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Government Logo Takes Matter In Hand
More from the "this government can get NOTHING right" files. A £14,000 design makeover for HM Treasury's Office of Government Commerce came up with a shiny new logo, which was promptly attached to mousemats, pens and official stationery.
Only later did chiefs see what was obvious to everyone else all along: That viewed vertically, the OGM looks rather different. Let's say it resembles a stick man making the gesture Tony Blair made famous in his Cambridge days.
See The Telegraph if you still don't get it.
The British Inquisition
It's None Of Your Bloody Business!
Britain's surveillance state continues to grow. Earlier this month it was revealed that the government is using anti-terror legislation to instigate 1,000 covert surveillance operations a month.
Not to keep tabs on crazed preachers or fundamentalist groups, mind: These government agents are spying on underage smokers, fly tippers, those who allow their dogs to foul parks and homeowners who improve their houses without planning approval.
Mind Your Language
Why are British newspapers reporting on the French Culture Ministry's latest effort to prevent English words from sullying the beauty of the French tongue? Both the Daily Mail and the Metro freesheet report on the latest recommendations emanating from the "Commission for Terminologies" - a blog should be a bloc, an iPod should be diffusion pour baladeur.
As one EURSOC correspondent noted, these new terms are hardly eco-friendly. If the media was forced to publish the sometimes tortuous French expressions in place of their English equivalents, French computer magazines would use 20 percent more paper.
Most of us are aware of the heroic idiocy of the Academie Française, which meets regularly to despair of the rising tide of globalised expressions, and issues directives governing how state bodies and public figures should refer to the modern world's newest phenomena.
Gay Teenager "Faces Death" In Iran
When one considers all the dangerous nutters and even hijackers the British have allowed to stay in the country, it's difficult to believe that one of the first apparently deserving asylum claimants the media has discussed in some time might be sent back to a nation where he could be executed for his sexuality.
EU Tax Is Back
A prominent French politician has called (once again) for the harmonisation of corporate tax rates across the European Union.
Writing in EU policy journal Europe's World, UMP Deputy and Vice-President of France's National Assembly Marc Laffineur said the EU's budget must be reformed urgently, bringing to an end "special cases" such as the British rebate. Of the other "special case" of the Common Agricultural Policy, which subsidises French farmers to the tune of 10 billion euros a year, M Laffineur is rather less keen on urgent reform, arguing that "there is a common interest in ensuring that our agriculture should be highly-productive so as to guarantee food security for Europe's citizens."
Forbidden Fruit
It all went horribly wrong for Kate Badger of Wolverhamption (now a suburb of Birmingham) the day she sent an apple core out of the window of her car.
Ms Badger, a mother of three children, has been charged with: "Knowingly causing the deposit of controlled waste namely an apple core on land which did not have a waste management licence".
If convicted, this 26-year-old mother could be fined £20,000 or be imprisioned for six months.
Britain's Stasi State
British papers are leading with the news that every day, the security services and other agencies request permission to carry out 1,000 bugging and phone tap operations. 653 state bodies, including 474 local councils, have the power to intercept private communications.
How Many Frenchmen Does It Take To Change A Lightbulb?
Your correspondent counted eight subway workers observing and repairing a single failed strip light in the Paris Metro this morning. Eight.
Quote Of The Day
"My generation was the one, largely state-educated and reasonably literate, that fought in a war against acknowledged tyrannies to preserve basic and long-cherished freedoms. Since then what world have we been gradually forced to accept? A new religion of political correctness daily reaches fresh heights of idiocy, ignoring the fact that a society that willingly retreats from common sense is ultimately doomed. Privacy for the ordinary citizen is now dead. The latest tally is that we are being watched by a staggering three million closed-circuit television cameras, yet no camera has yet been invented that can photograph inside a terrorist’s brain. Government, police and security services possess greater legal powers to pry into our lives than they do in communist China."
Smoke Signals
Anyone found in possession of cannabis in the greater part of Britain may soon face a possible term of five years in jail and an unlimited fine.
