Daily Express - NOW DAVID CAMERON’S TOP ADVISER SAYS: ‘WE MUST QUIT THE EU

Monday June 20,2011

Steve Hilton is frustrated by Brussels

By Macer Hall Political Editor

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DAVID Cameron’s closest political adviser has become convinced that Britain should quit the European Union, it emerged yesterday.

Steve Hilton, Downing Street director of strategy, is understood to have switched behind the campaign to cut ties with Brussels after discovering the full extent of the UK’s loss of sovereignty in his Government role.

He is also said to believe that Britain should withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights because of the number of times European judges have overruled decisions made by elected politicians.

His conversion suggests the Daily Express’s popular crusade for Britain’s exit from the EU is being taken seriously in Downing Street.

Aides were impressed by the 373,000-strong backing for the newspaper’s petition, calling for Britain to leave the EU, that was delivered to Number 10 earlier this year.

Mr Hilton, 41, has been a controversial figure among Tory MPs for persuading Mr Cameron to adopt environmentalism and other trendy ideas to shed the image as the “nasty party”.

A Downing Street spokesman declined to comment on Mr Hilton’s views

He is credited with the Prime Minister’s famous stunt surrounded by huskies in the Arctic, with devising the Conservative Party’s’ tree logo and with creating the Big Society concept.

Shaven-headed Mr Hilton has also annoyed traditional Tories by turning up for meetings wearing a T-shirt and for padding around Number 10 without shoes.

But news of his conversion to robust Euro-scepticism could win him new friends on the Tory backbenches.

One source said: “Steve is impatient to get things done but time and again he is told he can’t because of this or that European legislation.”

A friend said: “People have got Steve wrong. He is very zealous on some modernising issues but has become increasingly Thatcherite on matters such as Europe.”

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/253841/Now-David-Cameron-s-top-adviser-says-We-must-quit-the-EU-Now-David-Cameron-s-top-adviser-says-We-must-quit-the-EU-Now-David-Cameron-s-top-adviser-says-We-must-quit-the-EU-#ixzz1PoEDfBAg

Daily Express - EUROCRAT ASHTON IS DAMNED IN MEMO FROM WHITEHALL

A section about Lady Ashton’s credentials was supposed to be witheld

Monday June 20,2011

By Daily Express Reporter

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TOP eurocrat Baroness Ashton yesterday faced fresh embarrassment when a secret Foreign Office memo saying she was not up to the job was released by mistake.

It said FO chiefs believed the Labour peer lacked the authority and experience to be EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security.

Written in 2009 during the selection process for the post, the memo was leaked in error on the department’s website.

It was part of a document about the EU External Action Service released after a Freedom of Information inquiry.

A section about Lady Ashton’s credentials was supposed to be witheld but it could be read by cutting and pasting.

A blacked-out section read: “The assumption is that a former foreign minister would need to be the candidate to have enough authority; we could consider a former PM or head of state.”

In an accompanying letter, the FO says it blanked out some parts because they “would be likely to prejudice relations between the UK and other EU states”.

We wrote to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments in March, setting out best practice on handling redaction of withheld material

The Foreign Office

Ukip leader and MEP Nigel Farage said: “Ukip has always said that Baroness Ashton is not fit for purpose, and these documents clearly show the Foreign Office was looking for a far more politically aware and experienced candidate.”

The Foreign Office said: “We wrote to all Foreign and Commonwealth Office departments in March, setting out best practice on handling redaction of withheld material.

“We also regularly update guidance to staff on Freedom of Information handling. In light of this incident, we will be looking at how further to tighten up procedures.”

A spokesman for Baroness Ashton said: “The High Representative was chosen by the 27 heads of government of the European Union. She was the unanimous choice of all EU leaders.”

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/253843/Eurocrat-Ashton-is-damned-in-memo-from-WhitehallEurocrat-Ashton-is-damned-in-memo-from-Whitehall#ixzz1PoFyAuAx