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Will Austerity Be The Straw That Breaks The EU & The UK?
Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,
From where we’re sitting, the biggest victory in the May 7 British election will turn out to be not that of the Conservatives, but of the SNP, the Scottish nationalists. The party took 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in the United Kingdom’s Westminster parliament in London (with just half of the total votes..). Perhaps even more significant is the increased divide between Scotland and ‘the rest of the UK’.
While Cameron’s ‘unexpected’ victory marks a sharp turn to the right, the SNP’s landslide win sets the Scots on a course that’s close to a 180º opposite, even sharper turn to the left. Or in other words: while Britain voted for more of the same, Scotland voted for change. And never the twain shall ever see eye to eye again?! The left side of the spectrum was represented by the SNP, not by Labour, who Tony Blair now claims should run even more to the right – which he calls center.
Perhaps it’s nice to start off with a more philosophical angle about the future viability and/or inevitable fate of the United Kingdom. Just to set the overarching and underlying tone. Ian Jack had this for the Guardian yesterday:
Did The End Of The British Empire Make The Death Of The Union Inevitable?
.. what some of us were in Denmark to consider is the now almost-conventional wisdom about British identity: that it rose and fell with the empire, and with the empire’s going the United Kingdom will almost inevitably break up. Stuart Ward, professor of global and imperial history at Copenhagen University, reminded us of this theory’s several advocates, from Tom Nairn, writing presciently in 1977, to Linda Colley in her book Britons, published in 1992.
David Marquand took the idea to the extreme when he announced in 1995 that shorn of empire, Britain had “no meaning” and it was therefore impossible “for Britain as such to be post-imperial”. In a what-goes-up-must-come-down way, it looks a plausible argument. The logic is, as Ward said, that if you can demonstrate that the empire forged an idea of Britain, then Britain’s vanishing two centuries later “is merely a question of the laws of physics – remove the load-bearing pillar, and the structure falls”.
Is Britain destined to fall to pieces? Are all empires? How long can the center hold?
There are more interesting angles besides these, not least of which is the similarities between Greece vs Eurozone and Scotland vs United Kingdom. The keyword in this is ‘austerity’. The Greek people voted en masse to end it, and so did the Scots. Here’s what SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon had to say post-election:
Nicola Sturgeon Tells Westminster: ‘Scotland Will No Longer Be Sidelined Or Ignored”
“Scotland has given the SNP a mandate on a scale unprecedented for any political party, not just in Scotland but right across the UK. “We will use that mandate to speak up for and protect the interests of Scotland. “Let us be very clear, the people of Scotland on Thursday voted for an SNP manifesto which had ending austerity as its number one priority, and that is the priority that these men and women will now take to the very heart of the Westminster agenda.” Ms Sturgeon said: “After Thursday, and as I told the Prime Minister when I spoke to him yesterday, it simply cannot be and it will not be business as usual when it comes to Westminster’s dealing with Scotland.”
Sturgeon has hinted that she aims to end austerity across the UK, not just in Scotland. That may be a bit much to ask given that her mandate is limited, but at the same time it’s hard to see how ending austerity only in some parts of a union would work out in practice. The EU certainly doesn’t seem eager to grant Greece an austerity-free status, and how Cameron would tackle this mandate issue is unclear. Can he abandon austerity in Scotland and continue it in the rest of the UK? And if he can’t do it in Scotland, then how can he in Wales?
Cameron thinks he’s riding a major victory, and he will now be called upon to deliver on his election promises, which just so happen to include a deepening and acceleration of austerity measures. At a time when we can see even such sworn antagonists as Steve Keen and Paul Krugman agree on the failure of austerity as a financial/fiscal policy measure, David Cameron insists on inflicting more of it on Britain in the exact same way that the Troika insists on more of the same for Greece. And he’s not kidding.
Here are two British pieces on the topic; first the Mirror:
100 Days Of Tory Cuts Carnage As George Osborne Plans To Fast-Track £12 Billion In Savings
George Osborne is preparing to drastically speed up the pace of £12 billion in brutal spending cuts. Before the election, Tories feared proposals to slash cash from the welfare bill would have to be watered down under any coalition deal. But now the party has a majority, the Chancellor plans to race ahead with his austerity cuts to meet his pledge of eliminating the deficit by 2018. Senior Tories revealed how ministers would try to push through the majority of the welfare cuts within two years instead of the original three-year timescale.
But Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to kick it off with a 100-day policy blitz. One senior party source admitted: “When it comes to cuts, we want the pain to be out of the way long before the next general election. Without the restraint of the Lib Dems, it means we can go further and faster when it comes to controlling the welfare bill.” The new Conservative Government is due to present its programme of legislation to Parliament through the Queen’s Speech on May 27. But officials are already drawing up worrying plans to squeeze a host of benefits.
Ministers are looking at means testing unemployment benefits like Jobseeker’s Allowance, according to a document leaked earlier this year. Other proposals to slash the £125 billion welfare bill include limiting Child Benefit payments to the first two children and taxing Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payments. The Tories also want to reduce the maximum any household can receive in benefits from the current £26,000 a year to £23,000. Other cuts include a £3.8 billion raid on tax credits, which are relied on by millions of families on low wages.
The number of people who get Carer’s Allowance could also fall by 40%. Such moves are likely to pile the pressure on food banks and charities as the cost of living crisis deepens. Senior Labour MP John Mann warned: “People don’t realise what’s going to hit them. The entire benefits system is going to crumble and almost everyone will lose out apart from private landlords who will remain untouched. It will be a return to the Victorian age.” “Everyone will have to stand on their own two feet, even people with no legs.”
And second, this is from Here Is The City:
Tories Weigh Up Options For £12 Billion Welfare Cuts
Either the poorest in society or the “hard-working people” courted by the Conservatives face being targeted under the party’s commitment to £12bn of welfare cuts, experts have said. One way of achieving the £12bn goal could be by reducing the £38bn cost of out-of-work payments to working-age families, for example by cutting entitlements to a third of the recipients, according to John Hills at the London School of Economics.
“But that would mean hitting lone parents and disabled people and create pressure on food banks and hardship on a scale that would be hard to imagine,” Hills said. “Alternatively you could take it from hard-working families who rely on housing benefit and tax credits. That’s a lot of pain from a large number of people who have just voted for you.”
