cause of all that we understand as British fair play repeats that call. The 52 murdered victim's families, of 7/7, the hundreds of injured, and the relatives of Jean Charles deserve no less. For God's sake this is Britain.

Britain's artists suffer EU regulation

Why rule of 'droit de suite' has a sour taste for some

By Samson

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These sharp words were uttered by Chris Bryant, a British MP, during the discussion of a new law by which a living artists or their heirs for 70 yearsafter their death will receive a cut of about 3 per cent whenever a piece issold.

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Some commentators argue that this gives poor artists a slice of futuresuccess. Others believe it threatens to cripple the market. The law is causingconflict throughout Europe, especially in Britain, where the Patent Office iscurrently deciding how to implement it.

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The levy, called "droit de suite" or "artist's resale right", was initiated in1920s France to help impoverished artists and their heirs.

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In 2006 it is due tobe introduced across the European Union in order to stop vendors from avoidingthe levy by moving sales away from France, Germany and four other Europeancountries in which the law now applies.

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But will the levy will improve the financial security of artists ?

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In countries where the levy was applied in 2003, only 11 percent went to living artists while heirs scooped the rest. Moreover, it is a tinyhandful of successful artists that receives most.

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Artists who are poor because their work sells cheaply receive a pittance at best. Many dealers and auctioneers are furious at the introduction of the levy, notonly because they will lose 3 per cent of their earnings and pay for administration but also because they fear that trade that now passes to EUnations without the levy will move away to America and Switzerland.

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The directive was passed in the hope that these countries would adopt the levy butthey did not. A British government report predicts job losses.

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Alan Cristea, a London dealer, says: "In principle, [the levy] is an apparent benefit. In practice, it is destructive." He believes London's Frieze art fairwill lose out to fairs such as Art Basel, the world's biggest for contemporaryart.

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Walter Feilchenfeldt, the president of the Swiss Art Dealers' Association, admits that levy-free countries will probably benefit: "It will make adifference in Switzerland," he says, "but even more in America."

Of travel and toilets

The Northern Echo, reports on its front page yesterday that a British couple who traveled 2,000 miles across Europe to demonstrate their invention, the indipod, believed to be the first in car toilet, are planning to repeat the feat with a 3,500 mile journey across the US.

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The editor of this blog is of the view that the inventive couple need only go as far as the over used and often congested London orbital M 25 motorway where their invention would be well received by the mostly stationary motorists.

The Sunday Quote No. 120

The Sunday Quote:

'' The Government should abandon its planned legislation for identity cards. By far the most effective preventative action we can take against terrorists is to increase the number of front-line officers dedicated to listening to and reporting on suspicious activity in the Muslim community and to patrolling likely target sites. Therefore, ministers should devote the estimated £ 584 million annual cost of the ID card scheme to increasing the numbers of police officers on duty in Britain's streets and transport networks.''

The Daily Telegraph - Saturday 23 June

Sir Ian Blair should resign

It is quite simply not acceptable for the Metropolitan Police to act like trigger happy cowboys.

Whilst any reasonable British Subject understands that every possible resource must be deployed to prevent further terrorist out rages, the Police must not act as a law unto themselves.

The demonstration of incompetence by the police during the incident which resulted in the death of the 27 year old Brazilian electrician, John Carlos Meneses is a matter of serious concern. The subsequent confusion, the handling of the statements, and the additional images in our Sunday newspapers of armed police storming the home of the victim is a disgrace.

The detail of the incident, including witness accounts reveal that other than ''emerging from a building that was under Police surveillance'' and ''his clothing adding to their suspicions" there appears to be absolutely no good reason for the killing of this innocent young man.

The horror of the terrorist bombings in London on 7 July does not justify the apparent loss of control by the Police. At this time of serious terrorist threat we need cool heads and strong leadership.

Unless facts emerge that in some way mitigate Police action in London, with this regrettable incident, Sir Ian Blair and the head of the armed SO 19 branch should resign. Expressing regret is not enough.

London and anti terror co-operation

A crisis is not necessarily beneficial.
By Dr Helen Szamuely
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Far it be from me to disagree with the great and the good who have been pontificating on the subject, but it is not back to normal in London.
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Half the underground system is not working with lines still out of action after the real bomb attacks of 7/7. As Andrew Gilligan pointed out in yesterday’s Evening Standard, it is not precisely good for morale to have the lines still out of action two weeks after the event.
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When, on top of that, we are told that the Piccadilly line has been suspended between Uxbridge and Rayner’s Lane because of the events of July 7, we, seasoned London Transport watchers start pulling faces.