Taxing Times
"After you Mr President"
Sarkozy plans big shake-up of French media (and Tony Blair)
While the British media concentrated on the few minutes or so when Nicolas Sarkozy hinted he may marry Carla Bruni, it's worth remembering that the President spoke about a few other things during his two-hour press conference yesterday.
Of particular interest are his plans for France's media. He proposed that France's main state-run broadcasters should become ad-free zones, with their funds for programming raised via taxation on other media sources. The internet is reportedly one of the areas the government is considering taxing.
Fever Pitch Federalism
Yet another example of the EU leaping on a solution when the problem hasn't been fully considered. Last week, the EU's justice chief Franco Frattini called for a Europe-wide police force to tackle football violence.
The force - set up within Interpol - could be up and running by next year's Euro 2008 Tournament.
His declaration was backed enthusiastically by UEFA President Michel Platini, who had earlier demanded the creation of a pan-European police to deal with other football-related problems: corruption, money-laundering and illegal gambling, as well as hooliganism and racism.
"Football, as I have said before, cannot deal with this problem alone" said the former French international, "We need the political will from all EU countries to combat this problem."
Big Brother's Balls-Up
A few months ago, we condemned government plans to put the personal and financial details of every man, woman and child in Britain on a computer database. Alongside proposals to introduce Identity Cards and a whole swathe of measures dedicated to limiting rights and increasing the surveillance of citizens, EURSOC worried that the government is providing itself with the tools to create a fascist state.
Blatter Says Balls To EU
Foreign legion: In 2000, Chelsea were the first British team to field a "foreign XI"
Sepp Blatter, the president of football's ruling body FIFA, has called on clubs to overturn an EU ruling which allows clubs to field an unlimited number of foreign players.
Returning Troops Snubbed
Practically none of the British troops returning from Afghanistan or Iraq this autumn will be greeted with homecoming parades organised by their local councils.
Toy Safety Symbol For EU?
Concerns about the safety of imported toys have led to calls in the European Parliament for a new Europe-wide safety symbol.
The Principle of Origins
Here's Rod Liddle on the Commission for Racial Equality as it is merged into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights:
"For the first 25 years of its 31-year existence, the CRE was cheerfully wedded to the notion of multiculturalism, wherein Britain’s disparate communities were encouraged to remain apart and preserve their own cultural values, which were every bit as valid, in a very real sense, as those of the indigenous white majority. At the same time, of course, white working-class communities were urged not to remain apart, but to embrace change, or risk being called racist. It was only with the arrival of Trevor Phillips at the CRE (and coincidentally, the growing suspicion that quite a few members of the Muslim community weren’t entirely on board with this old democracy, equal rights for women business) that this uniquely damaging policy was, almost overnight, reversed. The imperative now is for everyone to integrate, smile politely, and try to share in their collective vision of what society should be like. But having promulgated precisely the opposite view for the last quarter of a century, it seems a bit rich of the CRE to blame the rest of us for having allowed segregation to occur."
Imperial Brussels
Only joking!
Last week, reports of even greater divisions between Belgium's Dutch and French halves led to fevered speculation that it might be time for the Belgians to call it a day and announce a Czech-Slovakia style "velvet divorce."
Perhaps surprisingly, rumours that Belgium might some day split into two separate nations doesn't seem to worry Eurofanatics that much. Some arch-federalists are reported to speculate that it would be no bad thing. Brussels, as "capital" of the European Union, might then be granted a kind of "District of Columbia" status within Europe - a separate status befitting a federal capital...
English To Pay For Scots Education?
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has proposed education legislation which would lead to English students in Scotland having to pay for their courses, which Scots would receive a university education for free.
According to the Telegraph, the Scottish Nationalists' proposals would mean that the English, the Welsh and the Northern Irish would be the only students paying for further education in Scotland. It would be free to Scots, to EU nationals and to the children of asylum seekers who have been in Scotland for more than three years.
