CapX
Bruce Anderson is backing the Prime Minister David Cameron in his
efforts to persuade the UK to stay in the EU. He explained why in a recent piece on CapX.
Anderson’s friend, Lord Salisbury, a former Leader of the House of
Lords, and a board member of CapX, disagrees forcefully and published an open letter in reply to Anderson. After a series of correspondence, Salisbury offers his concluding thoughts today."
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Thursday, 7 April 2016
EU referendum: £9m cost of taxpayer-funded leaflet warning about the 'damage' of Brexit angers Eurosceptics
Telegraph
Mr Johnson, who attends Mr
Cameron’s political Cabinet, called the leaflet a “complete waste of
money” and said that it is a “biased and hysterical warning”.
Vote Leave, which is chaired by Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, said it was a “disgraceful” use of public money and immediately accused Downing Street of announcing the leaflet “to distract from accusations over David Cameron’s tax affairs”.
Vote Leave, which is chaired by Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, said it was a “disgraceful” use of public money and immediately accused Downing Street of announcing the leaflet “to distract from accusations over David Cameron’s tax affairs”.
Let’s be brutally honest: this remain campaign is failing
Guardian
In contrast, the remain movement has so far been lacklustre, to say the least. Almost everyone seems to have left it to the prime minister. But David Cameron is hardly Mr Popular, and seems to be mimicking his general election behaviour: periodically rolling up his sleeves, and saying he’s getting on with it."
In contrast, the remain movement has so far been lacklustre, to say the least. Almost everyone seems to have left it to the prime minister. But David Cameron is hardly Mr Popular, and seems to be mimicking his general election behaviour: periodically rolling up his sleeves, and saying he’s getting on with it."
Do Remain campaigners think they’re the only ones with kids?
What strikes me as dodgier is to insist that we should vote Remain “for our children”. Do Euro-integrationists imagine that the rest of us don’t have children? Or that we don’t care about them?
Helen Lovejoy, the pastor’s wife in The Simpsons, has a tendency to shriek “Oh won’t somebody please think of the children?” in support of wholly contradictory positions. The writers of that venerable sitcom are brilliantly parodying the way in which some campaigners substitute facile moral posturing for rational persuasion. It’s the sort of thing that raises an occasional round of applause on Question Time (“Speaking as a mother, I find it disgusting…”) It’s a trifle disappointing when David Cameron indulges in the same tactic. "
Juncker Mail: Taxpayer Charged £9.3 Million For Pro-EU Leaflets
Guido Fawkes
26 million households will be sent the government’s pro-EU leaflets before the referendum at a cost of £6.4 million, with another £2.9 million spent on a social media campaign. The taxpayer is funding the Remain campaign on a massive scale… "
26 million households will be sent the government’s pro-EU leaflets before the referendum at a cost of £6.4 million, with another £2.9 million spent on a social media campaign. The taxpayer is funding the Remain campaign on a massive scale… "
Wednesday, 23 March 2016
When it comes to terror, isn’t it time we started listening seriously to Trump?
Daily Mail
Trump told
me countries must tighten their borders in light of these terror
attacks, especially to anyone related to an ISIS fighter in Syria.
Is he so wrong?
He
told me he wants law-abiding Muslims to root out the extremists in
their midst, expressing his bafflement and anger that someone like
Abdeslam was able to hide for so long in the very part of Brussels he
had previously lived.
Is he so wrong?
He
told me America must make it far harder for illegal immigrants to enter
the U.S. and thinks European countries should follow suit.
Is he so wrong?
He
told me he believes there are now areas of many major European cities
which have become poisonous breeding grounds for radicalized Islamic
terror.
Is he so wrong?
I didn’t feel I was talking to a lunatic, as many seem to view Trump.
I
saw a guy, a non-politician unfettered by PC language restraints, who
is genuinely furious at the devastation which ISIS is wreaking, and
seriously concerned for the security of his fellow Americans and indeed,
the citizens of Europe. "
The numbers say more Muslims mean more danger
Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun (Australia)
FOLLOW the numbers. They answer the question asked by journalists actually too scared to hear the truth: “Why Brussels?”
Why Brussels? Why have Muslim terrorists in Brussels this week slaughtered 34 civilians in the city’s airport and underground?
Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels earlier join the Islamic State attack in Paris that killed 130 people?
Why did a Muslim terrorist in Brussels kill four people at the city’s Jewish museum? Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels have a deadly shootout with police last year and again last week? Why have an astonishing 450 Belgian Muslims — the vast majority from Brussels — served with Islamic State?
The answer? There are now 300,000 Muslims in Brussels. That’s why."
FOLLOW the numbers. They answer the question asked by journalists actually too scared to hear the truth: “Why Brussels?”
Why Brussels? Why have Muslim terrorists in Brussels this week slaughtered 34 civilians in the city’s airport and underground?
Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels earlier join the Islamic State attack in Paris that killed 130 people?
