Small Businesses Big Issues

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The passing (in reality 'rubber stamping') of the European Commission's Small Business Act (SBA) in the European Parliament last Wednesday has been met with comments of disappointment by groups representing entrepreneurs across Europe.

Well the Act has been a long time coming and has been subject to the EU's so called consultation process - so why disappointment should be expressed at the inevitable this blog editor for one fails to understand.

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The EU commission in the well tried and tested style of its established propaganda methods stated that the new law ''Underpinned by the principle 'Think Small First' ''. The Commission's spin machine trumpeted Wednesday's introduction of the legislation as a "crucial milestone" which will slash red tape, make public authorities more responsive, drive up access to finance and boost training and innovation. It will of course in reality do the complete opposite; it can only fail to get better.

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In a Goebbles like statements the Commission's 'sales agents' stated that : ''alongside initiatives aimed at making it easier to set up a company in different member states and measures to tackle late payment, commissioners promised to cut administrative burdens by 25% over the next four years.'' The needs of small firms, they said, will be taken into account during the planning of new regulations. Oh really, so it takes new regulation to reduce mass regulation! Now is that Orwellian, Kafkaesque, or Huxlian - perhaps all three ?

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The total nonsense of this new EU law was confirmed by the reaction of small business lobby groups who had thought (but not deeply enough) that by taking part in the EU's consultation process they were making a difference. How very silly of them, they must have been very well wined dined and sponsored in the long process by the agents of the EU such as the Regional Development Agencies and other EU quango organisations beforehand. When they sobered up from the reality that is the EU regulatory system has hit them hard.

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"The desire to think small first is a welcome development but this publication is unlikely to produce the shift in policy we were led to expect," said David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce. "This is a mish-wash of watered down proposals and initiatives with a questionable amount of political will attached to it from the member states."

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UEAPME, which represents small firms across Europe, meanwhile questioned whether sufficient financial support is available to back the Act's "ambitious aims" and credit management service provider Intrum Justitia criticised the commission's approach to tackling late payment, a problem which cost European SMEs €250bn in 2007.

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"The SBA only points out that an amendment to the [Late Payment] Directive is prepared," the company said in a statement. "The work to prepare an amendment has actually been underway for more than a year. Therefore the SBA has failed to include new and substantial solutions to the ineffective directive."

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In its response, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) called on the UK government to "go one step further" than the Act and prioritise the concerns of the UK's smallest firms.

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Though of course what the UK government can if fact do without falling foul of EU regulations is very limited and going one step further would find the UK government summoned before the European Court of Justice and undoubtably fined!

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Additionally all of the comments are missing the salient point. The cause of the problem is the EU regulation machine which has to produce more regulation, that is its purpose; it serves the Napoleonic Code of law making that underpins the EU. To expect that the EU will produce a regulation to produce less regulation is a paradox - or if one prefers just plane stark raving bonkers.

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The reality of the number of regulations from the EU which effects all of us especially the small business community (witch counts for over half of the UK economy) is not often discussed in detail. Back in 2002 the Commission produced 44 directives, 602 regulations and 610 decisions while the Council produced 149 directives (inc.36 with European Parliament - EP), 164 regulations (inc.24 with EP) and 57 decisions (inc.6 with EP). That makes a total of 193 directives, 766 regulations and 667 decisions, that is a grand total of 1,626 pieces of legislation in just one year.
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The numbers in 2003 and 2004 went down, then started climbing again in 2005. In 2006, though they shot up again. The Commission produced 76 directives, 1,795 regulations and 781 decisions; the Council obliged with 101 directives (inc.38 with EP), 238 regulations (inc.43 with EP) and 264 decisions (inc.21 with EP). That gives us a total of 177 directives, 2,033 regulations and 1,045 decisions or, in other words, 3,255 pieces of legislation, most of which have not been implemented into British law yet and will not be for some time to come., though they will without doubt eventually impact on the
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Meanwhile a poll of 9,000 small businesses reveal 96 per cent are disappointed by Gordon Brown as Prime Minister; well no surprise there. As the PM reflects on his first year in power, a poll by the Federation of Small Business (FSB) showed the extent of small businesses disillusionment in Mr Brown's performance.

