Yes I know a year ago I was suggesting the arguments should speak for themselves on the burqa and its spin offs - and that provided there is a healthy debate on all the issues we should accept that some women will wear one of these ridiculous things just as some women will choose to date men on death row and think them husband material. Except that the debate c/o Jack Straw kind of fizzled out to the usual cries of racism.

So then I read about the French approach. To anyone who thinks political correctness is rife in France - think again.

Via Harry's Place and The Guardian 

A Moroccan woman who wears a burqa is denied citizenship on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French secular values such as equality of the sexes.

The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris and has been in France for almost eight years. She speaks French, has three French children, but lives in “total submission” to her husband. Her application was rejected finally (the case dates back to 2005) on the grounds of “insufficient assimilation”.

She appealed on the grounds of the French constitutional right to religious freedom, but the original ruling was upheld.

The ruling stated that the woman had “adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes”. Furthermore, the paper reported that the woman’s interviews with social services revealed that “she lives almost as a recluse, isolated from French society”; “has no idea about the secular state or the right to vote”; and “lives in total submission to her male relatives”. It led Le Monde to ask the question: “Is the burqa incompatible with French citizenship?” and Harry's Place extended the debate to the UK....

"Why be a citizen of a country that you have no interest or knowledge of, but in fact live in complete alienation  to?"

Well quite. Ban that ludicrous garb, burqa or niqab, before another bunch of hapless twits take it up and claim promoting fierce inequality of the sexes is now "a free choice" we should all just roll over and accept.

Well, I am no fan of the European Union but I have to say that even I was impressed with this visual image the French put on yesterday to mark Sarkozy becoming EU president for the next six months. It's seriously iconic and shows us that the French do have great style! However the fly in the ointment has been the announcement by the Polish President that although his Parliament has ratified the EU Constitution, he will not sign it into law because, as he puts it, the Irish vote has already killed it off. Naturally the French and the other EU zealots are in denial about this and so it should prove an interesting six months as the Irish people are set up to vote again and vote correctly this time since that is the mechanism that will allow Poland to say yes in writing. 

The EU leaders appear determined to ignore the voice of the people. Their arrogance is breath-taking and it sends a disturbing signal that the EU is contemptuous of the will of the ordinary citizen unless it conforms to that which the political elite demand. Isn't this really a tyranny we witness evolving? How can we stop it when even when we vote NO they still proceed as if it were a YES? Revolution once marked the streets of Paris, I wonder if the seeds of a future revolution will yet appear even under the shimmering blue neon of this landmark building?

Wonder what you make of the news that Italy's interior minister has sparked criticism with a proposal that would see police fingerprinting all members of the Roma community living in camps? 

Roberto Maroni, of the  Northern League, said the move would guarantee that those with the right to stay could live in decent conditions. Those without that right, including children, would be sent home, he said.

This sounds fair enough to me - assuming one believes that a Nation State has the RIGHT to decide who will stay within its borders? The EU does not go along with this, nor does much of the liberal intelligentsia. However I believe that if a Nation cannot democratically determine who will live within its confines, then it is not a Nation. So, whilst fingerprinting of a community sounds harsh - maybe even repugnant on first inspection -  it does at least represent Italy trying to defend its borders and perhaps that is a good thing...

OH NO! As if was not bad enough that Ireland has rejected the EU Constitution, it is now reported that the European Central Bank's dilemma over interest rates has deepened as new figures pointed to a “toxic cocktail” of stagnant growth and spiralling inflation. 

Jean-Claude Trichet, the President of the ECB, hinted this month that borrowing costs would rise to control inflation, which has soared to a record 3.7 per cent. However, there was growing speculation that the ECB may keep rates at 4 per cent at its next rate meeting on July 3 after European manufacturing and service companies reported declining activity for the first time in five years and corporate sentiment in Germany plunged. The RBS/Markit Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for both the manufacturing and service sectors fell to a five-year low of 49.5 in June, down from 51.1 in May. Any figure below 50 indicates contraction.

A contracting EU wide economy but only one blunt ECB nstrument to control inflation across diverse Nations. Economic disaster beckons...

Showing it's fondness for tyrannies - the EU has lifted sanctions imposed on Cuba in protest at the imprisonment of more than 70 Cuban dissidents by the Castro government. "Cuban sanctions will be lifted," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said at the end of the first day of an EU summit in Brussels. Their definitive removal is largely symbolic but still a success for Raul Castro's new government, analysts say. Several leading Cuban dissidents have criticised the decision. Miriam Leiva - one of the founding members of the dissident group Ladies in White - said the move was unwarranted as the island's new president had not made any significant moves towards creating a more open or democratic society.