Why did a Muslim terrorist in Brussels kill four people at the city’s Jewish museum? Why did Muslim terrorists from Brussels have a deadly shootout with police last year and again last week? Why have an astonishing 450 Belgian Muslims — the vast majority from Brussels — served with Islamic State?
The answer? There are now 300,000 Muslims in Brussels. That’s why."
Sunday, 20 March 2016
IDS has made Osborne’s downfall a certainty
Telegraph
We should expect Mr Duncan Smith to go out and campaign volubly for Brexit in a way about which he felt restrained hitherto. Other ministers may follow his lead. Some may come to regard, as he has done, the whole construct of a Conservative Government led by a clique that is not really conservative, and which is increasingly out of touch with opinion at the grassroots about Europe and a whole range of other questions, as unsustainable: and they will resign too. Mr Cameron says he is “puzzled” by what Mr Duncan Smith has done: if that is a true statement, then the Prime Minister proves his detachment not merely from his core supporters, but from some of his colleagues.
For Mr Osborne the week has been disastrous: a dismal Budget compounded by a resignation that humiliates him and damages Mr Cameron. The Tories are lucky that the official opposition is about as competent as a blind drunk driver: it has been left to the Conservatives to attack and undermine their own Budget. A half-decent Labour response, rather than the Marxist claptrap Mr Corbyn spewed out last Wednesday, would have put Mr Osborne in the departure lounge before now.
Three things are certain. We have not heard the last of Mr Duncan Smith; the Brexit campaign will now become louder, more aggressive, less compromising and more focused on what the public really care about, which is immigration; and Mr Osborne can forget becoming leader of the Conservative Party. One hates to resort to cliché, but every cloud has a silver lining: and poor George’s eventual downfall would appear to be just that."
We should expect Mr Duncan Smith to go out and campaign volubly for Brexit in a way about which he felt restrained hitherto. Other ministers may follow his lead. Some may come to regard, as he has done, the whole construct of a Conservative Government led by a clique that is not really conservative, and which is increasingly out of touch with opinion at the grassroots about Europe and a whole range of other questions, as unsustainable: and they will resign too. Mr Cameron says he is “puzzled” by what Mr Duncan Smith has done: if that is a true statement, then the Prime Minister proves his detachment not merely from his core supporters, but from some of his colleagues.
For Mr Osborne the week has been disastrous: a dismal Budget compounded by a resignation that humiliates him and damages Mr Cameron. The Tories are lucky that the official opposition is about as competent as a blind drunk driver: it has been left to the Conservatives to attack and undermine their own Budget. A half-decent Labour response, rather than the Marxist claptrap Mr Corbyn spewed out last Wednesday, would have put Mr Osborne in the departure lounge before now.
Three things are certain. We have not heard the last of Mr Duncan Smith; the Brexit campaign will now become louder, more aggressive, less compromising and more focused on what the public really care about, which is immigration; and Mr Osborne can forget becoming leader of the Conservative Party. One hates to resort to cliché, but every cloud has a silver lining: and poor George’s eventual downfall would appear to be just that."
Monday, 14 March 2016
Boris Johnson: Americans would never accept EU restrictions – so why should we?
Telegraph
There is no country in the world that defends its own sovereignty with such hysterical vigilance as the United States of America. This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control. Almost two and a half centuries ago the American colonists rose up and violently asserted the principle that they – and they alone – should determine the government of America, and not George III or his ministers. To this day the Americans refuse to kneel to almost any kind of international jurisdiction. Alone of Western nations, the US declines to accept that its citizens can be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. They have not even signed up to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?"
There is no country in the world that defends its own sovereignty with such hysterical vigilance as the United States of America. This is a nation born from its glorious refusal to accept overseas control. Almost two and a half centuries ago the American colonists rose up and violently asserted the principle that they – and they alone – should determine the government of America, and not George III or his ministers. To this day the Americans refuse to kneel to almost any kind of international jurisdiction. Alone of Western nations, the US declines to accept that its citizens can be subject to the rulings of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. They have not even signed up to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Can you imagine the Americans submitting their democracy to the kind of regime that we have in the EU?"
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
America would never join anything like the EU. Yet they urge us to stay
Spectator
How would Americans like it if we argued that it is in our interests that the United States should forthwith be united with all the countries in their continent north of the Panama Canal — Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama — into a vast customs union governed by a trans-national, unelected civil service. Let’s call it the American Union, or AU.
Imagine that Britain’s Foreign Secretary has just made a speech in Toronto saying he thinks America should join the AU in order to influence Mexico in the direction of free trade. The great and the good in America agree, because they think being part of the ten-country AU will prevent war, boost trade, help smaller nations compete with the behemoths of Europe and China, enable free movement of people, stand up to Russia, encourage scientific co-operation and ensure environmental protection.
Above all, we argue, it would show the world that America is not small-minded, xenophobic, protectionist and isolationist. To this end we think the AU should — er — agree a common tariff against imports from the poorer countries of South America and have free movement of peoples within but not from outside the union. We also think the United States should give up the dollar and use a common currency issued in central America, called the auro, sometimes known as the oreo, or if it is not ready to do that, should encourage others to use the auro, even though there is limited fiscal harmonisation, which bodes ill for the single currency. Oh, and the flag of the AU, consisting of ten radial yellow stripes on a blue background, should be prominently displayed alongside the Stars and Stripes."
