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Weltschmerz und angst

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Two of the better known words we have borrowed from our friends on the other side of the Rhine, and the latest Eurobarometer suggests that it is not entirely coincidental that it was the Teutons who came up with those words:

Q1 - Overall, in 20 years' time, would you say that people's lives in Germany will be better than today, or worse than today?

Worse - 68%. Unchanged - 10%. Better - 20%.

Majorities think things will be worse in Greece (67%), France (64%), Luxembourg (59%), Belgium and Italy (58%), Austria and the UK (56%), Cyprus (55%) and Portugal (53%).

In contrast, the Pollyannas of the EU hail from Tallinn, with 78% of Estonians thinking the future bright. The Republic of Ireland (67%) and Sweden (51%) were the only 'old' Europe countries with a majority optimistic. The Maltese disgraced themselves with a shocking 12% unable to express an opinion.

While these findings are faintly comic - precious few (any?) periods of 20 years in the last few centuries have not seen advances in health and living standards - the direction euroman and woman want politicians to take is far from funny:

'There should be stricter rules to ensure that everrybody's lifestyle is more respectful of the environment' (Compulsory saluting when passing a tree, maybe?) - 88% in agreement

'There should be policies ensuring that the gap between the rich and the poor is reduced significantly in our country' - 87%. Isn't the procrustean solution pretty?

'The EU should find ways of economic and social developement which depend less on the rest of the world' - 78%. A Socialist siege economy, with a side order of autarky? No thanks....

Perhaps the Germans have seen the future, and in the words of Leonard Cohen, 'it is murder'.


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Soft soaping envy into a cardinal virtue

Showing all the comic timing of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the TUC has decided that a day on which it has been revealed that the number of 40% rate tax payers has doubled in 10 years is just the day to squawk about 'tax justice'.

In the same way that these days envy is called 'a burning desire for social justice', fiscal class war is called 'tax justice'. Despite claiming to offer the full figures from a survey on attitudes to tax, the TUC does not, so I will have to tease out what I can from its press release. And there are some truly fabulous leaps in logic:

"The polling...shows that only seven per cent of people think that 'Britain's tax system gets the balance right between the amount of tax paid by the rich, the poor and those in the middle'. Even among those with household incomes of more than £100,000 only 13 per cent think the balance is right". And in TUC-think, that means that 87% think they are paying too much. Yeah, right.

And there's more:

"Three quarters of those polled (75 per cent) agree that 'it is too easy for very rich people to get out of paying a fair level of tax' (including 43 per cent who strongly agree)."

This conflates knowledge that tax can be avoided with a moral stance on it.

"The public also thinks it is too easy for big companies to get out of paying tax and thinks that the Government is wrong to reduce tax on large companies".

The public suffers from a less than full understanding of commerce, and does not seem to have twigged that taxing companies is not some manner of fiscal free lunch and would lead to increased prices, lower wages and all sorts of other things they would not like at all.

And what does the TUC want to happen?

This: "Creating a fairer tax system does not mean a higher tax bill for ordinary workers. Instead, clamping down on tax avoidance and closing the loopholes enjoyed by the super-rich will put extra revenue into ordinary peoples' pockets or pay for our hard-pressed public services".

There is only response to the suggestion that the TUC would support tax cuts for Joe & Josie Average - come off it. One might add that Barber seems to think that the hedge fund managers, footballers and others that he wants to fleece will just stay in the UK. Maybe someone needs to send him the Ladybird Book of Laffer Curves or somesuch.

Anyway, the TUC has rounded up the usual suspects to 'debate' this subject, ranging from Polly 'my house is so big that if broken into flats I could solve the London housing crisis' Toynbee to the tin-rattling wings of the Left - Oxfam, War on Want etc etc - and sundry wonk groups - Compass, ippr etc. If all the people in attendance could be persuaded to leave the UK, permanently, this place would be improved immeasurably.

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Canada - The friendly giant to the West

Tuesday, July 01, 2008
(An adaptation of the winner in a competition to find the headline most likely to make Americans turn the page)

Anyway, to mark Canada Day, those good people at the Globe & Mail have a quiz to discover how well readers know Canadian and US history. Humble narrator scored 9/10 for Canada and 10/10 for the Estados. Read 'em and weep.

