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SCLSCL

Listed below are comments made by SCLSCL between Monday, 8th June 2009 and Saturday, 3rd October 2009.

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Blair for President? 2:36pm on 03 Oct 2009 #93..

The thing is that there will have been very few people in Ireland voting "yes" who knew exactly what they were voting for either. I am not disputing that there will have been some people who voted No the first time because they thought that Ireland somehow would have to legalise abortion etc, instead I am pointing out that the people of Ireland were scared into believing that a vote against Lisbon was somehow a vote against the EU and not just against a terrible treaty that introduced several things which were not debated openly and transparently across Europe (that being the fault of national governments).

The idea that to oppose Lisbon is to oppose many positive aspects about the EU is a joke. As if the EU would suddenly crumble without the Lisbon treaty - its all complete nonsense. Ireland as a whole was bullied throughout this debate, from its politicians being forced by Sarkozy and co to run another referendum, to its people being fooled into believing that a vote against Lisbon would somehow see Ireland kicked out of the EU. With the Poles, Czechs and UK just to name a few of the countries that would have not allowed this to happen, it is a shame that the people of Ireland have bought the scaremongering. Things must be particularly bad there for them to have fallen for it all.
Blair for President? 10:54am on 03 Oct 2009 #76...

It may be because countries could always leave the EU anyway, under basic international law. The idea that they needed a clause in a treaty to allow them to leave is absolutely laughable. That clause was always a symbolic rather than important one.

The Lisbon treaty is a fundamentally bad treaty giving the ECJ more powers to come out with even more ridiculous judgments taking sensitive matters out of the political arena where they belong, and I cannot believe that Ireland has been bullied into voting yes to something they already rejected.

As a once Pro-European, the whole Constitution to Lisbon process has made me absolutely sick and ashamed frankly to be a "citizen of Europe". You'd think this was some other corrupt part of Africa or South America the way this treaty has been forced through in the majority of member states. Disgraceful.
Button back on song in title chase 8:45pm on 13 Sep 2009 It is quite funny to hear the Hamilton fans criticise Button as the inevitable draws nearer, that being Button as the new world champion.

Not everybody can have a team built around them like Lewis Hamilton has at McLaren and its quite wierd how people who criticised Schumacher's number 1 status at Ferrari are probably the same people who are willing to turn the blind eye to the exact same thing happening at McLaren since Hamilton joined them.

The fact that Jenson Button has managed to lead a title race in a team where both drivers are actually given the same equipment and same opportunities should be applauded, not sniped at. How Button is different from any other driver who has been fortunate enough to be given a strong car is beyond me. Personally I look forward to Jenson wrapping up this title race soon and I don't think I will be alone in celebrating a change in the driver occupying the number 1 English driver crown.

If McLaren finally have the sense to get rid of Kovalinen who has consistently under-performed, then the dream situation could arise of Button joining McLaren so we could finally put the debate to rest. Unfortunately that's probably very unlikely to happen.
A final essay on Europe 09:49am on 02 Aug 2009 #30,

Yes but Jorge you seem to miss the point that you are not (and neither am I) representative of the majority of the public out there who do not know anything about the EU. If we were, we would not be posting here on an EU related blog that most members of the public won't even know about.

I wouldn't normally respond to somebody who tries to describe my views as "nonsense", as that sort of person is normally not worth wasting time on (all the time I have posted here it has never stopped to amaze me how the Very Pro-EU/Federalist individuals have adopted an unyielding "you don't agree with me therefore you are wrong!") but we will have to disagree quite clearly then on the fact that those who want to completely pull us out of an EU are mostly ill informed in this country as are most people in this country who would call themselves "pro European", this pro European attitude based on a feeling of "I have to be - to be Eurosceptic would be to be extreme like those crazy Tories" (at least up until recently - as I said, this will change over time with a new Tory government clearly).

And Schengen and the Euro being successful is a different kettle of fish from the abolition of the Pillars and the Constitution/Lisbon Treaty as you should well know.
A final essay on Europe 2:35pm on 01 Aug 2009 Really sorry Mark to hear you're moving departments though there can be no doubt that as far as your job goes, its a step up to be sent to the US!

Your blogs have always been informative and very interesting - the BBC have always neglected the EU in their mainstream news coverage barring the big issues which has always been a shame, so your blogs and indeed reports have been useful in filling this void.

I think the BBC has to do a better job of informing the public though about the EU - its not the only station to blame of course though as things such as the European Parliament not being covered on television cannot fully be the fault of the BBC alone.

