LOOPHOLE GIVES MIGRANTS ONE-WAY TICKET TO BRITAIN

Migrants queue for food in Calais

Tuesday February 28,2012
By Peter Allen in Paris and Anil Dawar
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THE refusal by France and Belgium to close a Eurostar loophole where illegal migrants flood into the UK for under £70 has caused fury among British politicians.
Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall accused the countries of continuing to allow migrants entry in order to “get rid of people they don’t want”.
Answers are being demanded after a formal request by the Government in December for high-speed railway operators to stop selling tickets from Brussels to Lille in northern France was turned down.
Because both the Belgian cap­ital and France are covered by the Schengen Agreement – which allows borderless travel within certain European countries – passengers do not have to show their passports on the route.
Under the so-called Lille Loophole, anyone can stay on the train when it reaches Lille and travel on to London, where they can claim asylum or disappear into the black economy.
Ukip MEP Mr Nuttall said: “France and Belgium talk about solidarity the whole time but to them solidarity is a one-way street working in their favour. It suits these people to keep the loophole open. It is clearly not in their interest to help Britain close down this drain because it is a convenient way for them to get rid of people they don’t want.”
France and Belgium talk about solidarity the whole time but to them solidarity is a one-way street working in their favour
Ukip MEP Mr Nuttall
Conservative MP and Home Affairs Select Committee member James Clappison said: “This loophole is an issue that needs a comprehensive answer.
“We need to have some way of having the same border controls that everyone else has. One would hope that in the spirit of European co-operation France and Belgium would understand.”
Keith Vaz MP, Select Committee chairman, called for the UK Border Agency to vet passengers before they arrived in the UK.
He said: “Border security loopholes must be closed if Britain is to attempt to control immig­ration flows. The Government is taking a very casual approach to this very serious issue.

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“Four months have now passed since the loophole was uncovered. I am extremely concerned that it remains open.
“If the French and Belgian governments continue to refuse to close the loophole the UK Border Agency should place border staff on every train to identify those seeking to enter the UK illegally.” A Belgian diplomatic source based in Paris said his Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was “completely opposed to the British wish to end high-speed cross-Channel trains stopping at Lille”.
The source said Mr Di Rupo had spoken to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon about the issue, and both supported him.
The source said the Lille Loophole was also discussed at this month’s bilateral Anglo-French summit attended by Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Sarkozy in Paris, but the French would not budge on the issue.
In Lille, no one checks whether passengers get off the train from Brussels, so they can continue their journey to London.
There are no passport checks for the vast majority of Eurostar travellers arriving at London’s St Pancras station, meaning illegal entry into the UK is relatively easy.
The cheapest-advertised Euro­star fare from Brussels to London is £69, with the journey taking just under two hours. A UK Border Agency (UKBA) report leaked last year to the BBC highlighted the problems caused by the loophole.
One UKBA officer said he stopped two Iranians at Brussels because they “bore all the hallmarks of Lille Loopholers”.
But when Belgian police were called, one told the UKBA staff: “This has got to stop. You are not in Britain now, you are in Schengen. If they [the Iranians] make a complaint, you will be arrested.”
There have been further clashes between Belgian police and UKBA officers, leading to most security staff now turning a blind eye to the “Loopholers”.
A Home Office spokesman said: “While discussions are continuing we have strict British immig­ration controls in place in France and Belgium for those travelling to the UK.
“French rail security officers are also conducting additional checks on board trains to ensure passengers are correctly doc­umented for the UK, and we have more officers at St Pancras to stop those attempting to enter the UK illegally.”

PM CALLS FOR REFERENDUM ON EUROPE... BUT ITS NOT OUR ONE

Irish PM Enda Kenny has called a referendum on the EU agreement

Tuesday February 28,2012

By Emily Fox for express.co.uk

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A REFERENDUM on the eurozone's new fiscal agreement has been called in Ireland, it was announced today.

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny led the way for the first popular vote on the German-led plan for the euro which will enforce stricter budget discipline across the eurozone. 

  After joining 24 other EU states last month in agreeing the pact for stricter budget discipline, Kenny sought advice from the state's lawyer on whether a vote was necessary and told parliament that on balance, a referendum would be required.    

"The Irish people will be asked for their authorisation in a referendum to ratify the european stability treaty," Kenny told parliament.    

Support for the European Union has cooled in Ireland over three years of economic contraction and budget cutbacks in exchange for aid to prop up its collapsing banking sector.

