Help From The Germans
I want to go to Sudbury today, so to find the times of the trains, I tried to look them from Shenfield to Sudbury on the National Rail web site.
But the site was having an off day.
So I used the alternative of the Deutsche Bahn web site.
Shenfield To Sudbury By Deutsche Bahn
As you can see it worked. As it does with all European trains!
So if you want to go from Zaragosa to Geneva say, it will give you the route and details.
It even has Llanfairpwll station in the database and looking up the journey to there for Cologne, it even estimates twenty-five minutes for the walk between St. Pancras and Euston.
It is a very comprehensive free service.
What Game Were Corbyn And Milne Playing?
To sabotage the Labour party’s support for Remain, as I detailed in For The Female Of The Species Is More Deadly Than The Male, seems to me a very strange thing for Seamus Milne and Jeremy Corbyn to do.
Most commentators felt that by voting Leave, it would put the country into a recession. Other commentators have stated that the EU needs the UK as a balance to Germany.
My father old me about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Hitler and Stalin , which he felt was two equally bad regimes supping together. To him, there was no difference between the extreme left and the extreme right and let’s face it Stalin’s Russia was as bad at killing people as Hitler’s Germany.
So in some ways to me, this seems like two of the hard left , have deliberately aided those to the right to remove the UK from the EU.
Perhaps, they are hoping that this will cause the EU to collapse!
And who would benefit from that?
Vladimir Putin.
I hope I’m wrong.
Certainly the pair of them have destroyed any credibility the Labour Party had left!
I Will Just Carry On
I feel this morning, just like I did on the 2nd May 1997, which was the day Tony Blair became Prime Minister.
I was slightly apprehensive then as to what is going to happen, as after John Major’s government had fallen, I wondered what a left-wing Government would do to the economy.
But I feel that just as John Major and Kenneth Clarke left Blair an economy that worked, I believe that David Cameron and especially George Osborne have left the country in a state to live with or without the EU.
I was very much for staying in, but since the vote only one large company has expressed regrets as this article in the Daily Post, which is entitled EU Referendum: Airbus assessing impact of ‘disappointing’ Brexit vote, details.
But I am an Englishman and especially a London mongrel, with genes stolen from all the best parts of Europe.
I grew up with stories from my parents and others of the Blitz, in the midst of some of the worst air pollution, any child has ever had to endure.
Since then, I lived through the bombings of the Irish troubles and although I wasn’t in London for the bombings of the 7th July 2005, I know many who were. Perhaps the biggest terrible event, that happened near me was the Moorgate Tube Crash of 1975, which was less than 200 metres from where I lived in the Barbican.
Londoners will do what they always do in times of troubles and that is just carry on! It’s in their genes.
My genes from the Tailor of Bexley, did for a few hours about running, but my solid Devonian genes, told the others to wait and let’s see what happens first.
I said that David Cameron and George Osborne have left the country in a good state for the future.
For years, this country has been too centralised, so giving power to the regions and big cities will become Osborne’s legacy.
If Manchester wants to develop its trams or city centre, or build offices, housing and factories, that should be Manhester’s decision and should not be decided by the dead hand of London.
Scotland’s new bid for independence, is a good thing, and it is a consequence of devolved government.
I can for instance envisage a time in say a hundred years, where London becomes a powerful independent city-state. In the nineteenth century we had several of those; Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Leeds, London, Manchester and Sheffield.
That model for the UK will return.
If you look at the most powerful country in Europe; Germany already has that model with Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, the Ruhr cities and Stuttgart dominating.
But look at France! What Paris and the elite want, they impose!
Perhaps the biggest consequence of Brexit, will be a desire for the people of Europe to have more independence from their own Central Government.
Developing Rail Systems In Eastern Europe
I like travelling in Eastern Europe and so I was pleased to see this article in the International Rail Journal, which is entitled EU funds help to unlock rail’s potential in Eastern Europe.
It gives a long summary of the rail projects in the East, which I think are essential to improve the prosperity of the area.
I’m looking forward to the day, when I fly to Helsinki and take a ferry to Tallinn in Estonia.