Its too easy for governments across Europe to blame the EU or Brussels for everything when it is them who are acting on our behalf to do such things as create the Constitution or Lisbon Treaty which the majority of Europeans do not want. Here people are too easily influenced by the propaganda of political parties - for too long now Labour have been playing the Conservative Eurosceptic boogeyman card and getting away with whatever they want on Europe. Thankfully this tactic is slowly failing.

Introducing coverage of the European Parliament (and I dont mean some obscure 30 minute programme at 1am on BBC News 24 etc) or explaining to people more often what is going on in Brussels would allow them to understand why the EU is a good thing overall, but more importantly it would allow the people to see how little is achieved in the European Parliament for example and all the negative points about the EU which the government must be challenged on.

Better coverage of EU issues would allow us to move away from the ill-informed, polarised debate on the EU in this country; with those who support the EU doing so because the government has drummed it into their head that Euroscepticism is a dirty word, and those who want to pull us out of the EU forgetting the benefits that the traditional EC offered and can offers.

Thanks for playing your part though Mark and good luck in your new post!
Can Jacques come back? 6:56pm on 21 Jun 2009 If you ask me, he's not welcome back in F1. Overrated in his prime as others have pointed out, and never contributed anything decent to the sport except for whining and complaining when things weren't going his way.

He clearly didn't appreciate the fans either, always being absent from licence packages whilst the others always took part, ie. never allowing his name to be used in F1 video games etc.

Hit the road Jacques, and don't come back!
Capello & Kazakhs satisfied 1:46pm on 08 Jun 2009 Englands were deservings victors. As we say in Kazahkstan, hachmala hcram.

Thank you Englands!
March of the right 1:42pm on 08 Jun 2009 The idea that the BNP was used as a "protest vote" is insane.

Find me one person who voted BNP without knowing exactly what they stand for!

Its a shot against Labour's immigration/EU policy and the concerns need to be addressed immediately to prevent the BNP building any sort of momentum whatsoever. Its bad enough now that the BNP will receive taxpayer's money now that they are in the European Parliament.
Eurosceptics triumphant 1:39pm on 08 Jun 2009 I notice that a number of posters here are missing the point that apparently (and I'm not in this camp I should clarify) the majority of people in this country according to opinion polls are now questioning the benefits of EU membership. This claim is not just based on how votes went in the election just there, but sustained showings in opinion polls suggesting that this country does not like the idea of EU Citizenship, an EU Court gaining more influence (which it does under Lisbon) or more supranational elements creeping into the organisation.

There can be no doubt that if you put the majority opinion to the test in this country and explained everything to the voters here that they would be in favour of staying in the EU, but rolling it back to more of an EC type organisation. If you think anything else, you are deluded, plain and simple. A little like the Liberal Democrats.

If the governments within the EU are not going to listen to concern in countries outside of France and Germany which is growing increasingly sceptical of the *current* direction of the EU, then people will keep turning to more extreme parties to get their voice heard.

Some people are trying to play down the impact of the Eurosceptic vote - excuse me for thinking that the far right doing scarily well in once-EU enthusiasts Austria and Holland was a big deal! Law and Justice in Poland, though they didn't win overall, gained more seats. Hungary and Slovakia aren't quite Malta sized nations either!
Eurosceptics triumphant 10:16am on 08 Jun 2009 Still can't believe the BNP results - the government needs to address these serious concerns and address them quickly before this ever repeats itself. People who vote BNP know exactly what they are voting for when they vote for them, so this is a clear message against this country's immigration policy.

As for UKIP, I don't fully agree with everything Nigel Farrage says but he is a rare shining light in that he is an honest, no nonsense politician who throughout the campaign and indeed last night was giving straight up answers as opposed to those such as Harriet Harman who you couldn't get a straight answer out of if you tried. I do agree with him when he said that if there had been more of a debate on the EU and not just the expenses then UKIP's vote would have been even greater - as it was there really was no debate on Europe in this election if truth be told.

I just don't know how long it has to be that this country returns a Eurosceptic result at European elections for the main political parties to realise that public opinion wants a different direction in the EU. I fear that if the results continue to be ignored then the BNP could easily pick up a couple more MEPs in future. We cannot allow the BNP to gain any momentum of any sort. The government must listen to the people.

A good victory for the free market last night either way which I am incredibly pleased to see. Voters, despite the propaganda, do not see socialism as the way out of the economic downturn.

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