Miriam misses the point. The EU seeks to show it can have a foreign policy that runs diametrically opposite to that of the USA and so it grovels to Raul Castro and his thugs. I would suggest that there are plenty at the top of the EU pile who admired Che and Fidel and must delight in now cosseting up to another Castro in plain defiance of the USA.

It is clear that the European Union is undemocratic and seeks to subvert the will of the people. That in itself is good reason to leave it.

Take the reaction from Brussels to the Irish people saying "No" to the Lisbon Treaty aka Constitution. This should have meant the end of it -  but it won't. The Eurocrats have made cleat that they intend to move ahead and ratify this Treaty in their Parliaments, well away from the common people. The political elite seek to bring this constitution into being but the ordinary people of Europe keep voting it down when they are given the chance.

It seems that a majority of British voters want Gordon Brown to scrap HIS moves to ratify the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty, a new poll has disclosed.  According to a YouGov poll carried out after the Irish result was announced on Friday, 54 per cent of British voters now believe the Government should drop the Lisbon Treaty - which would sweep away dozens of national vetoes - and not try to ratify it.  Only 14 per cent of those questioned agreed that the Government should carry on and ratify the controversial agreement, which would also create a new European president and foreign minister.

Those 14% will get their way as Brown bulldozes this through the House of Lords in the next day - with the support of the Lib-Dems. The British people will not be allowed to vote in it - just as in 25 other EU nations. Only Ireland HAD to try and win popular support for Lisbon - and the elite failed. There is something menacing - something smelling of rancid totalitarianism, emanating from the EU. It does not listen to the people, instead it tells them what to do. All European habits seem to die very slowly. EU uber alles.

Readers know that I have resolutely supported many things that US President George Bush has said since 9/11. As has been observed here on ATW. I am perhaps one of the few public voices that stands up for President Bush here in Northern Ireland.  But I am most irritated at his pronouncement today that Turkey should join the EU. Yes, that's just what we need - another 71 million Muslims.

Make no mistake, if Turkey does join the EU there will be another tsunami of Muslims sweeping across Europe and whilst I accept that nations like Germany will suffer most from this, the welfare paradise of the socialist republic of the United Kingdom will still be a very strong magnet.  For the EU to vote for Turkish entry is like a Turkey voting for Christmas.

On this issue, I absolutely disagree with Bush - just as I disagree with him on his support for the malignant Northern Ireland peace process and his support for a Palestinian State. You see on the right, we do not buy into group think and are quite happy to take issue with our leaders. Bush is wrong on all these issues and as is often the way, his final months in office are proving to be an embarrassment.

His name is Matthew, he is 26 years old, and his supporters hope to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. But he won't be able to give evidence on his own behalf  -  since he is a chimpanzee.

Animal rights activists led by British teacher (Predictable) Paula Stibbe are fighting to have Matthew legally declared a 'person' so she can be appointed as his guardian. What kind of madness is this? I mean how do we KNOW "Matthew" wants Paula as his guardian? Some animal rights activitists are just plain...bananas!

Did you read that Leicestershire County Council wasted £1 MILLION delaying a major road-building scheme for three months after evidence of great crested newts was found on the site. The species is protected by EU law, but after the authority paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for special newt-fencing and traps, not one of the rare creatures was discovered. The action was taken on the strength of a report from environmental experts, which found there could have been between one and 10 of the 6in amphibians on the site.

Officials yesterday lodged a complaint with the government, claiming the outlay would have a knock-on effect on local services. The council leader David Parsons said: "I'm not happy that we have gone a million pounds over on the bypass and then found no great crested newts. "It's completely unacceptable. I've written to the minister concerned, and all he can say to me is that it's because of European Union regulations."

The possible colony was found near the £15 million Earl Shilton bypass in Leicester during surveys last summer. A 1,000-yard exclusion zone was erected around ponds while further tests were carried out and hundreds of thousands of pounds was spent on newt-proof fences and traps to move the amphibians when hibernation ended in spring. Workers were even required to inspect the traps twice a day once temperatures rose above 41F (5C).  But Derek Needham, council engineering manager, confirmed yesterday: "We have caught a number of normal newts but no great crested newts."

Officials at the council, which commissioned the road, could have faced a large fine or even jail if they had failed to protect a colony.

