The BBC and Channel 4 always go to town over any US Presidential election, andĀ provide comment about US CongressionalĀ mid terms. Any error or politically incorrect comment by a Republican is played up, and suitableĀ bon mots by Democrats are reported. There is even sometimes commentary designed to produce a little balance.
When it comes to a pivotal and important European General election there is usually a deafening silence. In a month’s time Germany goes to the polls to choose a replacement Chancellor for Mrs Merkel. Voters will also be invited to pass judgement on how green electors want policy to be, how much more power the EU should enjoy, and how prudent the budget of the EU’s largest economy should be. Given the media’s enthusiasm for all things EU the lack of interest in all this is noteworthy.
ManyĀ people in the UK have not evenĀ heard the names of the 3 main challengers to take over as Chancellor. Armin Laschet is the new leader of Merkel’s CDU party (sort of Conservative). Annalena Baerbock is the chosen Chancellor candidate for the Greens. Olaf Scholz is the leader of the SDP (Labour like).
The election has been through threeĀ phases so far. It began with a surge for the Greens when they announced their fresh new candidate for Chancellor who briefly went into first place in the polls. It swung back to the CDU . In the last few days the lagging SPD has had a strong run and pulled level with the CDU in joint first.
The Greens have fallen back into third thanks to claims that Ms Baerbock’s CV had elements of fiction in it and that her book had borrowed material from elsewhere without credits. More importantly GreenĀ policies of raising fuel taxes and subsidising cycling are going down badly. The CDU has lost traction partly thanks to Mr Laschet’s unfortunate joke cracking as a backdrop to the German President speaking about the deaths of people in the recent floods. Mr Scholz has picked up support by avoiding such disasters.
There have been some continuities in the polls. The polls have always said the 3 main parties remain very unpopular, struggling to get much above 20% each. The polls have always said the 3 Chancellor candidates are unpopular, with more than half the voters often preferring none of the top 3. They have also said that the most talked about possible coalitions, CDU/Green/Free DemocratsĀ (Jamaica) and SDP/Free Democrats/Green (Traffic light) are more unpopular than any of the top three parties! The polls regularly give the Eurosceptic AFD 9-11% so they will definitely have no role to play in a future German government as none of the pro EU parties want them in a coalition.
The green arguments are especially important. Mr Laschet as current head of the government of Rhineland has to defend the decision to allow the loss of six more settlements and a major expansion of the strip mine for lignite at Garzweiler. The CDU/SPD coalition federal government led by Merkel has just agreed that Germany will continue to mine coal and burn it for electricity until 2038. This means Germany will not make much of a contribution to COP26 and the climate change pledges, refusing to match the UK by ending electricity from coal early. German electors seem worried by the lignite expansion but not enough to make the SPD less popular. They seem even more worried by the Greens wish to use taxes and subsidies to change things faster. There are also important differences over taxes, spending levels, borrowing and the size of the EU budget. I will keep you posted.
August 29, 2021
So when you say āsort of Conservativeā do you mean sort of āreal Conservativesā or the tax borrow and piss down the drain, green crap pushing, red tape pushing, state monopoly healthcare , we will vaccinate your children, socialist fools we suffer under now? Germany are quite right not to copy the UKās net zero CO2 lunacy. It will cost Ā£Trillions and achieve nothing for several reasons.
1. World cooperation on net zero will never happen.
2. The solutions proposed heat pumps, wind, solar, cycling, walking, EVs, public transport do not save any or any significant CO2 and are generally very impractical.
3. The agenda in 2 above will cost more than is acceptable politically, destroy & export jobs and whole industries.
4. CO2 (plant, tree and crop food and source of the Oxygen we breath) is not a serious problem or ācrisisā but generally a net benefit.
August 29, 2021
The deafening silence of which John complains in the UK media on European matters is exactly that which has suited his cause so well up until now.
The Right have NEVER wanted the people of this country to know anything about the methods for providing occupational pensions, healthcare and education, solving industrial relations problems, operating railways and other public services, or the electoral systems for establishing more representative legislatures on the Continent. And they especially wanted them to know nothing about the consultative process by which European Union law is made – allowing the myths, caricatures and misrepresentations to flourish instead.
So now you have it.
Well, I rather doubt that John wants them to know much about these things now either, but would rather like the BBC etc. to focus on anything which might indicate possible problems in Europe instead.
You can’t just set up these offices and organisational infrastructure on a whim, though, and I’d expect that many BBC staff have had to come home anyway….
Reply I have always wanted people to hear more about our neighbours governments as we do with the USA.
August 29, 2021
Dear Mic–Almost nobody goes to Germany. Ditto speaks German (Did I read recently that even French is now spoken less than Spanish?). Of course almost nobody knows or has even heard of Germany’s aspiring unpronounceable politicians–what do you expect?–nobody could care less, never having heard or begun to understand what the German parties are all about, never mind their foreign system of governance?
The continued burning of lignite (aka dirty brown polluting coal) following a simple overreaction to Nuclear, which in any event is not going to go away, is a disgrace as is the Nordstream pipeline. One could almost start to see Biden’s point of view given the US absolutely carryies NATO financially with Germany’s contribution pitifully low, which never explained–of course they do well if they don’t spend any money.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for change in British opinions. Germany is still alien to us and though close we haven’t yet completely sold our souls for trade.
August 29, 2021
Speak for yourself, and for your uninformed company.
I have German, and have worked in Germany like many others.
The having of a different first language is now seen as so petty a difference as to be irrelevant on the Mainland.
People still banging on about “the English-speaking peoples” show just how petty the factors are, upon which they make very important decisions.
A technologist in Cambridge has far more in common with his peer in Cologne than he does with a greengrocer in Grimsby.
It’s time that people woke up to these simple matters.
Reply Sounds as if you do not respect the greengrocer. we all have a right to decide how we will be governed and we decided on UK self government. I have never had any ambitions to tell Germans what laws they need or how much tax they should pay.
August 29, 2021
MiC
The perfect solution is for you to move to Germany and to stop boring us rigid by telling us what a mistake Brexit is on a daily basis ā¦ problem solved to our immense satisfaction!
August 29, 2021
You could not put the sheer snobbery of EU-enthusiasm better if you tried. It’s all about the good little boy who did his German lessons and so can talk to our pretended overlords.
And this is nothing new. There were worshippers of everything German in the UK in the 19th Century. It’s worth reading a bit about the controversy about whether the UK should stay neutral in the War of 1970.
August 29, 2021
Pre covid for 6 years I have holidayed in Mallorca. This is because , even though I could go upmarket, the hotel and staff welcome single people without allowing them to feel odd out . I could feel odd out though ,as the majority of rooms are taken by German people. I try to speak their language , they try to speak English , we have a bash at French and then Spanish and they are the most friendly lot I have ever holidayed with .They get me drinks of wine and laugh at our miscommunication .I enjoy their company.
August 29, 2021
I speak a bit of German …. enough to get by ….. and I have German friends. My son did A level German and, pre-Brexit, was assigned to Frankfurt for a few weeks to prepare the company’s organisation there.
You are making a sweeping generalisation which isn’t correct.
August 29, 2021
What do you call someone who speaks three languages -trilingual two languages – bilingual and just one language – English!
August 29, 2021
Thank you John, but my point was on the things about which the English Right do NOT want the people to hear, and there are plenty, aren’t there?
August 29, 2021
Oh, has there been a ban on people finding out information under their own steam since I left the UK, Martin?
August 29, 2021
Martin, I’m trying to understand who you are referring to when you talk about the English Right.
The English media are largely left wing, especially our publicly-funded main broadcaster. Our current government is hopelessly left wing. As far as I can see there is no-one right wing in a position to censor information.