I wonder if the Irish vote against the EU, they will actually accept it this time?

MORE OVERSEAS HANDOUTS! WE GIVE £220M TO ‘WORLD’S TERROR CAPITAL’

David Cameron insisted yesterday that Somalia should get a “second chance” to rebuild itself

Thursday February 23,2012

By Macer Hall

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DAVID Cameron is set to ignite fresh anger at Britain’s soaring overseas handouts bill today by pledging millions to war-torn Somalia.

He will unveil an extra £33million in aid to the country, infamous as a breeding ground for terrorism. The gift means that UK payouts to Somalia will rise to nearly £220million in the next three years.

The Prime Minister insisted yesterday that Somalia should get a “second chance” to rebuild itself after two decades of famine and civil war. But critics warned against throwing yet more taxpayers’ cash into a country described by Foreign Secretary William Hague earlier this month as “the world’s most failed state”.

Tory MP Philip Davies said: “Pouring ever larger amounts of our money is never going to solve this country’s problems.” Emma Boon of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “It is crucial that taxpayers’ money isn’t lost to corruption in this highly volatile area.”

It is madness to hand it more taxpayers’ cash

UK Independence Party Euro-MP Godfrey Bloom

And UK Independence Party Euro-MP Godfrey Bloom said that Somalia had “a government that had no control”. He added: “It is madness to hand it more taxpayers’ cash.”

The Prime Minister will make today’s aid pledge at a conference which he is hosting in London on the future of the poverty-stricken African nation.

Ministers insist that internat­ional efforts to stabilise Somalia, including extra aid, are vital for tackling threats to Britain such as terrorism, piracy and illegal immigration.

In the Commons yesterday, Mr Cameron said: “This is about trying to put in place the building blocks among the international community.

“That means taking action on piracy, on hostages, and working with all parts of Somalia to try and give that country – which has been more blighted by famine, disease, terrorism and violence than almost any other in the world – a second chance.”

In a statement ahead of the conference last night, Mr Cameron said: “The problems in Som­alia can only ultimately be solved by the people of Somalia.

“But our national interest is clear: we can’t just sit back and let this carry on.”

According to figures released by Downing Street, up to 100,000 Somalis have starved to death over the last year.

A third of the country remains under control of the terrorist group al-Shabab, which is linked to Al Qaeda.

And Somali pirates have hijacked 100 vessels and att­acked 400 more in the last three years.

Senior figures from Somalia’s government will attend today’s conference along with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and representatives of up to 50 other nations.

The new British aid will include £20million for a “stability fund” to attempt to bring security to areas captured from terrorists. It will support a “rapid res­ponse” force to set up hospitals, schools, pol­ice and courts.

The Foreign Office will also more than double a contribution to Somalia from its conflict pool from £5million to £13million. The cash, separate from the aid budget, will go towards supporting sec­urity in Somalia.

EU PILOT RULES ‘WILL PUT LIVES IN DANGER’

Unions warn increased flight times will heighten the risk of pilots falling asleep

Thursday February 23,2012

By John Ingham

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PASSENGERS’ lives will be endangered by new EU rules which will heighten the risk of pilots falling asleep in the cockpit, MPs were told.

Balpa, the pilots union, warned that proposals by the European Aviation Safety Agency will increase their flying hours.

It told the Transport Select Committee that in the worst case the new rules will allow pilots to land planes after being up for as long as 22 hours – including a 14-hour flight duty period.

The EU rules would also allow pilots to fly as far as California with no back-up crew. And they will let pilots do up to seven early starts in a row which Balpa claims is “desperately fatiguing”.

Cologne-based Easa says the plan is designed to “provide a level-playing field for European airlines”.

But Balpa’s head of safety, Dr Rob Hunter, an ex-long haul pilot, said: “This will lead to an in creased safety risk for pilots, cabin crew and passengers. Our research shows that 43 per cent of pilots have already fallen asleep on the flight deck under current rules. I expect the new rules to lead to a worsening of this.”

Cologne-based Easa says the plan is designed to “provide a level-playing field for European airlines”

He said when Easa’s rules are introduced in two years they will mean that pilots with US airlines will be better rested than their British counterparts.

Balpa secretary Jim McAuslan urged the UK’s safety authority, the CAA, to rethink its backing for Easa’s plan.

He said: “Twenty hours of wakefulness is not the only part of the proposals giving us serious concern. We have met with the CAA to make them realise the dangers of what is proposed here, but they seem intent on supporting this European scheme.”