It seems to me that the EU bully boy environmental legislation which drives this utter financial madness needs scrapped, but it won't. So the only way for the UK to stop pursuing these amphibian follies is to get OUT of the rancid EU swamp now.

It's just so predictable.  A confidential document prepared for the gathering of EU Finance Ministers in Brussels finds the "short-term" pay structure of modern capitalism has become deformed, causing firms to take on "excessive risk" without regard to the interests of stakeholders or society. While there is no concrete legislation on the table, ministers are eyeing curbs on stock options, bonuses and golden parachutes. The move is a clear sign that the EU noose is tightening on bankers, funds and corporate elites.

The EU is institutionally socialist and resents the concept that capitalism allows some people to make very large amounts of money. Instead it prefers the alternative of tightly regulating how much money people working in private enterprise can earn. The Finance Ministers who now plot to limit how business can function in Euroland demonstrate just how dangerous the Eurostate will become. We need out of it but our reliance on State Welfare is our Achilles heel, exactly as the politicians planned it to be. So instead I suggest that capitalism will become increasingly "regulated" and as a consequence, Euroland will watch in dismay as business moves away from it to those parts of the world which still encourage people to make profit.

Did you see the report which alleges that the European Union will open its own embassies under a plan critics fear represents a "power grab" by Brussels officials pushing for a federal superstate? The secret plan represents the first time that full EU embassies have been discussed seriously. The "Embassies of the Union" would be controlled by a new EU diplomatic service created by the Lisbon Treaty. The new service would rival established diplomatic services. Britain, with one of the world's largest, maintains 139 embassies and high commissions in capital cities. Equally controversial is a proposal for EU ambassadors who would be accountable to the European Parliament.

Correction - these Embassies of the Union are not being established to "rival" the Embassies of the Nation States. They are designed to replace them. The EU political elite seek to impose their agenda uber alles and we, as a free people, need to get out while we still can. I want to be like Harry Houdini now I'm the invisible man.

First the details. Here's a picture of a fine looking fellow. The great crested newt, Britain’s largest newt species, is scarce in some parts of Europe but thrives in the weedy ponds and small lakes of Cheshire, which has an estimated 18,000 breeding sites.

Got that? It thrives in Cheshire! There are loads of them there.

So, a  council is to challenge legislation after spending £60,000 to move four newts a short distance from the path of a construction site. The tiny colony of great crested newts, which proliferate throughout Cheshire, stood in the way of new classrooms and an IT block at Fallibroome High School in Macclesfield. Under both European and domestic legislation the developers were required to find the newts a new home and follow a complex set of procedures which pushed up costs. Senior members of Cheshire County Council have written to Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, about the matter. Barrie Harden, a former council chairman, said: “Around £15,000 per newt seems a ludicrous sum of money. They are a legally protected species under EU regulations.”

He'll get no change on the matter. Forcing UK councils to conform to EU decrees is the name of the political game here and so splashing out £60,000 to move four newts in an area where there is already a  proliferation of newts seem very logical. It's not the issue of the newts - it is the issue of who controls Britain - and it ain't the British government anymore.

Mince! Beef Mince! Steak Mince! Ever given it much thought? Of course not! It’s one of the great traditions of British cooking and culinary delights. From ‘Mince and ‘tatties’, through ‘Spag Bol’, Shepherds pie and everything in between, it’s been one of the great backstops of everyone from students to scholars. Provided it’s properly cooked, and seasoned beforehand, mince is a tasty, nourishing and above all safe basic protein for all who eat it.

So why am I writing a diatribe about a staple of the British diet?

Click to read more ...

SUCH DIGNITY! Two ministers of the Crown, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP and Rt. Hon. Andy Burnham MP, clearly with nothing better to do, decided to have some swinging fun in Brixton, South London, this morning.

Absurd as it seems, this pair of clowns were actually on government business:

Click to read more ...

At first it just sounds like one of those crazy but true stories.  Thousands of passengers are being forced to hop off buses midway through journeys to comply with EU laws. A Brussels ruling has banned local services longer than 30 miles to ensure drivers don’t spend too long at the wheel. As a result, drivers have to pull in as they hit that limit and order everyone OFF their bus. They then change the route number on the front and invite passengers to jump back ON before resuming the trip.