[..] To justify the cuts, the Tories are likely to employ a narrative of skivers v strivers, suggesting a clear division between a large, permanently welfare-dependent group and the rest of the population who pay taxes to support it. The Tories know this is a fiction, but it is a politically useful one. Welfare is mainly about taking money from those of working age – when incomes are high on average – and giving cash and services to older people, and families with children.
A DWP paper setting out options was leaked to the BBC in March. [..] if the BBC’s document is any guide, George Osborne – reappointed as chancellor – could look to strip £1bn from carers’ allowances; means-test national insurance-backed unemployment benefits, saving another £1.3bn; and tax disability benefits to raise another £1.5bn. Then there’s limiting child benefit to two children – affecting a million families to save another £1bn.
The Institute For Fiscal Studies noted: “These may well not be the decisions that a future Conservative government would make. But it is likely they would have to make changes at least as radical as this to find £12bn a year.” Not all these changes would require a new bill, but if past form is anything to go by then the Tories would want to lay a trap for their opponents with new legislation so as to paint anyone who votes against it – such as the anti-austerity Scottish Nationalists – as pro-welfare parties prepared to spend lavishly on the idle poor.
How this will not end badly and ugly is hard to see. As we quoted in an earlier article, the number of foodbanks in Britain went from 66 to 421 in the first 5 years of Cameron rule. How many more need to be added before people start setting cities on fire? Or even just: how much more needs to happen before the Scots have had enough?
Very much like the Greeks, the Scots unambiguously voted down austerity. And in very much the same fashion, they face an entity that claims to be more powerful and insists on forcing more austerity down their throats anyway. It seems inevitable that at some point these larger entities will start to crack and break down into smaller pieces. As empires always do. Now, the EU was of course never an empire, there’s just tons of bureaucrats dreaming of that, and Britain is a long-decayed empire.
Larger entities like empires are more powerful only for a limited period of time, for as long as the center can make the periphery benefit; once the center starts feeding off the periphery, the endgame starts. This can take a while, but it will happen, it’s a law of nature. When periphery regions figure out they have nothing to lose by splitting off, they will elect to stand on their own two feet and be their own boss.
And it’s not as if either Scotland or Greece lack a history of fighting for their independence. Just a reminder.
What’s next for Greece is by now anybody’s guess. And a whole other story too. What’s next for Britain and Scotland is or seems -for now- somewhat less convoluted.
Nicola Sturgeon will have conversations with Cameron. Who will offer her more ‘autonomy’ for Scotland. But the budget, also for Scotland, is decided in London, not in Edinburgh. How Cameron’s austerity 2.0 can be made to fit with the SNP’s anti-austerity message, their number 1 priority in last week’s elections, is hard to fathom. Label us curious to see what happens.
It would seem that there are two referendums in Britain’s future. First, the EU in-or-out referendum Cameron promised his voters. It looks like the majority of British voters will opt to leave the EU, or at least partially; things may change if or when Cameron convinces Brussels to change the entire concept of the Union to ‘pacify’ the UK. But that majority will probably come from England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will -almost certainly- choose to remain in the EU. And it just so happens that Sturgeon addressed the issue in the Guardian in no uncertain terms:
There are huge issues and challenges ahead – not least the looming question of the UK and Scotland’s place in Europe. A key requirement of the prime minister’s in-out referendum should be a “double-lock” requiring the assent of all four UK home nations before any withdrawal from the EU..
It doesn’t look like there will a general endorsement for the Tories’ vision for leaving the EU. So what’s your run of the mill Cameron to do? Ignore the Scottish demand for that ‘double-lock’? That wouldn’t be very democratic, and it would raise the chance of the UK falling to pieces. No easy choices, no easy pieces for David.
The other referendum, brought closer, as time passes, by Cameron’s multiple conundrums, is of course about Scottish independence. If London holds on to its position on austerity, it’s hard to see how there can not be another of these plebicites, soon.
Granted, it would depend on how much of a warrior Nicola Sturgeon is. Just like in Greece, the outcome of the Syriza vs Troika battle depends on how much chutzpah each side carries. And how much integrity. That last one should be an easy contest. London and Brussels have none, Athens and Edinburgh may yet find some.
All in all, yours truly is going for the center cannot hold.
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so let me get this straight.... we are going to make money appear out of thin air and give it to the banks so they can come up with an endless stream of "financial instruments" in order to lend us money at interest... even if you make enough "income" to make payments on the loans, the banks are continuously expanding their imaginary balance sheets. and when you can't make the payments, they take away the air, water, and ground you stand on. so how exactly does that work, and where can I sign up to become one of these bankers? because that sounds like a really sweet deal!
Hang fire..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xbtlW16Gts
i prefer this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7OvPTmhtiY
"The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
Some woman.
Injustice leads to poverty, poverty ends nations, period.
Austerity breaking the camels back? No -- its the inevitable of linking vastly different people together that have nothing in common other than geography.
These are simply the consequences thereof.
Europe is a collection of countries that were once seperate nations or states (call them Bundesland, Cantons, italian provinces) each over time united behind their similarities. The UK however, prefered to maintain divide and rule (it couldn't even unify behind a single national football team). Now, after just 5 years of Conservative governement, our national debt has doubled and we're more divided and less able to deal with our economic problems than ever.
LibLabCon -- they are all the same.
I'm confused. are you now writing about the EU or the UK?
The EU.
The British did pretty well together, I mean, they kinda took over the entire world.
eh? "they did pretty well, they took over the entire world..." now you leave me even more confused then before about your values
if one bunch takes over the world, it's cool, if another other bunch has some shared, common things in a treaty based alliance... it's uncool
now we just need the commenter that starts to claim that all "bunches" ought to break up and we have a classic ZH conversation into nowhere
if you read (below) what the US Secretary of Agriculture says about the EU, what is your opinion? that he is right, that we ought to allow US-Style GMO mega-AgriBiz, here?
Ghordo, I don't know why you are confused. I have explained myself pretty clearly over & over again.
My hate of the EU is based upon the idea that the EU is fundamentally based, which is "All European Peoples are Equal."
I have lots of financial and economic evidence to prove this incorrect, and the markets and unemployment figures coming out of Euro-Rainbow-Land substantiate my position. That being said -- instead of learning from mistakes of the past, the EUR & EU dumbs have come to the conclusions that
"All European Peoples are so equal that they are actualy just one people and not peoples."
Which is where we find ourselves.
My hate for the EU and the EUR stems from this disconnect between reality & fantasy-land.
The British never said everyone was equal. Shoot, their actions implied directly the opposite. Its why I am a fan of the 19th century British Empire.