Anyway, happy Canada Day to any Canucks reading, and let it not be forgotten that they are the only nation ever to invade the US and burn its capital to the ground.

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Keeping a sense of proportion...

The Brothers and Sisters have woken up to the possibility that the 11 long free lunch could be about to end:

"Richard O'Brien, Unite's Director of Communications will warn that the "Tories are intent on turning their guns on the unions again if they get back into government."

Well yes, I would certainly hope so.

And there's more:

"Trade unions took a battering in the 80s and 90s as the conservative government imposed restrictions on strike action and shut down great swathes of industry where unions were organised. Its not been a picnic under Labour but it seems the Tories are intent on turning their guns on the unions again if they get back into government".

Oh yes, that's exactly what happened. The wicked Tories just 'shut down great swathes of industry' purely to spite the syndicalists, and no mention of trade union reforms being popular not just with the general public but most trade union members too.

And then this:

"Union TV will also expose the courage of union activists in Colombia who face death on a daily basis. To be a trade unionist in Colombia – organising for better wages and working conditions for your colleagues - can cost you your life".

That is about as much of an exposé as reporting that it is no walk in the park being an MDC supporter in Zim.

And here comes the clincher:

"Richard O'Brien, Unite's Director of Communications says, "Working people across the globe face challenges from the right in differing extremes".

Linking death squads with acts of parliament, yeah, that's fair and responsible.

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Armchair generals

It is almost axiomatic that every man in this country has to have an opinion on football, at the risk of having his masculinity called into question. The French, however, seem to go that little bit further - everyone has to have an opinion on football.

And so, L'Equipe, the French sports paper has polled the citizenry - all of them, or at least those above the age of 18, I suppose - as to their thoughts on the management of the national side. Before diving into the results, pause to mull on some of the Gauls you might know. Do they have strong, or even informed, opinions on football? I can think of a few that I would not trust to define the offside rule while standing on one leg....

Anyway, 52% want the manager to be given the Spanish Archer, 41% want him to stay, and a profoundly non-credible mere 8% have no opinion.

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Great non-judicial punishments of our time

(I have decided to forego a 'what I did on my holidays' post, although I might post a photo of the tomb of the Cid in Burgos cathedral.)

Rather disgustingly, Japanese tourists have taken to scrawling their names on the walls of the Duomo in Florence. So far, so hum drum, however a miscreant having been fingered, his employer sprang into action:

"The school's headmaster apologised for the teacher's ''inconsiderate behaviour'' and said he had already been dismissed as school baseball coach as a result of the incident".

Mockery to one side, in parallel circumstances I doubt that the average school head in these parts would do anything more than shrug his or her shoulders.

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Having one's hopes dashed - an object lesson

Friday, June 27, 2008
Just for a fraction of a heartbeat it looked as though Hold the Front Page had quite a scoop. OK, the details looked iffy, but reading the headline something leapt out at me:

"Journalist Gordon Brown dies aged 71".

Ah well. My condolences to the family of the original Gordon Brown, who sounds as though he was a decent sort.

And with thought, I am shutting down until some time on Monday as I have a wedding in Spain to attend. Moderation is on, but I plan to authorise comments at least once a day.

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Reds and double yellows

The main event of 2008, more eagerly awaited than the State Opening of Parliament, the EastEnders Christmas special, the FA Cup etc is upon us - the annual unpaid parking fines by embassy hitlist. Here's the story from 2006.

Drumroll please.

And rising to the lead from seventh is Sudan, with £75,100 in unpaid fines. An outstanding advance from the measly £15,620 in 2006. Well, the law - moral, divine or black letter - has rarely stood in the way of the Desert Hawks.

The United Arab Emirates shows itself to lack the big match temperament, losing the lead and dropping to fifth. Its due fines have near halved from £42,950 to £24,670.

'Our friends the Saudis', the perennial nearly men (stress men) of parking fines move up to second from third, with an increase from £24 k to nearly £39 k. Well, it is a funny old game, but if the Riyadh lads up their work rate and commitment and give it 110% on the park (Lane...) next year they could be in for some silverware.

This year's dark horses are the Kazakhs, storming in from the steppes of ninth to a Champions league spot at third. Unpaid fines haver nearly tripled to £28,180.

The Chinese managed to grind out the results and sneaked fourth place, up from fifth.