How would Americans like it if we argued that it is in our interests that the United States should forthwith be united with all the countries in their continent north of the Panama Canal — Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama — into a vast customs union governed by a trans-national, unelected civil service. Let’s call it the American Union, or AU.
Imagine that Britain’s Foreign Secretary has just made a speech in Toronto saying he thinks America should join the AU in order to influence Mexico in the direction of free trade. The great and the good in America agree, because they think being part of the ten-country AU will prevent war, boost trade, help smaller nations compete with the behemoths of Europe and China, enable free movement of people, stand up to Russia, encourage scientific co-operation and ensure environmental protection.
Above all, we argue, it would show the world that America is not small-minded, xenophobic, protectionist and isolationist. To this end we think the AU should — er — agree a common tariff against imports from the poorer countries of South America and have free movement of peoples within but not from outside the union. We also think the United States should give up the dollar and use a common currency issued in central America, called the auro, sometimes known as the oreo, or if it is not ready to do that, should encourage others to use the auro, even though there is limited fiscal harmonisation, which bodes ill for the single currency. Oh, and the flag of the AU, consisting of ten radial yellow stripes on a blue background, should be prominently displayed alongside the Stars and Stripes."
Turkey is no friend of Europe – her behaviour is blackmail
Telegraph
Now, thanks to the migration crisis, the
tables have turned dramatically, so that it is Ankara, not Brussels,
that finds itself holding all the aces, a drastic change in circumstance
the Turks are determined to exploit for their own advantage.
The most graphic illustration of Turkey’s new assertiveness emerged in
Brussels in the early hours of Monday morning after Mr Davutoglu had
invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel to dinner at the Turkish
Embassy, ostensibly to discuss the terms of the refugee deal negotiated
over several weeks by EU President Donald Tusk. Instead Turkey’s prime
minister presented her with a completely new set of demands that read
more like a ransom note than a bargaining position."
Sunday, 14 February 2016
How seven years of Obama created Trump
Telegraph
America has been run for nearly a decade by a clever incompetent. It's hardly
surprising that the voters are revolting..... I had seen Obama at the primaries, and at the Democrat Convention. I had
waited for him to speak intelligently and practically about the state
of America and how he would put it right, but I waited in vain. ......His stump oratory – especially his convention speech, delivered from a
preposterous mock-Grecian stage set in Denver – was vacuous. He is
clever and has a way with words: but his words contained little. .......Racial tensions, which a black president was supposed to heal, seem
worse than ever – remember Ferguson – and Mr Obama’s interventions have
often been clumsy and grandstanding. He has failed to control
immigration, even though (unlike in Britain) he has the sovereign power
to do so. And America has largely rejected Obamacare, which displays all
that can go wrong with massive state intervention. But if Mr
Obama’s economic legacy is poor, his other achievements – or failings –
are alarming. He has largely removed America from international
conversations. After the disastrous interventions in the Islamic world
after 2001 it is quite right it should think more deeply about such
expeditions: but that does not mean the superpower’s global
responsibility can be abdicated completely. ......Mr Obama’s
international legacy is the repulsive sight of Vladimir Putin, whom he
underestimated, ruling the roost, the barbarians of Isil (for dealing
with whom he had no strategy) and a Europe mired in introspection.......
America has been run for nearly a decade by a clever incompetent. It's hardly
surprising that the voters are revolting..... I had seen Obama at the primaries, and at the Democrat Convention. I had
waited for him to speak intelligently and practically about the state
of America and how he would put it right, but I waited in vain. ......His stump oratory – especially his convention speech, delivered from a
preposterous mock-Grecian stage set in Denver – was vacuous. He is
clever and has a way with words: but his words contained little. .......Racial tensions, which a black president was supposed to heal, seem
worse than ever – remember Ferguson – and Mr Obama’s interventions have
often been clumsy and grandstanding. He has failed to control
immigration, even though (unlike in Britain) he has the sovereign power
to do so. And America has largely rejected Obamacare, which displays all
that can go wrong with massive state intervention. But if Mr
Obama’s economic legacy is poor, his other achievements – or failings –
are alarming. He has largely removed America from international
conversations. After the disastrous interventions in the Islamic world
after 2001 it is quite right it should think more deeply about such
expeditions: but that does not mean the superpower’s global
responsibility can be abdicated completely. ......Mr Obama’s
international legacy is the repulsive sight of Vladimir Putin, whom he
underestimated, ruling the roost, the barbarians of Isil (for dealing
with whom he had no strategy) and a Europe mired in introspection.......
For much of America, Barack Obama is the last straw. He is the creator
of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. If one of them becomes president –
and I wouldn’t rule it out – and the world doesn’t like it, they know
whom to blame."
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