Two Kids Good, Any More Bad
A creepy report from the even-more-creepily titled Optimum Population Trust says that the government should introduce a "Stop at two children" policy backed by schools, the media and environmental groups.
Bombers Welcome To Stay
The men who tried to bomb London and Glasgow will be allowed to stay in Britain at public expense indefinitely even if they are convicted of terrorism offences, according to a report issued today.
Migrationwatch, a thinktank which campaigns against mass immigration, says in its report that the "continued adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an attraction for terrorists to operate in and from Britain, secure in the knowledge that, even if convicted, they cannot be deported after serving their sentences.
Taxing Times
As we learn that the British taxman is seeking powers to withdraw funds directly from bank accounts, it has also emerged that the Inland Revenue has sent electronic snoopers after homeowners renting rooms to tennis fans during the Wimbledon Championship.
UK Workers Do It Right
From the FT
As EU Constitution talks try to bring British workers under the the protection of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, perhaps European workers would be better served by receiving the same rights as their comrades in Britain. A new survey by Eurostat, the EU's statistical arm, shows that the minimum wage in Britain is one of the highest in the EU - and only a tiny proportion of Brits are on the minimum level.
BlackBerry Ban For French Govt
French ministers are hopping mad because their national security agency has banned the use of BlackBerry handheld email devices, warning that the US could intercept French state secrets.
As BlackBerry mail servers are located in the US and Britain, security officials fear that sensitive information could be hacked by rival spies. Meanwhile in Britain, MPs are going to be allowed to bring their BlackBerries into the House of Commons.
Weee Rule
As of next month, Britain must recycle all electrical waste, including TVs, computers, lights and toys, under the European Union's 'Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive', code-named, 'Weee'.
Spy In The Sky
There's something mysterious buzzing in the air over Merseyside and it isn't anticipation of Liverpool FC's Champions League final clash against AC Milan. It's the latest in the British authorities' tools for spying on the population: A mini helicopter "flying saucer" that can hover 55 yards above the streets, keeping an eye on anything from football fans to armed sieges.
The Big Smoke
Look at most any pack of cigarettes sold in France and there will be a bold notice saying: 'Smoking kills'.
A Bomb For Europe?
Palestinian territories hope to join Israel in Eurovision Song Contest
Well, Israel isn't strictly part of Europe, and it has won three times, most notably with transvestite artiste Dana International. And now the Palestinians hope to enter the Eurovision Song Contest.
Hanging On The Telephone
Mobile phone industry defeats plans to abolish "roaming" charges: Prices to come down, though
In what is being described as a climbdown, the European Commission has scrapped plans to ban "roaming" charges for users of mobile phones who travel abroad. Instead, price controls have been introduced - a move industry lobbyists say will ruin competition and free-marketeers warn is a backwards step.
Lawyers Beget Laws
Another excellent article from George Monbiot. That's two in a fortnight. We're either dreaming or this is the end of the world as we know it.
In February, Monbiot had a go at 9/11 conspiracy nutters. Today, he reports on how "a glut of barristers at Westminister has led to a crackdown in dissent."
"When you elect lawyers, you get laws," he writes, "I have met quite a few lawyers - not always voluntarily - and some of them are able to perform a passable impression of human beings. Like teenagers, they are generally quite harmless by themselves. But sensible voters would ensure that they were never let loose in a representative chamber. People of the same trade seldom meet together but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public. Lawyers are no exception." Read it all.
Statistics And Sadistics
Ask any senior official in the EU, USA or Canada, let alone Latin America, and they will tell you that their trust is statistics is below zero.
Many national governments and international organisations issue monthly figures. The IMF, the World Bank and even the highly-respected OECD, often get their numbers wrong.
When Elephants Fly?
If only buyers were as interested as aviation geeks
The world's largest passenger airliner, constructed at the Airbus French-German consortium, in Toulouse, in south-west France, seems to be havng a further few problems taking off the ground.
To explain in plain terms, the finally-fully equipped Airbus A380 made its maiden flight this week. All went well. And there were cheers on the tarmac, and champagne for all concerned.