Western Greyhound has split its Newquay to Plymouth route in three — even though it uses a single driver throughout. Passengers must buy three tickets and break their journey twice. Managing director Mark Howarth said: “It’s a farce. We have to kick customers off as soon as the driver hits the 30-mile limit. "

So far, so bad. This is the sort of  bureaucratic  madness that one expects from the EU - a complete over-ride of common sense. But then I read  Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker blasting the “lunatic law” and demanding an "opt -out". But just one moment. This is the SAME Liberal-Democrat Party which is rabidly pro-EU and the consequential abrogation of British national sovereignty.

Memo to Norman Baker - if we weren't IN the EU we wouldn't need to go grovelling to obtain opt-OUTS so that our buses can function normally!

Lacking any serious military power, the dhimmified soft power European Union has decided instead to lead a world crusade for a "low-carbon" economy. A European Union summit promised to push through legislation within 12 months to impose ambitious targets to reduce the 1990 level of carbon emissions by one fifth by 2020. The European leaders also pledged, however, to take action, if necessary, to counter unfair competition from less eco-friendly countries, such as China or the United States. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, suggested that this could mean "carbon" taxes on manufactured goods from nations which refused to take radical action against global warming. So, the poor old EU will chase the imaginary and fantastical benefits of lower carbon emissions whilst punishing those nations which have rather better judgement. Sarkozy should be ashamed of his protectionism, wrapped up in the green rhetoric which now characterises the conniving euro-political class. 

Have to  hand it to the European Union, it may be effete in it's dealing with militant Islam but when it comes to cracking down with an iron fist on those who seek to minimise their tax-burden, it's getting all macho!

"The European Union will declare war today on Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and Switzerland. Weary of losing billions of tax euros, the EU's 27-strong high command of economics and finance ministers, Ecofin, is meeting in Brussels to agree a strategy aimed at bringing the continent's tax havens under control."

Yes, it must be so awful for the EUSSR to watch all those ££££billions move around and not get its sweaty hands on some of the loot. Make no mistake, this is all about socialism chasing the money trail, it's the crass politics of envy and a further expansion of the collectivist mindset that characteriises the EU.

Wonder what you make of the news that passengers travelling on domestic flights or between European countries could have to hand over up to 19 pieces of information including their credit card details and mobile phone number before being allowed to travel? The proposal is revealed in a draft of EU anti-terror plans that would cover every air passenger entering or leaving EU countries. It reports that Britain wants to extend the plan to include sea and rail travel, all domestic flights and those between EU countries.

From my perspective this in an intolerable abuse of power by the EU andit is natural for the UK government to support it since it allows the State to collect even more information on us all - and done under the pretence that it will help on the war on terror - a war that EU already has lost!

Did you see that the patio heaters warming drinkers and diners on the pavements of northern Europe are also warming the planet's climate and should be banned, according to a European Parliament report that could be adopted on Thursday. Environmentalists argue that heaters not only pump heat directly into the atmosphere but also climate-damaging CO2, while owners of pubs and bars say they need them to help retain customers driven outside by smoking bans.

"Patio heaters are scandalous because they are burning fossil fuels in the open sky, so producing vast quantities of CO2 with very little heat benefit," said European parliamentarian Fiona Hall, who wrote the report criticizing the pace of energy reforms in Europe. "We urge the Commission to set a timetable for completely taking off the market some appliances that are intrinsically inefficient, such as patio heaters," she added.

Chip, chip, chip - the environmentalists erode our liberties and all in the name of saving Gaia. Better we freeze outside than offend the earth mother?

Would you sign a blank cheque and send it to me? What if I promised to be reasonable about the amount I decided to take from your bank account? No? Oh well, I think you lot are pretty sensible, since signing blank cheques is a very bad idea. But most of our politicians at Westminster are about to sign the biggest blank cheque in the history of the United Kingdom and they will do it with some relish!

You see MPs are being asked to vote on the revised EU treaty without key information about the powers it will create. The paper, from the office of the president of the EU, reveals that matters such as the possibility of a European army and the powers of an EU president will not be determined until after the revived constitution has been pushed through. Other issues include how the proposed EU diplomatic service will work, the powers of the new EU foreign minister and whether the European police office, Europol, will be able to expand its activities.  Neil O’Brien, director of Open Europe, the think tank that obtained the document, claims that MPs are being asked to “sign a blank cheque”.

Neil is right. But they WILL sign it because they like the idea of sorting out all those "minor technicalities" such as a European Army AFTER the constitution treaty has been imposed upon us. Once again we see that it is the political elite in this country, and in most other European capitals, that are the scum of the earth, selling out the Nation State in the most deceitful way imaginable.