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There were no “events” between Uxbridge and Rayner’s Lane, which is rather a long way out west. The events of 21/7, insignificant though they were, gave London Underground the excuse to close down some of the remaining lines and several stations.On top of which, large areas around the three stations where the detonators went off are still closed off, making life difficult and infuriating some of us with the sight of police officers standing around guarding empty spaces.

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We now have the rather disturbing story of the Stockwell shooting and although everyone, including Hizonner the Mayor rushed in to congratulate the police for its prompt action, some of the eyewitness accounts make one uneasy.One Londoner said to me this evening that she became worried for the first time when she heard about the shooting because it made her realize that the police were not in control.

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Perhaps that is not so, but trigger-happy police officers do not make for peaceful living.

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Now we are told by Deutsche Welle that European leaders are standing together with the people of London. Never thought I’d be saying this, but, maybe I should go and live somewhere else.

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Still, the crisis is not precisely beneficial to the blessed EU, despite all those leaders standing together. (Sorry to be harping on it, but it is rather a revolting thought.)

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Spain, it seems, is a tad miffed about the German decision not to extradite Mr Darkanzali, the German-Syrian businessman, suspected of being one of the money launderers for terrorist groups.

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In fact, the German authorities are not too happy with the Constitutional Court’s decision either. For one thing, it puts Germany into an awkward position with regards to the rest of the EU and its drive to achieve a common anti-terrorist fight or, at least, a European Arrest Warrant.More importantly, actually releasing Mr Darkanzali shows a certain reluctance to tackle the problem that is, undoubtedly, spreading across western Europe as well as many other countries.In a spirit of European solidarity, the Spanish magistrates are threatening to retaliate. No, it seems they are not going to invade Germany but they may well refuse to extradite Spanish citizens to that country.As a matter of fact, this does not sound too unreasonable. If the Germans insist that their citizens cannot be tried in any other court, no matter what they are wanted for, they cannot expect co-operation from other countries. It is a little surprising that they got it until now.According to yesteday’s Financial Times:
“Brigitte Zypries, German justice minister, had said on Monday that newlegislation to bring Germany's law back in line with the EU arrest warrant would take four to six weeks to be drawn up.”

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But that may not solve this particular problem. In fact, it will produce the usual situation of a completely unnecessary legislation that aims at integrating European laws, without achieving the supposed aim.

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“Mrs Zypries said she feared that Mr Darkazanli would flee Germany to "some thirdstate" in order to avoid a further extradition attempt when the German law wasrevised. German, Spanish and US newspapers reacted angrily this week to therelease of an alleged terrorist, only days after the first London bombings and pointed to the shortcomings in EU anti-terror co-operation.”

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The problem, as we have said before, is lack of political will. A European Arrest Warrant is completely unnecessary, since most countries have extradition agreements. If these do not apply, as they do not seem to in Germany, or, at least, the cases need to be heard in a German court first, then so be it.

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On the one hand it is interesting to see that the Karlsruhe court is so intent on not accepting the European Arrest Warrant that it is prepared to show itself to be soft on terrorism. One wishes they had been quite as tough over Maastricht and the euro. On the other hand this is precisely what those pushing judicial integration need. Now they can point to the fact that individual countries are not prepared to fight terrorism and cross-border co-operation is severely flawed. Only one answer they will say: more integration.

Non Job of the week

Quoted below is a job advert which is reproduced exactly as published !

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Regional Culture in Rural Development Manager.

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The Employer East Midlands Development Agency (but see below).

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Salary£29,000 to £32,000 (fixed term contract for two years).

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Is this a new appointment?

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Yes. You will be based in Nottingham within the Regional Development Agency'snew Rural Affairs team. The job is described as unique, being part of a"multi-agency initiative to strengthen links between the cultural sector andgovernmental and non-governmental agencies working to develop rural communitiesin the East Midlands".

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Why is this job being created?

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The rural population in the East Midlands is growing faster than in the othereight regions where the Government set up agencies in 1999. The East Midlands also has a much bigger rural population - at 40pc of the total, it is twice thenational average.

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It is varied too: from former mining areas to the PeakDistrict national park and the fenlands of Lincolnshire. Incidentally, theyreckon there are 19,061km of footpaths, bridleways and byways in the region. Sothere.

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The aim of the post is "to maximise the benefits of culture and arts inrural regeneration".

Your role will be to provide the "vision, drive andenthusiasm to influence a revolution for culture's inclusion in rural policy".

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What will this mean in practical terms?