The only problem is that the plane is designed to carry 853 passengers. And a bigger sister, under construction, is being built to accommodate 1,000 people.
This plane is so large it makes a Boeing 747 look like a mini-bus.
Language Gap
French trade unions launch a rearguard action to ban the use of English in the workplace, while their fellow citizens in the EU capital fight to make French the legal language of the EU
Sometimes even the most ardent francophile has to throw up his hands and admit, yes, the French can be downright weird. One of the strangest things about them - or, rather, their public figures and representatives - is their obsession with the status of their language. Yes, it is difficult for a proud and formerly imperial nation to admit that its crowning glory is receding. But this is French we're talking about, not Cornish or Scots Gaelic. French is not in danger of dying out.
However, it is not the language's demise is what worries the bureaucrats and busybodies who are in the news this week. Instead, what seems to horrify some of the latest batch of militant francophones is the prospect that their language might change through the influence of outside forces: Once again, the state is required to come to the rescue.
Let Them Eat Fruit (Lots Of It)
Oh, how we laughed when the government started employing people as "Five a Day Fruit and Vegetable Advisers". Now, Britain's legions of vegetable pushers could be out of work, as the EU unveils plans to offload its farmers' surplus fruit and veg production onto schoochildren, hospitals and care homes.
Another Day, Another Ban
A councillor in York has tabled a vote to ban the sale of foie gras in the English city's restaurants.
Airbus Take-Off Delayed
Airbus, the European consortium of aircraft manufacturers, is flying low these days.
Artificial Intelligence
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it
For one country to have one or two intelligence orsecurity services is necessary today. But to have 16 is a bit much.
Great Train Robbery
The head of railways at Britain's department of transport has warned travellers that they can't be guaranteed seats if they travel at peak periods - even if they have paid up to £5000 a ticket.
Big Apple Dries Up?
Prohibition is in the air in New York. It is already well-known that you are not allowed to smoke in bars, restaurants or public places. You are not allowed to talk on mobile phones in cars or in schools. You are not able to eat what you want because the Board of Health has has voted to ban "fat food" in most of the city's restaurants.
EU Energy Bust-Up
Energy has been in the news this week, as Europeans once again found themselves at the sharp end of Russia leader Vladimir Putin's attempts to influence his neighbours by twisting the tap of the Eurasian continents fuel supply.
With exquisite timing, the following day the European Commission unveiled plans for a European strategy on climate change, in which energy policy plays an important role.
MI5 Opens Its Doors (But Not Too Much)
In Britain's secret world, sometimes politely called its 'intelligence community', old habits die hard.
Codes, practices, and above all, attitudes, have not changed much since the war.
New Powers For The Taxman
Following on from EURSOC's report last week that tax inspectors will be offered bonuses for trapping Inland Revenue cheats, the Sunday Times reveals that Britain's tax inspectors are to be given new powers allowing them to tap tax-payer's telephones inside their homes and offices. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says its inspectors need such covert surveillance to combat organised crime.
Springtime For The Taxman
As a New Year's present, British tax inspectors are being offered bonuses to encourage them to collect more money from individuals and businesses, according to the Daily Mail. The bonuses are worth up to £2,000 (2,900 euros) per head.
Rampant Passport Forgery in EU
If you lost an old-style, pre-electronic passport, it was fairly simple. You went to your local consulate overseas or a passport-issuing office.
The new 'machine-readable' passports are different. You can 'clone' an identical to the original, undetectable, with ease.
Another Country
The power to photograph and fingerprint all non-EU nationals, currently living in the United Kingdom, has been announced by home secretary, John Reid.
Driving At The Speed Of Bureaucracy
At the moment a British driving licence, which costs £38, is valid from the date of motorists passing their test until the age of 70.
So far, so good. The system has worked forgenerations. However, plans are being prepared in European Union offices in Brussels to have licences renewed every ten years. The idea from Brussels is to have a 'common format' for licences and medical tests throughout the Union.
Passport Control?
There was a time when the East Germans had a monopoly on manufacturing pretend passports, in what was then East Berlin.