August 29, 2021
Sure, and that is exactly why Tim Berners-Lee invented the Web. To prevent people from finding things out.
Honestly, you are such a classic case of persecution complex and projection, that it’s quite funny.
August 29, 2021
Reply to reply, Funny, on 26/08/2021 appeared on the BBC website āGerman elections 2021: Simple guide to vote ending Merkel eraā.
Maybe Sir John doesnāt lower himself to read the BBC website?
Reply I wrote about broadcasts not websites
August 29, 2021
“The deafening silence of which John complains in the UK media on European matters is exactly that which has suited his cause so well up until now.”
Yet when anyone even mentions the EU here, you and Andy raise a big stink about “curtain twitching”. This seems like another issue on which you think things are terribly wrong, even if you completely contradict what you previously said.
August 29, 2021
+ many, many.
You speak such sense.
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
The net-zero policy initiatives arenāt meant to be deliverable. They are all about raising taxes by putting a āsave the planetā excuse on their introduction. Drive a petrol or diesel car = pay more tax; keep your gas boiler = pay more tax; go abroad on holiday = pay more tax. And of course, it will be our fault for not switching to the unaffordable green alternatives; we have been given a choice and have to pay penance for not following the green religion. None of this will impact the rich who can afford to pay any increase in taxes and as we have already seen private jets will be exempt from the new EU green aviation fuel tax.
This is all about tax revenue and nothing else.
August 29, 2021
Net Zero is very unpopular with the public at large.
It may eventually rid us of the liblabcon charlatans.
August 29, 2021
@Lifelogic
I suggest this means far less than Thatcherism, but slightly less socialist than the labour party — Another party of the left.
August 29, 2021
Are you saying that Thatcher was Conservative ? She didn’t take on the vested interests of the socialist public worker unions.
I can’t remember a truly right wing Conservative government.
August 29, 2021
+1 indeed she left us with virtual state monopolies in health car and education though she did at lease give some tax breaks for private medical insurance and did not have 12% Insurance tax on them as we have now.
August 29, 2021
She was the best we’ve had
August 29, 2021
+1000000
August 30, 2021
True rather but damning of all the others.
August 29, 2021
Indeed and Thatcherism did not go nearly far enough to cut back the state, reduce taxes or get real freedom of choice and fair competition in healthcare, education, broadcasting, banking, housing… plus they destroyed many good grammar schools.
reply Mrs Thatcher presided over grammar school closures by the Heath govt as Education Secretary. It was not part of Thatcherism
August 29, 2021
to reply:- true but why take the post of Education Secretary and then do something so very damaging? I do not think she created any new grammar schools as PM. Plus she left us with the dire & appalling virtual state monopoly NHS rationing systems that we still suffer from now.
August 29, 2021
I think T May promised some new Grammar Schools but she ratted on that too. Really nearly all schools should be private with top up education vouchers for the poorer families and tax breaks for the richer ones. Far cheaper for the state and far better, more innovative, competitive and varied schools would result with freedom and choice for consumers. Similarly for health care and universities.
August 29, 2021
@Lifelogic – accept for our host and a very small handful of others there is very little of any conservatives in the HoC, there is certainly not a Conservative Government we haven’t seen on in more than a generation.
Why is it the radicle ‘Left’ label people Right Wing when, when ever you look at the policies of the extreme right they are just a more extreme version of the Left – just look at the history of Europe and its so-called right-wing. They are just a bit further left of Socialisms, so much so the world socialism is the word they use to describe themselves.
Conservatism is more benign method of politics, its inclusive but asks for good house keeping. While suggesting those that can be released from state control, should be and take responsibility for their own action, enabling money to be earned that creates the means to enables similar opportunities to trickle down to everyone.
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
Good morning.
Like everyone else in the EU, it does not matter who you vote for, the EU (Commission) always wins.
August 29, 2021
Good Morning,
I’m aware your comment is said with dark humour, but there’s more to it. Remember Germany pays for the EU bureaucracy (JC Junker was keenly aware who his boss was and said so); whoever wins in Germany is the de-facto boss of the Commission. What will be interesting is the winner in Germany will have to slap down Mr. Macron, who already thinks he’s emperor of Europe, judging by his promises to RoI. If Macron loses next year then we have two ‘wild cards’ facing off for leadership of the EU.
Will Germany keep paying for the EU when the voters find out how much they are paying by comparison to the other members? Interesting times…
August 29, 2021
Peter
Indeed Mr Macron not liked by many at all, but if reports on Guido last week are true, and a certain M Barnier (yes that one) throws his hat into the French election the ring, on a manifesto supporting a ban on immigration for 5 years, and modification to the way the EU works, he may well split the so called right vote and allow Macron back in.
August 29, 2021
Barnier is deceiving the French people. He can only control Non-EU immigration and even then, he will have trouble due to Schengen.
August 29, 2021
Mark B
I agree with your points, but he is suggesting changing the way the EU is run as well, talk about a leopard changing his spots, but will the French believe him, enough just may, which could let Macron in again.
August 29, 2021
alan
He is doing what the Tories use to do when in opposition – offering red meat to the masses. Or, to put it in a more cynical way, “Jam tomorrow, but not today.”
August 29, 2021
The French dropped the ball and effectively lost control to the Germans after the Financial crash in the early 2000’s. Since then they have tried to wrestle it off them with no success. Once these two were very much in lockstep no they diverge on the direction of The Project. France wants more integration and the Germans less so for stated reasons. A real Push-me-Pull-you !
August 29, 2021
With Barnier having entered the fray for French president we could see French domination of EU policy. As France has no Eastern European neighbours, but borders the two biggest Target 2 financial debtors in Spain and Italy and the biggest creditor in Germany, and will still have surplus electricity to parcel out to a Germany that will be short of electricity when they close their nuclear plants, things could get “interesting”.
August 29, 2021
Germany’s decision to continue using coal and expand its the use of Putin’s gas is a sign of political strength while the halfwit, ring through the nose Johnson deliberately and without concern and consent exposes British people to harm, future impoverishment and diminishing competitiveness
Merkel too intelligent to ‘match’ the stupidity and cowardice of Johnson as he panders to ‘er indoors, international pressure (UN), the domestic Green fascists and the bottom feeders that have just crawled into power in Washington
I know one thing and so does Mr Redwood. That NO ONE VOTED FOR THE AUTHORITARIAN CRAP now being imposed upon us by his leader and his government
You’re meant to be a party of freedom, democracy and liberty. You’ve become a threat to all of that. Why?
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
+2
August 29, 2021
+many, many!
Edward Lear āThe Owl and the Pussycatā.
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
About the sum of it I reckon!
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
+many here too.
August 29, 2021
Votes !!
August 29, 2021
“You’re meant to be a party of freedom, liberty and democracy” ….. and sound economics.
Watch what they do, not what they say. Watching closely for the past 18 months, what we’ve got is a Communist-inspired CON.
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
We know however that Sir John is blind to such writings, he will not take any action or promote a view which undermines the Tory party. His mind is closed. He hopes we are in the minority. There is no Tory leader, however insane or sangerous ge would nofollow.and remain loyal to.
Reply I voted to change from Mrs May, so why lie?
August 29, 2021
That was only when it was safe for you to do so and when you knew you were not alone. Would you ever speak out plainly, at the start and lead a campaign for a removal?
Reply What nonsense. I was an early advocate of change from Mrs May, sent in my letter and voted accordingly. I did lead the attempt to remove John Major.
August 30, 2021
That being so I concede and apologise.
August 29, 2021
DOM, +1, All too true. Youāre quite right to highlight with Capital letters an obvious underlying truth, one that bears repeating again and again until our ineffectual politicians take note and take effective action. I hold my nose but Iām not holding my breath.
August 29, 2021
Agree.