Last year's semi-finalists, Germany could not keep up the pace needed to compete with the big boys and tumbled to a lowly 37th. Despite what the pundits say, no team is too good to go down.

Sneaking into a UEFA spot are the French, rising from ninth to fifth. Back of the net!

The International Maritime Organisation managed a highly creditable £2,010 in unpaid fines. Unpaid mooring fees have yet to be made public....

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They do things differently...

Thursday, June 26, 2008
...in Japan.

Passengers receiving tips from taxi drivers? Yup, "The government said Wednesday that 1,402 government employees accepted cash, beer and other favors from tax drivers while returning home on taxpayers' money and 151 of them have been punished".

Given that state paid for taxis only kick in at 12.30 AM, one might say that the Japanese take a rather harsher line than is taken in these parts. I also at something of loss to work out what the taxi drivers were hoping to achieve. Repeat business? String pulling?

I might tell the next cab I hail that I'm a civil servant and see what happens. Probably a lengthy rant.

(Ahem, edited to remove Freudian slips)

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Great explanations of our time

Her Maj's press secretary speaks:

State Visit to Slovenia and Slovakia

The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will pay State Visits to: Slovenia, at the invitation of President Dr Danilo Tuerk; and Slovakia, at the invitation of President Ivan Gasparovic, during this Autumn.

Without the detail, a cynic might think that she had been invited somewhere beginning Slov... but could not remember which.

Meanwhile, I am in pain having discovered that whereas the tax rake as a percentage of GDP has risen 2.4 percentage points (35.0-37.4) under the Brown Terror (1996-date) , those lucky Slovaks have seen it fall ten points, from 39.4 to 29.3.

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Separated at birth?

and

The first picture is to be found at the UK EU Presidency 2005 website (I will explain what I was doing there shortly), and the second is Charles Laughton as Quasimodo in the 1939 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Another possible match to that picture of Brown is Ephialtes in Snyder's '300', but all the image matches make him look rather prettier than Brown.

It is not just Brown who has had a less than flattering photo employed at the site, consider these:

An out of focus almost mongoloid looking Blair:


John 'Hypnotoad' Hutton:


And Hillary 'what have I sat on?' Armstrong:


This site, note, was presumably designed to make the UK look great, rather than to hold up its leaders for ridicule. There are some other fairly grim photos, but I reckon I have shown the pick of the bunch.

Anyway, I was rooting around on the site in search of anything memorable having happened during the UK presidency, inspired by a survey commissioned by a French supermarket on attitudes to the forthcoming French presidency.

Asked 'Will the French Presidency have good, bad or no consequences?' 39% think it will be good for France, 18% bad, and a rather more worldly 24%, no consequences at all. Just under a fifth were too stupid to have an opinion.

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Brown - the view from Paris

From Le Figaro, reviewing PMQs:

"Each week the bags under his eyes look ever deeper and his skin more grey. His nervous tics betray the rage he tries to suppress in the face of the jabs from Conservative leader David Cameron. Whereas [Cameron] appears confident and relaxed, Gordon Brown answers stiffly and often stutters. His defence is limited to a tedious repetition of the achievements in eleven years of New Labour".

(Our French chums have one word - 'cernes' - for bags under the eyes. Very economical).

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The Britons thinking 42 days detention without trial is just way too liberal

They want torture. Four per cent of those polled want torture to be generally allowed. Yes, really. 16% like the idea of putting thumbscrews to 'terrorists' (and how will they know that they are, eh?), while the remainder are against torture full stop.

The UK's 82% opposition is equalled in Spain and France, but it falls to 53% in the Land of the Free. And I thought Americans actually read their constitution - the 8th Amendment, perhaps?

On the other side of the coin, majorities think torture of terrorists is just fine - Turkey (52%), Nigeria (54%), South Korea (51%) and India (59%). All of those countries are signatories to the UN Convention on Torture, although India has not ratified it. Iran, a non-party, is 43% anti, and 36% pro. So 21% of them are mouth breathers that have never heard of SAVAK.

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The UK's 500,000 winged rats

As revealed by a question in Parliament.

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates his Department and its predecessors have made of the size of the (a) seagull and (b) pigeon population in England in each year since 1997.

....

