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Anthony Zacharzewski

Listed below are comments made by Anthony Zacharzewski between Wednesday, 7th January 2009 and Friday, 30th October 2009.

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A tough pitch for Blair 06:55am on 30 Oct 2009 The EU President is not President of the EU. The EU President is not like the US President. They are the representative of the national governments who meet around the table at the European Council. That is why the national governments choose who it is and we don't get a vote.

I'm all for more democracy in the EU, but this isn't the place for it. Don't let the word "president" (a translation of the French word which also means "Chairman") confuse you.
The Irish vote 'Yes' 1:03pm on 03 Oct 2009 But of course the Tories have marginalised themselves already by leaving the mainstream centre-right bloc in the Parliament in favour of a bunch of anti-EU wingnuts. Who, from the big opinion formers in the Parliament or Council, will care about their unease at Tony Blair's appointment?
A point in favour 2:05pm on 03 Jul 2009 Is this partly because some of the GDP growth was illusory (the banks) and so part of the GDP decline is as well?
Eurosceptics triumphant 07:40am on 09 Jun 2009 I think it's going some to claim that people voting for the main national opposition party is an expression of pure Euroscepticism, and on that basis to say there's a majority for EU withdrawal. Sure, the Tories are Eurosceptic, but they are also the opposition. People might be voting for them to send a message to the Government (which is the issue they actually campaigned on).

If you voted for UKIP or the BNP you probably (but not definitely) want the UK to leave the EU. If you voted for the Tories, it's a lot harder to tell.
Eurosceptics triumphant 10:38am on 08 Jun 2009 I hope that now UKIP are an 'established fringe' party rather than a one-off, BBC and other media interviewers will start challenging Mr Farage's outright untruths about the proportion of UK laws made in Brussels (UKIP say 80%, every other analysis says less than 20%), the amount of money Britain spends on the EU (UKIP only counts money out, not the money in), and the realism of their stated aim of 'trading with Europe without having to obey their laws' - which the experience of Switzerland, Norway and even China shows is impossible.
Sarko the Red 2:14pm on 13 May 2009 John_from_Hendon - I doubt it's a conspiracy, most political slogans are unmemorable. As a real politics geek I can remember precisely two: "Double Whammy" and "Labour Isn't Working" - both from over 15 years ago.

The elections are underemphasised because there aren't pan-European campaigns, so the consequences of voting one way or the other are not clear.

In any case, the centre of political power is still (whatever Eurosceptics say) at national level. National governments control the Council of Ministers, and national governments make the laws on most things that voters really care about. There's a lot of talk about 80% of our laws coming from Brussels, but even leaving aside the fact that the figure itself is untrue, it assumes that a statutory instrument amending the subsidy regime for hazelnuts is of the same importance to voters as, say, the NHS Act or the Criminal Justice Act.
On board the G20 express 4:06pm on 24 Mar 2009 "The Europeans see this as an "I told you so" moment."

I know saying this risks the EU paranoiacs scuttling out of the woodwork, but are we not also Europeans here in Britain? (Yes, we are)
What the reshuffle tells us 5:29pm on 19 Jan 2009 Nick

Sorry to hear you won't be around for a few days. On behalf of all commenters here, can I just say:

How can you possibly not be covering [obscure conspiracy theory]?

Why are you so obviously biased against [whatever point of view I support]?

ZaNuLieBore ruined country bankrupt destroyed devastation. IS THIS DEMOCRACY?

Enjoy your few days away.
Bat out of hell 10:22am on 19 Jan 2009 #5 (and others): Gordon Brown caused the collapse of the American sub-prime market.

#25: The existence of the Euro caused the collapse of the American sub-prime market.

We may disagree over small details like these, but I think we can all agree that had the Conservatives been in power over the last ten years, there would have been much tighter controls on the free market, and stronger financial regulation.

Or would there?
Sterling challenge for UK shops 2:42pm on 07 Jan 2009 I've heard a lot about how wonderful it is to be outside the Euro because of this fantastic currency flexibility. Turns out that 'flexibility' means 'able to tie yourself in knots'. God save the Queen and the UK Krona, eh chaps?

When keeping our heroic British currency (hurrah!) means clothing prices hit the roof right in the middle of a severe recession, I hope that the editors of the Mail, the Sun and the Telegraph will be man enough to sit in Trafalgar Square publicly eating their words.

Of course, if sterling does go into full-blown collapse, they won't be able to afford the imported paper to print their words on.

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Anthony Zacharzewski