August 29, 2021
+1 I am now an ex conservative voter. Take note Selaine Saxby, I know your sleeping somewhere thinking you have a safe seat! Not any more Boris destroyed that !
I will not be bullied
August 29, 2021
Dom. Johnson should defect to the SNP coalition. He’d be quite at home along with the other Scottish MP’S.
August 29, 2021
Germanyās decision to kowtow to Greens and close nuclear capacity, and become increasingly reliant on wind, solar and neighbours is however foolish.
August 29, 2021
Is see that GP secretaries are now renamed as ācare navigatorsā. Who will āgate keepā for the āgate keepersā in the dire NHS? A rationed, delayed and second rate or no treatment system that is the virtual state monopoly healthcare system.
A friend of mine was even refused permission to see a GP by her secretary when he had a collapsed lung and another who has appendicitis (the second main cause of premature death in males until it was regularly operated on). What a wonderful system of gatekeepers we have. How many extra deaths result from this?
August 29, 2021
+1 It would appear depopulation by any means is a priority
I have cataracts forming and have been on the hip replacement list for 2 years now. However, I understand neither are classed as ‘essential’ now. So if their experimental gene therapy doesn’t kill you, they will make sure the remainder of your life is as difficult and painful as possible.
August 29, 2021
You should not have to be a 10 year trained doctor to do regular cataract operations. We could easily train people just to do just that one operation in a few months. Similarly for many other simple procedures. If you are fixing an aircraft you do not need to know about all the thousands of components before you can be trusted to fix a lock on the loo door or the drop down oxygen units or replace a seat.
August 29, 2021
I have often thought that.
In Africa some years back, women were trained to carry out one particular procedure.
It saved an awful lot of suffering.
August 29, 2021
Two people in my street with bone on bone knee conditions awaiting replacements. Years and years of delays and cancelled ops. The consultant (after six months waiting to see him) said to me “You’ve clearly damaged yourself permanently but you’ve adapted so well with physio and exercise …” so no treatment. Not even a scan.
We did not *save* the NHS. Do not get ill or injured.
August 29, 2021
Remember what Kinnock said all those years ago?
August 29, 2021
‘clearly damaged yourself’? WHAT!
I’d have very sternly said ‘ the NHS queue for this op is a disgrace, it is the NHS that has put me in this predicament’
August 29, 2021
We have a similar situation in the UK, where none of the main parties deserve to govern. It is a case of voting for the least worst or pinning your hopes on a new political party that has near zero chance of gaining MP’s under FPTP. The latter is risky as it may allow a very unwelcome (and minor) party to gain control, but voting for the same old parties just reinforces the status quo.
August 29, 2021
The time has arrived for a ‘none of the above’ box to be added to the ballot paper and if this wins, then we will manage without a ‘government’, just like Belgium did.
August 29, 2021
@J Bush +100000
Great minds think alike
August 29, 2021
Totally agree Shirley, under the FPTP system, vote for any of the main parties and weāre lumbered with green crap socialism so we vote for the least worse of a bad bunch for fear of letting the other party in meaning millions of votes for smaller parties such as Reform are wasted votes so people donāt bother which is just how the green crap socialist parties Labour and āConservativesā (?????) like it and we call ourselves a democracy.
August 29, 2021
Shirley. Yes agree with this. I don’t want to vote for any of the main parties. I happen to think that the Reform Party is more conservative and has views that I can vote for. With all main parties and Sturgeon creating an undemocratic alliance with the Greens bringing in draconian legislation there is no way I want to vote any of them in. What choice do we have and our dire politicians know this. We are a trapped electorate unless enough if us a savvy enough to create change. There is not enough interest in politics by the public to get this change.
August 29, 2021
Same here FuS. Iām going to vote Reform because they are the only choice left for us Tories. No longer will I vote for the party masquerading as Conservatives for fear of letting in Labour. Iām beginning to think a Labour Government propped up by the SNP might finally wake England up and realise the crap deal they alone get from the Unionist Conservative party which doesnāt give a toss about the rotten deal we English get from their precious union which puts England and the majority of their constituents last every single time.
August 29, 2021
+1 Jools
August 29, 2021
Shirely M :
It is a great pity we did not vote for AV when we had the chance in the 2011 referendum.
It enables a single MP to be directly elected for a particular constituency but only when they have received 50% or more of the votes from the first and, if necessary, second preferences.
It enables the voters to vote for new parties without the danger of a split vote resulting in the unintended election of an MP who definitely does not represent the constituencyās views.
August 29, 2021
Merkel always had a free ride in the U.K. media. There was never any criticism.
Opening Europe up to the Third World? No criticism.
Destroying Mediterranean EU economies like Greece? No criticism.
August 29, 2021
They were refugees fleeing the war in Syria. Mrs Merkel helped them.
Helping people deserves criticism in your book does it?
August 29, 2021
Andy, you are free to be as helpful as you wish.
Whereas others are forced into that role whatever their wishes.
You have, I hope spring cleaned your spare bedroom?
August 29, 2021
Everhopeful,
Best not make assumptions on the internet.
There may be no āspare bedroomā. It might just be a single rented room in Kidderminster.
August 29, 2021
Shared student accommodation
August 29, 2021
Heās so bothered..a curtain down the middle of the room?
A camp bed? š
August 29, 2021
Um yes. Hadnāt thought of that.
Stillā¦share and share alike.
Itās only kind!
If a little cramped.
August 29, 2021
Everhopeful. He could always let them use his second home in France if it really exists. Bless him.
August 29, 2021
Ah..now youāre talking!
Wonder if it has a pool?
August 29, 2021
Andy – Syrians fleeing the war are only a small part of the overall numbers going to Germany, and in any case who was to say who counted as ‘Syrian’? In 2016 three-quarters of asylum seekers reportedly had no passport with them. Also, by 2019, Turks and Nigerians were among the top 5 nationalities of asylum seekers in Germany, according to official figures. I didn’t know there were wars going on there.
August 29, 2021
Your kids aren’t competing for school space, Andy.
Anyway. The car’s packed and we’re off down to the beach for the day. You carry on ranting. I know at your stage in life I was too wrapped up in kids to be on a site like this on a Sunday in the summer.
August 29, 2021
Andy – – If Merkel wanted to help them why didn’t she fly them into Germany, instead of havjng them walk?
August 29, 2021
Last time this issue came up, you and MiC denied that Merkel made the decision and claimed it was collective. Now it seems Merkel made the decision herself after all.
August 29, 2021
Andy : “They were refugees fleeing the war in Syria. Mrs Merkel helped them.”
Mrs. Merkel, egged on by the German car manufacturers who believed they needed foreign workers, and without any consultation at EU level, opened up Germany’s borders to millions of migrants.
When she found these migrants not suitable she then demanded that Brussels require every other EU member State to take their fair share and were deporting 20K+ each year before Covid struck.
August 29, 2021
Yes she decided unilaterally to invite all comers to risk their family’s lives making their way to any EU Country they could reach without any agreement they might cross the border. Misery, even death, followed with hundreds of miles of unavoidable march along railway tracks with no certainty of any welcome or hospitality. The lucky wealthy ones who are economic migrants, not refugees of course could afford new mobile phones and had money to pay along the way.
So Andy you will not get me praising Merkel. She unleashed millions of ‘stateless’ just like after WW2.
August 29, 2021
A charismatic German leader, making decisions “on the hoof”, has always led to disaster for Europe.
August 29, 2021
She did not “open up” Europe.
External border policy is an entirely sovereign matter for the relevant member states.
Those which Germany – and others – so generously accepted were already here, in Italy and in Greece mainly.
August 29, 2021
Indeed. And those Syrians granted asylum in Germany are not eligible for free movement because free movement is only for EU citizens. But he knew that. (Honest).