Before you come at me with "ahh, but not just money makes people equal" I'd tell you -- a) you're wrong and b) save your breath.
Death to the EU and EUR.
Juncker was right, given the opportunity the Anglo-Saxon world is going to rip Rainbow land in 28 pieces. I cannot wait for said day.
"I am a fan of the 19th century British Empire". By Jingo, you need to say no more then that. We could have saved us a lot of discussions if you had mentioned that long time ago
"Juncker was right, given the opportunity the Anglo-Saxon world is going to rip Rainbow land in 28 pieces". Interestingly, he was talking, when he mentioned the "Anglo-Saxon world", about the same nexus of megabiz CEOs, megabankers, lobbyists and other weasels that we usually rail about here in ZH. But now I have to assume you cheer for their effort. Well, we'll see
What he fails to mention about all the unequalness is that the British consider themselves superior to these unequals and there are no other better alternatives when it comes to holding the party line in their eyes. Which is why war and control are their primary objectives and if you disagree with them, it you that has the so called problem, and it's now financial items which are the realm because we are currently on equal footing when it comes to all out war.
Two choices
Pay in more and give away moar
Or
Pay in less and give away less.
Succintly put what every country on earth is going to have to choose between.
I am also a Social Darwinist.
I am quite happy with letting the stronger cultures snuff out the weaker ones.
Social Darwinists have a hard time explaining the American hip hop culture taking over the world then......
I wasn't that it was a culture, more or less a fad.
Tell you what -- when you have a group of people that adopt the hiphop/gangsta rap culture as their own, and attempt to be successful when compared to other cultures with it ... let me know.
Oh wait -- Baltimore & Ferguson, Oakland, DC?
Don't confuse fads and cultures.
So the suburban white kid that things he's a wigger -- this is not a culture -- its a fad for him.
For the black kid in the hood -- quite likely its a culture.
Compare the two individualls, and tell me which one comes out ahead. Compare the two groups against one another and tell me which one comes out ahead.
You just made my point for me with your example.
Haus, you got some real winners here.
So England and India. Given your arguments England would be the stronger culture. And they are sure to stamp out - or outlast the Indian culture therefore. How's that working out? I imagine you're going to have a reply that says something to the effect that neither is obligated to expire. But your "stronger" of the two is on it's way out by way of severe contraction and social implosion - in particular as soon as Scotland breaks away, N. Ireland, and they lose the Malvinas. The true nature of "superior" race/culture will soon become evident.
Your argument about the hip-hop culture is non-sensical as well; it's part of the overall "Black Culture" so consider it all. And if anything the USA has become very much more "black" over the past century at an increasing pace - the good parts AND the bad. Speech. Music. Dress. Hi fives and all variations. And Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis? Hey, there's a long list buddy... and none are owned by Blacks. It's the "hyper strong culture" USA you're witnessing; Black America is just the tip of the spear. Hip hop is not just about wiggers either kid; Madison Ave. embraced it more than a decade ago. Hollywood too. What speaks to US culture more than that? You say "gangsta rap"; that's a small subset of the whole genre. You must be stuck in the '80's. Or over in Scandanavia somewhere...
All pop music comes from Black music by the way. Look it up. English rock as well. Do your homework. Now; try and kill that culture. It will die when American dies; not a moment sooner.
The moral of the story is - your social Darwinism takes a lot more thought than you are obviously willing to put in. Methinks you're spending too much time on ZH comment boards. But that's just MHO.
nice for you
"culture", in this european context of this article, might nevertheless be a word you might want to avoid because it does not mean the same everywhere
culture, here, means "being French", or "being German" or "being Danish", in the sense of talking and thinking and behaving according the country's cultural context
your use of "culture"... is different. you treat it as a matter of descent
German Huguenots, for example, descend from French Protestants that fled France and settled in eastern German countries. according to your reading, they would be Frenchmen
culturally, your usage of the word "culture" puts you outside of German culture, makes you a non-German. unintelligeble for many Germans, too boot
if you were living in the UK, the same would apply, and your statement would be "non-British", because Britishness isn't a matter of descent, but culture. you'd have to use a different label
No I treat culture as a thought process common to groups of people.
E.g., a group of black people who were raised in Germany with a German family will do a lot better in life than a group of black people who were born and raised in Sicialy, on average.
Culture is not what is in your blood but is what is in your head.
and what is in your head is... German? or even Hessian?
I am a mixture right now. Something I am quite German, other things I am very American. I have no idea what I am more.
Socrates would say you have achieved a fundamentally excellent starting point. I'd say you are in the middle of crossing one bridge. I would further say that if and when you have crossed that bridge, you'll look back and be very skeptical of some of the things you took for granted, before. because culture is, at the end, based on many things we take for granted... as long as we know only one culture
if you are lucky, you'll reach... Elysium. And then, you'll understand Schiller's poem. Which does not mean you'll sing that anthem to the tune of Beethoven, but you'll understand what Schiller meant
good luck. really, no sarc at all, I hope you'll cross safely that bridge and... understand. I do appreciate the effort, and understand that for people like me it's much, much easier
as an amerikan serf, I see the EU serfs as brothers...we together are bled for a NWO vision, invasions of our countries by policy, freedoms removed by policy, ruled by traitors to our best interests ..in the persuit of a secure world for elite mega wealthy powerful clans, the best question never asked : who are they? and is there an escape from a world of gray hopelessness? sorry Ghordius, small government weak and underfunded seems the answer to me.
if you call yourself a serf, then I have to point out to what makes you a serf: unbridled megacorps... like Monsanto
great killers of family-led farms. lots of lobbyists in Washington. which isn't neither weak nor underfunded. because of that I have to accept unbridled megacorp GMO food production here?
one of the most persistent ZH memes is that "the EU is something like the US". well, no, it isn't. so "US Serf" does not equate with "EU Serf"
Ghordius.
If you don't think every politician in Brussels isn't just a fully owned self-serving bitch of those same megabankers, weasels et al you seem to think are all "Anglo Saxon" you are seriously deluded. The level of corporate cronyism in the EU is staggering (same as the USSA). There aint no fucking angels out there serving as MEPs with their electorate's interests as their first and only priority.
Only question I have is, given your penchant for supporting the federalist agenda and espousing all is rosy in la-la land, are you yourself on the EU gravy train, and milking it like the aforementioned scumsuckers?