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It is apparently all about creating sustainable communities. And that means not having to travel 40 miles to your nearest art gallery, cinema or sports complexjust because you happen to live in a remote village in Lincolnshire.

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If this sounds like one of those lobbying jobs where you dream dreams but don't actuallyhave your hands on the tiller, you are probably right.

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Officials insist it is "an action post where people are going to be doing things". You will be coveringsport, art, tourism, heritage and the media, and making sure these needs are metin the countryside and not just the five cities.

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Who else is involved apart from the East Midlands Development Agency?

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The post is being supported not just by the EMDA but the Arts Council, EnglishHeritage, East Midlands Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Culture EastMidlands. You will liaise with all these organisations (and others like the EastMidlands Rural Affairs Forum) to achieve that "revolution for culture'sinclusion". You are likely to have to spend a lot of time liaising or, as yourfuture employers put it, working "with partners to broker cross-sectorinitiatives".

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Does the European Union have a role here?

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Silly question. Of course it does. It is mostly European money that is going tofinance rural regeneration. But the Regional Development Agency does notactually lay the plans. This is done by one of seven Sub-Regional StrategicPartnerships. You will have to liaise with the SSPs as well as with LSPs (LocalStrategic Partnerships), the Market Towns Forum, the Countryside Agency, theRural Communities Councils and Parish Council Networks - all of whom will want to make their influence felt.

And some people wonder why I am a cynic ! Editor.

Details obtained from the Telegraph Group Limited 2005

What a pity

The Letter below was published in The Northern Echo Tuesday 20 July

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Sir

There is much talk of Sir Edward Heath's legacy. He took us into "Europe" to give us peace in our time and prosperity. Instead, we got an unelected, technocratic bureaucracy which spends its time devising more and more insane rules, of such increasing complexity that no one can even begin to understand them all.

Sir Edward wrote in his autobiography, The Course of my Life '' The bedrock of European union is the consent of the People''. What a pity the people are unable to express their consent (or not) in a referendum on the EU constitution which despite what our political masters tell us, is far from dead.

Peter Troy

Happy First Birthday

Today is the first birthday of this blog. Our first posting was a copy of an article the editor, Peter Troy, wrote in The Northern Echo on the then forthcomming referendum for an elected regional assembly highlighting the effects on the business communtity.

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Twelve months later and regardles of the rejection of the governments scheem, as we have recently reported, the unelected regional assembly contiues in existance.

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Amazingly both the North East Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses are ignoring the unelected, costly, probably illegal quango. Well neither business organisation wishes to upset ther staus quo, that would never do.

Bang Bang !

It is perhaps a refection of my sense of the ridiculous that the most interesting article I found yesterday in the press was the Sunday Telegraph piece reporting that: "Soldiers forced to shout 'bang' as the Army runs out of ammunition".

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This contrasts rather neatly with some bizarre information unearthed by one of our readers (thank you) about the British Army's new Command and Liaison Vehicle, the Panther, subject of a previous posting.

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It turns out that this grossly over-priced piece of Italian machinery, a cool £413,000 each even before you add the "go-faster" accessories and the machine gun, is based on the Lamborghini LM002.

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This was a failed attempt by the parent company Fiat to capture the US military light utility vehicle market, that was eventually taken by the General Motors Humvee.

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Having failed to interest the Yanks, the LM002 re-emerged as high-priced boy-racer "wheels", a version of which was marketed in Russia under the name of "Rambo", illustrating perhaps its intended market. It then metamorphosed again to become an Italian Army runabout, complete with its three-litre engine, six-speed, automatic racing gearbox and all the trimmings, and thence to the FCLV contender. No wonder the boys in the MoD loved it.

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Now the Army can go racing around the countryside in their glamorous new "wheels", at a cost to the taxpayer of half a million quid each by the time the accessories have been added, and the tank has been filled. And of course, adorning the rig is the latest "must have" fashion accessory, the "Enforcer", remote controlled weapon station, fitted with a 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine gun .

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Of course, given the parlous state of defence spending, the MoD won't be able to afford any ammunition for it, so the Army boys will have to tear around in their shiny new Lamborghinis shouting "bang! bang!" at the nasties. But then, if you are shelling out near-on half a million quid for your "wheels", you can't have everything.

This weeks recomended site:

http://www.southsideradio.com/

Epitaph for a Prime Minister

It has been announced this evening that Sir Edward Heath, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 - 74 , has died.

Obituaries and comment will abound over the next few days.

Perhaps the former premier's epitaph should be:

'' The unpleasant and unacceptable face of of real political deceit ''

Heath considered his greatest political achievement to have presided over the UK's entry into the European Economic Community (later to become the European Union).