August 29, 2021
Don’t talk daft. The EU has an agreement for handling refugees under the Dublin Regulation. Individual countries can’t just do what they want.
It’s a perfect example of the EU’s “Do what you want, and here is what you must do.”
August 29, 2021
And a perfect example of lies from the previous two.
August 30, 2021
Could you please cite the European law, which dictates what measures member countries must take regarding border security and their acceptance or otherwise of people from non-member countries?
Thanks and good luck.
August 31, 2021
jl, Have you by any chance read the 49 articles of the Dublin III Regulations? If positive, could you please point out the one or several articles that made you write āindividual countries canāt just do what they wantā. Thank you in advance.
PS: BTW, a definition of āregulationā is āa principle, rule or law designed to control or govern conductā.
PS2: Which country has to deal with the refugee is the country where fingerprints are first stored or an asylum claim is lodged.
PS3: It is indeed a text issued by the EU but as such the EU does not define which country is to accept the refugee.
So a lot of misconceptions?
August 29, 2021
Hehehe!
āelements of fictionā š
I canāt believe it!
August 29, 2021
Good Morning, Sir John.
Talking of deafening silences, apologies for going off topic but many readers may not have heard that there is a petition they can sign if they are unsettled by the Government’s proposed ‘vaccination’ of children in school, even without parental consent.
‘Recall Parliament to debate vaccination of children before this is rolled out.’
Ā https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/594272
Thank you.
August 29, 2021
Already signed for all the good it will do. We have a govt that does not listen..except to the clink of coins.
In Germany there is a party called Freie WƤhler the leader of which has not been jabbed. He says he will not do so until he feels it makes more sense and cites the many adverse reactions reported.
Naturally the usual censorious voices are busily ābook burningā calling his opinions conspiracy etc.
His party is referred to unpleasantly as AFD light.
August 29, 2021
Children were originally said to be at no risk.
So why jab?
If the āscientistsā claim to have got it wrong then maybe they got it all wrong?
August 29, 2021
@Everhopeful +1
The reason they want everyone vaccinated is that currently the unvaccinated act as a control group for the vaccine.
Get everyone vaccinated and there is no way to judge how deadly the vaccines are.
August 29, 2021
+1
I put that tāother day and twas deleted.
Glad it has made it this time.
Needs to be considered.š¤
August 29, 2021
Oh yes!
And of courseā¦just thoughtā¦pharma ( all or just one?) indemnified.
( Maybe having been rushed into developing jab).
And govt contractually obliged to pick up damages tab!
So letās try to lose our needles in a lot of haystacks?
August 29, 2021
@Everhopeful +45
Have any petitions achieved anything?
I fear the petitions system was put in place as mechanism to make it look as though we could get MPs to think again, but I’ve seen no evidence of this.
My MP always responds with the usual establishment view, whatever I write to her about.
August 29, 2021
Mine too! Thats why I gave her a call in Sir Johns diary, hoping she might be reading it to learn it to learn from the thoughts of an experienced Conservativr
August 29, 2021
an MP reading this stuff? Not a chance.
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
26/08 poll of polls:
CDU/CSU 23%, SPD 22%, GRN 18%, FDP 12%, AfD 11%, Linke 7%, Freie Waehler (free voters) 3%.
August 29, 2021
Do they have a weird voting system that means everyoneās vote counts? Unlike ours.
August 29, 2021
Yes, it means that a neo-feudalist party can’t seize power with an 80 seat majority with the votes of just 14 million people in a country of 67 million souls.
August 29, 2021
MiC
Yes. With BOTH sexes forced to wear face coverings when those zealots who want everyone to wear them could be wearing N95s themselves and let the rest of us live like normal, healthy human beings.
August 29, 2021
I’m glad that such a small thing can cause people like you such a problem, now that I come to think of it.
August 29, 2021
MIC. Pathetic.
August 29, 2021
Covering people’s faces is no small thing.
It’s the worst thing you can do, Martin.
August 30, 2021
The worst thing?
What, worse than what happens to critics of the leader in North Korea, say?
What an extraordinary claim.
August 29, 2021
67 million people isn’t the voting number.
Stop being silly.
August 29, 2021
No, they have a system much like ours where only policies approved by an unelected “elite” can be enacted.
August 29, 2021
Yes, but that’s why all the important decisions have been outsourced to the EU which is “above democracy.”
In the UK we have a sham democracy which means all the important decisions are taken by an Establishment Elite who all think alike and are effectively above democracy.
August 29, 2021
They have a system where no-one’s vote counts, with decisions taken in vape filled rooms. Much like ours it seems.
August 29, 2021
I donāt care what the BBC does. I just resent paying for it.
August 29, 2021
I stopped watching TV nearly 20 years ago. Best personal move I ever made.
August 31, 2021
JB – Similarly – For 11 years now I have been without TV and the it is best decision I ever made.
August 29, 2021
Then don’t ! No one is forcing you.
August 29, 2021
@NIG L
So, donāt pay for it! I donāt. And I feel a lot better for it. I watch much less TV. I couldnāt care less that I canāt watch live TV. If I was bothered, and could be bothered, Iād pay to access the internet via a VPN. But watching streamed stuff on Netflix, Amazon and All 4 covers things.
The best thing is not watching the BBC news, Newsnight and Question Time. I have been able to move the punchbag from the living room to the garage and no longer have to wear a mouth guard. And, to keep autocomplete happy – I donāt have to wear a moth guard either.
August 29, 2021
Nig L.
Then don’t pay . Unless you want soaps, reality TV & quiz shows. What are you missing? Most popular BBC shows end up on Netflix anyway. If you want football all matches including 3pm Saturday kick offs are now available for free on internet streams.
August 29, 2021
It took me about 30 seconds to find a guide to the German election on the BBC website. Most people now get their news online.
The US election gets more coverage because it lasts a lot longer.
What I like about the German system is that the parties are required to work together to govern. They have to compromise – and compromise produces better laws, a better country and a better government.
A candidate like Boris Johnson would never lead Germany because whilst a small vocal minority may like him the majority loathe him. Germany has learned the lessons of having dangerous and incompetent people in charge and now has safeguards in place to ensure they get nowhere near power.
Reply Why then do we still have to pay for BBC and C4 news programmes if no one needs them?
August 29, 2021
David Cameron became PM under exactly such an arrangement but you moaned about him as well.
August 29, 2021
Bl**dy cheek, Sir John, who has been MP for 34 years? If nothing has been done by Parliament, does it not mean that a majority of MPs has not (yet) found that the BBC and C4 news programmes are so bad and utterly useless? You cannot have it both ways, Auguste.
August 29, 2021
Andy: You’re recycling the old story about coalitions and compromise. The reality can be very different, e.g. on health policy in Germany. In 2017 the Social Democrats wanted a coalition government to introduce universal health insurance. Merkel’s party refused, and got their way. In recent years there’s been a gradual move towards privatizing hospitals (now about 35% of the sector are private). Where local referendums have been held on hospital privatization in Hamburg and Zwickau, 3/4 of the voters were against it. In principle the Social Democrats and the Greens have been against health privatization, but it has gone ahead anyway. This doesn’t seem to be a compromise producing better outcomes, as you claim, at least not from ordinary people’s points of view.
August 29, 2021
“It took me about 30 seconds to find a guide to the German election on the BBC website. Most people now get their news online.”
Indeed, and yet MiC insists that it is all carefully hidden. Strange, eh?
August 30, 2021
And who started the discussion with this infamous title at the head of this web page? MiC? Or your preferred sleight-of-hand artist?
August 29, 2021
in the UK every day 12m newspapers are sold, and read by how many?
It can’t be to wrap our fish and chips -you told me we can’t get any.