From there I will take Rail Baltica through the Baltic States to Warsaw and Berlin, before taking a direct train from the German capital to London.
You might ask, what benefits spending money in Eastern Europe does for the UK other than opening up tourism for those who like travelling on trains?
The roads of Eastern Europe are clogged with trucks bringing exports and imports all across Europe.
One of the aims of these projects is to get freight on rail. As the last time I went on the M25, there seemed to be loads of East European trucks, surely freight trains through the Channel Tunnel will cut the numbers.
The other large aim is to link Eastern Europe better to Western Europe and help loosen the economic ties to Russia.
Will We Vote For Cameron’s Deal On Europe?
I don’t know the answer and there are probably only a couple of people who can predict the result with any certainty.
I’ve just looked at the reliable Odds Checker web site for their Brexit Referendum Betting Odds and as I write this post, it is 5/2 On to stay in and 5/2 that we’ll leave.
If I vote and I probably will, as the first time I voted was for the EU Referendum of 1975, it will probably be to stay in, as I am a committed European in habit and probably culture.
I also think that we should be in a reformed Schengen Area and that we need a more flexible payment system.
Schengen is an ideal, but in the modern world of terrorism, international crime and immigration pressures, it falls down a deep hole.
What could replace it, I know not, but surely we can find something, that is better than what we have now.
Flexible payments will happen, as cash is replaced by contactless payments on cards and mobile phones.
How long will it be until I look at my credit card statement and see real -time transactions in pounds despite spending them all over the world in euros, dollars and Ruritanian groats?
We will be moving inexorably towards a World electronic currency, that appears to everybody as the one they want to use.
Let’s face it, it’s only software.
The currency merging will be led by the Anglo-Saxon English-speaking triumvirate; the US/Canada, the UK and Hong Kong/Singapore.
The Eurozone will be unable to keep the Euro out of this juggernaut.
Europe’s biggest problem is migration and despite what you read in the Mail and the Express, because of our island status, we are isolated from the worst excesses of uncontrolled migration into the European Union.
I think it will have further effects after it destroys Schengen in its present form.
There are elections in a lot of European states soon!
Will we see fruit-cake parties campaigning against more migration and for a renegotiating of their relationship with the European Union, as David Cameron has just done?
You bet we will!
David Cameron has truly opened Pandora’s Box!
Putin And Europe’s Far Right
There was a headline in The Times yesterday of Le Pen’s party asks Russia for €27m loan.
So I searched for Putin’s links to far right parties and found this article in the Guardian entitled We should beware Russia’s links with Europe’s right. This is said.
It sounds like a chapter from a cheesy spy novel: far-right European party, in financial trouble, borrows a big sum of cash from a hawkish Russian president. His goal? To undermine the European Union and to consolidate ties between Moscow and the future possible leader of pro-Kremlin France.
Europe isn’t the problem! It’s Putin and Russia!
Do The English, Scots And Welsh Work Better Together Than The Belgians, Dutch And Germans?
If we take these two groups of three countries, they all have different railway companies, but do they illustrate a problem in the relations between various EU countries.
I know my experience of travelling between these six countries is mainly on the trains, but to travel between England, Scotland and Wales by train, is a lot easier than travelling between Belgium and The Netherlands and the Netherlands and Germany is full of little difficulties.
Strangely if you add France into the mix, that is generally as easy as the three home nations.
Judging by my experience in Europe, there are many ways that the Scots and Welsh could make the English unwelcome. But they don’t, except for the Seniors Bus Pass, although the same Senior Railcard is valid everywhere in the UK.
I know we’re all part of the same country, but I think where something has to be agreed across a border, we generally find a solution that is acceptable enough!
In the important area of rail ticketing, there seems little agreement on common standards between Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany.
Imagine how difficult it would be if ScotRail had different ticketing rules to say Virgin.
Surely, if Europe can’t get its act together in something like rail ticketing, how can it get something important like dealing with migrants working?
Is The Greek Tragedy Approaching The Final Act?
According to this report on the BBC, Greece has now voted through the bailout conditions, so that they can get further money from its debtors.
But will this be the end of the tragedy?
I doubt it!