Now, it is an international industry.
Anywhere from Bangkok, Prague, Budapest, and anywhere in between, it's more than easy.
It's All Rubbish
Remember when you had one dustbin, or in American terms, a trashcan, and you just dumped your garbage inside ?
These days are long gone.
Sail Away
The European court of justice has ruled against making it easier for European consumers to buy alcohol and cigarettes from countries where excise duties are low.
A Better Taxman
Britain's chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown says he plans to make tax easier for business. The government's chief finance minister - and prime minister in waiting - is to promise a new 'tax-friendly' approach to investors in the UK.
EU Judges To Rule On Booze Cruises
It is easier to order alcohol or cigarettes in the EU by telephone, mail or via the internet than to cross a border and buy the goods.
On 23 November, this may change. On this date the European Court of Justice will deliver a verdict upon cross-border sales of booze and cigs.
Taxing On The Runway
The European Commission is planning to charge airline passengers a tax to help address what Brussels considers is the problem of dreadful fuel tank stink by aircraft.
Unfriendly Skies
In the passenger airline business US plane manufacturer Boeing is back flying high.
All For One And None For All
The European single market is not a single market. In fact, it is not a market at all
A fantastic new piece of European legislation, the biggest in years, is set to be inaugurated: An attempt to enforce a maximum working week across Europe.
Quote Of The Day II
"This isn't social progress, in my view, social progress is our duty" - EU Employment Commissioner, Vladimir Spidla, on the failure of talks to bring an end to Britain's opt-out of Europe's Working Hours Directive. Quoted in the Independent.
How Mr Spidla, who is a Czech, came to the conclusion that the hours British workers choose to work is any business of the EU's is beyond us. His remarks follow yet another failure to agree on how European working practices should be centralised.
Olympic Bill Leaps Higher
The cost of hosting 2012's Olympic Games in London could rise by up to a billion quid because the government failed to include the cost of VAT on venue building budgets, British "Olympics Minister" Tessa Jowell admitted yesterday.
Germany Taxes Internet TV
From David's Medienkritik comes news that Germany has found a way of integrating the internet into its economy: By taxing it.
Britain's Disappearing X-Files
Newly released secret documents reveal that Britain's secret services went to "extraordinary lengths" to cover up the extent of its 30-year investigation into UFO sightings and activity. The papers don't reveal the presence of aliens in the skies above Blighty - but they do show how government spooks tampered with their own records to hide the fact that a special unit was dedicated to looking out for them. Full story in The Guardian.
Balancing The Books
France is having so much trouble balancing its budget that it has taken to asking computer gamers to help it out. This week, just as French taxpayers are wondering which allowances to include in their annual income tax forms, the finance ministry launched an online game which challenges players to balance the state budget of 300 billion Euros.
We Have Ways Of Helping You Do Business
Tsk, sexist
Guess: What's Europe's best country to do business in? Wrong - according to accountancy group Ernst & Young, it's Germany. Germany comes out top because of its infrastructure, educated workforce, political stability and dedication to research and development. The new government under centre-right leader Angela Merkel is said to figure in the ranking, too, while this week's papers are full of renewed consumer and business confidence in the nation, possibly linked to the forthcoming World Cup Finals.
Overtime Out
Funny how issues bubble up from the cauldron of EU politics, only to sink down into the mire again. This week, the issue of working hours for EU members has surfaced once again, with the Austrian presidency of the EU finally declaring that differences over working times were "irreconcilable."
Cutting Some Tape
Looks like José Manuel Barroso's presidency of the European Commission will not not be marked by the kind of visionary grand projet beloved of federalists. This is probably just as well, considering that voters in Holland and France have killed off the EU's flagship constitutional project by rejecting the EU Constitution.
Last Orders
Brits enjoying a cool drink in today's Bank Holiday sunshine might like to bear in mind that the pint they are drinking could be their last - at least, if the European Commission has its way. In the latest in a long line of gaffes that must have UK Europhiles wondering if the Commission is trying to force Britain out of the EU by harrying its people with absurd laws, commissioners have ordered the government to announce a date when imperial measures will be abolished.