"There aint no fucking angels out there serving as MEPs with their electorate's interests as their first and only priority."
what about Nigel Farage?
no, there are few angels anywhere. nevertheless, I don't have to lose time with this accusation: "given your penchant for supporting the federalist agenda..." because in the EU context I am an anti-federalist
Well that is curious, being as the instigators of that which you hold so dear (the €) have stated in no uncertain terms that it was the first essential (and deliberate) step towards federalising Europe.
EU Federalists loved the EUR... until it started to "threathen" their beloved path to federalization. later, many Federalists started to talk against the EUR. curious, eh?
You wrote recently that you are an Atlanticist, this is not now true ? you have changed your spots ?
where did I write that I am an Atlanticist?
retracted,, you wrote weasel words again.
fudge, for you: I stand to our alliances. I stand to the EU. I stand to the EuroSystem. I stand even to... NATO
note though: the way they are defined. NATO, for example, is a defensive military alliance
this does not make me an Atlanticist, but it also does not make me hate neither America nor Americans nor Brits nor Atlanticists
I am, nevertheless, against weasels. for example those who wish to "weaponize everything". and there are many that wish to misuse alliances like NATO or the EU for their purposes
and if there was an avatar that would intelligebly say all those things, I would adopt it. instead, I'm using the EUR, which in many ways is the same thing. if you look a bit under the hood
@Haus: What you say can be applied to any country and any people in the world. I take it you want to dissolve all states and other political structures?
True HT.
Also consider that an EU without a UK would not be quite so Atlanticist, so pro-NATO, so US-centered. The EU Scotland would be part of, and England wouldn't, would be different from the one we're seeing now.
My guess: if Greece leaves, the Eurozone countries will be so weakened that the UK will be in a favorable negotiating position. However, if Greece stays, then the UK faces a Eurozone which, like it or not, acts like a block. Either the UK eats humble pie and stays, or puts its money where its mouth is and leaves. As soon as the UK makes the formal announcement of leaving the EU, the Scots will want another referendum.
there is a greater movement inside the EU that is saying the exact opposite: Greece leaving would make the eurozoner consensus stronger, and so the UK position weaker
What movement Ghordius ? It must only be a suite and tie movement, the real people I speak with say no such thing, they want out of the EU and the ability to set their own path.
and i give you no red.
"the real people I speak with..." well, where? who? if, for example, it's the famous anti-globalism protesters... well, then read what I wrote about Monsanto, GMO and the US Secretary of Agriculture in the other comment. "they want out of the EU and the ability to set their own path" -> I'd be very, very interested to know what kind of "real people" inside the EU talk like this. (let me guess: English?)
Not just the English, the French (National Fronte), the Finns (True Finns), the Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Irish, Spanish, Italian, Austrians, shoot even little Germans has a budding anti-EUR party which is consistnetly taking 10%+ of German State elections.
No one in the UK Ghordius that is for certain.
What you want names and dates ? You need to get outside and talk to people, you think that average worker wants yet more taken from him ? You think that all those uneployed boys and girls support any EU shit you are fucking dreaming, they have no chance of a job in their lifetimes tanks to fucking suites and ties and they know it. they konw where the faults live, a bunch of stupid old greedy men fucked them for good.
You write fucking crap here all the time, stupid bold an itallics garbage. FUCK EU/EZ an all Eshit.
Go back in your EUtopia and dream some more.
what I see is that we have here commenters that talk about the EU in the style used by Victoria Nuland... and then stop at her phrase. no details, just the tired tropes
what I also see is that I posted about the conflict the EU has having, with a US Agriculture Secretary angrily accusing the EU to threaten World Food Security
still no comment, there. as a reminder, Agriculture is the core "mandate" of the EU. problem is, here many write about the EU... but know very little about it
"You write fucking crap here all the time, stupid bold an itallics garbage. FUCK EU/EZ an all Eshit." exactly. keep it simple
There is no conflict, like the EU its all bulshit, EU is happy to suck on uncle sammies dick like the good little girl she is and spread fer legs when told. Just like they won't pack uncle sammies duffle bags and send him and his boys home.
Not one word about those boys and girls without a job and screwing them for life though Ghordius , nope, just write more bullshit.
LoL EUtopia
'problem is, here many write about the EU... but know very little about it'...
I can see you obviously know alot about the 'EU' Ghordius, I certainly wouldn't argue with that...but you seem to know SWEET F.A. about the European peoples...
sure. I mentioned anti-globalists, for example. meanwhile, "Fudge" cannot even say in which country he "talks to people". (looking at myself, btw, I don't see any suit or tie)
Just for you Ghordius .. Estonia Greece Italy Latvia Lithuania Spain. Not that matters, you will not accept that average people would leave tomorrow if given the chance.
So, to answer the question posed by this article > Will Austerity Be The Straw That Breaks The EU & The UK?
For those I know, it all ready has.
The scum at the top I'm sure have no problems at all in inflicted more pain on those least able to defend themselves.
There will never be any EUtopia for those on the bottom.
I have business in Greece, in Italy, in Spain, and I am travelling often to Latvia, lately. And I get a completely different picture from you. how so?
in Greece, for example, I do get a radically different picture from your "average people would leave tomorrow"
in Latvia, most people I talk to are delighted that they can work everywhere in the EU
"I am travelling often to Latvia."
Speaking with whom ?
Certainly not with local residents in the counties where employment opportunities are low also where health and education is again being reduced. Without exception those I know feel that things were far better 3-4 years ago.
I made a point recently of Latvia looking for 100million+ in investments there was also several offers of 'things' for sale in the counties, perhaps we have an interest in the same areas.
I think you care for people less than do I, but I understand the word 'culture' used above to HT, particularly in Lativia > Tautu meita
fudge, have you been in Latvia? Are you in Latvia? Yes, I do care for people. I do try to talk to as many as possible
do you want to imply that a majority of Latvians would prefer to exit the EU?
Yes - family :-) and friends in Latvia and the Baltics
No at this time, next in Riga 5-13th July > Cultural Event ( "God Daughter" if you understand the reference )
Best I describe myself as having feet ( investments and holdings ) both in West and East and the benefits that brings.
50-50, though recent protests may swing vote towards leaving. One needs to remember the penalties for promoting such a move > see a resent arrest for same.
of course I understand "God Daughter". Business & godchildren and passing business to godchildren is practically all I do, nowadays
those arrests, what do they charge, exactly?
Latvian Security Police (DP) have requested that criminal proceedings be initiated against an individual,who collected signatures for Latvia's accession to Russia, police said in a statement Friday.
