Leo McKinstry: "The EU is stuck in permanent crisis"

Leo McKinstry´s description of the state of the European Union is spot on:

The EU is stuck in permanent crisis, wrecked by its federalist dogma, economic mismanagement and lack of democratic accountability.
The single currency has become an engine of crippling debts, mass unemployment and stalled growth, while the EU’s model of social protection is hopelessly uncompetitive and unsustainable.
The EU makes up just seven per cent of the world’s population yet incredibly accounts for more than 50 per cent of the world’s welfare spending.
Similarly the EU’s obsession with open borders has only succeeded in fanning the flames of division and extremism, the opposite of its goal of unity. In fact the very existence of European civilisation is now under threat thanks to Brussels’ determination to import alien cultures on an industrial scale.
It is the EU, not Britain, that is heading for catastrophe. We have nothing to be frightened of alone, even without a deal, whereas the EU’s own survival is at risk.

Read the entire column here.

Hungary´s PM Viktor Orbán: 2017 "will be the year of revolt for European democracy"

The much vilified Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán´s prediction for 2017 is spot on:

“Hungary is a stable island in the turbulent western world because the people were consulted on their opinions here, and we defended the country against illegal immigration.
“This will continue in 2017, which will be the year of revolt for European democracy.
“In many cities in Western Europe people now have no peace of mind, crimes against women rapidly multiply and the terror threat skyrockets.
“This shakes the confidence and self-esteem of the Western world. The economic slowdown, crime, terrorism, migration, indecision and insincere speech all adds up, and Western leaders won’t provide the answers.”

Read the entire article here.

EU - the European empire - is doomed to fail

The remains of one failed empire - The Forum Romanum in a 1890s photograph.

One wonders what will remain of the EU headquarters in Brussels a hundred

years from now?

The Dutch historian Thierry Baudet has written an excellent article about the failure of the European Union empire.

Here is an excerpt:

The idea that nationalism leads to war while European unification promotes peace is therefore false. And let’s not forget that Europe has not been at “peace” over the last 50 years. During most of that period, the countries of Europe were engaged in a fight to the death with the Soviet Union, which was once again the expression of yet another anti-national philosophy – in this case communism. As the Communist Manifesto insisted, “Working men have no country.”
As you might expect, today’s attempt to bring about political unity in Europe is a major source of tensions. The political landscape in virtually every country in Europe has now been marked by the emergence of increasingly powerful parties that are opposed to the established order.

Nationalism makes democracy possible

Distrust of the South is increasingly prevalent in Northern Europe, and vice-versa. Here again, it is not nationalism but the European project which is the source of the conflict. It follows that we should seek to create a Europe that is radically different to the current EU.
What we need is a Europe without a central regime: a Europe comprised of nation states, which are not afraid of national differences, and willing to cooperate with each other. The authority of nation states over their own borders should be restored, so that they themselves can decide who they want to allow in their territory.
In the service of their economic interest, they should opt for flexible visa regimes, which will nonetheless allow them to keep control of crime and immigration. We will also have to dissolve the euro to give nation states some monetary breathing space so that they can once again set their own interest rates in response to local conditions. Finally, we will have to get rid of harmonisation which undermines diversity.
Far from being a source of conflict, nationalism is the force that makes democracy possible. Without this unifying force, parliaments would be unable to take legitimate decisions. As the example of Belgium has shown, a lack of national unity can make the administration of a country extremely difficult. The irrational fear of nationalism could ultimately result in the establishment of a restrictive empire in Brussels. The time has come to call a halt and restore the nation state.

Read the entire article here

Small is beautiful - On why Switzerland is successful

The New Zealand based columnist Oliver Hartwich describes why the Swiss are successful:

"If you are looking at Switzerland from outside, you cannot help but wonder how this small piece of central Europe – mountainous and with no obvious strategic advantages over its larger neighbours – made itself a world-class economy.