The Greeks voted for the end of austerity in the last General Election and they have now got Austerity Plus. But they do get to keep the euro!
That sounds like a recipe for trouble!
If there is a lesson in the story of Greece and the euro over the last few years, it is that you must not fiddle the books, bribe the electorate and you must above all keep the finances in order and hopefully balanced.
Did anybody tell the Greeks that euros don’t grow on trees in Brussels?
At least the sun won’t go on strike! This is the one light at the end of the tunnel.
Do Politicians Make Too Much Fuss About Currencies?
The Needs Of People
I travel extensively across Europe and after trips like my Home Run From Krakow or my Home Run From Stockholm, I end up with a walletful of assorted zlotys, crowns etc.
But it won’t always be like that, as increasingly contactless cards and smartphones will take over from cash. How long will it be before a lot of public transport in the world uses the London model, where you just touch and go?
So I suspect cash will become very much a method of payment that will not bother visitors.
Other developments will also help.
1. Using Coins
Vending machines, toilets, left luggage lockers and other places that need small cash payments will get intelligent and probably respond to the local currency and a selection of others, like one and two euros, pound coins and dollar quarters.
So a visitor to Europe, would just make sure they topped up their one euro coins.
2. No-Commission on Credit Cards When Used Abroad
The credit card I use abroad, is a Nationwide Select Credit Card and this page on their web site, describes its use abroad. And so far, they’ve done what it says on the tin.
As the card was recommended by one of the Personal Finance Experts on the BBC, it can’t be that much of a con.
All credit cards should be like this!
3. Late Rooms et al.
On my trip to Poland, I used lateroom.com to book accomodation and some of the hotels were paid in zlotys. But I paid in advance in Pounds Sterling.
All of these systems are giving both the seller and the purchaser a bill in the currency they want.
Summing Up The Needs Of People
All people want is a system that buys that drink, meal or rents that room or sun lounger giving them a good rate with no hassle.
The Needs of Business
When it comes to business, I’ve just paid two overseas bills using SWIFT from my Nationwide account. I got charged £20 for each one, which was a bit steep in my view, but these days you can transfer money pretty easily.
The Greedy Bankers
So I come to the conclusion, that on a small transaction basis and that probably means anything under a couple of grand, transactions should be possible on what we have today.
Just look at what you can do with PayPal and an eMail address.
But would greedy bankers and their friends in Central Banks allow multi-currency transactions to become the norm for money transfer between consenting adults or companies?
The Innovators
Just look at how finance has changed in the last few years.
Nothing is cast in stone and who’s to say what will be the financial flavour of 2016.
Every problem is an opportunity for an innovator. And this type of disruptive innovation often hurts established players!
Summing Up The Needs Of Business
A business just wants money transferred to a client or supplier at the best rate instantly, for the lowest possible commission.
So Who Needs A Single Currency?
The only advantage of a single currency like the euro or the dollar, is that you know easily what you are paying and that accounts and paperwork are simpler.
Politicians also say it creates jobs as it encourages industries like tourism.
It may do, but the UK gets masses of tourists and not being in the Eurozone doesn’t seem to be a problem. Visitors are happy to use their credit cards or prepay for everything in their own currency, so it probably illustrates that if you have a good product, then the tourists and money will roll in.
I think it is probably true to say that politicians also like a single currency as it’s a big idea, with which they might leave their mark on history.
I was probably in favour of a single currency for Europe at one time, but I think now, that so many innovations will get round the rules and create lots of jobs, that it is rather an outdated concept.
I much prefer a simple process that allows me to spend pounds everywhere with the best exchange rate and no commission.
In some ways this will be an unrealistic idea, as politicians will protect their useless banks.
But they will have to legislate a ban to stop it.
Remember that politicians don’t understand new technology. Look at the mess they;re all in over Uber.
Will Nick Clegg Become A European Union Commisioner?
A lecturer in politics at Sheffield Hallam University has just said that Nick Clegg will be the next European Union Commisioner.
The BBC says that the lecturer has form for getting things right.
It sounds like a good idea to me and I think it will happen!
The Anonymous Widower 