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At the head of the discontent is the handling of changes to capital gains tax, the axing of the ten per cent taper rate, followed by recent huge petrol/diesel price increases at the pumps - 32.5 per cent since December '07.“With the end of a period of relative stability, small business confidence in the government has plummeted in the last couple of years," said John Wright, FSB national chairman.“Employment, tax and fuel policies have left many small firms feeling that their concerns are not being taken seriously enough." added Mr Wright.

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Well fair enough, but Mr Wright forgets who actually governs Britain. As far as fuel tax policies are concerned there is in reality nothing the the UK Government can do other than increase taxation!

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EUfin, the EU finance ministers organisation which is a part of the EU governing structure (and thus an organisation that that governs us in the UK) ruled back in 2000 that no member state is permitted to reduce taxation (Excise Duty or VAT) on vehicle fuel - taxation can only be increased. This decision followed a French Government decision to lower fuel taxation in response to revolting French farmers an haulers in August of that year.

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Whilst the only option available to the UK is possibly to alter VAT to be levied only on the manufactures price of fuel at the pumps and not to include (as it does currently) the retail price at the pumps plus duty. This change would reduce petrol by about 6.5 pence per litre.

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Whilst it is good that John Wright as National Chairman of the 220,000 member (and expanding) FSB raises in the media the vital issue of fuel taxation, it would clearly be better if he were demanding of the UK Government something that they are able to implement (though what becomes increaingly limited). We in the UK remain governed principally by the EU in Brussels not our elected politicians in Westminster; a vital point that business leaders clearly still do not understand the full implications of.

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The Sunday Quote

"When life appears to be working against you, when your luck is down, when the supposedly wrong people show up, or when you slip up and return to old, self-defeating habits, recognize the signs that you're out of harmony with intention.''

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Afghanistan, Winning the War.

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The latest part of Dr North's ongoing series "Winning the war" is now posted on Defence of the Realm. Entitled "Hearts and mines", North looks at the mistaken – and damaging belief that our military can prevail by pursuing a policy known as "WHAM" – winning hearts and minds. As the good Doctor concludes, in a hostile environment, our military struggles for the "hearts" of the Afghan population and, in return, they get "mines". The strangest thing is that anyone ever thought it would be different.

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By coincidence, there is a letter from Dr Rahim Sherzoy, Ambassador to Afghanistan, in today's Sunday Telegraph, responding to a news review feature which asked whether the British forces' tactics in Afghanistan were right or wrong.Sherzoy suggests that the feature was "mostly one-sided", stating that "it is important to underline that the Taleban is not an Afghan phenomenon, but was imposed from Pakistan with the support of some elements from other states." He then goes on to write:

From the start, Nato was prevented from achieving its security objectives because it did not have a coherent strategy to go after the hard-core Taleban or a unifying programme to create jobs and address poverty. There was a lack of commitment to create an alternative livelihood for farmers and land owners to discourage poppy growth.

His Excellency is toataly correct and it is exactly the conclusion that Dr North writes about in his most coomendable piece. Read all about it on Defence of the Realm.

The Madness of Wind Turbines

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Gordon Brown launched last week "the greatest revolution in our energy policy since the advent of nuclear power" He refers to a policy centred on building thousands some 20,000 of new wind turbinesacross the UK.at an estimate cost of a massive £100 billion.

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Nothing conveys the futility of wind power more vividly than the fact that electricity generated by the 2,000 wind turbines already built in Britain is still less than that produced by a single medium-sized conventional power station.

