Blair Sells out UK (1 Viewer)

[Len Boorman]

So he has done it again. Given away £7 billion in exchange for nothing. Did not even consult his Chancellor. Not that that would have made much difference.

What was the point of the giveaway. Had Chirac said no Xmas Pressie for you unless you cough up some dough.

Is he planning on emigrating (please) ?.

Len

 

[ColinEssex]

Is he planning on emigrating (please) ?.

Len

To France I would imagine, they're laughing all the way - they only agreed to a "review" of the CAP over the next few years.

I'll bet the French couldn't believe their luck - the British losing £7 billion and they have to do nothing and still get massive subsidies

What a tosser Blair really is

Col

 

[Pauldohert]

I saw an interview with a few French people on this subject - they think food and the way it is produced in France is vitally important , its a French tradition and way of life, and is something which deserves to be protected - presumably by the British paying?

 

[Len Boorman]

CAP was designed by the French, for the French and to stuff everybody else. Why is it that something so glaringly obvious is not addressed.

And it is said that Brits are not "Europeans". More European that the French

L

 

[Pauldohert]

I presume Blair has given up some of this cash to keep the new EU boys on side, who are opposed to the federalist thing anyway, thus limiting the power of the French. Hopefully thats the case anyhow.

or maybe Blair is just a c**t!

 

[Len Boorman]

or maybe Blair is just a c**t!

Think I would agree here

Len

 

[The Stoat]

The postive side of me says that he did what he did to bring the new EU members on side with the UK and that when this cash runs out they'll target the French and support us against a Franco-German federal Europe.

The negative side of me says any meeting between Blair and Chirac where Chirac comes out smiling means we've been shafted.

 

[Rich]

or maybe Blair is just a c**t!

always has been, I'm suprised it took you so long

 

[KenHigg]

What is the issue here? You guys are subsidizing the French or something? I tried surfing but it's kind of hard to pc it all together...

 

[BarryMK]

Bliar has a cunning plan

He is ballsing up the country so he can hand it over to Brown and that thug/moron (select your preference) Prescott. They won't be able to do anything to stop the rot as it's gone so far under his direction, so from a historical point of view Bliar won't look so bad after all.

Fiendishly simple.

 

[Pauldohert]

always has been, I'm suprised it took you so long

I remember waiting outside a pub, roughly two o'clock in the morning to see Tyson v Bruno having a rather drunken conversation with someone about what a twat the soon to be elected Blair was.

Perhaps Bruno v Blair or Tyson v Blair - would be a popular pay per view!

 

[The Stoat]

What is the issue here? You guys are subsidizing the French or something? I tried surfing but it's kind of hard to pc it all together...

Basically the EU spends ~45% of it's budget on subsidising farming under the commom agricultral policy [CAP] ~49billion Euros this year. France recieves a lot more of the CAP money than anyone else 22% compared to the UK's 9% so Margaret Thatcher negotiated a rebate on our annual contribution to the EU to make up for this descrepancy. As the EU is expanding there are a number of "poor" countries who want a share of the EU budget. Blair suggested that France should give up some of it's subsidies to help these countries whilst the rest of the richer nations put more money in to the pot. This would avoid a situation in which we put more money in only for France to get more out. France said it would not negotiate unless we gave up our rebate. It would appear that we have given up some of the rebate and in return France has agreed to "discuss" the matter of it's subsidies. Italy Germany and the UK have also agreed to increase their input into the EU budget to help these new nations so we've been hit twice. The only benfit i can see of this is France is now more likely to come under pressure from the EU as a whole to reform CAP and we have made some friends in the old Eastern European bloc. Quite frankly France is plenty rich enough to do without subsidies imho as are the rest of the richer nations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4407792.stm

 

[Len Boorman]

TS gave you the background nicely there.

Basically Maggie did some handbag negotiating with the French particularly. Personally I doubt if our new "friends" in the EU will be able to exhibit any really effective pressure on the French to change the CAP.

So Blair sells the country out to make friends who will be unlikely to effective change of the CAP.

L

 

[KenHigg]

Wow. Sounds pretty screwed up. Your farmers work to pay taxes to pay some other country to compete against them. I'm guessing these poorer countries don't have the layers of regulations such as pesticides etc, to contend with that the UK farmers do...

How do you decide how much each country puts into CAP? Is it a straight per capita or is there some other formula

 

[The Stoat]

TS gave you the background nicely there.

Basically Maggie did some handbag negotiating with the French particularly. Personally I doubt if our new "friends" in the EU will be able to exhibit any really effective pressure on the French to change the CAP.

So Blair sells the country out to make friends who will be unlikely to effective change of the CAP.

L

I think Germany is the place to look at in the future. The new PM there seems a canny negotiator and i think that the old alliance between France and Germany will weaken if the French are seen to prevaricate on the EU bugdet and their position on EU reform to the detriment of an expanded EU. The new PM of Germany is an ex-communist and i'd be surprised if she didn't have a soft spot for the old Eastern bloc countries who have joined coupled with her East German roots. I'd look to them to be pushing for change in the background. Changes to the EU voting structure could also see an alliance develop against the French with the new members allied to the UK.

 

[Len Boorman]

Your getting close.

Basically all the countries in the EU have the same rules and controils about pesticides etc

BUT

UK obeys the rules even when it is not in their interest.

France and a few others (Most actually) implement those that benefit them and forget about the others.

Len

 

[KenHigg]

Just curious, wouldn't it seem fit to get the existing EU working smoothly before other countries are allowed to join?

 

[jsanders]

The US has been reducing subsidies to farmers for years and now for the first time US imports of agricultural products equaled our exports. 56 billion dollars.

 

[Len Boorman]

The US has been reducing subsidies to farmers for years

That is totally against the French philosophy.

L

 

[The Stoat]

Wow. Sounds pretty screwed up. Your farmers work to pay taxes to pay some other country to compete against them. I'm guessing these poorer countries don't have the layers of regulations such as pesticides etc, to contend with that the UK farmers do...

How do you decide how much each country puts into CAP? Is it a straight per capita or is there some other formula

If you accept the premise that the EU is a good thing - and many people in the UK don't - then the idea of helping the poorer nations is not a difficult pill to swallow. They can produce food cheaply enough -which will be subject to the same regulations as everywhere else in the EU - but it has to compete against inefficiently produced subsidised products from the likes of France. The new members are more likely to want to spend money on improvements to infra-structure and living conditions as Spain did after they joined.

This was the position in 1999 but the EU has expanded since then and countries like Spain will get much less. The CAP rules are complex but in general the more ineffiecient you are the more money you get. That is why it's so stupid