Watch this Space

From the editor's keyboard.
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Amongst the organisations that I have commented on critically in the recent past is the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) an organisation, which as regular readers will be aware, I have been an active member of for over a decade.

The FSB is important because it represents (or should) the true 'engine room' of the UK's economy. Without small businesses there quiet simply would not be an economy worth speaking of in our glorious 'sceptred isle'. As well as providing an excellent package of benefits to it's 200,000 members in return for a modest annual fee, the FSB has a national structure of active branches who hold regular meetings. The Federation is, by far, the Nation's largest member based business organisation (thanks to its award-winning recruitment team) with, in theory, a credible influence as befits an organisation that has been established for over thirty years

However, I have regrettably come to the conclusion that the organisation has been, in effect, politicly hi-jacked by a coalition of government 'collaborators' and 'appeasers'. The Federation which has twice voted to leave the EU, resisted the imposition of the euro, demanded a better deal from the UK's banking cartel, battled for many years against over regulation and over taxation is now, contrary to its founding principles in effect working as a part of the government machine.

The proof of the Federation's curious stance is evidenced by its recent 'lobbying' activities in Brussels which is confirmed in the recent publication ''what can small businesses do for Europe'' and reinforced with the boasting of the recent nomination and appointment of its very own staff to the unelected (and unwanted) Regional Assembly in the North East of England. Alas, the FSB is now a part of the problem not the solution to the increasingly insurmountable regulatory barriers to business growth.

There is a possible solution. The Federation of Small Businesses is member owned. Watch this space!

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For further reading please click the url below:

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http://verybritishsubjects.blogspot.com/2006/06/to-protect-and-promote.html

The Iraq Debate

An exercise in self-indulgence

By Dr Richard North

Despite the febrile predictions of a rebellion in the government ranks, the vote on the Iraq debate, at 298 to 273 in favour of the government, was certainly not close enough to worry Mr Blair.

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It cannot have harmed his case that the debate was led by Adam Price, a man who has been trying since the dawn of time to have Blair impeached. Even by Plaid Cymru standards, Price - the Welsh Nationalist MP for Carmarthen East, is a pretty nasty piece of work. Previously, he has even incurred the wrath of the Speaker and got himself expelled from the Commons after refusing to withdraw comments that the Prime Minister had "misled" the house over the war in Iraq.

read more...

The Sunday Quote

'' Only Reason can convince us of those three fundamental truths without a recognition of which there can be no effective liberty: that what we believe is not necessarily true; that what we like is not necessarily good: and that all questions are open.''

Clive Bell (1881-1964) British Art Critic. Quoted from Civilisation (1928).

Cameron's Latest Blunder

David Cameron (for the benefit of our overseas readers is the Leader of The Conservative Party and thus Leader of Her Majesty's loyal oppisition) has we are told, pressurised his party's representatives in the European Parliament to vote in favour of an EU Directive, despite the MEPs' concerns about the impact on British business and jobs.
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Heavily influenced by aggressive lobbying by the World Wildlife Fund, his staff feared that his carefully crafted green credentials might have been undermined by a vote against, REACH. Iain Murray at the Corner details Cameron's pusillanimity on REACH. This stance on such a serious economic issue is indeed exceptionally disappointing.

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It looks like both HM Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry will become mere branches of the Environment Ministry in any future Cameron government.

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Currently, the Conservative Party is surging ahead in the polls, to suggest that he will benefit electorally from Labour disarray is perhaps a tad premature. In addition to the Conservative Party, minority parties are also benefitting and disaffected voters appear increasingly ready to look at alternatives such as the UK Independence Party, BNP and the Greens. Support for the minor parties totals 13 percent, higher than at any time in recent history.

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It is the march of the minnows that will be the electoral phenomenon of the next election, with many voters entirely immune to the vote blue – go green mantra of the not-the-Conservative Party.Perversely, the Boy's enthusiasm for REACH could backfire. While the WWF might be happy with him, the more powerful and numerous animal welfare lobby is not.

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They are exercised by the requirement to subject chemicals to animal testing and, according to the Sunday Times, tens of millions of rabbits, mice and guinea pigs are facing a painful death as a result of the directive.

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In fact, current estimates of the number of animals to be affected range from the 16m predicted by the chemicals industry to 45m over 15 years calculated by Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment – a huge burden of testing which now, effectively, has David Cameron's support.

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Pusillanimity may have brought Cameron into line with the Greens but, in addition to disappointing the business community and upsetting the Eurosceptics, he now risks being trampled underfoot by the bunny-huggers. The Sum total of which could well be his undoing.

Exporting Wine to France

By David Sapsted
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Sacre bleu, the French are developing a taste for English wine.

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Following a tour of vineyards in south-east England this summer by a group of sommeliers, wine stores in northern France, are beginning to import English vintages. The summer visitors took back samples of whites and rosés from Kent vineyards and subjected them to a blind tasting by members of L'Asociation Sommelier Unione Francais."Many of those taking part — and they are all experts — had never sipped an English wine before," said Jerome Pont, a wine merchant who organised the tasting trip. "But they were astounded at the quality on offer."

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Mr Pont, who owns a wine warehouse business called Franglais just outside Calais, then ordered stock from Chapeldown and Binneden vineyards in Kent to sell alongside his French vintages. He sold out."Around 50 per cent of my customers are from England and they started buying cases — because of tax, I can undercut UK prices," he said. "But then the other half of my clientele are mainly from France.

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My customers tasted the wine inside the warehouse and they started buying it, too."At present, I am actually out of stock but the market is really growing so I have just put in several large orders."He said that he brought fellow sommeliers to Britain because global warming is making the country much more conducive to wine production. "It seems that England is now experiencing the climate necessary to produce good wine," he said."At the moment, it's the white and rosé which are really top class but if these recent weather patterns keep up we may start to see rich and robust reds coming through as fine."

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There are almost 400, mainly small, vineyards in England, mostly in the South East, although several have started in the Midlands and one each in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

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About three million bottles are expected to be produced this year of mainly white wine, with an increasing amount of it sparkling.Earlier this year, Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 1998, from West Sussex, was named the best sparkling wine in the world outside the Champagne region of France at this year's International Wine and Spirit Competition.

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Last year, Didier Pierson, who has vineyards in Avize, south of Epernay, became the first producer from a Champagne house to invest in an English vineyard when he planted 28 acres of grapes in the Meon Valley in Hampshire.

The Sunday Quote

''Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.''

Shimon Peres - Israeli Statesman quoted in the Financial Times, 31 January 1995.

A Rather Rotten Deal

Jeff Randall, in The Daily Telegraph today points out that British Businesses are waking up to the fact that the EU represents a very, very bad deal. A fact that is confirmed, in detail, by Tim Worstall in The Times today, after doing the maths.

Intrestinly Gunter Verheugen, the EU enterprise commissioner, complains that compliance with Single Market regulation costs €600 billion a year, Tim has found out that the commission boasts only that the Single Market benefits the economies of the EU to the tune of €164.5 billion a year.

Thus by the EU's own figures British (and European) Tax payers are getting, to use a very British understatement a rather rotten deal, paying €600 billion to get €164.5 billion back.

New Campaigns on the Blog

Yorkshire Businessman Paul Sykes has launched a new campaign, titled speakout (see the link).

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Also Open Europe which is running the results of a poll which shows that most British businesses think the cost of implementing EU regulations now outweighs the benefit of the Single Market. Fellow Blogger John Page on Purple Scorpion, makes a very creditable job of evaluating Open Europe's findings.

A Pig's Ear !

A tale of free enterprise in action: childrens' piggybanks on sale in a shop in Denmark.They are sold with the most common Danish names already painted on them, such as Mikkel (Michael), Lucas, Peter, Mohamad etc… Some might, of course, wish to draw a veil over this.

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What a pig's ear, indeed!

General Dannett's remarks and the real issue

Before defeat becomes a rout .

By Dr Richard North

There is a certain child-like naïveté to the media coverage of General Dannett's remarks which has now run unabated for two days, taking pole position in The Sunday Times this morning.

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If one was to see such quality in coursework offered by sixth form pupils, though, one would smile indulgently and take the time out to correct it. But we are not dealing with a sixth form here so much as a situation where the children have taken over and there is no grown-up in a position to set them straight.

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The Sunday Quote

'' If you wish in this world to advance.
Your merits you're bound to enchance,
You must stir it and stump it,
And blow your own trumpet,
Or trust me, you haven't a chance!''


W S Gilbert (1836 - 1911) Ruddigore (1887)

All For the cost of 120 New Hospitals.

"The bureaucratic costs to business of complying with European legislation could be up to €600bn a year - almost twice original estimates - the European Union's enterprise commissioner admitted on Monday."

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So reports the Financial Times, a historically pro EU business broadsheet. The information is based on an EU report which is still available on the EU website (see page 36) and, by the way, the figure is not 600 billion euros – but very British pounds.
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The cost to Britain is in the order of £120 billion per year or nearly £4,000 a second. Thus for the actual true cost of EU membership as a better alternative the Government could build 120 brand spanking new hospitals and with the money left over run them for ever. Oh yes indeed it's true.

One does not have to be a Brain Surgeon to consider the alternative benefits of Britains continued membership of the EU compared to 120 new, equipped and properly staffed hospitals.