Taxing On The Runways
The European Commission claims to have won the support of several major airlines and the British presidency of the EU for its scheme to introduce a €9 "environment tax" on all flights originating or landing in Europe.
Germans Push For Pop Quota
German radio listeners could soon hear a lot less of their favourite David Hasselhof records if a group of musicians pushing for a law limiting English-language music have their way.
A group of 500 German rockers signed a petition demanding that the government introduce a quota forcing radio stations to play more Teutonic pop. At present, only around ten percent of records on German radio are by German artists.
The government has responded by creating a cultural committee to look into the issue. One member of the committee who supports the artists said that she hoped broadcasters would voluntarily increase the number of German songs aired. However, if broadcasters refuse to comply, she will push for a mandatory quota.
German artists look to France as an example of enforced quotas for home-grown pop. France introduced laws forcing broadcasters to dedicate forty percent of their output to French pop in response to elite fears that French music is so dreadful citizens must be forced to listen to it.
Some DJs fought the ban by playing home-grown tripe in the dead hours of the morning, but most chose to stay on the right side of the law. (We'll take a little intermission here to giggle at the idea of French civil servants scouring the playlists to ensure the cultural and linguistic purity of the nation's pop music).
A cursory glance at the French pop charts shows that French artists have indeed made a comeback, probably as a result of the law. However, it does not seem to have done much for the careers of the artsy crooners who work in the grand tradition of French chanson: Instead, France's pop charts are filled with home-grown manufactured boy and girl bands, often formed in TV "Fame Academy" shows. So much for protecting the nation's identity and culture.
Regulation Kills
"Registering property requires one step in Norway, but 16 in Algeria. Incorporating a business takes two days in Canada, but 153 in Mozambique. Sacking a worker in Guatemala costs a firm three years’ worth of wages, compared with almost nothing in New Zealand…
In Haiti, for example, it takes 203 days to register a company, which is 201 days longer than in Australia. In Sierra Leone it costs 1,268% of average income, compared with nothing in Denmark. To register in Ethiopia, a would-be entrepreneur must deposit the equivalent of 18 years’ average income in a bank account, which is then frozen.
In Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, recording a property sale involves 21 procedures and takes 274 days. Official fees amount to 27% of the value of the transaction. In Norway the task takes less than a day and costs only 2.5% of the price of the property."
The Economist on the latest World Bank Report, "Doing Business in 2005." Via the Adam Smith Institute blog.
The Dependency Class
The French have their grand travaux: Presidents keen to leave their legacy on Paris spend billions on great public buildings. Francois Mitterand ordered some of the most prominent landmarks in France: The National Library, the Opera Bastille, the Grand Arche at La Defence.
Britain has no great tradition of erecting extravagant memorials with taxpayer's money. But not even the French could contemplate creating what could well be Prime Minister Tony Blair's lasting legacy to Britain: An entire class of people entirely funded by the state, employed in pointless and often laughable jobs.
Today The Sun added up the salaries offered in this week's "Society" supplement in the Guardian - where nearly all Britain's bigger public sector jobs are advertised. In just one day, the 124-page supplement carried nearly £10 million of jobs - not including their often very generous bonuses. Spread that sum out over a year and the sheer scale of this army of co-ordinators, advisors and administrators becomes clear.
This new class - unique in Europe - contributes little to Britain's culture and nothing to its economy. Instead, its members are entirely dependent on taxpayer funding.
Few have observed that the in-house journal of Britain's dependency class operates on the same system as many of its readers. The government must fork out a fortune to advertise these thousands of jobs in the Guardian's Society supplement.
Is the Guardian receiving a massive state subsidy to carry these job advertisements?
UPDATE: Blogger Laban Tall covered the Guardian subsidy scandal late last year.