RIGA (Sputnik) — The collection of signatures was launched on the website Avaaz.org. As of April 17 (2014) not 2015, over 6,000 people signed the petition.
According to local media, the activist organized the canvassing in March 2014, prior to the start of a referendum in Crimea on secession from Ukraine and reunification with Russia.
In February 2015, the initiator of the campaign was detained. Latvia's police seized his computers and data storage devices.
Following the activist's arrest, Latvian law enforcers instituted criminal proceedings against him for an appeal aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of the Baltic state.
Any attempt to influence public opinion in the Baltics will meet a similar end, that is including leaving the EU.
This I know will be 100% Government Policy, they are 'deadly' serious in all attempts at limiting free speech in this matter, fear of apprehension is a powerful weapon.
A trust worthy friend of yours in Government will verify this statement.
ugly stuff, I agree. I'm with you in this, btw
He was stupid Ghordius, things such as this cause problems that both Russia and the Balitc states can well do without, innocent people and innocent gestures can now be looked at in the wrong light. We would be far better served if people thought about possible consequences before they act.
I go now, enjoy your evening.
Greece leaving will only serve to draw focus on whats left of the pigs, Portugal, Italy, and Spain.... have those countries really changed ANY... answer no, so now it comes down to the North deciding if they want to bail out the south on a huge scale.
The UK has voted to abolish the Human Rights Act, return to fox hunting with hounds, for pro-surveillance legislation, a referendum which at best very least stifle business investment until resolved at worst take it out of the largest trading bloc in the world, and will see political boundaries redrawn so it almost impossible for any party other than the conservatives to win, and will see relatively wealthy people like me get a tax cut at the expense of the disabled.
I think the British people have finally out done themselves.
Taking Britain out of the "largest trading bloc in the world", garbage, the EU is not a trading block but an economic community, designed to have common policies, a common currency and eventually common taxes.
If we leave the European Economic Community, we can continue to trade with the EU, and in addition we can choose to trade with the rest of the world without pouring our wealth into corrupt EU institutions, or having to support EU trade protectionism.
And I see, despite this being a site that is supposed to be dedicated to financial matters, that our present "austerity" and our actual large debt and deficit spending barely gets a mention, too many here are all to happy to spend, just as long as it is someone elses money.
I think the idea that the EU needs the UK as a trading partner is overstated. Many of the banks located in the City are overseas branches of US/Asian banks that are there because its English speaking, with no barriers to the European market. I'd be very surprised if Nomura, State Street, Citi, JPM, etc didn't expand their operations in Frankfurt or Paris at the expense of London should the UKs continued membership of the EU look in doubt. The ECB has shown its protectionist tendencies in challenging Londons right to clear and settle EUR transactions in the Courts.
Over the long term, you'd also have to doubt how committed Japanese car manufacturers would be to the UK given the threat of EU tariffs, its not like there arent swathes of Europe where wage inflation is likely to a problem any time soon. Isolated we're a pretty insignificant market, and most nations can probably afford to ignore us and focus on US, China, India and increasingly Africa as trade partners.
Britain is Germany's largest EU export partner. Think Merkel wants to give that up?
is that relevant? if the UK would exit the EU, Germany would continue to export to and import from the UK
all this talk about the EU being the largest trading "bloc" of the world forgets that "the EU" countries are the largest importers and even more the largest exporters of the world, if added together (with or without the UK)
the issue is if British producers would be able to still export to the EU. but since the "trade barriers" of the EU are based on "product quality and standards", since Norway can export to the EU and does export to the EU... where would be the problem?
Except if Cameron's exited Britain would raise tariffs and import walls for goods and services from the EU... which is highly unlikely
no, I have to say, you are replying to a very correct point: a lot of banks operate currently from London because it is a sophisticated financial gateway to the EU
and "finance" is one of the key "industries" of the UK. if the UK leaves the EU, we, the bad continentals that did stuff like the "EU Banker Bonus Cap" might start to regulate finance in a way that London's banks could start to dislike even moar... or, as the comment above says, migrate to for example Frankfurt. all speculation, but all somewhat valid speculation
as a simplification: London's banks are against BriXit, London's hedge funds and other greater funds are for BriXit. strange, but perhaps not that strange
By "Outdone", I think you mean we've gone full retard.
I think Nicola Sturgeon could not be more delighted to have a Conservative government in power against which she can rally the Scots for full independence. So, I expect a lot of Tory machinations in the background to kill her off in the coming months. I'd give it a couple of years before the full ramifications of what the electorate has done hits everyone in the face like a turd from a 88mm cannon.
I expect our national assets to be stripped to the bone and sold off to Cameron's friends at GS, I expect austerity to bite hard on the most vulnerable, I expect (More) riots and voices of discontent, I expect the banksters to flourish at my expense and I expect even more zionists and Americans in positions of influence throughout the UK msm and politics. The labour party is a ripe target right now for turning them all into "Friends of Israel" automatons.
The UK election came too soon and these predictions are too early also. The Eurozone faces turmoil through the Greece situation, and this aligned with the Conservative's fast-track cuts will alter the political and economic landscape. Another crisis will prove the 'recovery' and the British economy to be a mirage. After that, Scotland will see a further swing to independence that no media or government smear campaign will hold back.
Given the country has got itself in as much debt in the last 5 years as it did in its entire history, had a billion pound stimulus from bank mis-selling refunds, and the interest rates on existing debt were at century lows, its fucking amazing it didn't grow more. By the time the public realises how stupid they've been boundaries will have been redrawn to suite the incumbent.
