Unsurprising - by Helen... Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Unsurprising - by Helen... Tuesday, November 03, 2009

As we fully expected the Czech Constitutional Court has found that the Constitutional Lisbon Treaty is entirely in agreement with the Czech Constitution. What a surprise, eh? As President Klaus has already been given those meaningless promises (here and here) from the EU, the chances are he will sign and claim a victory for the Czech Republic. In this he will be supported by the majority of the Czech people who will eventually find out how little those promises mean.

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, on the other hand, is unhappy. Klaus, they feel, should have saved them and saved their leader's blushes. For today is the day when the Boy-King of the Conservative Party who is said to be "disappointed" by the Czech court's decision, will set out his party's plans on Europe. It is certain that they will not include a referendum on theConstitutional Lisbon Treaty. It is also likely that they will include a great deal of vague blather that cannot be turned into hard policy. I suppose, I could be surprised for once.

Tim Montgomerie tells his readers that the Conservatives must have a European policy and announce it as soon as possible.

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The sound of silence - by Richard...

The great fishing disaster rolls on ... recorded each passing year.

This year Scottish fisheries secretary Richard Lochhead estimates that, during 2007, whitefish worth £60 million was discarded in the North Sea – by the British fleet. "When other European fleets are taken into account the problem is compounded greatly," he says, then adding: "It is an utter disgrace that our fishermen are being forced to dump high quality and marketable fish back into the sea - hundreds of millions of pounds wasted and unnecessary pressure on our stocks due to the crazy rules of the CFP."

And the Tory policy on the CFP is? We know what it was, but that was before the great eurosceptic Dave intervened. All we hear now is the sound of silence.

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Not part of the blogosphere - by Richard...

In a follow-up to the his piece on Cameron backtracking on the constitutional Lisbon Treaty, Tim Montgomerie was basking in the limelight, recording the "blogosphere" reaction to his revelation ... which had actually been circulatingfor some time - starting in early October.

Tim's idea of the "blogsphere", however, is three MSM "clogs", Iain Dale and Guido. Despite two reaction pieces on this blog, one from my co-editor and the other from myself, EU Referendum - the premier anti-EU site - does not exist. It does not get a mention, much less a link.

We find the same with Defence of the Realm. We get a lot of links from US, Canadian and other foreign sites (and some of the smaller British blogs), but never any from the self-proclaimed "big-hitters" in the British political blogosphere. And that is despite a readership in the corridors of power that the likes of Dale would kill for. (How do you think we are so well-informed?)

But that is how it is. We've broken ranks many times, and criticised blogs – on the basis that no-one is beyond criticism. But, while the blogs love to criticise the MSM, they can't take it themselves. Step outside the claque and they go shrieking to mummy, and then bury their heads deeply in the sand, from which posture they commune with themselves – and only themselves – through the only orifices left exposed to the air.

Largely, the "independent" political blogosphere has chosen to shackle itself to the corpse of the MSM, which is why it accepts the "clogs" into its closed little club. It is also why the British blogosphere largely follows rather than makes the agenda, and has neither the reach nor the influence that characterises the US blogosphere.

And, do you know what? We don't give a damn. We are on the outside. That is where we belong, and are happy to be there. We tell it as we see it, not for the self-referential claque which demands as the price of its approval a degree of conformity and an absence of informed criticism that no censor could impose.

Just occasionally though, it is quite fun tweaking their tails ... whence they resolutely ignore us with even more determination, ramming their heads further into the sand. But we don't do it too often these days – it is too much of a waste of energy. As the media start picking up on Dave's betrayal though, as it is now doing, things are going to get very dirty and very nasty. That will sort the sheep from the goats, and the "clogs" from the blogs. And we know where we stand. We know our place.

 Apologises for the light blogging, incidentally – some rather sombre family business to attend to. That probably also explains the mood of this post. Sometimes, events happen which make you think hard about where you stand. Some things which you thought very important, suddenly are not so important. Others become more so. The little bloggy-weenies can play their games. To put it bluntly, we don't give a shit. We'll be back on the treadmill later today, with more posts for the timorous wee bloggies to ignore.