Tuesday, 8 November 2011


Karlo rather than Groucho Marx for once - by Helen... Monday, November 07, 2011

Of course, many of us recall what Karl Marx said at the beginning of The Eighteenth of Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (I must admit to finding it quite useful when I was doing history O level): History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.

Actually, that is a meaningless statement for if the first event, the tragedy, is history repeating itself, then there must have been an even earlier one. In his view Napoleon I was the tragedy and Napoleon III, the farce. But what came before that?

However, there is no getting away from the fact that all historical parallels one can draw for present events in Greece and Italy show the situation up as farce. For the time being, anyway.

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Nope, they haven't gone - by Helen...

Oh come, you surely did not think that either hereditary Prime Minister Papandreou or the rather farcical Prime Minister Berlusconi would go before every single finger was prized off that premiership? Here and here on Your Freedom and Ours.

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Rejoice, rejoice - by Helen...

As North Jnr has pointed out, the Boss is awake or near enough. I have sent my commiserations to the medical and nursing staff.

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Alive - by Pete...

Alive, awake and all is well.

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And just to cheer everyone up - by Helen...

The Daily Torygraph once again misses the point. In fact, the Daily Torygraph talks rubbish. Apparently, David Cameron must have a plan to take to the table. What kind of a plan. Ah, that would be telling.

Any article that starts with a sentence that includes the words "Britain’s relationship with the European Union" is going to be a lulu. You just know. All together now: Britain no more has a relationship with the EU than Sussex has a relationship with the United Kingdom. Got that?

Let us move on. Apparently, the Torygraph may have understood a few things:
It appears increasingly clear, however, that the compromise expressed by that slogan is no longer an option. The crisis within the single currency means that the countries who are part of it are destined for full fiscal union, in which there will be a single policy for all of them on taxation and on government spending.

Within the EU, the eurozone countries will have a unified set of economic and social interests, and will certainly act as a caucus, outvoting the rest when it comes to matters that can be decided by qualified majority voting. And as we report today, the rule changes agreed by the Lisbon Treaty have had two very important results.

First, there has been a significant increase in the number of issues over which Britain has given up its veto. Second, and far less frequently mentioned, alterations to the ways in which votes are weighted and counted, set to come into force in 2014, will mean that the eurozone countries, when they act as a bloc, will be able to impose their will on the rest – and there won’t be anything that Britain (or any other EU member that is not in the euro) will be able to do about it.

Should the euro bloc decide that the City of London needs to be subject to regulations that will effectively eliminate its competitive advantage, Britain will just have to accept it. And should that bloc decide that it is time to unify criminal law across Europe, Britain would have to implement that momentous change, even though it would trample all over the last government’s precious “red lines”, not to mention the basic principles of British criminal justice.
Apart from the fact that most of this is not in the future but in the past and the present with theTorygraph failing to report developments in any detail, one cannot argue with that analysis.

Then we come to the grand conclusion, otherwise known as the Torygraph's pompous pronouncements the Telegraph's view:
We believe they are not: that there can be a workable compromise between being subsumed by the EU and divorcing ourselves from it entirely. The Government has said the same. But for that to come about, we need a detailed examination by ministers about what our options and goals are, and a wide-ranging debate among the public, so that Britain not only has a watertight plan to bring to the negotiating table but also one that has the popular legitimacy that has been so sorely lacking in Brussels’s relations with member states. These are enormous questions, and they can no longer be swept aside – for on them depend the future and nature of our democracy.
May I suggest that somebody, anybody on that rag finally reads the Treaties and, perhaps, dips intoa certain book that gives you the history of the whole project. A wide-ranging debate among the public would be a good idea but it is unlikely to get us anywhere if it relies on erroneous information from our media.

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Update - by Helen...

13.55 North Jnr now informs me that, in fact, the Boss is out of surgery and all seems to be well. He will do an update later on but is at the moment busy on something called day job.

North Jnr informs me that the Boss has gone into surgery. I am sure that my good wishes to him and his family are multiplied among his many fans. Sammy's pigs should do the trick.

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We might lose two Prime Ministers - by Helen...

13.15 Berlusconi has denied rumours. I am shocked, I tell you, shocked. Greek politicians are still in meeting. Here is an exclusive report on how the negotiations are proceeding.

No, no, no, the Boy-King is not one of them. Calm down everybody. But who knows? By the end of today both George Papandreou and Silvio Berlusconi might be gone. I shall believe it when I see it. Oh and before anybody says it, no it is not a sign of interesting times to lose Greek or Italian prime ministers. In fact, it is politics as usual.

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Not called Papandreou for nothing - by Helen... Sunday, November 06, 2011

George Papandreou, hereditary Prime Minister of Greece is hanging on in there. The Telegraphsays
George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, cleared the way for his resignation by scheduling a three way meeting with Antonis Samaras, leader of the conservative opposition, and the president to overcome sticking points over the leadership and duration of the unity government.

A seven point plan for the new government was thrashed out at a cabinet meeting of socialist government. It included a deadline for parliament to ratify the eurozone bailout before the end of December.

Mr Papandreou told the cabinet that the country would be presented with a new government within hours and that he would vacate office soon after. The interim government, led by technocrats, will run the country until a general election is called, probably in the first half of next year.
Is that within hours shorter than the half an hour that was the period predicted at the time of the Cabinet meeting on Thursday?

Bloomberg adds:
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, trying to preserve international aid before the nation runs out of money next month, raced to form a unity government before markets open as the main opposition leader demanded he step down before any accord.

“It’s clear this government is prepared to hand over the baton, but it can’t hand it over into a vacuum,” Papandreou told his ministers at a meeting today in Athens, according to an e-mailed transcript from his office. “We will hand it over to the next government if we agree and conclude on this. And I hope this will happen, as I said, soon and when I say soon, I mean today, not tomorrow, for very many reasons.”

Papandreou met late today with New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras and President Karolos Papoulias to iron out differences. Samaras had earlier said he was “determined to help” reach an agreement as long as the premier stepped down first. Samaras had previously demanded early elections and balked at joining forces with Papandreou’s socialist Pasok party even if the premier resigned.
I presume he will resign at some point soon and the likelihood is that the Finance Minister will take over. However, one cannot simply disregard the Leader of the Not So Loyal Opposition. Frankly, even if the man goes I don't expect him to stay away from government for long. He would not be worthy of the name Papandreou if he did that.

First of those cross-posted contributions.

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Posted by Britannia Radio at 12:25