When Scotland has independence, Great Britain (GB) will in future be known as:
"Not So Great Britain But Still Better Than France"
( NSGBBSBTF )
"It looks like the majority of British voters will opt to leave the EU, or at least partially; things may change if or when Cameron convinces Brussels to change the entire concept of the Union to ‘pacify’ the UK. But that majority will probably come from England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will -almost certainly- choose to remain in the EU. And it just so happens that Sturgeon addressed the issue in the Guardian in no uncertain terms:
There are huge issues and challenges ahead – not least the looming question of the UK and Scotland’s place in Europe. A key requirement of the prime minister’s in-out referendum should be a “double-lock” requiring the assent of all four UK home nations before any withdrawal from the EU.."
now, that would throw a spammer in the referendum. all four UK home nations to agree on a withdrawal from the EU? we already know Scotland would vote against
just as a reminder, Cameron has talked a lot about "reforming" the EU. talked, and vaguely, then he has not presented even one proposal
and generally speaking, he has no proposal except one: to push TTIP forward. which is the equivalent of destroying the EU as it is
so let's look what Washington says: just recently, the US Secretary of Agriculture accused us Europeans to want to starve the world
as a reminder, here we are still discussing GMO. the most recent proposal was to package the EU law in such a way that every country could, if it wanted, opt-out of the law
a compromise? not in the mind of Tom Vilsack, US Agriculture Czar, and former governor of Iowa. he angrily claims that if we europeans don't embrace Monsanto and the whole GMO package, it would "create a serious obstacle to meeting the challenge of food security"
Cameron does not want a Common Market. He wants a completely open, unregulated, "free for all" and "everything goes" market, period. as Washington's lobbyists
Vilsack, here, is being the globalist, caring for the whole world and fretting if the whole world can feed itself, since it's growing. But he forgets to mention that the world is not growing here, in Europe, it's growing in Asia and Africa... and it's already partially being fed with Monsanto GMO crops from America
So according to Vilsack, we have to transform our agriculture - which produces food here for people here, the EU has a slight food export, all in all - and copy the madness that has been done in the US... for the greater glory of Monsanto et al
interestingly, Monsanto is talking about buying up Syngenta, a Swiss based company, and might want to leave the US for Switzerland. one of the reasons is that huge treasure chest of cash that many US multinationals keep offshore because they prefer not to pay the US taxes
should that happen, it would be even more hilarious and sad: a US Agriculture Secretary telling on behalf of a non-US company to the EU, a bunch of countries that did not elect him, how to run their agriculture and... that he is angry at the EU whenever it's not the easy market access door for megabusiness enablers
bad, bad EU for even considering opt-outs for countries, eh? makes the US Agricultural Czar very angry, this bad, bad EU
"Cameron does not want a Common Market. He wants a completely open, unregulated, "free for all" and "everything goes" market, period. as Washington's lobbyists"
Washington is irrelevant here, long before the US became the worlds superpower it was in the UK's interest to have a free market, and yes, that does mean "free for all" as the opposite is free for the chosen few - who chooses them, the EU/governments of course, and that is socialism.
The UK is an island nation, it has always been in our interest to trade widely on the best possible terms with all that we can. Instead for the continental countries with their large agricultural sectors they have significant sectors of government wanting the opposite, well good for them, I would not support imposing a set of trading conditions on them that they did not support, but neither should the UK support trading conditions that are not in her best interest. Currently because we are part of the EU we raise high tariffs against food imports around the world, and thus deny ourselves cheaper food from places like New Zealand, and because of this trade protectionism other countries outside the EU get less for their food exports then they would otherwise earn.
EddieLomax, you reply to my comment without mentioning neither GMO nor Monsanto, all while claiming that Washington is irrelevant
yes, the UK is an island that decided it would not need to grow it's own food, and that long ago, with the Repeal of the Corn Laws
according to this food perspective alone, yes, leave the EU, definitely. we on the continent are not forcing you to stay. btw, we have little tariffs. what keeps imports out of the EU aren't tariffs, it's safety regulation. I don't exactly know how "safety regulations" are traduced into plain English, to be frank. google translator gives me back "damn trade protectionism"
"the continental countries with their large agricultural sectors they have significant sectors of government wanting the opposite, well good for them"
that's not government. That's Small Business. Like the typical Farmer Family. What AgriBusiness is very keen to... exploit
When the UK joined the EU, NZ which was a big food exporter to the UK, particularly of lamb, butter and other dairy products was shut out of the UK overnight.
Do you seriously tell us that NZ meat, butter and other dairy products were excluded because of "safety regulations"?
and what exactly from New Zealand is banned from import to the EU?
"The largest destination of New Zealand’s sheep meat by value, the United Kingdom, fell along with France... "
read the rest here: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/imports_and_e...
I'm sure you're aware.
But food security has nothing to do with food. it's political stability which produces food security and political instability which produces food insecurity. Farmers have to have a stable political and economic environment to be able to produce food, they have enough problems with weather. If their markets are gyrating all over the place they can't plan future production, if their energy prices are all over the place they can't plan automation. If they have to bribe their local officials they might as well not produce at all. if they are being robbed by militant rebels they can't produce at all.
We all know that the US does not foster political stability across the planet.
food security has a lot of aspects. one of them is political stability, yes. another is supply lines
at the top of this comment section, we have a man that is a fan of the British Empire, somewhere between one that likes lamb chops from New Zealand
fact is that if you want to import significant amounts of food from overseas... well, you'd be well adviced to have the biggest Navy of the world, or be very friendly to who does
but part of the issue is much, much subtler. here, "food security" is depicted as something that is highly dependent from innovation from mega-Agrobusiness
It is beyond absurd that you rail vehemently against the United States and their policies here, as represented by Tom Vilsack and Monsanto, and yet in the most pressing issue of the time - the US stirring up trouble in Ukraine/ Kiev, you will defend the EU's weak response of 'going along for the ride with our American allies'.
It is beyond weak and stupid what Merkel & Hollande (& Cameron, although his position is at least understandable given the UK/US walk in lockstep most of the time) have allowed themselves to become in relation to the US policies in Eastern Europe vis-a-vis Ukraine & Russia.
If there are any serious miscalculations made over the next few months or years it will be the people on the ground in Germany & France that suffer more than most! And yet they conveniently ignore this reality to passively encourage the Americans to continue stirring up trouble in Ukraine. And watch Macedonia - that is the next place on the target list for trouble from Nuland and co.
What will the Colour Revolution in Macedonia be? I'll take a stab at Pink. We haven't seen a pink one yet have we?
it's beyond absurd that when I talk about the EU, I talk about what it is, i.e. a trade alliance?
no, I have to keep to the fantasy propaganda that depicts the EU as something that is a purely geopolitical thing, eh? as a reminder, it's the sovereign countries (that happen to be members of the EU) that drive geopolitics, here
it's Germany and France that try to talk with Russia and Ukraine. it's Poland, the Balts, the Scandinavians and the former satellites of the SU that are critical of Russia
sure, they all have a vote in the EU Council. hence that rather smallish trade embargo with Russia
I see you take one issue that is completely and fully an EU issue, and try to tell me Ukraine is more important, something where "the EU" is just a simplification
Raul is doing the same with "austerity", i.e. taking a purely British debate and escalating it to "a reason for breakup of the UK" and then escalating further to "a reason for breakup of the EU"... where it applies even less, except for echos of the debate over Greece
Doesn't TPP stand for : Take the Poison, you Peasants ?