Tall reports that the government is to be challenged about its direct subsidy of the newspaper, which gets 26,175 of the 42,914 public sector jobs advertised each year. Its nearest competitor is Scotland's Sunday Herald, which with over 7,000 advertisement hoovers up most of the MacJobs created by the Scottish Parliament.
In England, the Guardian's nearest challenger is ethnic minority newspaper The Voice, which claims 1,269 government ads.
Cleaning Out The Stables
Greece's prime minister elect Costas Karamanlis looks like getting off to a promising start. On his first day in office he plans to sack 10,000 civil service hangers-on appointed by the defeated Socialist administration.
Another Country
EU nations are struggling to cut the size of their state sectors, with one exception. In Britain, reports show that the public sector has been growing in recent years, and by 2006 will reach pre-Thatcher levels.
Bid To Ban Overtime
The European Parliament voted to end Britain's flexible overtime system earlier this month. However, at the same time as the EU attempts to stifle British business, other European nations are seeking ways of stretching their working weeks.
Wake Up Europe, A Tidal Wave Is Coming Your Way
The US driven, hi-tech backed restructuring of the world's economies could be too much for Europe’s rigid, high cost, no-growth countries. As economic reality bites it could even mean premature death for the 1960’s built and unreformed EU.
Working To End Overtime
Labour MEPs have rebelled against their party line and backed an EU parliament motion aimed at bringing Britain's flexible overtime policy to an end.
Up, Up And Away
Kevin Myers has an amusing and perceptive look at the differences between the moribund EU and sharp movers Ryanair:
Bloated, dirigiste and direly unimaginative, the (European) commission is the very antithesis of Ryanair. Janus-like, they are the two faces of the EU: one embodies the high-tax, low-growth model that has caused chronic stagnation across mainland Europe; the other represents the small-government, low-taxation principles that transformed the once-risible economies of Britain and Ireland. So the issue is not just about (Ryanair's boss) Michael O'Leary and his millions; it is about all our futures.
UK Blocks Euro Tax
Britain will veto an EU-wide direct tax proposed by the European Commission.
The tax is one of the options due to be considered by the commission next month as debate continues on how best to finance the EU as it expands from 15 to 25 nations.
Better Business
Britain leads Europe in the creation of new businesses, according to a new survey. With 6.4% of the population interested in starting their own business, Britain is still light years behind the USA (11.9%) but well ahead of Italy (3.2) and France (a poorly 1.4).
Working Your Hours Off
The European Commission has turned its beady eye on to Britain's opt-out of the working time directive, which allows some workers to put in more than the maximum 48 hours allowed by EU law.
Out Of Kilter
Yesterday it was yoghurt. Today it's kilts. Yes, the EU is once again attempting to 'standardise' national idiosyncrasies, with now-familiar hilarious results.
According to the Telegraph, the European Commission now concedes that kilts are an item of men's clothing, not women's wear as it insisted.
Weights And Measures
EURSOC approves of Iain Murray's blog, The Edge of England's Sword. Iain has added more to story EURSOC covered last week on how the EU can commandeer Britain's oil reserves. He also has some interesting comments on how a mayor in South London tried to book a market trader for selling groceries in pounds instead of kilos.
EURSOC's age and location means that it has been metric for some time now, but if traders and customers agree to sell and buy produce in ounces and pounds, this is no business or ours - or anyone elses, never mind a Eurofanatic mayor. Doesn't he have better things to do?
Don't Speak
The European Union has ways of stopping you from talking.
EU staff have come up with a range of intimidating techniques - from spitting on the floor when you approach to downright intimidation - to threaten colleagues who they suspect of blowing the whistle on corruption.
EU Economy Must Reform
Europe must cut red tape, liberalise its labour markets and reduce early retirement if it wants to pull out of the current economic slump. A report produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) painted a bleak picture of the EU's economic prospects, unless quick and far-ranging structural changes are implemented.
EU Confirms Kid's Clothes Tax
In one of those idiotic decisions that delight Eurosceptics so much, Brussels has called on Britain and Ireland to add VAT onto baby clothes, to bring them in line with EU standards.