Last month an Easa report said its plans had taken “into account recent scientific and medical evidence”. 

‘HYPOCRITE’ SLUR AT JACK STRAW

Jack Straw was accused of hypocrisy yesterday

Thursday February 23,2012

By Martyn Brown Political Correspondent

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EX-LABOUR frontbencher Jack Straw was accused of hypocrisy yesterday after he called for the European Parliament to be scrapped.

The senior MP, both Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary under the last Labour government, hit out at the growing “democratic deficit” in the European Union.

He proposed replacing the directly-elected European Parliament – that sits in both Brussels and Strasbourg – with a new assembly made up of MPs from ­parliaments in member states. But fellow politicians questioned why Mr Straw did not have those views while his party was in Government for 13 years.

The comments, made in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, were also being seen as indicating a shift in attitude towards the EU among some senior frontbenchers.

Mr Straw said: “I am now clear that there is a major democratic deficit within the EU. And it is absolutely ­certain, in my judgment, that the mechanism that was ­established 30 years ago to fill this gap of the democratic deficit, which was a directly elected European parliament, has not worked and, in my judgment, cannot work in that form.”

It’s a shame that Mr Straw spent years failing to realise that the parliament is useless

Ukip leader Nigel Farage

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “It’s a shame that Mr Straw spent years failing to realise that the parliament is useless.”

A YouGov poll yesterday revealed just eight per cent of UK voters believe their “voice counts in the EU”.

RED TAPE THAT HAS CAUSED A REAL JAM

It looks like jam and tastes like jam – but EU food rules say it cannot be labelled as “jam”

Thursday February 23,2012

By Dana Gloger Consumer Affairs Editor

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IT looks like jam and tastes like jam – but EU food rules say it cannot be labelled as “jam”.

Supplier Clippy McKenna has been told she is not permitted to use the word on her British Bramley apple products because they don’t contain enough sugar.

They do not qualify as a fruit spread either, a conserve or a reduced sugar jam. They are in a jam no-man’s land.

They contain only 52-53 per cent sugar because that is the way apples turn into jam. But there is no technically correct word.

Clippy, 38, started her one-woman business at her kitchen table in Sale, Cheshire, four years ago, selling the product to Harvey Nichols, Ocado and Fortnum and Mason.

But she received a letter from trading standards bosses in February 2011, saying they had found there wasn’t enough sugar in her “jam” and giving her a month to change her labels. 

Since then she has used the word “conserve” on her jars. But that is still not good enough because it legally requires more detail.

We’re in a real quandary. We’ve had to re-label everything and we are being told that we are still wrong

Clippy McKenna

The term “fruit spread” is reserved for 100 per cent fruit products, and reduced sugar jams must have only 50 per cent or less sugar.

“It’s nonsense,” said Clippy, who is lobbying for a clarification of EU rules. “We’re in a real quandary. We’ve had to re-label everything and we are being told that we are still wrong.”

All the EU does is interfere & make peoples lives a misery, not to mention the gravy train costing us all a fortune!

BURGLAR FREED ON HUMAN RIGHTS RULES BACK IN JAIL

Yob Wayne Bishop yesterday

Thursday February 23,2012

By Paul Jeeves

A JUDGE yesterday launched a ­scathing attack on European laws after jailing a serial criminal who had used “human rights” rules to win ­freedom from prison.

Wayne Bishop was told: “Other ­people have rights apart from you.”

Bishop committed a brutal assault less than a month after he was ­controversially freed by the Court of Appeal from an eight-month sentence for ­burglary – because he had to look after his five children.

The jobless 34-year-old sparked ­outrage by boasting how he “jumped around his cell” in delight following the landmark legal decision last May which ruled Courteney, 13, Katie, 12, Taylor, 10, Brandon, eight, and Kyle, seven, would “suffer” without him.

But at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday Judge Michael Stokes QC jailed Bishop for eight months.

Bishop, with his brother, ­jobless bouncer Robert Wheelhouse, set upon shopper David ­Parsons, 23, in a Spar shop in ­Broxtowe, Nottingham, leaving him with a “bruised and swollen” face. Judge Stokes told Bishop: “I am afraid, Mr Bishop, you have to learn that other people have rights apart from you. We have the right not to have our homes and premises ­burgled. We all have the right to walk the streets without fear of being attacked.

“Rights that are set out by the ­European Convention in the Human Rights Act are not to be ­produced like the ace of trumps to avoid a prison sentence.”

