Monthly Archives: November 2011

             As Mrs Merkel drives Euroland towards greater EU control over budgets and economies I would like Mr Cameron to say the UK needs a different relationship with this emerging state. It is up to them how they pay for their currency and their wider union, as logn as we are not expected to [...]

             Thanks to the policies of the last government, the UK entered this decade as one of the most heavily borrowed countries of all. Private sector borrowings peaked at more than 200% of GDP. The company sector has cuts its debts a bit  in the last two years despite the lower levels of activity, and [...]

           I support the sale of Northern Rock. I will write tomorrow about why, and how we need much more action to cut the financial risks of the state. This is an important small first step in reducing the massive inherited liabilities of the government.           Meanwhile, bond yields for Spain and France are [...]

                Parliament has woken up to the bad habits of some private sector car parks.  MPs want a limit on fines and clamping when people make mistakes in a private car park, or when they try it on and seek to avoid payment. Let’s hope the new rules work.                 Most of the parking problems [...]

             The people who like our current membership of the EU or want more involvement in EU matters rely on just two arguments. The first is that we have to stay in on the current basis because so much of our trade is with the EU. The second is we need to be in [...]

            Yesterday there was a short debate on the Common Fisheries Policy. The short time for the debate prevented  me from making  a speech. Had I been called, I would have said something like this:          “Today is groundhog day. For 38 years this House has held regular debates on the Common Fisheries Policy. MPs often [...]

Don’t expect the euphoria over a new Italian government to last long. There is no need to share it. The markets  enjoyed a relief rally on news of a new government forming in Italy. The European establishment is behind Mr Monti, so we should expect the ECB and the spin machine to try to engineer [...]

There is a debate about what responsibility Mrs May and Mr Green should take for the borders troubles that have recently come to light. Mrs May herself says that she did not want some of the controls lifted at our borders which it turns out have been lifted. She says one of her senior officials [...]

Today we mourn the many dead in two world wars, and other conflicts. We admire their bravery. We thank them for their sacrifice. We remember they died to keep us free. Today we mourn without members who fought in the 1st World War to tell us of its horrors. We have memorable poetry from the [...]