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Not least of the madness of this policy is that the intermittency of the wind means that we will need considerably more wind turbine capacity to reach the government's mythical figures than has been allowed for. According to independent calculations, to contribute 10GW which the system would have to produce would need 30GW of capacity. This would require up to twice as many turbines as ministers are talking about..

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Christopher Booker returns to the fray in The Sunday Telegraph with a vengeance in today's column, firing a 24-gun broadside against this wind farm madness, which is a huge waste of tax payers money that can do no more than provide a huge and expensive sop to the Green lobby!

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Mugabe's Thugs

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On a day when the news includes Mugabe's terror thugs breaking a baby's legs, it's almost obscene to write about anything else. But what new is there to say about that bloodstained despot and his regime? It seems only the ditherer Mbeki can bring him down. A quick gallop, then, through the storm which is quite rightly brewing about MPs' expenses is posted on the very excellent, The Purple Scorpion

No Sex Please We Are Very British

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The EU has recently resorted to desperate measures to sell itself to the people of Europe. Their version of a 'Fat Minuite' can be seen on youtube (click here), shows 18 couples rocking the bed. Quite why this blog has no idea.

The film climaxes with quivering bedheads and loud orgasms and closes with the line: “Let’s come together.” The video is part of a campaign by Margot Wallstrom, the EU Communications Commissioner, to boost interest in the workings of the EU.

UKIP MEP, Godfrey Bloom, has been quoted: '' I suppose this short film is appropriate. The EU has been screwing Britain for the past 30 years.''

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Forvik Off

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Stuart Hill in front of his temp admin block on the Island of Forvik

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Three cheers to the first of the British Isles to leave the European Union. Forvik (where?) declared its independence on Saturday. It is apparantly off out of the UK and the EU..

Stuart Hill, the owner of the tiny 2.5 acre island of Forvik, one of the most westerly of the Shetland Islands, announced the restoration of: ''its original legal status and reminded the people of all the Shetland Isles that the same status of independence was theirs by right.''

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."Forvik neither recognises the British government nor the European Union'' the press statement continued. The Island aspires to the same relationship with the UK as the crown dependencies of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands", he said.

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The press communication issued on Saturday morning continued: ''Shetland's relationship with the UK is based on the false assumption that it is part of Scotland, based on long-standing deception and subterfuge at the highest level. The Shetlands have never been part of Scotland, and nobody can even name the day when it is alleged to have joined. By declaring Forvik a crown dependency I am simply re-establishing the correct legal relationship between this part of Shetland and the crown. Shetland as a whole can get the same benefits and more - simply by asserting rights that already exist," he said.

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Forvik Island owner has stated that locals will not be subject to any taxes levied by the UK government. It will set down a claim to the sea and seabed up to a limit of 200 miles, or to the median line between it and other states, giving it control of fishing and oil reserves.It will become a tax haven with no income tax, VAT, council tax or corporation tax. The only tax would be a contribution by every citizen towards the cost of running the state, initially set at a level of one Forvik gulde per year - around £55 in today's money.

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In due course and some what toung in cheek the announcement confirms that Forvik will have its own currency, the 'gulde' backed by gold(though what gold is not clear) and issue its own postage stamps.

Later Mr Forvik will offer to register companies in a tax-free environment, which may eventually lead to the provision of offshore banking and financial services, which will clearly require substancial infrestructureon the remote and very rural Island.

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Stuart Hill's 'Declaration of Independence' includes an indictment against successive British governments, which can be viewed on the Island's website http://www.forvik.com/ .

Jolly good luck we say!

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The Sunday Quote

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'' There have been many definitions of hell, but for the British the best definition is that it is the place where the Germans are the police, the Swedish are the comedians, the Italians are the defence force, the Frenchmen dig the roads, the Belgians are the pop singers, the Spanish run the railways, the Turks cook the food, the Irish are the waiters, the Greeks run the Government and the common language is Dutch.''

David Frost and Anthony Jay.