Stand firm. Local production if you can, minimize the toxins if mega-production is the only distribution available.
Dupont, Con-Agra, Monsatan and ADM don't consider "tasty lifespan" in their focus.
Every man has but two options.
He can do productive work ... or, he can exploit the productivity of others.
What did the Scots demand, last week, when they demanded an "end to austerity"?
It's a euphemism for "more theft".
The UK will not be leaving the EU, that much is almost certain. It will be interesting to see if and how Cameron plans to alter the treaties. It does seem like the tide is turning if just a bit. Tiny Finland, a traditional hardcore supporter of Germany in the EU is forming a government that will have a very pro-UK position and will likely support British attempts to renegotiate. Instead of more integration they have come to the conclusion that it has to be scaled back and power retained with national governments. It could be that Germany has driven itself into a corner and is alienating its allies.
It would indeed be a possible diplomatic move, from the UK, to draw in all the countries that have a different opinion to the current consensus
the problem there, though, it's British diplomacy. those countries are often put off by the British assumptions that they are meant to be... led
but Cameron has a problem. with the core continental consensus about the four freedoms and the one border
freedom of movement of goods, people, capital and services while having one shared border
he'd like to have three freedoms, i.e. without people freely moving inside the EU... and no trade barrier whatsoever
and he has no alternative to this demand, while the continental consensus has no alternative to the consensus
further integration? actually the new establishment of opt-outs has stopped further integration. I don't see further integration as feasible, when opt-outs are a standard option
I hope the tide has turned, but the problem with the EU is that it is a common market, with common policies and designed to have a common currency and a common tax rate.
The logic of the EU as an economic entity only works when it is completely unified, hence right now we have these large imbalances in Europe that are unsolveable without debt and tax harmonisation.
So the idea of "freezing" the EU at todays state in my opinion will not work, nature hates a vacuum, so either the EU project moves towards greater integration (which is a stable state), or it falls apart and we have individual countries with seperate treaties (which is a stable state too).
a common tax rate? where? the usual logic of Britons talking about the EU is to talk about it as if it was the... UK. meanwhile... Scotland
I think the majority of the political class sees the value of the EU (as dysfunctional as it is), hence the reluctance to hold a referendum. The issue is the majority of the British media are hostile to Europe and have indoctrinated half the public into hating it for its (many) weaknesses, while ignoring its strengths. A crisis in Greece, or Cameron trying to blame a domestic recession on Europe (the party of personal responsibility never takes responsibility), could tip the balance toward the exit door.
I wouldn't put money on it either way.
Fuck The Fake "E.U."
Get with the bluez Boiler Plate already!
Pure Tyranny Is When The Rich Own Everything
All This Complicated Financial Gobbledygook Is Just Not Working!
The rich tyrants solemnly address the masses about "regrettable necessities" and "shared sacrifices," then launch more drones and cut school lunch programs yet again. Why merely react to what they are perpetrating?
The very concept of rich people (and even of modestly affluent people) would be bleached into meaninglessness if the poor ones ceased to exist. That is, the rich need the poor and oppressed for the sake of their own self-definition. So therefor they "launch more drones and cut school lunch programs yet again." (Really only a neocon subset of the rich and powerful actively promote these pogroms; the others just jet-set and so on.)
No one should be allowed to own more that 20 times what they need to make a living and live comfortably. People should be required to register their substantial holdings, and if they exceed the 20 times limit, a random jury should force them to sell off the excess, and reduce their holdings to 15 times what they need. The proceeds should go to the commonwealth. Anything they fail to register should be confiscated, and those who willfully avoid registering assets should be punished. That is the only way to control economic royalism and protect freedom and human rights.
Most of our industry has been sold by the rich for profit and shipped down the river to other nations, and there is perhaps only one way to rebuild it. All large industry should be owned and completely controlled by democratic communities and towns. Each community would own an industry, which could only be sold to another community. Some communities would have to be larger than others. For example, an ironmaking operation would require a large community, or consortium of communities. There could be government sponsored research and development communities too. Employees would have to live in the communities, and thus there would be a powerful incentive to minimize pollution. Small businesses would be operated by ordinary companies.
There will be no more rich political parties. No more rich to be protected by vicious policing. No more rich capitalists selling our industrial facilities down the river to China. There must be some regulation, unless we want to be utterly ruled by ultra-rich tyrants. Wealth control would bring freedom and prosperity at last!
I have known about half a dozen billionaire's kids, due to my unusual background. About 2/3rds of them seem like nice people; they seemed friendly and decent. About 1/3rd seemed like exploitative creeps. Most of their family names appear on products that may be found in an average person's home. They were already rich. To me, rich today is having about $250,000,000.00 of relatively expendable money.
I think maybe 30% just live on trust funds and party. Maybe 60% have jobs of some sort, such as sitting in boardrooms from perhaps 10 to 50 hours a week. And maybe about 10% participate in fascistic political "foundations" which do vast harm to our nation and its people. So all in all, the rich screw us over, and thus bestow toxic negative benefits.
Average people do not envy these rich ones. "Envy" is universally defined as "resentful desire of something possessed by another or others." Ordinary folks, and activists also, do not possess energy to waste contemplating resentful desires — they are too preoccupied with dealing the latest toxic negative benefits being foisted on them by the fascistic elements among the rich.
We would all be happier and safer if the rich went away. For example, if no one was allowed to own more than 20 times what they need to live comfortably and to have a good income.
And get machine-free casting and tallying simple score voting with no single-selection, no two-party lock-in!!! (And this is NOT the same as "approval voting".)
"For example, if no one was allowed to ..."
The problem is right there.
For 'no one' to be allowed to do something, someone else has to be in charge of doing the allowing or not allowing.
That person will soak up all the same resources as the rich, and become the nouveau rich, this time by means of gun-to-the-face rather than inherited fortune.
I don't think transfering all the wealth to the thugocrats is really an improvement over the plutocrats.
Less central authority, not more, is the answer.
if you impose austerity slow enough you can reduce people to a welfare state where they live like pigs on a pig farm - just get enough food and some shelter for the night and keep quiet without ever looking into the sky
What a lot of rubbish about Scotland, Sturgeon and "austerity".