August 29, 2021
Why bother? Voters NEVER get what they vote for. We voted for a libertarian conservative that would reduce bureaucracy and end illegal immigration. What we got was the most repressive government in British history coupled with a level of wokeness that is saddling us with millions of illegals, debt beyond anything dreamt of before, green policies that will finish the job of ruining the economy started by the covid scam and the prospect of millions of deaths from an experimental gene therapy that is even being forced on children.
Perhaps concern about foreign elections should be directed towards Westminster and all it’s blatant corruption, criminal negligence, stupidity and lies.
August 29, 2021
You voted for whatever it said in the Tory manifesto, and for any ad hoc matter which it did not expressly exclude too.
The covid response falls into the latter category.
So own it.
August 29, 2021
That’s not right MiC
No voter votes for every single thing in a manifesto.
People vote for many different reasons
EG
They like a candidate or dislike the other candidate.
They like one policy of one party that is very important to them.
They like the leader of one party more than any other leader
The list goes on and on.
August 29, 2021
Mic. With Keir Starter being the leader of NO opposition we really don’t have much choice.
August 29, 2021
In a sane world the AFD would be ahead in the polls.
Funny how voters embrace exactly what they pretend to want to avoid.
No sense of self-preservation.
People on here often ask why there are no new parties to protect us from the present three headed authoritarianism ( or worse). Look at Germany!
They have got it and they are too liberal and virtue signalling to make use of it.
And the other parties, despite their hugely unpopular alliances, will have nothing to do with it!!
August 29, 2021
No, in your āsaneā world ā¦ a teeny weeny difference, isnāt it?
August 29, 2021
āA visit to a stronghold of the AfD, Germanyās far-right partyā, 28/08/2021, economist.com.
August 29, 2021
The interesting feature is that it is most popular in East Germany, where they had too much experience of life under Communism.
August 30, 2021
M, Indeed.
August 29, 2021
Sounds like the public in Germany like so many other Countries in the World, have little confidence in any of the Political parties standing JR.
It begs the question of why have so many voters all over the World lost confidence, or do not trust their politicians, it should be a very real worry for politicians, and for so called democracy.
August 29, 2021
Vernan Bogdanor in the Sunday Telegraph says – āThe Remainer cause was an honourable oneā. Wrong, how on earth is it honourable to want to destroy the UKās peopleās right to self determination and democracy and force them to be ruled by bureaucrats that they cannot remove? It was and is totally immoral and not just for the UK. Cameron whom you helped to āeducateā in PPE I understand was immoral and dishonest too.
He failed to understand economics too like most PPE graduates. How on earth can a leader fail to prepare for both referendum outcomes? Gross negligence, a general would rightly have been shot a few years back for less.
Ross Clark today in the Telegraph.
āNet Zero and Zero Covid absolutists share the same hubristic delusions
We canāt just spirit carbon emissions away. For an advanced industrial economy to achieve Net Zero requires technology we simply donāt have, and may never haveā
CO2 is not even a serious problem anyway, it is almost certainly a net benefit especially for the UK..
August 29, 2021
You wouldn’t know what “honourable” was if it kicked you in the backside.
August 29, 2021
If he kicked my in the backside I would assume he wasn’t honourable. What do you think I have ever said that is not both honourable and true?
August 29, 2021
…….Anything that MiC doesn’t agree with?
(Just a ‘guess’ there, of course!).
August 29, 2021
How rude MiC
Why resort to these cheap personal attacks?
August 29, 2021
Honour and morality are subjective terms. It would be much more accurate to say that the Remain campaign was a treasonous one, for the very clear reason that Remainers wanted Britain to be ruled by foreigners. The Brexit cause was the patriotic one, for we wanted Britain to be ruled by Britons. Put in those terms, it is undeniable.
August 29, 2021
+1
August 29, 2021
The failure of Brexit, whilst sad, was entirely predictable. But what is interesting now is the mental gymnastics the Brexitists are using to try to cover up their epic failures.
Take lorry drivers. The Brexitists now tell us that the shortage of lorry drivers is a good thing because it means lorry drivers will now be paid more.
But higher pay for lorry drivers – along with the added Brexit bureaucracy the Brexitists have imposed on us – also inevitably means higher prices for consumers.
Yet in 2016 the Brexitists told us Brexit would lead to lower prices. They literally said that outside what they called the āprotectionist EUā prices would fall. And yet prices arenāt falling. They are rising. And Brexitists are now welcoming price rises they said wouldnāt happen. Odd.
Now, I personally donāt mind higher prices. I donāt buy low cost imported tat from cheap foreign retailers anyway. But many people who voted for Brexit do buy this stuff and they voted for Brexit on the promise that it would lead to lower prices and it hasnāt and itās wonāt.
I donāt mind higher wages either. It is this government – which I donāt vote for – which has refused to adequately raise the minimum wage and which continually assaults workersā rights.
Five years on you really all do need to figure out what you think Brexit is for and what you hope to achieve – because your mess is embarrassing our country.
Reply The shortage of lorry drivers in the USA, as here, has nothing to do with Brexit
August 29, 2021
So a driver paid Ā£5 an hour more driving a lorry containing tens of thousands of razors. How much does that put on the price of each razor ?
Total shite, Andy. And your not factoring in that the taxpayer now pays less in in-work top-ups for hard working people.
August 29, 2021
Good to hear Andy that you do not buy tat!
Iāll add your name to the āBoycott all eu goods, produce and and tasteless farm food.
Some of us have seen a lot earlier that the way to fight for freedom from the eu dictatorship was to use our only weapon,
The money in our pocket, used well will destroy the junta.
August 30, 2021
MFD
There is not EU dictatorship nor a junta, but otherwise thank you for your contribution
August 29, 2021
Funny, thatās not what the industry leaders (Road Haulage Association) are saying. They talk about Brexit and pandemic.
dailymail.co.uk, 27/08/2021 āAlmost half the 515,000 HGV licence holders in Britain are not driving lorries – amid calls to improve pay and working conditions to attract more back to the industry and plug 100,000 shortfallā.
Reply Sounds like pay not Brexit, as it is in the USA where there is also a driver shortage
August 29, 2021
And IR35 Sir John, which is also pay.
August 29, 2021
I think Brexit is going swimmingly. Both the main parties will be blamed. I donāt know quite what they will be blamed for , but the media will blame everything on Brexit and the UK public are so thick they will go along with it and vote for other parties.
August 29, 2021
” The Brexitists now tell us that the shortage of lorry drivers is a good thing because it means lorry drivers will now be paid more.”
That is indeed how it will be played out, across several low-wage industries, whether Covid or Brexit is the root cause.
We have remained far too much of a low-wage labour-intensive economy for far too long, largely by relying on cheap EU labour instead of pushing on into automation and robotics.
When you have low productivity gains, that is a clear signal that you are relying too much on human labour and too little on increased efficiency.
August 29, 2021
If that’s the Brexitists case, does it mean the Remainer case is to exploit eastern Europeans on low wages, and use that to slash UK lorry drivers’ pay?
August 29, 2021
Your argument means inevitably YOU will pay more tax…..at which I fell about laughing.
ENJOY !
August 29, 2021
Andy,
Great to learn you donāt buy any ālow cost imported tat from cheap foreign retailersā.
Anyway, Brexit was not about the economics (wages and prices and even the shortage of lorry drivers) but to retain the ability to be able to influence our laws and policies (trade, fiscal, taxation, energy, environmental, foreign, military, immigration etc.) through retaining the right to elect and remove those who make these decisions.
Remaining in the EU, where decisions are made by those we did not elect and cannot remove and hence cannot influence, is truly a journey into the unknown.
Our Brexit relationship with the EU was without doubt worsened by our Remain Parliament, Remain Civil Service and even our Remain Judiciary working against the UKās interests.