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Bleating about Democracy

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It is rather ironic that the "ratification instrument" – the document which the British government will formally deposit with the Italian government to complete the ratification of the (EU constitutional) Lisbon treaty – will be drafted on goatskin parchment.

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Such are the recriminations flying about in the aftermath of the Irish referendum, though, that – as one amateur commontator put it yesterday - the skin surely came from a scapegoat.

First off the mark, last Thursday, was Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who complained that the unwelcome (to the EU) result was down to the member states, and the "Politicians give the impression that Europe is being built against their will."He was followed by Sarkozy during the latter stages of the European Council meeting on Friday, who took a tilt at EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson for upsetting the Irish over the WTO negotiations

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Then it was Silvio Berlusconi's turn. He accused EU commission officials of "talking too much" to the public in the member states. "The forecasts and recommendations that the commissioners give, and which appear in the newspapers every other day," he said, "provoke negative reactions among the citizens of the EU, who see (the commission) as a body that imposes constraints and creates problems."Warming to his theme, he added, "Moreover, they create difficulties for governments because they offer ammunition to opposition parties, whether of the right or of the left, to criticize the government."To add to the discord, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano ) has joined in, siding with the Juncker brigade by accusing member state governments of using the European Union as a scapegoat to hide their own faults."Too many governments, have in fact, hidden the positions they have taken in (Brussels), using Europe - and in particular the European Commission, 'the bureaucracy of Brussels', as a scapegoat to cover their responsibilities and inadequacies," he said in a speech to a European conference in France.

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It's so refreshing, this admission that democracy isn't all it's cracked up to be. Frankly, some of us think democracy is worth more than the hurt feelings of a bunch of inept politicians.

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As Christoper Booker explains in The Sunday Telegraph today the one thing the leaders of the EU have in common with Robert Mugabe is that when a vote goes against them their instinct is not to accept it butt to cast round for how to get around the decision regardless of the popular will. The EU is far from using Mr Mugabe's methods though it has much the same contempt for democracy.

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The great value of course of the degrading episode by the EU last week and its huge growing band of payroll supporters has been to show that the EU is not just undemocratic but actively anti-democratic as well as (as we often repeat with detailed examples on the blog) very harmful to the process of non-corporate business. Which is why (again as we much repeat) the representitives of the members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have twice demanded that the UK leaves the EU (1995 and 2001). Clearly FSB members knew it could only get worse!

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Meanwhile, The Irish Times is blaming the "disastrous 'yes' campaign" for the failure to deliver the (scape) goatskin, bringing us to today when one waits agog for the next instalment of the blame game. Nobody yet has blamed global warming for the Irish voters decision – which has to be a first – although there is still time yet.

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Letter to the Editor

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The letter below was published today in The Northern Echo.

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Sir,

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It just goes to show how right our elitist political masters were when they decided not to ask the people whether they want to live with the all embracing Lisbon Treaty which will have particularly serious consequences on the 'engine room' of the British Economy. Recently 90 per cent of the 210,000 strong members of the Federation of Small Businesses who responded to a survey demanded a public vote on whether the Treaty should be ratified in the UK.; many Trade Unions also think the same.

Look what happens when there is a referendum as there was in Ireland last week: the people say no in defiance of the wishes of their government. Now according to our government that would never do here in the UK, people deciding what is best.

It is time that the voice of the people of Britain decided how we are governed not a group of self serving politicians and their huge army of over paid advisors.


Peter Troy
Sedgefield

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A Question of Police Service

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This is the title of a new pamphlet from Civitas by Harriet Sergeant, which concludes that the Home Office needs to get out of policing. "Local taxpayers lack any power to question ever higher policing costs.They are unable to insist on even the basics of a good service." Read the details on the excellent blog, The Purple Scorpion

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Petition to Number 10

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A new Petition to Downing Street states:

''We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Respect the result of the Irish referendum and abandon the attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.''

The Petition has attracted well over 10,000 signitures only eight hours after launch.