England makes a large net financial contribution to Scotland. Yet according to the author the UK Parliament has been imposing "austerity" on Scotland. Scotland has its own parliament with devolved powers. If they want to spend more they can surely find some way of raising the money.
Given the bile England has received from Scots nationalists in recent years, a great many of the English would be very happy to see Scotland depart the UK. It would save them money and take away a large number of seats that are all leftist (previously Labour Party, now SNP), leaving Britain with a near permanent Conservative majority.
Sturgeon has no power now. Labour did not win enough seats to have a chance of forming government with SNP support, so all she can do is shout across the aisle in Parliament with no influence on the decisions. Because SNP is the Scottish Nationalist Party, it has no chance of gaining seats outside Scotland, whatever they do. Equally, they now have all the seats in Scotland and the Conservatives know they have no chance of winning seats in Scotland whatever they do. So they can basically ignore Scotland and let Sturgeon and Salmond stew in their own frustration.
my view entirely, sick of reading how good it was for the snp to get 56 seats. 30 seats and part of a coaltion would be better. as long as cameron can keep is back benches in line he can win any vote he wants
Um... UKIP only got 1 seat. If people wanted to leave the EU they would have voted for them. Instead they voted Conservative. English people want to remain in the gravy train.
4m voted for ukip, but our electoral systems means that doesn't always translate to mps
Bet on a major vote rigging on that one!
spending more than you earn is austerity now is it?
spending less than you earn to repay the debts your government made in your name without your consent.
OH NO! They're going to take away our government cheese! Whatever shall we DO!?
Get over it Brits. Either start pulling the cart or get out of it entirely. Your socialist utopia and "free" health care is starting to fail, and now all you can do BLAME THE EVIL BANKERS (instead of math). But don't worry, we in the U.S. are right behind you.
This will not end well.
Cameron will do whatever he's instructed to do by Washington, Soros, Adelson, Murdoch...to name a few. If that includes sending the police out onto the streets to shoot live rounds into crowds of people then so be it.
What will the British public do...Fuck all, they'll be far too busy sat at home watching X-Factor and reading about what Jeremy Clarkson had for lunch...
Bye-bye 'Great' Britain.
If that were the case, Obama would be instructing the Bank of England to paint petrified cow dung and call it Pounds Sterling. Then he would force Cameron to call all illegal muslims entering the country "undocumented Brittons." Lastly he would enforce strict "knife" control because we need to keep assault weapons off the streets of London.
Nope.
'Lastly he would enforce strict "knife" control because we need to keep assault weapons off the streets of London.'
Already in place all over the U.K.
So...Yep.
We haven't had any austerity it's just one big fucking lie which serves the two party system. Cameron can act as bad cop and labour as good cop. This is all that has ever happened. It's just a silly game to encourage voters to partake and take sides. It makes the foolish believe they have a chip in the game, but it got nicked ages ago.
As for food banks, they are a result of the poor economy which is another wool pulling exercise. We have a bubble in certain areas of the economy leading to a mini boom of malinvestment. The rest of us aren't doing so good. Productivity and wages are down, savings have been crushed, prices of the most important things have risen. That isn't anything to do with Cameron cutting a few coppers off the welfare state and everything to do with feckless big government and an out of control crony capitalist business model.
Only people producing stuff are an economic positive, not fucking government trough drinkers. If the state would get out of the way and let competition thrive under a true free market system we wouldn't need food banks. As that doesn't appear to be the will of the people we can expect more of the same bullshit and more of the same food banks.
The Tories polled 11 million votes out of a potential 56 million. Hardly a ringing endorsement.
They received huge support in the South East - mainly through a ruthless campaign of fear of the SNP agenda, and also by appealing to the wealthier electorate with their "recovery" and austerity to infinity plan. Their financial acumen does not stand up to scrutiny -they have managed to increase the deficit, and almost double the national debt whilst in coalition.
Just how nasty the "nasty party" can be, will be demonstrated in double quick time.
Parliamentary democracy at work. The Tories don't have to build a coalition, that's as ringing an endorsement as it gets in such a political system.
Debt to GDP ratios continue to rise, yet another whole article at ZH about "austerity."
The problem with Austerity is that it cuts the support which mitigates the impact of fractional reserve banking and perpetual government deficits.
The Welfare state came to exist for a simple reason ... because the banking policies of the Warburgs' and the Rothschilds' siphoned off a huge proportion of people's savings, leaving them impoverished whenever their productivity waned, whether due to weather, war, or normal market fluctuations.
The human cost had resulted in an unprecedentedly large move to hard currencies - the classical Gold Standard.
The process of inflation deprives producers of a percentage of their returns, and simultaneously punishes savings in general. This tends to make successful producers fail during downturns (because their savings has been looted) or once they grow old (because their savings has been looted).
The Welfare state is Governments and Banks attempt to have their cake and eat it too... They want to consume people's savings, and let them have the benefit of their savings at the same time...by means of exponential borrowing against ever-larger future.
But what happens when the mass of borrowing-against-the-future is obviously impossible to even service? Such that fewer loans are wanted, because there does not exist the income to service them?
And if you implement Austerity, to lessen the borrowing against the future...does it lessen the ratio of income to debt-service payment? No.
And if you simultaneously accelerate inflation, to keep those banks churning the government debt...then does that make workers more able to service their debts? No.
These two policies work against each other.
What they want, is to have their cake and eat it too...again.
They know that they must inflate to make outstanding loans small enough to service.
They know that they must cut spending or the State's debt will grow apace with inflation, leaving the government's who license the banking cartel holding the bag.
But if the inflated currency doesn't turn into extra spending money in worker's hands then the whole justification for fractional reserve banking, and welfare statism comes crashing down, revealed for what it is - official parasitism.
Socialism Kills! ALWAYS!
The main customers of the food banks are the millions of Third World bottom feeders flooding over Britain's non-existant borders.
And they're really hungry ... so the Brit's better get crackin' 'an start fryin' up those bangers!
>> "it simply cannot be and it will not be business as usual when it comes to Westminster’s dealing with Scotland.”
Gee - I thought that when the Scotts turned their back on Scottish Independence that business-as-usual was exactly what they wanted... "oooo no scary change for me - it might be financially inconvenient".
>> And it’s not as if either Scotland or Greece lack a history of fighting for their independence.
Ya - maybe in the old days. These days, blue and white face paint sits dusty and forgotten on the shelves and everyone is down at the pub drinking their lives away.
Time and Mother Nature will.