So really you should be blaming Remainers for any mess that you perceive.
August 29, 2021
We don’t hear about what goes on in Germany because they all speak in German, and the mass media is all anglophone.
It seems thought that Germany isn’t engaging in human rights violations, as France is, and which we don’t hear about either.
August 29, 2021
The German media kindly offer first class English web page versions of their output, for the benefit of people like you.
August 29, 2021
I prefer to read the original German. The difference in nuance can be instructive.
August 29, 2021
Bravo.
August 29, 2021
For the benefit of people like us, or because Germans secretly want to be people like us?
August 29, 2021
The best way to convince those who might think otherwise.
August 29, 2021
The German people have exactly the same problem that we have as regards choice, when it comes to picking a government. They have practically no choice, because one of the big 3 will always get in, or a combination of them.
Worse in some ways, because with PR, every big party is a winner.
It is almost impossible for new parties to get into parliament – look at how hard the Tories worked to stop UKIP getting in.
The eurosceptic AFD have similar problems – all that needs to happen is for such parties to be labelled far right and they are attacked without mercy, usually with no basis. The existing parties in parliament want to continue with the cosy arrangement of 3 main parties, giving the electorate no real opportunity to remove any of them totally, as some would wish for failing us so badly.
So, with no real choice given the similarities in policies that nobody in their right mind would vote for, what are we supposed to do?
One partial answer would be to have the option on ballot papers of ‘NONE OF THE ABOVE’.
Should ‘none of the above’ win, then new candidates would need to be selected. Should there be a vast majority voting with this option then the government would be suspended with no authority to do anything, until suitable candidates could be provided, allowing the smaller parties in.
Both the UK and EU countries like Germany need something to shake up the stale establishment politics that have failed us for far too long.
August 29, 2021
Millions of decent people across all countries in the world want peace, health, prosperity, and to rub along with their neighbours.
They don’t want death squads going door-to-door, summary executions, and the economic collapse that would come from their country becoming a pariah state.
August 29, 2021
True. Just like a majority of Scots – lets get along with out neighbours.
August 29, 2021
BH
+ 100
Didnāt someone once say that if voting made any difference we wouldnāt be allowed to do it?
Johnson must surely know what we, the electorate want and proceeds to do the exact opposite, this isnāt going to end well as more people become aware that weāre being lied to, Iāve been reading Laura Dodsworthās book A State of Fear and it exposes exactly whatās going on
Essential reading
August 29, 2021
+99
August 29, 2021
The humbug from across the political spectrum in Germany these days is astonishing. Lots of green posturing but they will continue to burn coal. They are united in wanting to put themselves and by extension much of europe in hock to Putin with the foolish gas pipeline (also a fossil fuel), undermining Poland the Ukraine and the Baltics. Laschat is the buffoon who said he didnāt see any evidence the Putin regime was behind the Salisbury poisonings.
Thereās much good about Germany and Germans but the political debate and choices there remind us why we are better not being in a political union with them.
Thanks for the guide, there is indeed nothing from the BBC on it. C4 Iāve no idea as I never watch it.
I see polls the BBC is more likely to be biased than GB News.
August 29, 2021
Indeed GB news still is a bit (big state) left for me, but at least it is more to the centre.
August 29, 2021
What is “a sort of conservative?”
The kind we have here in Government, who have more in keeping with Communism than Conservatism?
So Merkel has decided not to destroy the German economy by transforming to expensive, unreliable and inefficient “green” alternatives. What a surprise (not). And lo and behold, German voters don’t support fuel tax increased and enforced cycling. Well who who would have thought that either?
Certainly not the socialist in No.10 who has fully bought into the green lunacy. I wonder when he’ll realise that “green” socialism LOSES votes?
August 29, 2021
@Donna
Good morning. The British green lunacy revolution seems to have passed you by.
The UKās low carbon economy is now worth Ā£200.8bn, four times the size of the countryās manufacturing sector, with growth expected to accelerate even faster in the coming years. More than 75,000 businesses employ in excess of 1.2 million people in the green economy. Compared to the manufacturing sector worth only Ā£55.6bn and the construction sector worth Ā£132.9bn.
From communal food gardens, regional home retrofit programmes, regenerative farmers, biogas producers, private recycling companies, net zero flower growers, hydrogen jet fuel, net zero whisky, district heating systems using hot water extracted from ex coal mines, solar parks, windfarms and renewable energy storage systems, British entrepreneurs are involved in thousands of new company start-ups in the green economy.
At the Port of Tyne, thousands of acres of brownfield land on either side of the river have been cleared to make room for the hundreds of green energy companies which will shortly be involved in building the worldās largest offshore windfarm (the Dogger Bank Array). Which will be built completely free of subsidy, the output will allow us to export vast amounts of surplus renewable electricity to the EU via the interconnectors
Post Brexit, this is the way forward for the deprived ex-coal mining and steelmaking communities of the N East, who recently voted Conservative for the first time in their history. I suppose you would prefer to sack the 1.2 milllion lunatics who work in the green industries and liquidate the idiot 75,000 firms involved?
August 29, 2021
Exporting at negative prices is not good business.
August 29, 2021
Germany has sensibly recognised, that the long-term dangers of nuclear energy are far more serious than those of fossil fuels, which can be phased out as new technology arrives and without leaving problems for milleniums ahead.
reply Has post 1945 Germany ever done anything you dislike? Why the permanent apologia?
August 29, 2021
Of the things that I mention, there isn’t anything that warrants an apology as far as I can see, John.
August 29, 2021
Nuclear energy has the lowest deaths per KWhr produced than any other energy source including wind, solar, and hydro.
August 30, 2021
Yes, more people have choked on carrots in the UK than have been eaten by lions.
Therefore carrots are more dangerous than lions.
August 30, 2021
That isn’t a valid comparison because of the different numbers of carrots v lions in the UK
Richard gave a comparison based on the properly comparable statistic of deaths per KWh.
August 30, 2021
MiC :
Even for you that is a stupid comparison.
August 30, 2021
I’m not sure about that – have you checked with ONS?
August 30, 2021
OR, May we have the source of the statistics corroborating your assertion, please?
August 30, 2021
Oh come on hef isn’t is for you to come up with some exciting statistics to show how right you are.
August 30, 2021
P2, I found it on Forbes 10/06/2012 āHow deadly is your kilowatt?ā. So you have it to enjoy.
August 31, 2021
Rather out of date hef, dont you think?
August 31, 2021
Rather curious remark, Iām almost 100% sure that this was ORās source. And if he had wanted OR could have given his more recent source, donāt you think?
August 31, 2021
No not really.
Why don’t you ask him heff.
You seem to be keen.
August 29, 2021
I have noted that Leavers generally are very parochial Little Englander types who have no knowledge or interest at all in European politics. Many get their political views directly from USA as if they wish UK was a colony of USA.
I was very recently in Germany. Some supermarket shelves are empty there due to a shortage of HGV drivers. Thatās interesting isnāt it ?
August 29, 2021
Well done, Roy – you get today’s special prize for Sweeping but Baseless Statements!
August 29, 2021
I’m a Brexiteer and I follow European politics closely enough to have read the Sunday Telegraph’s coverage of the German election this morning. Kindly keep your offensive ‘Little Englander’ jibes to yourself.
P.S. It appears that the SPD’s potential ‘power behind the throne’ is the sort of hard-leftist who wants to abolish renting and who would enjoy a drink with Corbyn. A good job that we left the Germany-dominated EU, wouldn’t you agree?
August 29, 2021
If they want to abolish renting then they must believe in ownership instead, you know, in private property?
Doesn’t sound “hard Left” to me, then.
August 29, 2021
They want to stop private renting and replace it with state only renting.
You know like the old USSR.