Bishop, of Clifton, Nottingham, who has a lengthy record including shoplifting and threatening behaviour, vowed he was “going straight” after being given a 24-month suspended jail term and curfew following last May’s early release. But weeks later, with his brother, 40, he attacked Mr Parsons.

The pair denied assault by beating but were found guilty. The conviction meant Bishop breached the suspended ­sentence he was given by the Court of Appeal.

Bishop was jailed for four months for assault and four months for breaching the terms of his suspended sentence. It was his 17th court appearance. Last May Bishop’s legal team argued that his imprisonment went against Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, which enshrines the right to respect for family life.

Tory MP Dominic Raab, who led the Westminster revolt against European demands that the UK gives prisoners the vote, branded Bishop’s release a “get-out-of-jail card” at the time.

Last night he said: “The reality is that human rights, especially the right to family and private life, are being used by criminals as a joker to trump jail or deportation – and that makes a mockery of our justice system.”

YOU PAY £500 TO RESCUE GREECE... BRITISH FAMILIES ARE HAMMERED AGAIN IN EU CRISIS

Every household in Britain now faces a £500 bill for bailing out Greece and the crisis-ridden euro.

Wednesday February 22,2012

By Macer Hall, Political Editor

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FURY erupted last night after it emerged that every household in Britain now faces a £500 bill for bailing out Greece and the crisis-ridden euro.

Senior Eurocrats indicated that Britain will be expected to hand over an extra £1billion through the International Monetary Fund to a colossal £110billion new emergency pot.

MPs and Euro MPs were outraged at the latest handout and the controversy will lend weight to the Daily Express crusade to get Britain out of the European Union.

Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos (L) and Prime Minister Lucas Papademos 

The mere idea that more money should be committed to the IMF is an insult to hardworking British taxpayers.

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage

The new bail-out will take the UK’s total liability for supporting the eurozone to an eye-watering £12.5billion, equivalent to £500 for every household. 

EU leaders said the latest deal, clinched at 4.30am yesterday in Brussels, would save Greece from a catastrophic debt default that could spark a deep European-wide recession.

But many economists feared the bail-out was still not enough and will lead to another euro crisis within months.

One of the angry MPs, Tory backbencher Peter Bone, said: “We should not be using money from hard-working British taxpayers to bail out a currency that we have nothing to do with. This is an abuse of the IMF system.”

Euro MP Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party, said: “The mere idea that more money should be committed to the IMF is an insult to hardworking British taxpayers.

“David Cameron will have a fight on his hands over this, especially from his own backbenchers, who will finally see that he is not the great euro sceptic he will have them believe.”

Chancellor George Osborne claimed the deal would be “good for Britain because resolving the eurozone crisis would be the biggest boost that Britain could get for its economy this year”.

David Cameron has said Britain will need to set up a firewall to prevent contagion in Europe

He added: “They have made real progress towards giving a sustainable debt position for Greece. Hopefully we can all move on now and get the European economy growing.”

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso described the bail-out agreement as “an essential step forward for the country and for the euro area as a whole”.

But former chancellor Alistair Darling said: “Even if Greece manages to do everything asked, in eight years’ time they will still have a debt of 120per cent of their GDP. ”

He added: “I suspect Greece will be back at the table at some point and, if the eurozone is not very fortunate, other countries will be back as well.”

EU leaders haggled through the night before agreeing the £110billion deal to replace a previous £91billion fund agreed two years ago that failed to ease’s Greece’s debt nightmare. 

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso described the bail-out as essential 

Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos said the agreement meant “we avoided the nightmare scenario” but even deeper cuts will have to be made.

Downing Street officials yesterday insisted that the new £110billion bail-out was a matter for the eurozone.

“There is no proposal for an IMF contribution on the table at the moment,” said the Prime Minister’s spokesman.

Chancellor George Osborne will face pressure in the Commons if he asks for more money

But IMF chief Christine Lagarde confirmed that it would contribute to the new fund. “I intend to make a recommendation to our executive board regarding IMF financing to support a programme,” she said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble predicted that the IMF plans would contribute £10billion. Under current commitments, that would mean a further UK contribution of £450million plus around £500million remaining in the previous Greek bail-out pot.

Britain’s £12.5billion commitment includes previous loans and IMF contributions to support Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

City experts feared the bail-out had merely put off the day of reckoning.Carsten Brzeski, of ING Bank, said: “The feeling of relief is not likely to last for long.” Jennifer McKeown, of Capital Economics, warned that the Greek economy was “stuck in a hole”.