In a prime ministerial broadcast in January 1973 Heath claimed:

'' There are some in this country who fear that in going into Europe we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. These fears, I need hardly say, are completely unjustified''.

The deceit is History; the consequences effect every living Briton.

Full steam ahead

It's full steam ahead for EU constitution, even after 'No' votes
By Daniel Hannan

You may have got the impression that the European constitution was dead - that the French had felled it, and the Dutch had pounded a stake through its heart.If so, think again. The constitution is being implemented, clause by clause, as if the No votes had not happened.

While British ministers chunter on about the document being "in deep freeze",other countries are plunging ahead with ratification. Since the No votes, threenations - Cyprus, Malta and Luxembourg - have gone on to approve the text.

Allright, these may not be the three mightiest powers in Europe, but theirendorsement means that 13 of 25 members have now said Yes.Eurocrats see this number as enormously significant. "It is a strong signal thata majority of the member states thinks that the constitution correlates to theirexpectations," said the Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, on hearingthat Luxembourg had ratified. "The constitution is not dead," added the GrandDuchy's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker.

The European Parliament has dulyset up a committee to look at how to proceed with implementation.

Formal ratification by all 25 states is regarded in Brussels as a technicality. To all intents and purposes, the EU is carrying on as though the constitutionwere already in force. Most of the institutions that it would have authorisedare either up and running already, or in the process of being established.

My researches have produced the following non-exhaustive list:

The European Space Programme.
The EU criminal code.
The European Defence Agency.
The common asylum policy.
The mutual defence clause, which replicates Nato's Article Five.
The External Border Agency.
The Fundamental Rights Agency (née Monitoring Centre for Racism andXenophobia). Autonomous politico-military command structures.
The European External Action Service (that is, the EU diplomatic corps).
The EU prosecuting magistracy.
The Union Foreign Minister - that silky socialist, Javier Solana.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights

Whenever a chunk of the constitution comes before my committee in the EuropeanParliament for approval, I ask: "Where in the existing treaties does it say thatwe can do this?"

"Where does it say we can't?" reply my federalist colleagues, giggling at theirown cleverness like Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows.

Pressed for a properanswer, they point to a flimsy cats-cradle of summit communiqués, Councilresolutions and commission press releases.

The more honest of them go on toexplain that this is how the EU has always operated: first it extends itsjurisdiction into a new area and then, often years later, it authorises itspower-grab in a retrospective treaty.

The 25 member governments, they argue, have endorsed the constitution; so hasthe European Parliament and so, as of last Sunday, have most nationalparliaments.

It is clear where Europe wants to go, Hannan. So will you pleasestop being so literal-minded?

I carry on feebly with my protest: how can theywish away the referendum results? Surely it counts for something that peoplehave voted No."They weren't really voting against the constitution," I am told. "They werevoting against Chirac. Or against Turkey. Or possibly against Anglo-Saxonliberalism". Against anything, apparently, except the proposition actually onthe ballot paper.

Then again, the EU has never been especially interested in public opinion. Theruling ideology - peace in Europe through political integration - is thought tobe too important to be left to the ballot box.

If a plebiscite elicits the wrongresponse from the plebs, they must be suffering from what Marxists used to call"false consciousness". They misunderstand their true interests. They need better information, more education. And, in the meantime, the project goes on.

It is in this context that we should understand Mr Juncker's considered view -cheered to the echo by MEPs - that "the French and Dutch did not really vote 'Noto the European Constitution".

We may regard such comments as an entertaining hallucination. We may view the whole Carry On film in Brussels as hilarious. But, when the laughing stops, the constitution will be in place.

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Daniel Hannan is a Conservative MEP for South East England

Not a healthy alternative

By Christopher Booker

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Brussels gives a healthy boost to pharma giantsThere was extensive media coverage last week of the European Court of Justice's ruling in favour of the Brussels directive on vitamin and mineral supplements.

The choice of the 21 million people in Britain who use them will be drastically restricted when thousands of products are forced off the shelves, because it will cost between £80,000 and £250,000 for testing to allow each preparation tocontinue to be sold.

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I have often written about this since 1994, when the directive first came into view, because it provides such a revealing case-study in how we are now governed. There is no scientific reason for the new law.

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Its greatest beneficiaries will be the pharmaceutical companies who have lobbied for it in Brussels, because it will drive thousands of their smaller competitors out of business. They have freely used bogus science to whip up a scare that misuse of food supplements can cause adverse reactions (albeit in only a tiny minority of users), while hiding away the fact that tens of thousands of people each year suffer much more serious, even fatal health damage from their own proprietary drugs, all licensed, at vast expense, as being safe to use.

