tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post8081274282316415192..comments2024-01-16T08:40:53.682+00:00Comments on <a href="http://www.openeurope.org.uk">Open Europe</a>: Updated: Commission silent as foundation for increased EU budget contributions remains unclearOEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00556463374230498875noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-52853707977129034682014-10-27T14:27:23.580+00:002014-10-27T14:27:23.580+00:00I quote Cameron: "People say you'll never...I quote Cameron: "People say you'll never be able to cut the EU budget. I've cut the EU budget...I've got a track record of doing what I say I am going to do." Since he has been in power, our contributions have more than doubled; and now this extra 1.7 billion. He is a downright liar.Rollohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18255460090580758354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-78061258896521735242014-10-26T09:35:36.068+00:002014-10-26T09:35:36.068+00:00I have read that Cameron is not forthcoming with h...I have read that Cameron is not forthcoming with his checkbook.<br />A bun fight over MONEY - well, well, well.<br />Now that they have snatched up their respective chairs its time for ...<br />GIMME<br />GIMME<br />GIMME<br />All the write ups are positive - yet the chat on the factory floor says they have failed & need to shut down shop.<br />Oh, to have the media singing your praises.<br />R Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-62955767102591406552014-10-25T10:18:38.269+01:002014-10-25T10:18:38.269+01:00It is a familiar feeling for me to huff and puff, ...It is a familiar feeling for me to huff and puff, and stamp my feet about EU ineptitude, but this latest episode is completely bewildering. Not just the amount of £1.67bn (remember the HS2 is £42bn), it is the reasoning (or lack of), timing and route by which it was released. There is always plenty to criticise the EU about; it is a big fat slow target, the size of a haystack. But I can’t get my head around what has happened or why. No organisation can be this incompetent, can it?<br /><br />Assuming (perhaps naively) that Cameron knew and didn’t want this released before the Rochester by-election. Understandable and even conscionable in the current political climate. Indications lean towards the EU releasing it. You have to ask why? What (if any) was the EU game plan?<br /><br />If it has been done to embarrass Cameron to weaken his negotiating position, then it has not been thought through at all. This order to pay has infuriated the populace and Cameron’s show of anger played well in UK. So if anything. Cameron has a stronger negotiating position today, because of an increased mandate stemming from the anger of the people. Essentially the mood now, is “stop immigration, AND don’t pay ‘em a penny” <br /><br />So perhaps it is to give Cameron a new negotiating tool? "I can't stop immigration, but I HAVE saved the £2bn". This is now not enough. Presumably Barroso meant to be logical, reasonable, but with an air of patronising inevitability. Instead he has come across as stubborn, arrogant and inflammatory. I feel that the mood now, is beyond negotiation. Put simply, the British mood is to say, “ No more talk. Start seeing things our way or we will have a referendum.” The time for horse trading and negotiation is therefore over.<br /><br />Maybe it is a clumsy attempt to deflect Cameron? Cameron went to Brussels to start up a conversation about freedom of movement. He returns to UK to an angry electorate; an electorate even more committed to take on the EU at its own bullying game. If deflection was the aim, it has failed utterly. The people now want Cameron to not concede an inch.<br /><br />Conversely, Cameron and the EU have planned the whole thing to create a scenario that shows Cameron as the big Crusader. The knight on a charger, fighting the UK corner in the EU. I’ve read this notion several times but I don’t give it much credence. It’s possible but the risk of it all going badly wrong in May 2015 is too great.<br /><br />There is then only one possible explanation that I can see. <br /><br />The EU is simply astonishingly inept. It has not thought through the implications. It has not thought about how this would play in Britain. It has become so arrogant that it does not think it likely that the UK population will object. It tried to embarrass Cameron, but not tactically or clandestinely, oh no. It tried to embarrass him (and the UK) because it believes in its own perfection. As Ms Ashton showed in her moronic handling of Ukraine, the EU is diplomatically immature and that includes how it handles member states.<br /><br />So what next? Cameron can’t give way or he will be wiped out. But he can’t do nothing either. He must show strong leadership or shrivel and fade away. This leads, somewhat inevitably, to him playing his trump card. He has no option but to say, “We are not paying. We want an opt out of Freedom of Movement. Or I will call a referendum.” <br /><br />I can’t see that he has a choice. The EU won’t change, can’t change. It is convinced of its omnipotence, so the only answer is to turn our back on it and walk away. Walk away with our billions, our economic recovery and our import market.David Hortonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36227136.post-25004185149171086792014-10-25T09:51:13.541+01:002014-10-25T09:51:13.541+01:00Could currency fluctuations have impacted the numb...Could currency fluctuations have impacted the numbers? <br />The GBP/EUR exchange rate has varied over the period.<br /><br />& the period in the table is all the way back to 1995, quite a long period and many yearly contributions to correct.<br /><br />The EU prompt payment directive (interest rate) might not apply here, if it did then some old debts that hasn't been attempted to be collected might possibly need to be written off.Jespernoreply@blogger.com