Joan Ruddock:

Feral pigeon population size was estimated at over 100,000 pairs in 1968-72 and 100,000-250,000 pairs in 1988-91. Data from the BBS have so far shown neither a significant increase nor decrease in the feral pigeon population since 1994.

Just half a million at the upper estimate? I find that pretty hard to believe. And about 500,000 too many, filthy creatures that they are.

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Petition o' the day

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Am I missing something here?

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to give more Free help to persons with a learning disability at University".

And the detail:

"This is to help those struggling with finances and learning disabilities to further their education through university and to provide a cheaper easier way for those who have a learning difficulty to progress in a world in the ability to read and write are the two Most important factors in any career and life".

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Our next national anthem?

Even die-hard monarchists must (surely) concede that GSTQ is the most awful dirge, so a petition suggesting a new anthem sent me scurrying off to find the lyrics, melody etc. The suggested anthem is, ahem, 'The Red, White and Blue' by rockers Judas Priest.

Can't say that 70's hard rock (except early Zepp, AC/DC etc) is generally my thing, but I was not expecting the song in question to be even more of a dirge than GSTQ. Judge for yourselves:


Read Red, White & Blue lyrics


Can't say the lyrics are all that either:

"When I'm far away
And I can't get through
Wherever I roam
Keeps bringing me back to you
Holding on to hope
There's no need to fear
Wherever I roam
This piece of home
Keeps telling you that I'm near

etc etc.

Now if it had been Take on the World, at least that rocks out.

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Our man in Belgrade speaks

"Twenty EU members recognize Kosovo, seven do not and need not do it – at least not in the near future. So we cannot request from Serbia to do more than other members are ready to do". Source

Interesting, no?

Non-recognisers look to be Spain, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia and Romania.

Meanwhile, Liechtenstein refuses to recognise either the Czech Republic or Slovakia, because of the Beneš decrees which expropriated Liechtensteinian crown property.

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'Like a dog walking on his hinder legs'

Norwegian pols have been roundly criticised for speaking poor English:

"Some top Norwegian politicians speak such poor English that they risk losing influence as they stumble through prepared speeches or try to express themselves to foreigners, claims a professor at the University of Oslo. He thinks it's downright embarrassing. Bernt Hagtvedt, a professor of political science at the University of Oslo, is tired of listening to Norwegian politicians speak broken English when addressing foreign audiences".

My Norwegian stems almost entirely from A-level geography - fjord, saeter and so forth, although a friend at university passed on the unforgettable pinnsvin for hedgehog.

While it would be unrealistic for Norwegian politicians to expect much facility in Norwegian from guests beyond Scandinavia, compare this audio clip of Jens Stoltenberg speaking with any memory that one can dredge up of Prescott mangling our native tongue. Yes, Stoltenberg is a bit hesitant, but his meaning is perfectly clear. Likewise former PM Kare Willoch or Erik Solheim.

Anyway, Prescott:




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Funding elections in an unrecognised state.

Out of the Mad Max-style wreckage that is Somalia has emerged Somaliland - the bit we used to rule. Whereas the former Italian part is at Year Zero, Somaliland has managed to function as a democracy since breaking away from Mogadishu in 1991 and even has a stable currency.



While the EU and sundry others were quite happy to charge in and recognise the successor states to Yugoslavia, the unfortunate Somalis have, by and large, been left to rot. Continuing to recognise the transitional government in Mogadishu is not of an order of magnitude much more respectable than the recognition that the Khmer Rouge had.

Anyway, the UK still does not recognise Somaliland, but note this:

Alun Michael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of democratic developments in the Republic of Somaliland.

Dr. Howells: I visited Somaliland last week and was impressed with the work proceeding to ensure free and fair elections are held in early 2009. The postponement of Somaliland elections for a second time in April this year led to international donors suspending their funding of 75 per cent. of voter registration costs. But I am glad to say that a solution was agreed with the National Electoral Commission enabling funding to be reinstated once election preparations had been made. The authorities are making progress on this.


I do not think that Dr Howells would dare to visit Mogadishu, and Mogadishu would be entitled to wonder whether our giving money to Berbera is consistent with recognition of the territorial integrity of Somalia.

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Livingstone's friend the Tory MP.

