Today I want to be less European

It is good news that our prevailing wind comes from the south west, bringing us fresh air from the Atlantic and the USA. It is bad news that we are currently stuck with a biting north easterly wind, that is bringing us smells from Europe.
It remainds me of just how much grief over the centuries we have experienced by being too entangled with the affairs of that unhappy continent. Good things for the UK have come from our maritime global presence – including the fresh air brought in on stiff winds from the warmer and cleaner south-west. We should have no wish to be part of a European pong contest.

3 Comments

  1. Gareth Sutcliffe
    April 19, 2008

    John, I agree with the sentiment, but that was an awful joke. Well Done!

  2. Rose
    April 19, 2008

    Yes, and an East wind is really smelly when you live in an English city. Full of extracted smells from restaurants, cigarette smoke from doorways and street corners, brewery smells, urine, dustbin smells … but most of all the really poisonous smell of diesel and petrol fumes from the traffic.

  3. mikestallard
    April 19, 2008

    And the worst stink of all is that of corruption:
    Buitenen names two MEPs in EP fraud case; says "an entire political group" has committed serious abuses
    Anti-corruption MEP Paul van Buitenen has written to Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, reiterating the measures he thinks should be taken to deal with the internal report of extensive misuse of allowances in the EP, which was partially revealed earlier this year. Amongst other measures, van Buitenen proposes that the findings are made public and that the EP undertakes steps to find the true scale of the misuse. He writes, "In my note of March 12th 2008, I also offered to provide more details to you Mr. President, in order to enable you to assess the situation yourself. I did not even get a confirmation of receipt."

    Van Buitenen goes on, "Please let me inform you that today, I am transmitting the first detailed allegations of abuses to the EU Antifraud Office OLAF, concerning a former Member of Parliament and a present Member of Parliament. I am requesting OLAF to assess this information and if necessary to open an official investigation into these alleged serious irregularities." Van Buitinen says he has only revealed the names to OLAF, because wider publication would "only distract from the necessary reform process and harm the rights of defence and presumption of innocence." He also says, "This transmission to OLAF will be followed by further transmissions to OLAF concerning other cases of alleged serious abuses committed by other Members of Parliament or even by an entire political group in the Parliament."
    ref: Europa-Nytt Buitenen's letter European Voice

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