Did you really not know this MiC as it is a policy you have said on here you favour.
August 30, 2021
Oh, so they don’t want to abolish renting then.
August 30, 2021
No they want the State to allocate housing.
Like, as I said USSR .
Do keep up MiC
August 30, 2021
P2, how would they do that? About 50% of people in Germany are tenants with two thirds of them renting from private landlords. Which means between 15 and 18 million private landlords. You know what? I would guess Olaf Scholz and Saskia Esken might not want to make enemies of so many people. USSR: the type of stupid comments to be expected of you.
August 31, 2021
Not for me to say.heffy but thanks for joining in.
I was just showing how pedantic MiC was being in responding to sea warrior who said one German party wanted to “abolish” renting.
It was obvious that meant reducing private sector renting and increasing state only renting.
Which really means state allocated housing like in USSR Cuba and elsewhere.
Not a stupid comment because abolishing the private rented sector has happened in other countries and this particular party has that idea as an ambition.
If you want to know how they would actually achieve their policy then write to them, call them stupid as well and ask them how they plan to carry out their plan.
It is a policy MiC supports as evidenced by his regular attacks on the buy to let sector.
August 31, 2021
it wasn’t about your comment Pete.
It was about Sea Warrior’s.
But thanks as ever for the chuckle.
August 31, 2021
Glad to be of help MiC
But come on, you do hate buy to let landlords and you do really want only the state to be able to allocate housing to the people.
August 29, 2021
I have noted the prejudice of the Remainers who are ignorant of what the EU has done to all of its member states. I was a Director of Frankfurt aM Listed companies until my retirement in 2016 and frankly as much as I tried to take an interest in its mainstream politics I found it indistinguishable from the alleged differences between those in the UK. All are Globalist anti-democratic faux-technocracy posing as ‘internationalism’.
August 29, 2021
“I was very recently in Germany. Some supermarket shelves are empty there due to a shortage of HGV drivers. Thatās interesting isnāt it “?
Actually, it’s of little interest, because Germany’s problems are their problems, other than that movement of goods from Germany to the UK might be a factor. Or are you are intimating that the shortage of HGV drivers in Germany has been caused by Brexit, hmmm?
August 30, 2021
They must all be on furlough, at home isolating, changed job, moonlighting somewhere like England etc.
September 1, 2021
P2, contrary to you, I donāt feel entitled to ask anything from anybody.
August 29, 2021
From November 2017
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:
Freedom of expression is a universal human right and a free press underpins that right.
As a former journalist I am alarmed that worldwide attacks on journalists are rife and increasing.
Civil society is all about free people. Where governments fear freedom of expression they often try to shut down media and civil society, or clip their wings. This both violates human rights and crushes creativity.
A free media is vital to creating a vibrant, informed and engaged population and helps to support a safer, more prosperous and progressive world.
–
What has happened for Johnson to perform such a shocking volte face into the horror he has now become?
He even accuses football fans of racism for booing and opposing BLM Marxists who prance around on a football pitch demonising 99.9% of their fan base
It is impossible to even look at this PM without feeling sadness, horror and fear
As a once Tory voting libertarian I genuinely fear for our most precious of what’s left freedoms that are being systematically destroyed by this Parliament, its members and the State.
August 29, 2021
@DOM – and the way this Government has framed the replacement for ‘GDPR’, is not to advance or reduce silliness but is to condone and enhance the increased surveillance on the wider population, while ensuring there is no legal safety net that holds Parliament, Government or Authorities accountable.
August 29, 2021
@DOM – the origins of the BLM and their salutes is from the US, the salute, the gesture, is intended to show disrespect and to signal that you do not recognize the Flag, the Nation or its People. Yet it is strange that the same political statement in the UK is applauded by the Government of the Day.
August 29, 2021
It appears Carrie’s ear tweaking has had an influence. However, I would be more interested to see his bank accounts the day after he became PM and now, because the volte face happened virtually overnight.
August 29, 2021
+1
And I think that black lives matter.
August 29, 2021
10 seconds search āpolitico.eu German electionā, seven topics on the first page dedicated to this coming election.
I guess Sir John takes us for less internet-savvy than we all are.
BTW, politico.eu is part of the American politico.com stable.
Reply I was commenting on the BBC and C4 new programmes. Why do you bother with my site when you always wish to carp and criticise, usually for no good reason?
August 29, 2021
Surely no one anywhere that believed in a strong resilient economy would try to out-bid the rest of the World with frankly weird promises. The UK Government stands alone and is in denial with the belief that it should sacrifice a chance of building a strong resilient economy to at least stand up to the competition from the major world economies. No sane Country would sacrifice its people, their education, their means of thriving to build a better life for themselves an family.
The World will move on, while the UK has signed to commit to the stone age, all because of the ambition of ego to outbid a ‘virtue signal’ of people that don’t participate.
August 29, 2021
“No sane Country would sacrifice its people, their education, their means of thriving to build a better life for themselves and family”. Quite right but it is not us, the people, who are insane, which h cannot be said about our government, apparently now commanded by ‘er indoors’ at No. 10…..
August 29, 2021
Nota# :
“The UK Government stands alone and is in denial with the belief that it should sacrifice a chance of building a strong resilient economy to at least stand up to the competition from the major world economies.”
The push for unilateral net zero for CO2 emissions is being made by the same people who pushed for unilateral nuclear disarmament in the last century and as before it is designed to destroy the UK.
August 29, 2021
Sir John,
Angela Merkel’s preferred choice of successor was Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who stepped down when she realised she was not up to the job. Her initial popularity having evaporated. While Angela Merkel’s preferred choice as EU Commission president, her defence minister Ursula von der Leyen, will never voluntarily step down no matter how unsuitable or unpopular she may be.
August 29, 2021
The CDU/CSU would be out in front in the polls if they had chosen Markus Sƶder as their candidate for Chancellor but he’s from the CSU Bavarian party and unfortunately, ( prejudice Ed) amongst CDU politicians meant that they chose the terminally unpopular Lasche.
Sƶder is the candidate that commands by far the most support across the whole of the electorate whereas Laschet, a candidate with no charisma whatsoever, is nowhere in the polls and support for him is draining away. Instead, it’s very likely that that the SPD candidate, Olaf Scholz, will be able to assemble a rag-tag coalition with the Greens.
It’s rather like the Conservatives choosing May over Boris. That ended well, first time round, didn’t it ?
August 29, 2021
I have to disagree slightly, Sir John, as I am not interested in any PRE-election reports – either from Germany, or indeed the US, or anywhere else. The reasons are that (i) there is nothing we can do about elections in foreign lands, so let’s focus our attention on areas that we *can* influence; and (ii) pre-election reports are always complete garbage, as the reporters know neither what the outcome is likely to be, nor the TRUE policies of the candidates. Politicians are politicians, all over the world, and they LIE at election time. So being told what a politician says he intends to do will in all likelihood bear no resemblance to what he actually does do, and will be a complete waste of our time!
I do agree, however, with the broad implication of your post, which is that we should have better, more detailed and informed reports about what foreign governments do AFTER they have been elected, especially when this affects us, or when there are lessons (whether positive or negative) to be learnt from what they do. But let’s also remember why we voted for Brexit: so that we can do whatever we want and are NOT affected by what foreign governments do – so let’s do what is best for Britain, and not be influenced by what others do.
August 29, 2021
X-Tory :
Agreed.
August 29, 2021
How disappointing to see that Alok Sharma’s cohort of eco-loons have banished our nuclear-power industry from COP 26.
August 29, 2021
Were CO2 actually serious problem then nuclear would be the only real answer. So why I wonder? But then green loons do not want solutions they want excuses to tax, order people about and ban things. Watermelons – green on the outside red in the middle.