Just as we are all enjoying the fact that the deposed Mayor can do nothing more than howl into the void, someone comes up with the, quote, '“Livingstone Mayoralty Memorial Newt Bill”. I am not, repeat not, making this up.

Herewith the details:

"Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby) (Con): I beg to move, that leave be given to bring in a Bill to permit the disturbance of bats and newts for specified purposes; and for connected purposes.
...

I am very fond of bats and newts and it still thrills me when I see them. As a child, I used to catch newts when doing what is now known as “pond dipping”. Like Ken Livingstone, I like newts and, on that basis, I would name this Bill the “Livingstone Mayoralty Memorial Newt Bill”.

Although there may be some amusement here, this is a very serious issue. What links great crested newts and bats is that they are both European protected species—EPS—and that gives strict protection under the European habitats directive".


Mockery to one side, Robathan makes a serious point about the absurd penalties for disturbing newts and the like, and I wish him joy in his endeavour.

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Why the Irish Republic voted no to Lisbon

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Straight from a Eurobarometer survey:

  • 22% - Because I do not know enough about the treaty and would not want to vote for something I am not familiar with
  • 12% - To protect Irish identity
  • 6% - To safeguard Irish neutrality in security and defence matters
  • 6% - I do not trust our politicians
  • 6% - We will lose our right to have an Irish Commissioner in every Commission
  • 6% - To protect our tax system
  • 5% - I am against a united Europe
  • 4% - To protest against the government's policies
  • 4% - To avoid that the EU speaks with one voice on global matters
  • 4% - Because large states decide on EU matters
Etc etc. 14% other, 3% don't know why they voted no.

And as for the yes camp:

  • 32% - It was in the best interest of Ireland
  • 19% - Ireland gets a lot of benefit from the EU
  • 9% - It keeps Ireland fully engaged in Europe
  • 9% - It will help the Irish economy
  • 5% - It gives the EU a more effective way of making decisions
  • 4% - It makes the EU more effective on the world stage

Etc etc. 11% other, 2% don't knows.

I think the results pretty well speak for themselves, but note that if the Irish have to vote again then reason #1 for voting no is a cast iron guarantee that the good people of the island will be bludgeoned with public 'information' campaigns, cut out 'n' keep guides in their newspapers, and for all I know, Manuel Barroso ringing people at random to harangue them. And if all future commissioners are cut from the same cloth as the outstandingly sound Charlie McCreevy, then the citizenry is right to fear losing the Irish commissioner.

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Great adverts of our time


When clicking through to a tale at Belgian daily Le Soir, Banca Monte Paschi Belgio caused a tree to grow out Bart de Wever's head, rather detracting from his message.

Given that Bart was accusing the newspaper in question of inciting hatred against the Flemish (like him...), one does wonder whether the ad placement was entirely accidental.

Those wishing to replicate the experiment will need to have a monitor resolution of 1280 x 768, Firefox or IE, and the patience to hit F5 a few times.

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A public service announcement for readers holidaying in France

Avoid St Denis in the département of Seine-Saint-Denis, or in lay terms north east Paris outside the Périphérique, as it has - by far - the highest level of violent crimes per thousand inhabitants, at 31.27 per 1000.

Other places with around double or more the national average (5.93) of violent crime levels are Nice, Marseilles, Nîmes (!), and a slew of places in the Paris banlieues. All the detail here.

However, the place to leave your door unlocked (ish...) is Marly Le Roi in Yvelines, at 1.45. Looks like a nice place too and is twinned with Marlow. The town, and not the detective nor the dead man in Deptford.

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Lech, how could you? Allegedly...

From Der Spiegel:

SPIEGEL: This Monday your book "The Security Service and Lech Walesa" comes out. It has already sparked an intense debate. In it, you and your co-author Piotr Gontarczyk claim that the hero of the Polish reform movement collaborated with the secret police in the 1970s. Do you have proof?

Cenckiewicz: We provide clear evidence in our book including registration cards, notations, notes from the secret police and reports from the so-called informant "Bolek." There's positive proof that Lech Walesa was registered with the secret police under that code name between 1970 and 1976.

Much more of this in the interview linked above.

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Petition o' the day, or Two Nations

Monday, June 23, 2008
Yet another well thought out proposal:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to award independence to the North of England

And there's detail. Well, geographical detail.

