It’s All Greek To Me!
I like Greece and the Greek people for that matter, even if they do smoke too much!
I also like the euro and on the whole think it is a good thing and we should have joined, just like we should have joined Schengen.
The trouble with Greece is that they don’t like rules and especially those imposed by others on their economy. One Greek told me that’s why they all smoke in restaurants despite it being against the law.
So perhaps their economy wasn’t strong enough for Greece to join the single currency, but for a few years it gave them a lot of cheap money, just as it did Ireland. So now that the lenders want it back, there’s problems all round. Robert Peston of the BBC analyses it all here.
I’m no economist, so where it will all end, I do not know. But I am a qualified control engineer and I do know that the Greek economy has all the stability of a bicycle with the handles stuck either turning to the left or right.
Just like the bicycle, the Greek economy will have an awful crash.
The villians really are not the Greeks here, but the politicians who wanted a single currency and didn’t really think through about how to make it work properly. If the right rules had been in place from the first day, then there would have been no need for a bailout of Greece, Ireland or Portugal.
I suspect now, that if it was that stable, then we would have joined the euro. Or we would have at least tried to!
Scottish Devolution
They are debating this old chestnut on Radio 5 Live at the moment.
Apparently there has been a poll in The Sun, which says that those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are more in favour of devolution than the Scots.
If they do leave the Union, then can they please take the Royal Bank of UK Taxpayers and its debts with them. And they can keep that banker, Fred the Shred too!
The question has to be asked as to whether the EU would admit Scotland. After all Spain has regions that would like independence and may vote against, as it doesn’t want Spain to split.
After Greece and Ireland, It’s Now Portugal!
There is a lot of opposition to bailing out Portugal in the UK. We should always remember wha happened to the British economy when Denis Healey went to the IMF in the 1970s. We got the money we needed, but we had to bring in some very unwelcome policies under IMF supervision.
So shouldn’t the same rules apply to Greece, Ireland and Portugal? Isn’t there an old phrase about the person paying the piper calling the tune?
I’ve just returned from Greece and it is a country in turmoil. But then I’ve hardly ever been to Greece without suffering some form of labour dispute. Because of its history and weather, it has a lot going for it. But a lot of it requires investment in infrastructure for which it doesn’t have the money.
I must ask the question as to whether the money that has been pumped into Greece has been used wisely?
I have had no experience of Ireland in the last few years, but the Irish still seem to find the money to spend on racehorses. They want to renegotiate the bail-out conditions on the one hand and on the other they still have a low rate of Corporation Tax, to which many countries object. So perhaps the most important condition in the bailout of Ireland hasn’t been applied.
In some ways loaning money to Ireland is in our interests, as a lot of it will come back in the purchase of goods and services, as our two countries are very economically entwined. But again we didn’t seem to apply any obvious pressure on Corporation Tax.
With respect to Portugal, which used to be known as our oldest ally, we don’t really have any great economic interests in the country. I suppose the one problem we do have in Portugal and Spain is the large number of ex-pats, who have bought properties there. So if either went bust and we didn’t help, then there might be quite a few votes down the drain.
After all, the only reason we bailed out the stupid people, who put their money in Icelandic banks, was to buy votes.
So on balance we should probably help with Portugal. But only on our terms. After all, if China or the United States was to bail out any country, they wouldn’t do it without a lot of self-interest.
An Open Letter to my MP About Changing to Central European Time
I feel very strongly that we should be on the same time asmost of the rest of Europe. As the MPs are voting on it on Friday, I thought I’d send my MP a reminder to cast his vote and cast it in favour of the Daylight Saving Bill.
I’ve struggled these last few days in the snow, as I can’t drive due to my stroke and there is little or no public transport. If the evenings were lighter and the morning darker, I could stay in bed until it was fully light and it would give a much longer window, in the middle of the day, for my carer/driver to come and take me to the shops and doctors’ appointments. I have needed taxis at times, and they all seem to disappear when it gets dark.
Now I’m not disabled, but I suspect that those who are, have found these few days very trying.
I also caught a train to Ipswich from Stratford in the rush hour a few days ago. I didn’t have any trouble, but more light would have made the crowded platform a lot safer.
As a trained engineer, I’m also a big fan of metric units, as these make construction and many other things a lot simpler and safer. My middle son incidentally was born in the same hospital as baby Miliband. But there was one big difference. In 1970 my son was measured in kilos, but baby Miliband was given in pounds. So you can see what progress means in the Labour Party!
So please vote for the UK to join Central European Time.
I do suspect though, that we won’t do the sensible thing, as this change strikes too many as cowtowing to Europe.
What Do We Do With the Irish Problem?
At times, I think the euro is a good idea. But to be fair, it will only work, if everybody acts as a team and plays the same way and to the same objectives. But Greece and now Ireland have taken advantage of the rules to play the game their way. Robert Peston wrote a very good piece on his blog yesterday and got right to the point.
Ireland has got itself in this mess by pursuing an unsubstanable property bubble and then bailing out the banks and the builders with loans from the European Central Bank.
But what started it?
For more years than I can remember, Irish thoroughbred breeders got it easy in the region of taxes. There were so many crazy rules, such as stallion fees being except of tax and that is why all the best stallions outside Middle Eastern ownership are in Ireland. And when it came to sell yearings and fials, did English breeders get the price their horse deserved? Sometimes but not always! In fact because of the racehorse tax situation, Tattersalls, the auctioneers, thought about moving to Ireland.
In fact you might argue, that the parlous state of racing and breeding in the UK, France, Germany and Italy, is down to the Irish and their feather-bedded industry!
But it’s not just horse owners and breeders, that get this treatment.
Irish corporate taxes are out of line with the rest of Europe and consequently, many companies use Ireland as a legal way of minimising taxes.
This is wrong and European finances will not return to sanity until we all play by similar rules in the areas of budget deficits, corporate taxes, working practices andpensions.
But it will not be easy, as look at the problems, France has been having trying to put a modicum of sense into its pensions.
So to repeat Gladstone’s famous question. which of course was part of “If you solve the Irish question, the Irish change the question!”
So Ireland, you must change the question! Ireland has one of the most educated populations in the EU. perhaps their insistence on not needing the bailout is a good policy and the start of this process.
But remember too, we have extensive investments in the country and they have a lot in the UK, so perhaps if we worked together more in all sorts of areas, we might both do each other some good, despite past troubles.
Cameron Gets It Right
David Cameron seems to have got a reasonable result over the EU budget today. Ten countries, including France and Germany have backed him over the size of the budget increase and that is probably the best he could have hoped for!
I think that this might be a bigger victory, than we think, as I think it is something that Blair or Brown couldn’t have done because of their stance as America’s poodle. I think it is terue to say that Mrs. Thatcher wouldn’t have got this result, without creating a lot of acrimony and bad feelings.
But Cameron seems to have axhieved his objectives, by pringing nine other countries round to his views, although I think Chancellor Merkel was thinking on similar lines.
As someone who is pro-Europe on the personal things, let’s hope that this marks the start of Europe working together to sort out its formidable problems of the jobs, poverty, agriculture, finance and fraud.
Will Britain Dance In Time to the Scottish Nationalists?
Parliament is discussing going to Central European Time today, so the BBC has a piece about the possible change from Scotland. A professor from Edinburgh University has said that Scots are generally in favour of the change to lighter evenings, but that the SNP has called the change ludicrous.
Let’s hope that every other politician feels that way about their stand.
But I’ve always felt that this very sensible move, which has so many positive energy, business, job and leisure implications will never happen, as it is in effect a vote for something that makes us closer to Europe.
Backing for Lighter Evenings
I have always believed that we should be on Central European Time for reasons of business with Europe and to give more light in the evening.
Now it would appear from this article, that major sporting bodies including the FA and the ECB are backing the proposals of the Lighter Later Campaign, which will culminate in a Private Member’s Bill in the House of Commons on December 3rd.
I doubt it’ll be accepted as it will mean we’re on Central European Time, which is a no-no to many MPs.
Should We Still Call It The Battle of Britain?
Today is the 70th anniversary of the start of The Battle of Britain in 1940, which perhaps is one of the great battles in history.
But are we right to name it such?
I remember a French documentary on the battle in probably 1965, that was considered controversial. It wasn’t in any great sense, but it criticised us for calling it The Battle of Britain. As they felt, it was effectively Europe’s last stand against the Nazis and if we had lost the battle then the war might well have been over, then the battle should be called The Battle of Europe.
I thinik the French were right!
President Blair
Prudence is backing Tony Blair for European President.
I am not a lover of Mr. Blair, but is there anybody else with as much experience to do the job? Europe needs someone who countries like the US and China will treat as an equal, so it probably means that person must come from either the UK, France, Germany or Italy.
I also feel that having a Brit in charge may help us in our tricky dealings with Europe. But I doubt it, as Britain is far too against the continent.
Incidentally, I’m not!
I’m all for joining Schengen and the Euro, but feel that we must get a stronger grip on fishing and agriculture. We must also create a coherent foreign policy to which we all sign up and then create the defence structure underneath it.
The Anonymous Widower 