August 29, 2021
Sea_Warrior & Lifelogic :
Agreed.
August 29, 2021
That tells you they are not serious about cutting CO2.
August 29, 2021
Next German Chancellor.
Olaf Scholz 50.00%
Armin Laschet 41.67%
Annalena Baerbock 6.45%
Most seats following the German Federal Election 2021
CDU + CSU 58.82%
SPD 44.25%
Greens 9.09%
AfD 1.00%
BTW. The Bundestag elects the Chancellor, after the popular vote elects the Bundestag.
August 29, 2021
No matter how the German Election goes the result will be a CDU-CSU/ SDP/ FDP perhaps with Green coalition. The policies will be the same as now, no practical differences. The Chancellor will be horse traded among these three parties.
The only hope for Germany is the AfD which willbe the only real opposition as the Linke will just tag along witt the main policies of the coalition.
August 29, 2021
Surprisingly the AfD is only popular with the legacy East German Communist Party.
August 30, 2021
The “legacy East German Communist Party” is Die Linke, The Left, although there are several other splinter communist parties that get lumped under Sonstige – Others, in polling. None of them ally with AfD. Most East Germans have been keen to cut ties with the Communist past. AfD is perhaps the clearest version of that, and has its strongest support in East Germany.
August 31, 2021
Whatever, Germany works pretty well.
So if it ain’t broke, then why fix it?
A bit like the pre-brexit UK, remember those problem-free times?
August 29, 2021
What I would love to see is a huge surge for the greens in Germany; I think they are completely daft but the Germans need the cold shower which they will get from the Greens running the economy.
What you see in Germany is the political playbook of the elite as a whole, present the voters with no good options and let the ‘nicest face’ have a go at being the chancellor. This was the case here before Farage, all the main parties were not giving us a ‘Leave’ option (us being totally mad anyway).
August 30, 2021
Over these last five years, the Gruenen have entered coalition with other parties (either SPD, CDU, or FDP) in 10 out of the 16 Laender. So it might be that German people already have a reasonable idea of what that party can do when associated to actual day-to-day political decisions.
And if you had been following these things you might know that they even have been the majority party in Baden-Wuerrtemberg since mid-2016. And I am not sure I would characterise Winfried Kretschmann as a ānice faceā.
August 29, 2021
Off topic.
To the delight of many Pen Farthing, his British vet, ~100 dogs and ~70 cats have arrived safely in the UK on a chartered flight from Kabul, though unfortunately without his Afghan staff. The animals are said to be in good condition and are currently on their way to quarantine kennels.
Farthing’s charity Nowzad has been overwhelmed with offers to re-home his animals. The dogs are said to understand the Pashto language, however some do speak Dari. Apparently audio tapes are in preparation with basic commands that they will understand.
Specialists from 2 Para are reported to have checked the animals and their transport containers for explosives before they boarded their flight.
August 29, 2021
Talking dogs.
That’s quite something.
August 29, 2021
You may be interested that as a project during lockdown I taught my dog to play the trumpet.
After lockdown restrictions ended I took him on the London Underground.
He went from barking to tooting in under an hour.
Now that’s quite something.
August 29, 2021
Dogs matter.
I distrust anyone who doesn’t like dogs.
I’ve found it to be a good measure of a human. But let’s scrutinise the people who mistreat them, or even burn them alive because it makes their flesh more succulent.
You’d rather everyone wore a mask than you wear an N95 but I digress…
The people who bore this virus upon us also mistreat dogs. You’re starting to show much in common with them.
August 31, 2021
People used to have similar superstitions about those who kept a black cat.
August 30, 2021
I wonder if they would hide under the nearest table at the sound of ‘Taliban’.
August 29, 2021
After 18 months of money printing around the world, billionaires wealth went up by 8 tillion dollars in the same time.
August 29, 2021
Yes the MSM are determined to present all things EU as “sunlit uplands” territory – any reports on the disions in their societies and schisms in their politics would give the game away.
The EU will not survive indefinitely though. It is incapable of useful reform so it will gradually decline to the point where others will leave – and one more shock will tip it over the edge (including problems with the Euro, which is a fake currency).
I wonder how long before someone will leak all these 20 years accounts that the EU auditors wouldn’t sign off?
August 30, 2021
XY
You obviosuly know much more about teh Eu than the rest of us
August 31, 2021
Spot on and the sooner the better. It is not far off.
August 29, 2021
Given the recent volatility in the German polls it seems highly likely that there will be another election sooner rather than later. The almost equal three way split among the largest parties is likely to move to favour one over another, which will provide the incentive to seek a bigger share of the positions of power.
It looks as though Germany is in for an interesting winter. With significant volumes of automotive production shut in due to chip shortages, and soaring energy prices as nuclear capacity moves towards closure, with no supply from Nordstream 2 available, and already blackouts imposed on parts of industry a fortnight ago you have to suspect it will be the Greens that lose out.
The bookies are having a hard time picking a clear winner. They seem to have been ignoring the pick-up in SDP vote, just marginally making a simple CDU/Green (Jihadi flag) coalition the front runner. Perhaps a German flag coalition will emerge with the yellow FDP supporting a CDU/SDP black on red.
August 29, 2021
Far more interesting is France. Will Macron make round 2? Will he stand? Will Barnier stand? Will he make round 2?
Who do the electorate pick between Le Pen and Melanchon [to the left of Stalin]?
August 29, 2021
I’m more concerned about the inevitable ‘secrecy’ which will surround the UK Elections, post-pLandemic…..
There is no ‘opposition’ in Parliament here now, since Starmer & Labour actually want CV19 measures & restrictions in-place for when they get their mitts on the keys to No.10 (assuming there are any more General Elections in the UK, following the Johnson Junta’s actions over the last 15 months).
Starmer knows full well that the Tories are going to shoulder the blame and will flop on election day. It will be a contest between Labour and somebody like the Reform Party , or other, that may surface in the next couple of years.
What does the Chinese insult say…? “May you live in interesting times”.
August 29, 2021
Defence :
Mrs. Merkel was the former Secretary for Agitprop at the East German Academy of Sciences, underfunded NATO and make her country (and possibly much of the EU) dependent upon Russian gas through the building of the vast Nord Stream 2 and the closing down of German nuclear power stations.
Immigration :
Mrs. Merkel’s immigration policy as outlined at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Berlin 21/11/2018 :
āSovereign nation states must not listen to the will of their citizens when it comes to questions of immigration, borders, or even sovereignty.ā
In 2015, egged on by the German car manufacturers who believed they needed foreign workers, and without any consultation at EU level, opened up Germany’s borders to millions of migrants. When she found these migrants not suitable she then demanded that Brussels require every other EU member State to take their fair share and were deporting 20K+ each year before Covid struck.
EU Army :
In 2019 Angela Merkel hailed Germanyās new pact with France as a bulwark against the rising forces of populism and nationalism that are threatening to tip Europe back into an era of chaos.
August 30, 2021
this populism she did not relate to an EU-army
August 29, 2021
Mrs. Merkel clearly doesnāt believe in the green scam as she is building/running coal fired power stations until 2038 and is on the point of completing the enormous and costly Nordstream 2 gas pipeline directly from Russia.
August 29, 2021
and the prize for most entries today is …..the Sun reader from Cardiff.
August 29, 2021
It is every day MT
The MiC show.
August 29, 2021
I’m not that interested in the German election until such time as a leader emerges who is prepared to reinstate a Gaullist Europe. What I am interested in is a UK Government that is willing to propose tariffs on the exports of nations that burn raw coal and use CFCs in industrial production (preferably at a Zoom COP26 conference). Nations will continue to produce too much CO2 unless there are penalties for doing so. Yes, imposing such tariffs on Chinese exports will probably give rise to an increase in prices in the short term. As the old saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.