Monthly Archives: November 2010

                Yesterday the Chancellor’s remarks included news that he is revising the treatment of overseas profits for companies headquartered in the UK, and offering a 10% rate of Corporation  Tax on profits earned from new products.                This is welcome news, If the details are worked out sensibly it will stem the loss of businesses [...]

        Open Europe  has just published a useful guide to what pro Euro advocates have said over the years. (www.openeurope.org.uk) It includes such gems as Angela Merkel  1st  March 2010  ” We have a Treaty under which there is no possibility of paying to bail out states in difficulty” Greek Finance Minister 1999 ” We must [...]

I have been touched by several good suggestions for the response to the important letter from Penny Maws about the Irish loan.  However, as it has come into my possession I thought you might like to see the original. Dear Mrs Maws,                 Dame Lucy has asked me to reply to your letter. She wishes [...]

               Today there will be plenty of spin around, following the E85 billion bail out agreement (Part 2) for Ireland. There is a sense of deja vu, as we had similar spin before  after the previous meeting which we were told had saved the Euro and stopped the contagion.              We need to check the [...]

  1. What is the money to be spent on? 2. What is the legal base for the EU Stabilisation fund which includes non Euro contributors? 3. How will the Euro area raise the money from the special purpose vehicle for bails outs, and at what likely interest rate?  Who stands behind the special purpose vehicle? [...]

The following copy letter has come into my possession. It is from Mrs Penny Maws, legal adviser to Dr Roy Spendlove at the Division for Miscellaneous Projects. She is writing to Dame Lucy Doolittle, the Director of the Unit for co-ordinating cross cutting initiaitives and partnerships.   I am still finding it difficult to locate this body and [...]

In 1997 I published the Penguin book “Our currency, our country” setting out the case against the Euro. Amongst its predictions were: “There have  been riots in the streets of France against the spending cuts the currency scheme requires. Three quarters of the German people are opposed to the abolition of the DM, despite their [...]

                 It should by now be clear that the proposed Irish loan is not the answer to the problems of the Euro. This week-end the Finance Ministries should be humming with effort. They should see the drift to a loan package for Portugal.  All the rhetoric deployed on Greece and Ireland telling us a loan [...]

I have been impressed by the detail and concern shown by several  contributors to my questions on the new system. I will send the evidence to the Home Secretary so she can consider it properly with her officials.