Well, for a start it probably helped that the Swiss never became part of the EU. Where other European countries succumbed to the idea of an integrated continent, the Swiss stubbornly remained independent and did their own thing. And it worked well, so there is hope for Britain after Brexit. --

For many years, Switzerland has been ranked as the world’s most competitive country by the World Economic Forum (New Zealand is 16th).
The key to Switzerland’s success is its decentralised nature. If every tier of government has income tax-raising powers, and if the various tiers of government are small in size, it is not difficult to imagine what this set-up will do to economic development. As councils and cantons can feel the results of their political decisions in their own pockets, of course they will pursue growth-friendly policies. As they realise that their residents are not just inhabitants but taxpayers, of course they will try to keep them happy.
Switzerland has chosen a path to economic development that is diametrically opposed to New Zealand’s and to most other developed economies. Instead of trying more centrally controlled policies, Switzerland has opted for the principle of subsidiarity. That means relegating decision-making to the lowest tier possible.
From a New Zealand perspective, the Swiss approach to governance is the polar opposite of what we have been trying so far. But even we have to realise that Swiss government yields much better results than we could ever hope for.
In a nutshell, Switzerland means that big does not always mean better and that small can be quite beautiful. It also demonstrates government needs performance incentives in order to, well, perform. That is not so surprising if you are in business but for government, apparently, it’s a big discovery."

Thank you, Angela - Vielen Dank!

Vielen Dank, Angela!

Thank you!
Vielen Dank!
አመሰግናለሁ
Շնորհակալություն
Çox sağ ol
Eskerrik asko
ধন্যবাদ
Hvala ti
Благодаря
ကျေးဇူးတင်ပါတ
Salamat
Zikomo
Aitäh
Kiitos
Je vous remercie
Dankewol
Tapadh leat
Grazas
გმადლობთ
Ευχαριστώ
આભાર
Mèsi
na gode
Mahalo
धन्यवाद
Ua tsaug rau koj
Daalụ
Terima kasih
Go raibh maith agat
Þakka þér
Grazie
ありがとうございました
Matur nuwun
Gràcies
Рақмет сізге
អរគុណ
谢谢
Spas dikim
Gratias tibi
Paldies
Ačiū
Dank je
Dziękuję Ci
Obrigado
спасибо
Tack
Дякую
Takk

Background reading:

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/692831/west-paying-blood-folly-politicians

The shame- and brainless John Kerry has been advising David Cameron about ways to overturn Brexit!

Here is another proof that US Secretary of State John Kerry is a walking disaster:

The US secretary of state has raised doubts about whether Brexit will ever happen, suggesting most leave campaigners do not truly believe in Britain’s divorce from the EU and do not know how to achieve it.
Claiming there were a number of ways in which Thursday’s vote could be “walked back”, John Kerry, who visited Downing Street on Monday, said David Cameron was loth to invoke article 50, the EU exit procedure.          

Several scenarios could see the vote overturned, involving either a Labour or Tory prime minister. But all are speculative

                         

He said the British prime minister felt powerless to “start negotiating a thing that he doesn’t believe in” and “has no idea how he would do it”.
Apparently referring to Boris Johnson, one of the frontrunners to replace Cameron, Kerry added: “And by the way, nor do most of the people who voted to do it.”

PS

Fortunately this shame- and brainless politician will soon be out of work.

This does not reflect very well on David Cameron either. He should not have put in this way when talking to a US Secretary of State!

After Brexit people in other EU countries want a referendum

UK voters voted out. Now it is clear that people in other EU countries demand the same chance to vote about membership in the failed EU. But Angela Merkel and the othe EU leaders will be doing their utmost in order to prevent that:

A recent survey by the Pew Research Centre found that only 38 per cent of France had a favourable view of the EU, marking an astonishing negative shift in attitudes towards Brussels since the 2009 financial crisis that has been mirrored to varying degrees all across Europe.
A poll last month by Ipsos-MORI found that nearly half of voters in eight big European Union countries want to be able to vote on whether to remain members of the bloc, with a third saying they would opt to leave, if given the choice.
European leaders moved immediately to stamp down talk of referendums, with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, warning against “hysterical reactions” and pledging that the remaining EU member states were "determined to keep our unity as 27".

Read the entire article here

What will happen after the British EU Referendum?

Whatever the result in today´s EU Referendum will be, this will follow:

- The stagnating, undemocratic and corrupted European Union - which is beyond repair - is bound to implode within the next ten or twenty years. Brexit would hasten this process. That´s why many of those, who really care about Europe, have supported the Leave side.