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The Brussels directive completely changes the basis on which food safety is regulated in Britain, by reversal of the burden of proof, as under Napoleonic law. In this country you may sell any food, but you face severe penalties if it proves to be damaging to health.

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Under the Continental system, the burden of proof lies with the seller. You may only sell what you are explicitly pemitted to sell. Only the 112 products on the directive's so-called "positive list" will therefore be legal.

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Finally, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last week broke with its established practice and overruled the opinion of its own Advocate-General, who had supported those complaining that the directive breached European law.

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This was because the ECJ is less a judicialthan a political body. Its judges are political appointees and many would not be qualified to sit as judges in their own country. Their primary role is tosupport the Commission. And if the Commission bows to the lobbying of the pharmaceutical industry and produces a directive which will shut down smaller competitors and deprive millions of Europeans of the right to take the vitamin and mineral products they find beneficial, then the ECJ knows where its duty lies.

Wot no reforms

Well, it is not going to happen during the British Presidency. The EU is not going to be reformed and become a liberal-minded, outward looking, free-market oriented collection of independent states.

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Actually, we haven’t exactly been promised all the above but we were told by Prime Minister Blair a.k.a. saviour of the world and friend of all moderate Muslims, wherever they may be (unless they are in Iraq or Israel) that his presidency will produce reforms and change the course of history.

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It is true that he did not actually specify what those reforms were going to be but they were definitely going to change something or other.

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The first hurdle was going to be CAP and its reform or, even, abolition. We know what has come of that.

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Indeed, French politicians are openly and gloatingly proclaiming that CAP benefits every single citizen of the European Union.

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So much for outward looking reformism. Most of us haven’t noticed the benefits and there are many people both inside and outside the European Union who have noted some serious disbenefits.

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Budget reform was never a starter and institutional reform, the essential prerequisite, was not even mentioned. My own suspicion is that Blair does not understand how the EU works and how its legislation is passed and implemented. If so, he is at one with all members of the House of Commons, many of the civil servants and almost all commentators.

The Sunday Quote -119

The Sunday Quote - a definition of Politics:

'' A strife of interests masquerading as a set of principles The conduct of public affairs for private advantage''.

Ambrose Bierce (1842 -1914) - The Enlarged Devil's Dictionary.

North East Assembly

Prescott's regional scheme is well and truly hoist on its own petard.

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An extraordinary impasse has arisen in the North-East of England, following the referendum last November in which voters threw out John Prescott's plan for an elected regional assembly by an overwhelming margin of four-to-one.

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Last week the unelected North-East Assembly, made up of councillors and representatives of local bodies, announced that it was to set itself up as a limited company under a new name.

The reason publicly given for this by the Assembly's chairman, Alex Watson, was that they wished "to engage with the public better than we have done". What Mr Watson did not reveal was the real reason for this new policy.

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The embarrassing fact is that, since the unelected assembly was an unincorporated body, its members were personally responsible for all its financial obligations, including the contracts and pension rights of its employees. Between them they had thus unwittingly taken on liabilities amounting to millions of pounds. Initially the assembly tried to deny this, however the point has been confirmed by lawyers.

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It appears that the councillors on the North-East Assembly have taken on a personal liability from which it is impossible for them to extricate themselves.

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The police are currently investigating evidence that they also have been acting in clear breach of the law. Other English regional assmblies will be in the same position.

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Those organisations that 'consult' (both directly and indirectly) with the North East Assembly should concider that not only does it not have any power, it has no mandate from the people and it is also probably illegal.

VAT made simple

A recently published HM Customs Business Brief has recently, it claims, clarified policy on the treatment of Value Added Tax (VAT) on hot take away food. The briefing paper (number 9) confirms that some minor amendments have simplified the rules in the light of a recent VAT tribunal decision.

Apparently: '' Hot take-away food can only be zero-rated if the main purpose in heating the food is other than enabling it to be consumed hot or warm. For example newly baked bread can be warm when sold but not normally heated for the purpose of allowing it to be consumed hot or warm, therefor it is zero-rated.''

The ruling must have been totally incomprehensible before the clarification now it is simply gobbledegook.

Perhaps the Queen's English Society and the Federation of Small Busineses ought to jointly seek shorter briefs.

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With thanks to the tenacious Alan Roxborough of the North East England Voice of Small Businesses publishd by John Emmins of the Federation of Small Businesses.