"For many centuries the North has suffered at the hands of a London centralised government. So it is petitioned that England, from the soutern (sic) borders of Lincolnshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire northwards to the current border with Scotland, and westward to the current border with Wales so that we would have better control of local affairs, that has for many years been neglected by the sucessive (sic) parliaments of the UK and England".

Here is the new frontier :


I remain a Unionist, so I will avoid making any Northernist etc comments, but readers might feel the urge to add something. Note that under this proposal we Southern types would control both sides of the Watford Gap.

A quick look at the state of the parties south of the Whippet Line suggests that the Yellow Peril would hold the balance of power, with 31 seats to our 111 and Labour's 85. And there's Respect too. Above the line, the Red Rabble would be in the driving seat, and how - 187 seats to 58 (1) for us, the LDs and the Kidderminster bloke combined.

(1) - Whoops, forget about Crewe & Nantwich.

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The return of the Holy Roman Empire?

Our lucky neighbours on the other side of the Channel / North Sea are about to see one of their high speed trains decorated with, gulp, 'the logo of European Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008 (EYID)'. Pretty exciting, eh?

However, not really worth blogging about, except on a slow day.

However, compare and contrast this statement from Ján Figeľ (he does have that apostrophe, honest) :

"Thalys trains link the capitals and cities of four EU member states"

with this map:


Paris - check. Brussels - check. Netherlands - Amsterdam - check.

And the fourth capital city? It does sat 'the capitals', not 'capitals' of 'four EU member states'. Aachen was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire (insert the old joke here) of the German Nation, but a reborn Heiliges Römisches Reich deutscher Nation would rather cancel out Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam...

The other possibilities are that Cologne is a free city again, that the Archbishop thereof has resumed his role as a prince elector or Figel' knows something about the breakup of Belgium that the rest of us do not.

Extra special pedantic point, The Hague is not a capital of the Netherlands, although it is the seat of government.


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Culture - how broadly should it be defined?

And here it is, from Hansard:

Mr. Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the future prospects for the bingo industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Sutcliffe: I hope to make a statement to the House on this and related matters shortly.


Crikey.

Meanwhile, I have unearthed another bee obsessive in Parliament:

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the UK's balance of trade in bees and bee products was in each year since 1997 in standard prices; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Thomas: The following table gives HMRC overseas trade statistics for the value of trade in honey and wax. Data for trade in live bees cannot be separated from trade in other animals.

Perhaps they have run out of stingers to inflict on DEFRA and are now droning on at what was the DTI. Lombard Street to a rotten orange it will be Health next - how many people were stung in Lymeswold East last year etc etc.

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'Unity is strength'

That is the Bolivian state motto, but a fat lot of good it seems to be doing President Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism party (I'd love to be able to vote for a Movement Away From Socialism party) in that provinces making up around three quarters of the national territory have either declared autonomy after plebiscites or are on strike against the centre. More here.

Much of this has to do with ethnic conflict and Morales seeking to lavish the spoils of the more successful parts of the economy on his client voters in the west of the country. Depending upon how one looks at it, it is though the Shetlands or London sought autonomy from Westminster, as it were.

Wholly unconnected to this, but most amusingly, landlocked Bolivia has a naval flag.

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Trouble for the Revenue?

Good news - for once - from the EU.

This is what EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva had to say the other day, while in these parts:

"It is particularly important for consumers to challenge the acceptability of business models based on geographical discrimination. In the world we live in, we are not obliged to shop in the supermarkets and stores of our postal code. We are not constrained to buy in our municipalities. We should also not be forced to shop within our national borders. Yet we cannot buy computers, train tickets or play-stations freely across the EU. We are forced to buy domestic. Let me be clear, there is no place in Europe's Single Market for artificial geographical restrictions which hold consumers back within national borders. I am in the process of carrying out a study on e-commerce, which I hope will start to launch the debate."

That, made law, would rather put the kibosh on our penal duty rates on tobacco and alcohol....

(NB - One does need the EU in order for cross border trade to flourish....)


Meanwhile, in another release quoting the redoubtable, and not uneasy on the eye, Ms Kuneva, she is shocked, shocked, that fewer consumers engage in cross-border e-commerce than domestic e-commerce. Erm, penal international postage, exchange rates (in some cases) and language problems?

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