- Even if the British decide to stay in the EU, David Cameron will be an utterly diminished leader, not only in the UK, but also in the EU and on a global level. It is difficult to see, how he can stay on as PM after a narrow win for his side.

- If the British vote to leave the EU, there is not the slightest chance that Cameron will be able to continue as PM. The way he has chosen to conduct his Remain campaign has been dishonest and divisive. A Conservative backlash is bound to follow.

Boris Johnson on Brexit: The defining moment

The defining moment of the EU Referendum campaign:

Remain campaign on the murder of MP Jo Cox: "This will play well for us"

Breitbart London discloses how the Remain campaign uses the tragic murder of MP Jo Cox for their own purposes:

Remain: When ‘Kinder, Gentler Politics’ Really Means ‘Dirtier, Uglier’

“This will play well for us,” said a Labour pro-Remain figure on Saturday responding to the murder of pro-Remain Labour MP Jo Cox.

Will Straw, director of the Remain campaign, has been caught red-handed advising his team how to exploit Cox’s death by playing up the message that Leave represent “division and resentment” while only Remain represents “decent, tolerant Britain.”

This is what the left means by “dog-whistle” politics.
Only this time, it’s the left which is blowing that whistle.

Read the entire article here

The best Brexit video

This is a brilliant video. If you have vote, and still are undecided, please watch it!

The Sunday Telegraph supports Brexit: "The EU belongs to the past"

The Sunday Telegraph joins the Brexit camp:

Leaving the EU does not mean leaving Europe. A vote for Brexit on Thursday will not change our geography. Just as our island story has been intertwined with that of the Continent, often with bloody and tragic consequences, it will continue to be so.
One of the principal ambitions behind the original Common Market was to forge a political system in Europe that would prevent a repeat of the dreadful world wars. Those conflicts involved dictatorships. Democracies do not go to war with each other; and there is no reason why an independent Britain cannot maintain alliances and harmonious relations with our neighbours. Indeed, it is essential that we do so.
But there is a world beyond Europe that the Remain camp simply ignores. A world that offers enormous opportunities for Britain to be a global player once more.
The case for Leaving is not negative and jingoistic. It is optimistic and hopeful. It is the case for a strong, independent and outward-looking Britain. Just as in 1973, when we joined the Common Market, we are at a crossroads in our history. The path we took then offered much but led us into a cul-de-sac, hemmed in by a sclerotic, hide-bound, rules-obsessed, inward‑looking institution.
The EU belongs to the past. On Thursday we hope the country chooses the future – and votes to leave.

Read the entire article here

One can only hope that the British will vote to leave the shipwreck called EU!

The Spectator: EU "resembles nothing so much as the Habsburg Empire in its dying days"

The EU "now resembles nothing so much as the Habsburg Empire in its dying days".

(image by Wikipedia)

The Spectator´s stand on Brexit is worth reading:

... when Britain last held a referendum on Europe, every newspaper in the land advocated a ‘yes’ vote. Only two national titles backed what is now called Brexit: the Morning Star and The Spectator.
Our concern then was simple: we did not believe that the Common Market was just about trade. We felt it would be followed by an attempted common government, which would have disastrous effects on a continent distinguished by its glorious diversity. The whole project seemed to be a protectionist scam, an attempt to try to build a wall around the continent rather than embrace world trade. Such European parochialism, we argued, did not suit a globally minded country such as Britain. On the week of the 1975 referendum, The Spectator’s cover line was: ‘Out – and into the world.’ We repeat that line today.
Since 1975 the EU has mutated in exactly the way we then feared and now resembles nothing so much as the Habsburg Empire in its dying days. A bloated bureaucracy that has outgrown all usefulness. A parliament that represents many nations, but with no democratic legitimacy. Countries on its periphery pitched into poverty, or agitating for secession. The EU’s hunger for power has been matched only by its incompetence. The European Union is making the people of our continent poorer, and less free.
This goes far beyond frustration at diktats on banana curvature. The EU has started to deform our government. Michael Gove revealed how, as a cabinet member, he regularly finds himself having to process edicts, rules and regulations that have been framed at European level. Laws that no one in Britain had asked for, and which no one elected to the House of Commons has the power to change. What we refer to as British government is increasingly no such thing. It involves the passing of laws written by people whom no one in Britain elected, no one can name and no one can remove.