Click the link above to view and sign.
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The Sunday Quotes

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''A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but together decide that nothing can be done. ''
Fred Allen

''A Committee is a group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary.''
Richard Harkins
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The EU in the Media Spotlight

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The Sunday newspapers are full of the consequences of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty today, and barely anything else is reported on the EU front Booker devotes the larger part of his column to an excellent analysis in the Sunday Telegraph.

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In coming days, he writes, we shall see the degrading spectacle of the EU's political class wheeling out their long-prepared formula for ignoring the Irish verdict, and imposing their constitution-by-any-other-name regardless.

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The European project will be revealed for what it has been all along: a mighty system of state power, run by the political class with lofty contempt for the people it rules. However, there is going to be a great deal of "noise", which will blur the picture, obfuscate and confuse rather than enlighten. A good example of this is the single newspaper, The Sunday Times, which manages two mutually contradictory headlines: "Britain presses on with Lisbon ratification" and "No 10 admits treaty is finished".
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When that second story also reports that, "In the short term, Brown will press ahead with Britain's own ratification process," thus inherently contradicting its own claim, it is evident that the paper is all over the place and has nothing useful to offer.Despite that, the leader is staunchly written, with the title: "Contempt for democracy".

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That is helpful because it cements in precisely the message that should apply to this corrupt construct, the European Union. As for the content of the leader, don't bother reading it. It is as incoherent as the news pieces.
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Nevertheless, whether the EU supporters are successful or not in ramming their treaty though, things will never be the same. In that sense, the Irish referendum has been valuable. It shows the "colleagues" as the power-grabbing fanatics that they really are. Merely the number of comments on the online stories, and their tone, demonstrates that the EU has been seriously damaged.That much is also evident from the sheer volume of coverage, which has now grown to a torrent, Google News at one time registering over 7,000 stories on the issue. The EU is suddenly pinned in the spotlight and, as the heads of states and governments gather for their European Council on Thursday, every move they make will be being watched.

As this blog has commented many times in the past the accumulative negative effects of the business community (particularly small businesses) of the EU has not been effectively responded to by any of the UK's business pressure groups despite the wishes of most small and medium businesses. (The delegates of the rank and file Members of the Federation of Small Businesses have twice (1995 and 2001) voted to call for a withdrawal from the EU at the organisation's national confrences.)

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Howsoever now, with the media in full flight with the glare of the all the media spotlight so intense, some EU politicians may crack under the pressure and break ranks. There is just a chance that the best laid plans of mice and commissioners might fall apart and the wealth creators of Western Europe (small and medium business) will great a break from the nightmare of the EU.

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The Duty of an MP

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Yesterday the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, resigned as an MP over the 42-day detention of terrorism issue - forcing a by-election. There is a strong rumour of a split between him and David Cameron over whether the legislation would be repealed - and also on ID cards. Dominic Grieve MP is his replacement.

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Davis is to re-stand on the issue of civil liberties - the "ever intrusive power of the state in our lives". Davis' move has been hailed as "courageous", with a 5,000 majority in his seat at the last election, polling 22,792 votes against his nearest rival's 17,676 (Lib-Dim Jon Neal). Davis is almost certain to be re-elected, his Labour rival last time only polling 5,116 votes.

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It would appear that Davis close colleague Iain Dale, was taken somewhat by surprise by the MP's reseignation.Mr Dale describes the resigning MP's attitude thus:

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''During my six months working for DD in 2005 Tony Blair's 90 day detention proposals I saw first hand how passionately he feels about this issue. It's not a matter of political conviction, it's almost as if it is in his DNA. He genuinely thinks that extending pre charge detention to 42 days will make the country less safe. It will give the terrorists a propaganda victory.Up until the weekend he believed the 42 day proposal would be defeated. He hadn't reckoned on the duplicity of the DUP or the fact that so many Labour MPs would be bought off by offers of goodies for their constituency or the chairmanship of this or that committee.''