One Can not get the staff

Addressing the assembled gathering on Horse Guards Parade on Sunday the Queen made reference to three institutions that resulted from the end of the Second World War which had benefited both our nation and the world. The Untied Nations (UN) the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU).

This blog would be failing in its duty if it did not point out that the speech writers have on that occasion well failed Her Majesty.

The UN has proved, at best, an ineffective talking shop; NATO was created from the cold war not the second World War and the EU was conceived after the first world war not the second.

Clearly one just can't get quality speech writers any more.

London 7/7

'' If these terrorists thought they could intimidate the people of a great nation, they picked the wrong people and the wrong nation. For generations, tyrants, fascists and terrorists have sought to carry out their violent designs upon the British people, only to founder upon its unrelenting shores.''

Donald Rumsfeld US Defence Secretary

A week that was

This has been a week that I will not forget in a hurry - this time last week I was concerned that the rock star Geldolf and his popular rock concert was actually doing more harm to the cause of removing poverty in Africa than good.

It had always been my intention today to publish a commentry on the G8 meeting. However, by the end of the week my concerns were focused on the hope that our very British way of life would suffer as a result of the evil attack by terrorists in London.

Early on Thursday afternoon, following a routine business meeting with the Rev Phillip Carrington, Hospital Chaplin at the vast James Cook University Hospital in Teesside, our conversation diversed to the terrorist outrage in London that morning. We of course discussed the horror, the deaths, the missing commuters, the consequences, and the political reaction. Philip commented that the paper requesting prays for those involved in the tradegdy remained blank. I wrote '' pray for the journalists whose work it is to report the carnage in our Capital ...... ''

The reasons were quite clear in his mind. Some consideration needs to be given to the reporters whose job it is to objectivly report scenes of absolute horror. Also, most importantly if speculation is allowed to become fact and misreporting were to feed anger and hatred the terrorists will have achieved one of their key objectives - that of forcing an over reaction.

If our nation's press corp and indeed our politicians over react and as a consequence affect our very British way of life we will becomes victims of the war of terrorism. A war, which is unlike no other war that Britons have fought before - for this is a war with a hidden sinister enemy.

The biltz that killed 40,000 Londoners in 1940 and the many IRA bomb outrages in the UK were perpetuated by a known, if not always visible enemy.

The terrorists who murdered - what is probably sadly 80 innocent people on Thursday morning are an unknown sinister evil enemy, not a nation state, not a defined organisation. Al Qaeda does not exist as an organisation as such, it comprises of several terrorist formations operating with the help of several Arab Intelligence services and vaguely linked by a common ideology, which the unknown evil activists will murder and die for in pursuit of their fanatical holy war.

It is not an urban myth, it is a well known fact that the British people when attacked dig deep and find a resolve like no other nation on earth. We do not panic, we do not complain (apart from about our weather) we fight back in a very British way, as we are solumly reminded to day by the 6O th annerversery celebrations of the end of the second world in London today.

Her Majesty said on Friday: ''we must not allow terrorists to change our way of life'' Indeed so it would not be British to do so.

The media coverage of the G8 summit in Scotland has, following the attack in London, been somewhat truncated. Even then, the Goggle news service yields some 2,564 related stories from a "G8" search.

It is vital that the summit of world leaders is not overshadowed by other news.

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Predictably, the main players are spinning like mad, to put as positive a gloss on the affair as they can, reflected in the coverage in The Times, which headlines: "Blair backs G8's 'big progress' on poverty and Aids.

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"Clearly, though, "environmentalists and anti-poverty campaigners" are not so happy, and have already begun to condemn the summit as a failure, claiming that Blair has failed to live up to expectations he had created. But none seem to be as outspoken as Peter Hardstaff, the head of policy at the World Development Movement. He declared that: "The final communiqué is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of campaigners who listened in good faith to the world leaders' claim that they were willing to seriously address poverty in Africa."

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Perhaps the strongest condemnation, though, was unintended, with South Africa’s Independent online reporting that: "Low-key Bush gets what he wanted at G8 summit". That, of course – for most campaigners – is the kiss of death. In the demonology of the age, anything which satisfies Bush must automatically be wrong.

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More interestingly, the London bombing, in political terms, seems to have backfired, in that it allowed Bush to push the "war against terrorism" up the agenda and to side-track attention from the twin issues of aid for Africa and climate change.

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Nonetheless, the view is that Bush gave just enough leeway to these two "delicate" subjects to allow Blair to claim a victory. Thus, he formally recognised that: "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe" and doffed his cap to Kyoto, although still asserting that "uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science".