Ipsos MORI poll also puts Leave ahead in Britain

More great news from the UK:
The campaign to quit the European Union has surged into a six-point lead with exactly a week to go, a sensational Ipsos MORI poll reveals today.
In a dramatic turnaround since May, some 53 per cent now want to leave and 47 per cent want to stay, excluding don’t knows.
It is the first time since David Cameron pledged the referendum in January 2013 that Vote Leave have come out ahead in the respected monthly Ipsos MORI telephone survey, which is exclusive to the Evening Standard.

PS

Some music to celebrate:

German foreign minister says a Brexit will "shake the European Union"

German foreign minister Steinmeier thinks that a Brexit could lead to the disintegration of "a very successful, decades-long integration":

Germany's foreign minister says the European Union would be shaken by a British vote to leave and would have to ensure that it did not ultimately lead toward the bloc's disintegration.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that if Britain goes "things wouldn't just carry on as 28 minus one the following day".
He said: "It would shake the European Union (and) we would have to assure each other that the European Union continues to stick together - and that a very successful, decades-long integration process does not in the end turn to disintegration."

Well, let´s hope that a Brexit really leads to the disintegration of the present, highly unsuccessful and undemocratic monster that the European Union has become!

Frederick Forsyth on the Remain camp leaders: "avoiding any mention of sovereignity or independence"

Frederick Forsyth´s description of the Remain campaign leaders is worth reading:

The more I study the Remain campaign and its leading figures, the more it seems the entire leadership of it is centred in the Westminster-Whitehall-City triangle. Let me call it the London Bubble.
They all know each other, these London-based mandarins. Politicos, bureaucrats, diplomats, quangocrats and lawyers; bankers, financiers, tycoons, profiteers and city slickers. Add the attendant journos and broadcasters who have abandoned their duty to hold establishment to account and found it more chummy to join it.
You see their faces coming up on programme after programme, panel after panel, debate after debate. You see them mouthing the same rubbish about trade and prosperity and avoiding any mention of sovereignty or independence.

Read the entire article here

Energy Secretary Amber Rudd on Britain´s "leading role" in the EU

In the ITV EU referendum debate last night, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd - looking and sounding more like a Marxist suffragette than a Conservative - accused the Leave side of using lies and "cons".

However, this credulous believer in human induced catastrophic global warming "forgot" to mention what the reality behind Britain´s "leading role" actually means:

As David Cameron’s Cabinet colleagues fan out across the media to tell us how catastrophic it would be for Britain to leave the EU, one minister is in a class of her own. It may not be surprising that Amber Rudd, as the sister of Roland Rudd – one of the leading lobbyists for Britain to stay in the EU – is a keen Europhile. But when our Energy and Climate Change Secretary claims, in a Daily Telegraph interview, that it would be bad for Britain’s energy security and costs to be excluded from our leading role in the EU’s “energy market”, we have to ask what game she is playing.

She obviously hopes we will not notice that the only thing which gives Britain a “leading role” in this respect is that we already have an energy policy quite different from anyone else’s. We are the only country committed (by the Climate Change Act) to cutting our “CO2 emissions” by a staggering 80 per cent within 34 years.

It is all very well her calling on our energy suppliers to cut their bills at a time when oil prices are continuing to fall. But everything she is doing to meet that target is destined to push those bills ever higher.

Read the entire article here

"David Cameron’s EU deal is – in legal terms – not worth the paper it’s printed on"

I have a feeling that the Vote Leave people have not quite enough reminded people about the truth of David Cameron´s EU deal:

"David Cameron’s EU deal is – in legal terms – not worth the paper it’s printed on"

David Jones         

Conservative MP for Clwyd West and a former secretary of state for Wales.

Here you can read what David Jones thinks about Cameron´s empty deal.

David Cameron on Turkish EU membership - now and then ...

Watch two David Camerons

If you love Europe, you must hope that the British will put an end to the fake EU empire

If you love democracy and the rich cultural and economic variety of Europe, you must hope that the British, by voting for Brexit, will help to put and end to Barroso´s fake Empire: