Carswell - A bit of a mess
1. He's undoubtedly right in believing that Cameron will flunk any reform negotiations - Dave has all the negotiating ability of a collapsed soufflé and about as much real commitment to fundamental reform as a nun writing a condom ad. Many Tories are exhibiting the triumph of hope over experience on this, convincing themselves that Dave will somehow behave completely differently to the way he has for the last ten years. There's no hope I'm afraid - he will flunk it, and be wholly humiliated, and will then flunk the Brexit referendum, leaving the UK as weak losers.
2. A minor but nonetheless niggling point - he's stolen Nigel's thunder as the first elected UKIP MP (or will do if he succeeds in the by election). While the gain to UKIP outweighs the stolen prize, it's a bit caddish.
3. Carswell is an unlikely hero. Committed to the privileges of the political class, he led moves to make the home addresses of MPs secret on election applications. Neither was his Localism book (with Dan Hannan) entirely original, owing much to both Simon Jenkins and Helena Kennedy, sometimes without attribution. If I met him in the pub, I wouldn't like him.
4. However, at least few care personally what happens to him. His move is useful in gaining UKIP air-time and in forcing Tory MPs to realise that Cameron's emollient charms are unsuited to the job in hand. It also brings back into discussion a Tory - UKIP election pact for 2015; if a worried party forces Cameron into this, Carswell's actions will be justified.
Back to today ...and apropos of nothing
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Apropos of nothing, you may not be aware that the EU Commission actually has its own FOI system, application form HERE.
I've already submitted two -
- (1)Inventory and valuation of the Commission's cellar stocks of wine, beers and spirits (2) Inventory and valuation of the Commission's cutlery, crockery, napery, cruets, condiments, candelabra, candle holders and all other equipment and table decoration held for official Commission dining and events
- A complete inventory and valuation of all works of art valued each at over €1.000 (one thousand Euros) held by the Commission to include paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings, installation works and all other objects held for artistic and / or cultural reasons
Well, if we're entitled to 10% of the CDs in this divorce, we don't want to be stuck with the Spice Girls and Robbie Williams, do we?
11 comments:
Radders - EU commission FOI - excellent point, well made.
Re Carswell, never liked him but the more general point is, how unusual it is to see a political organisation disappear after achieving its fundamental objective. Well done UKIP.
Re FOI
Brilliant... but why leave out pornographic material?
Budgie said this on your previous post that you linked to. Seems to have been on the money: "The path of converts to UKIP is seldom smooth, and after a honeymoon period, newcomers tend to fall out with Farage and then disappear."
As you rightly state, he and the other conservative defector MP at that time (now elected on UKIP platform to the Welsh assembly) guaranteed a certain amount of time on national television. That alone was IMO worth having them on board.
And yes it was the fear of losing several more eurosceptic Tory MP's to UKIP that led Cameron to promise the referendum, so again, well worth having them on board.
There are now 7 UKIP people in the Welsh Assembly, though two are ex Tory MP's - and apparently not exactly rooted in UKIP values. The other 5 are just learning the ropes it seems (not a bad thing at all).
There is one Suzane Evans who has run (unsuccessfully) for the post of Party Leader. She's a Tory defector and if way, miles out of touch with the party rank and file. I quote
“I actually really like the smoking ban!” she exclaims with a tinkly laugh. “So I definitely disagree with Nigel on that one.” She wouldn’t dream of relaxing the drink-driving laws (“No, good God no, absolutely not”) nor wage war on speed cameras (“I am passionately anti-speeding”). Not keen on gay marriage at first, she now finds it “charming”, approves of gay couples adopting (“Good parenting is what counts”) and is delighted that bed-and-breakfast owners can no longer turn away guests out of prejudice. She did have a golliwog as a child, which she “absolutely loved,” but later in life a black boyfriend “opened my eyes” to this “unacceptable stereotype”, and now “I totally see his point”.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/29/suzanne-evans-gaping-hole-in-british-politics-for-ukip
The sooner she naff's off the better.
I notice that Trump has asked Merkel for 300 billion scrutes to compensate the USA for defending Germany since 1947. As the second biggest contributor to the defence of Germany, we ought to be able to ask for 50 or 60 billion. She could send the cheque straight to Juncker.
Perhaps you should add No. 3:
Portfolio of land and buildings, listed by country, wholly or partly owned by the EU.
Or No. 4
Infrastructure assets paid for by the EU, listed by country.
Anon - No 3 is already, I know, being listed - including the old Smith Square Conservative party HQ, now the EU Kommandamt UK
No 4 is tricky as legal ownership was passed to national agencies concerned and these are no longer EU assets. However, the EU requires all recipients of ESF / ERDF to maintain an asset register of everything >€2,500, so reasonable to ask for details of all EU Commission, Parliament & Council assets over this level.
Carswell = stool pigeon with a cranky bill
Steve
Carswell served his purpose at the time. He got UKIP media attention; airtime; scared the pants off Cameron and secured the Referendum ...... and, despite the animosity with Farage, we won.
Yes, he's contributed to the UKIP implosion post-Referendum but he's not the only guilty party as far as that's concerned. If Steven Woolfe had got his initial leadership in on time .... surely not too much to ask ..... we would have had a new, credible leader last August and things would be looking very different.
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Good plan with the EU FoI. Let's hope David Davis is on the case as well.
These day it appears many people are set objectives and are required to prove with evidence and any relevant metrics that they have achieved that objective.
By that measure, and with the evidence to hand I can only say that UKIP succeeded in achieving their objective beyond their wildest dreams (and with only one MP). It's a masterclass in political pressure
Personally speaking it's time to knock it on the head. Nuttall is no leader, Evans has serious issues with any kind of liberalism, and Hamilton is an embarrassment. Woolfe had his chance and blew it and the only other possible leader - Diane James - gave up within 3 weeks. Perhaps Aaron Banks' outfit might be a better vehicle for kippers
I've just posted this at Guido but it will do equally here, if I may Radders!
Nigel Farage is a focal point, we recognize and praise it, he has worked his socks off and is a fine orator but he is not a general and to say the least, political organization, its logistics was never a strong suit at 'team Farage'.
What really pisses me off is that: the senior bods at the top of UKIP treat the people who voted for them as muppets.
UKIP? Lord! needs to rebrand, the trouble is 'UKIP' cannot make up its mind on what it wants to be and other than getting out of the EU - after that, it still doesn't know what it is for.....British or no? But of the UK or, should I say actually, the English and Welsh electorate cries out for a political entity which represents - them.
God almighty, the UK political landscape is a wreck and the toryboys are supposedly cleaning up, on so many policies and competencies the tories are as bad if not worse than were the lavs under Bliar'n'Broon. The English need an alternative, alack, presently: there is nowhere for 4 million votes to go.....WTF?
What is needed, verily some political entity to start to offer some cogent, credible alternative to the filthy mulch of liblavCON statists/Socialism.
'UKIP' could be that alternative, but it needs to junk the idea that it can be labour lite or, like the tories middle of the road BS political crossdressers.
Somehow, in England, we need a political entity which can start to help to reclaim this nation back from the claws of COMMON PURPOSE and in alliance with the corporate and statist control freaks running the show.
On the 'green agenda', adoration of the cult of political correctness, limiting welfare - child benefits, housing benefits - this must stop - and mass immigration, the ECHR, 'supply side' economics, bigger military spending [paid for by reining in foreign aid, quangos, payments to the EU], depoliticizing the police force, and yes privatizing the NHS, bringing some reality back to Government produced national statistics - particularly in the ONS its pathetic not fit for joking - census figures and all HMG economic prognostications, get someone in at the BoE who bats for England.
+ and much else besides. If not a new 'UKIP'.................. then, under theresa may - we go on borrowing, equivocating, welfarism galore and burning money we don't have on the road down to an energy crisis - regular black outs, deindustrialization and thus: economic oblivion.
We want our country back so.............what's it gonna be?
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