Category Archives: EU

06 Jun

Bishops are no laughing matter

You have to laugh…

THE Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, and seven other bishops are among 37 faith leaders who have signed a letter warning EU referendum voters against “undermining” the international institutions charged with tackling the great challenges of the day.

“Faith is about integration and building bridges, not about isolation and erecting barriers,” they wrote, in a letter to The Observer, published last week. “As leaders and senior figures of faith communities, we urge our co-religionists and others to think about the implications of a leave vote for the things about which we are most passionate. . . So many of the challenges we face today can only be addressed in a European, and indeed a global, context: combatting poverty in the developing world, confronting climate change and providing the stability that is essential to tackling the current migration crisis.

“We hope that when voting on 23rd June, people will reflect on whether undermining the international institutions charged with delivering these goals could conceivably contribute to a fairer, cleaner, and safer world.”

Surely it would be rude to laugh at these noble sentiments?

It would – if they were noble. And even if there was a smidgen of truth in them.

But the bishops are wrong to claim that leaving the EU would  mean “isolation and erecting barriers.” Getting out of the EU customs union would tear down barriers between Britain and the rest of the world – with countries with which presently we are not allowed to trade, unless we pay prohibitive tariffs.

But more serious even than this – so perhaps we shouldn’t laugh after all? – is the bishops’ reference to “the things we are most passionate about.”

And what are these things? The Gospel, the Creeds, the Sacraments, Christian mission? Of course not. These men are bishops, after all. Their stated passions include “combatting poverty in the developing world.” Yes, but this is best achieved by free trade – a thing which the EU explicitly forbids.

Oh yes, and the episcopal fancy of the moment: “confronting climate change.”

The words “God, Jesus Christ, forgiveness, redemption” appear nowhere in the bishops’ letter to The Observer.

The bishops seem not to notice that the EU is not a Christian polity. In fact it is hostile to Christianity. It does not reproduce Christian symbolism in any of its documents, publicity, logos etc. Its political morality is not based on The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, but derived from the doctrines which appeared at the French Revolution, particularly the atheistic doctrine of universal rights.

The EU is militantly secular.

But then so are our bishops

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24 Oct

Three cheers for the EU!

How delightful and how timely is the EU’s decision to impose an extra charge of £1.7billions on Britain! This amounts to a 20% increase in our net contribution to Brussels.

Delightful and timely?

Of course. It is a terrific boost to Nigel Farage and UKIP just a few weeks before the Rochester by-election. UKIP is already well ahead in the campaign for that seat according to the opinion polls. To be certain of victory, all the UKIP agents need to do is to knock on every door in Rochester and tell all the voters the plain truth: our country is being fleeced by an unelected bureaucratic tyranny and there’s nothing Dave can do about it.

Actually, there is something he can do. He can tell the EU to stuff it. But he won’t do that. No, not for all his bluster about “Reclaiming powers from Brussels.”  We are in fact powerless under an agreement we signed up to in 1972 to set up a “mechanism” which calculates adjustments in member countries’ contributions according to how well their economies are doing. Britain is doing well – that is comparatively well beside the Eurozone.

On the other hand, the German economy is stagnant, so they get a rebate. France – thanks to Monsieur Hollande’s 75% tax rate and a sky high welfare budget – is a basket case. So they get a rebate too.

So, scandalously, good housekeeping is penalised and profligacy rewarded. But that’s the way it is with banana republics, African dictatorships and the EU

But here’s a queer thing: Greece and Italy are flat broke – yet, like us, they are being ordered to pay more too.

How’s all that for joined-up thinking? It’s not thinking at all, only EU doublethink.

There’s another twist in the tale. If a member country’s budget deficit exceeds 3%, a fine is imposed. And, as Dr John Redwood pointed out this morning on The Today Programme , the extra £1.7billions we have to pay will ensure our budget deficit is even higher!

The EU’s right hand doesn’t know what its left hand is doing – except that it’s got both its hands in Britain’s pockets.

Just carry on as you are Mr Farage. Don’t change a thing. Between now and the Rochester election, just remind the British public ten times every day that our country is paying through the nose to the centralised kleptocracy in Brussels. Remind us too that the EU Commission is an unaccountable gang of fraudsters who haven’t even signed off audited accounts for nineteen years.

Life is a whirlpool of delight this morning. For if – when? – UKIP wins Rochester, the party will be unstoppable and Dave will be finished.

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