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On aid to Africa, Bush had announced before the summit a $1.2 billion plan to fight malaria, promising to double the $4.3 billion of US aid to $8.6 billion by 2010. Washington did not want precise figures to be written into the G8 declaration but finally agreed that the G8 and "other donors" would commit to increasing aid to Africa by $25 billion by 2010 double that of 2004, giving a figure for the headline writers of $50 billion.

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Even then, campaigners has dismissed this "doubling of global aid to $50 billion" as a "statistical illusion" – which it probably is – leaving Blair in the uncomfortable but familiar position of defending a deal that relies more on smoke and mirrors than substance.Other "touchy-feely" promises include debt relief for the poorest countries, a commitment to Aids treatment for all, immunisation against polio and other killer diseases and an extra 20,000 trained troops for a peace-keeping force for Africa. But, to illustrate quite how wispy the agreement really is, "African leaders" promised in turn to "promote democracy, the rule of law, human rights and an end to corruption."

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Yeah… and the pigs are lining up for take-off at Harare Airport.

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One of the least substantial commitments, however, is a promise to end agricultural exports subsidies, the lie given to the promise by the inability (or refusal) of the G8 leaders to give a date for their cessation.

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According to Reuters, they also renewed their political backing for a further phase of trade liberalisation under the so-called Doha Round of negotiations by the end of next year. Understandably, trade analysts in Geneva, home to the WTO, said they doubted the G8 declaration would have much impact on the negotiations and, sadly, they are probably right.Adriano Campolina Soares of ActionAid accused Bush and the EU of playing "a cynical game of bluff." "The U.S. has no intention of giving up or lowering the massive subsidies it gives to cotton farmers, that are forcing 10 million farmers in West Africa out of business," she said.

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Still, at least The Times has got some measure of the beast, with an authored article by Michael Holman, former Africa Editor of the Financial Times. Headed, "Welcome to the aid business," he notes that: "Business is booming for NGOs in Africa while skilled Africans leave to work abroad," asking, "Is the aid business contributing to Africa's problems rather than solving them?"

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Meanwile the Cricket match against Australia at Lords in London continues today as planned - and so it should. There is nothing more normal than Cricket in Britain in the summer.

The Sunday Quote 118

''One may be optimistic, but one can't exactly be joyful at the prospect before us.''

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Lord Kenneth Clarke (1903-1983). Final piece to camera at the end of the Television series 'Civilisation.'

What is important.

The British National Press is today full of the aftermath of the London bombing.

What is important is as HM The Queen said yesterday that the British way of life is not affected by terrorism.

There is much to comment on in the UK at the moment, the British press corps must not allow the issues that would normally be reported to be ditched.

The terrorists win if they dominate our press coverage and if our politicians overreact.

One cannot begin to imagine the anguish of the loved ones of the fifty or so people that are missing following the attack on Thursday morning; they deserve all our sympathy.

Normality is the only responce

The death toll has risen to fifty eight yesterday and more than 700 injured as terrorists struck at the heart of London yesterday morning, causing the biggest loss of life in a terrorist attack on mainland Britain.

In a series of co-ordinated strikes, explosive devices were detonated on three underground trains and a bus travelling through central London during the morning rush hour.

It is feared by the emergency services that the death toll could rise.

Emergency services rushed to east, west and central London as the bombs went off in sequence and without warning over a 50-minute period.

The first device exploded at 8.51am on a Circle line train between Aldgate East and Liverpool Street stations. Seven people were killed.

At 8.56am a second device exploded on a train between King's Cross and Russell Square, killing twenty five people.

At 9.17am there was another blast on a train at Edgware Road station which blew a hole through a wall into another train on an adjoining platform. Two other trains were affected and seven people were killed.

At 9.47am a fourth blast blew the top off a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square, central London, killing more than a fifteen people.

As the emergency operation swung into operation, the tube and bus network was shut down and ordinary Londoners began a desperate effort to help the terrified and the injured.

The Union flag today again flys at half mast from Buckinham Palace.

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A column written by Patrick Bishop, in The Daily Telegraph headed: "Remember that normality is the only civilised response to terror", is perhaps the most salient piece written today.

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Mr. Bishop advances the sad but obvious thesis that yesterday proved that the security services are unable to defend the public, all along Baldwin's line that "the bomber will always get through". But he then offers the realistic and in a way uplifting observation that, "The dead will be buried, the injured will heal and life will go on," but adding the caution that: "Normality is the only civilised response to terror.''

That is something that the terrorists will never understand.