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Of course, one must ask that if Mr Davis felt that strongly about 90 days and, indeed, 42 days, then why did he not feel strongly about 28 days. Perhaps, he did and thought, with little justification, that the government would stop there. If there is one thing one knows about any government is that they never stop unless they are forced to. They will not stop at 42 days either as they find that the police can do no more in 42 days than it could in 28, unless it is a question of investigating a TV programme for "Islamophobic content", in other words, evidence that some mosques peddle incendiary material.

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The reaction has been confusing, to put it mildly, because it is so long since any politician has resigned on any matter except being caught with hand in the till.The Times and the Daily Telegraph is today spinning away, doing the Labour government's work. Apparently, this will be terrible for the Conservative Party, because the PM is on the ropes and this will give him breathing space with the Tories tearing each other apart. Interesting. It seems that neither newspaper nor its journalists can envisage a different scenario and that is the electorate being rather impressed by a politician who, at least, appears to be making a principled stand.

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According to Conservative Home (whose own stance is diametrically opposite to Davis's), a swiftly conducted grass roots poll shows that 65 percent of Conservative members are inspired by Davis's stand. Unlike most newspapers, the editor of the blog, one Tim Montgomerie, has also published the questions and the figures for individual responses.That is completely different from the newspapers flagging up the YouGov poll that 69 percent of those asked (we do not quite know what) support the 42 day pre-charge detention.

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It is unlikely that such matters as Habeas Corpus were mentioned in the poll. Nor would there have been any reference to the West Midlands police or to alternative ways of dealing with the problem. Cat and Mouse Act, anyone? Perhaps not.

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Undoubtedly, it is a little early to decide what the effect of David Davis's resignation might be but one or two preliminary points might be made. One is that he is absolutely right in his view that conservatism consists of defending ancient liberties and our judicial system. Would that he were as strong on defending them from the various European Treaties. There seems to be something of a blind spot there or will Mr Davis now emerge as the spokesman for the true British constitution?

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Secondly, he is also right in that stupid reactions to terrorist threats are own goals. One of the professed aims of the Russian terrorists of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was to provoke savage reprisals from the government, thus turning much of the educated society into opponents of the state. Largely they succeeded with lamentable results for the country as a whole. This is not to say that we must not fight this war with all sensible methods at our disposal.

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The war, as we have pointed out on this blog on occasions is one of propaganda as well as of bullets. What exactly has been done about creating or reviving a British narrative that gave many Muslims an honoured place? Anyone who would like to disagree with that sentiment should visit a British War Cemetery and have a look at the many gravestones that are marked with a sickle. These are the gravestones of His Majesty's Muslim subjects voluntarily coming to the aid of the mother country.

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Now we come to the really interesting question about David Davis’s behaviour and that has to do with the duty of an MP. Inevitably, the government is getting all worked up about Davis’s contempt for the British people and the British parliament. That “contempt” always appears when something is suggested (such as a referendum on the Constitutional Reform Lisbon Treaty) that the powers that be do not like.Then there is the question of that opinion poll. Davis should not, according to this, express his views because the majority according to an opinion poll is in favour of this ludicrous idea. The same majority will turn round at the first sign of somebody being kept in for all the wrong reasons. Presumably, at that point all those who support the 42 day detention must whip round into the other camp because some opinion poll says that the majority is against it.

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In other words, we are back to the problem discussed by the great Edmund Burke, among others: is it an MP's job to reflect what his constituents say, regardless of what he believes is right and regardless of the fact that the constituents may change their views from day to day or is it the MP's task to speak and vote according to his conscience, at least on major issues.

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The Sunday Quote

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.

Ambrose Redmoon Born James Neil Hollingworth 1933 - 1996

The Lisbon Treaty

We recomend that our readers Read this; an interesting piece on the constitutional Lisbon treaty from the Irish Sunday Business Post.

Sunday Quote

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965