Well in anticipation of our anonymous critics who will rush to comment about job losses if we leave the EU. Well indeed, we agree there would be a few job losses. All 72 MEP's (Members of the European Parliament) from the 'regions' of the UK would be out of very lucrative work. Well hoorah to that !

To Protest not to Placate

The BBC website makes an intresting point with a short comment headed, "EU 'has to slash business rules'".

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The piece is publicising a letter from Gerrit Zalm and Bendt Bendtsen, respectively the Dutch and Danish ministers of finance. They are complaining that all businesses that operate in the European Union suffer from unnecessaryand costly red tape while also noting that the EU's programme to simplify regulation has conspicuously failed.

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The EU programme is being run by Günter Verheugen, vice-president of the EU commission, together with the president, José Manuel Barroso, with Verheugen calling it "the flagship of the Commission". But, over the summer, results have remained somewhat modest. The commission's plan was to simplify 54 laws this year, but only five have been tackled, an then no final conclusions have been arrived at.
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In the second of a series on the controls throttling the British economy Angus McCrone, in The Times this week, looks at the problems for manufacturers, both large and small. In an excellent article titled '' Red tape ties up industry'' McCrone tells of examlpes of time- consuming struggles British businesses have with red tape.

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The strong perception in many firms is that bureaucratic demands have been multiplying. The British Chambers of Commerce estimates that new regulations approved since 1998 have so far cost UK firms £50.3 billion, with £11.4 billion of that incurred this year.

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Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon, which runs 657 pubs around Britain and employs 18,500 people, often repeats the concern that: “Red tape has certainly got a lot worse. Governments have learnt that they can in effect get companies to pay for the welfare state by issuing laws and regulations that hand out more rights. New regulations have made it more difficult to start businesses, and the effect of that is to make the economy less competitive.”

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The British Chambers of Commerce’s Burdens Barometer, based on regulatory impact assessments published by government departments, lists 69 new regulatory demands in the past eight years, from the Data Protection Bill of 1998 — which costsbusinesses £667m a year — to 2005’s control of vibration at work rules that cost firms £230m a year. About 75% of the new rules have emanated from the European Union, according to the British Chamber of Commerce; so we know who we should be complaing to.

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Clearly in order to protect and promote the intrests of British businesses, particularly small ones, (who are ''the engine room of the British economy'') the need is to protest not to placate.

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Suggestions (in keeping with British traditional attitudes towards politeness) as to the message on the placard in the comments section below please.

A very British Image

Peter Troy, pint in hand, foot in watering hole with Winnie.

Whatever they need

But what do they need?

by Dr Richard North

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To mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of the military campaign to rid Afghanistan of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, Tony Blair has given a tribute to our 5,000 troops in Afghanistan and promised to give "whatever front-line commanders tell us they need to complete their job".

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There can be no doubt about the nature of this commitment, it being set out in an authored piece by Blair in The Sun, repeated in a Reuters report and also conveyed in The Times, the Guardian and even the BBC website. The promise is specific and unequivocal.

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The Sunday Quote

“Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made; through disobedience and through rebellion.”

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Better off out !

Very highly recomended

http://www.betteroffout.co.uk

An other year older and deeper in regulation

This weekend the Editor of this glorious blog has become a year older. But is he concerned ? Oh no. Why ? Well, the EU is looking afer the likes of those who form the older eliment in the British work force, oh yes (a very sarcastic) indeed !

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When one reads the British press one can be excused for not realising it is the EU that is behind the 'agest' legislation which comes into force today, making it illegal to discriminate against people because of age.

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On Friday, the BBC's Today programme carried three long items on it, pointing out the law's many flaws and anomalies – which is probably the first time many listeners were to hear of them.

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This new law was never debated by Parliament. Yet, what we were not told by the Today Programme, is that Alistair Darling, the "responsible minister" whom it interviewed at length, was that the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 were nodded through under Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act, enacting EC directive 2000/78. Our MPs had no choice in the matter.

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It would be very helpful, when the British media go on about the flood of controversial new laws imposed on us by Brussels, from compulsory booster seats to bogus "recycling" bins, if they gave us a clue as to where they all come from?

The Sunday Quote

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.

It is the argument of tyrants, it is the creed of slaves.”

William Pitt the Younger - 18 November 1783, in his response to the East India Bill, put together by Edmund Buke and introduced by Charles James Fox on behalf of the Fox-North coalition.

A quote that is worth concidering in view of the raft of past and future legislation that does and intends to give more power to authoritarian politicians and officials, whether in Brussels and Whitehall, pleading internal and external security, the break-down of law and order (and who brought that about, one wonders).