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As that great Britain, Sir Winston Churchhill said in the during the blitz in 1940:

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''We will never surender''

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The front pages of Britain's Newspapers are listed below:


Guardian - front page FT - front page Independent - front page Telegraph - front page Times - front page Express - front page Sun - front page Mail - front page Mirror - front page

Terrorist Attack London

Our heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families affected by the barbarous incident in London.

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The perpetuaters of the attack are wicked and evil people.

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Now is not the time to make political points, but there will undoubtedly be issues which emerge in the aftermath.

Hit by a friendly President

Shortly after his arival at Gleneagles in Scotland, US President Bush took in the Scottish air and a spot of exercise on his Presidential bicycle.

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All was fine and dandy, as they say in Texas, until the President got a tad to ambitious and cycled furiously down a slope, lost control and ran over a British Policeman doing his best to protect the assembling world leaders.

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The shaken and injured Special Branch Policeman was taken to hospital. A concerned Whitehouse Press aid commented that it is not the first time the President had fallen of his 'bike'.

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It is not yet known whether the Police Officer is to be awarded a 'purple heart '.

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Whilst it is not, sadly, uncommon for Britons to be hit by friendly US fire this is the first known case of a British Bobby to be downed by a friendly President.

All that glitters is not gold

Supporters of London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games reacted with joy and surprise to the capital's shock victory on Wednesday while France struggled to comprehend how Paris had lost.

The brutal truth is that we are saddled with the corrupt, over blown, corporate hystera that the modern olympics have become.

"We are taking home the biggest prize in sport," said bid leader Lord Coe, twice an Olympic champion on the track, after London beat Paris by four votes. Oh well, we shall soon see that all this is a poison chalise but clearly not today.

The Queen sent her "warmest congratulations" to Lord Coe. She hosted a dinner for an Olympic evaluation commission at Buckingham Palace in February to show her support for the bid.

"I couldn't bear to watch (the final announcement). It is not often in this job that you get to punch the air, do a little jig and embrace the person standing next to you." said Tony Blair.

Later on Wednesday that person is likely to be French President Jacques Chirac when the leaders meet at the G8 Summit in Edinburgh. Any words of congratulation or commiseration there are likely to be uttered through gritted teeth.

Paris had been the favourite throughout the bidding process and its failure, its third in 20 years, left French supporters floundering for an explanation.

"It's hard ... it's a great disappointment, a great emptiness around us all," said French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour, a former Olympic fencing champion.

In London the news was greeted by a huge roar from a crowd packed into Trafalgar Square.

A ticker-tape explosion surrounded Nelson's Column, standing proud in the bi-centenary year of Britain's greatest naval victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets.

London, of course, does not need any more tourists. The capital is overrun with them, anyway, for, contrary to the many idiotic statements about the Olympic Games putting it on the map, London has been on the map for some centuries.

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The Olympic experience in Australia and Greece shows that the arrival of the Olympic razzmatazz drives away the other tourists (as well as many of the local inhabitants). That is something in its favour, though whether the various hotel keepers and restaurant managers will think that is doubtful.

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London’s record on building new things and staying within something vaguely resembling the original budget is not good. Think Crossrail, Wembley Stadium, the Dome. So what is it that made the IOC decide in London’s favour? Of course, we do not know precisely what all that feverish last-minute lobbying involved but shall, no doubt, find out eventually, when the country’s debt skyrockets.

Of Haggis and Hamburgers

The French president, as has been well reported, apparently fired a broadside at traditional British cuisine by joking:

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"The only thing the British have given to European farming is mad cow disease." He added: "You can't trust people who cook as badly as that. Apart from Finland, [Britain] is the country where you eat the worst."

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When Putin objected to Chirac's suggestion that British cuisine was the lowest of the low, asking, "What about hamburgers?", L'Escroc replied: "No, no, hamburgers are nothing [by comparison].

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"This, of course, is from the country that brought us JCB disease, the French equivalent of BSE, named after the eponymous digger when the French quietly buried the carcasses of affected cattle while denying that any had been stricken.

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Not content with being utterly rude about British cooking, Chirac also attributed France's differences with Nato began after its Scottish former secretary general Lord Robertson offered him a local Scottish speciality, believed to be haggis.

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In making these "private" jokes, Chirac seems to have known exactly what he was doing, and they appear to have been intended for a wider audience. French journalists said he knew that microphones were lurking nearby.

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The British government, however, has retained a stiff upper lip, a spokesman stating that,

"There are some things better not commented on."

Indeed so, we are after all British, what.