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

Daily Express - NEW EU GUARDS TO POLICE OUR BORDERS

Gerard Batten MEP for Ukip

Monday May 30,2011

By Anil Dawar

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A EUROPEAN quango could take control of British border guards under alarming new plans to create an EU-wide immigration agency.

Proposals passed by the European Parliament’s home affairs committee call for member states to staff an EU Border Guard System.

If MEPs get their way, the new agency will get a multi-million pound budget and be able to deploy officers without consulting governments who supply them.

Critics say plans to reorganise the existing Frontex border agency are a first step towards creating a continental immigration system.

The scheme is contained in a review of the Warsaw-based EU border agency, conducted by Maltese MEP Dr Simon Busuttil.

It says the various operations carried out by Frontex should be merged into one EU Border Guard system and recommends an increase in its already bloated budget so it can buy its own planes, boats and other equipment. The review also says all EU member states – including Britain – should be ordered to contribute officers to a pool of border guards.

It is obvious the EU is using the refugee crisis to further its ambition to create an operational military force

Gerard Batten, Ukip MEP

It also insists members sign a “solidarity clause”, which would force Britain to take a share of all refugees arriving in the EU, whichever country they land in.

While Britain is not signed up to Frontex, the proposals say all member states should be compelled to take part in the new system.

The European Commission is still trying to force Britain to join Frontex. The report calls for analysis of “the need for the further development of the EU Border Guard system and for the agency to employ independent guards acting under its instructions”.

Frontex does not have its own officers or equipment and relies on borrowing them from member states when it embarks on missions such as patrolling the Mediterranean or the Greece-Turkey border.

Under Dr Busuttil’s plans, the agency would be able to launch initiatives, meaning it could use UK Border Agency officers anywhere in the EU or set up operations at British frontier points.

The proposals come as the EU battles a flood of tens of thousands of North Africans fleeing the chaos of the “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Gerard Batten, Ukip MEP and immigration spokesman, said: “It is obvious the EU is using the refugee crisis to further its ambition to create an operational military force.

“There is no doubt that the EU will use this as a way of trying to force Britain to take in asylum seekers arriving elsewhere in Europe.

“Even if we manage to avoid being pulled into another costly system of European control we will be forced to pay for it through our EU contributions.”

Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, said: “As if the EU wasn’t undemocratic enough, it is creating this enormous quango while we are trying to cut them at home.

“The only way for the UK to safeguard its frontiers is to back away from the existing systems the EU has set up.”

When Frontex was first set up in 2005, it had a budget of just £5.3million. That has risen to £95.5million and next year it will top £124million.

The UK Border Agency said: “The UK is not a participant in the Frontex Regulation, so this proposal does not apply to the UK.”

What's next an EU police force on the streets of Briton?

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/249667/New-EU-guards-to-police-our-bordersNew-EU-guards-to-police-our-borders#ixzz1Np7eObwc

Daily Express - ‘INCOMPETENT’ ASHTON UNDER FIRE

Baroness Ashton faced scathing accusations of incompetence yesterday in a Brussels showdown

Tuesday May 24,2011

By Macer Hall Political Editor

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EURO politician Baroness Ashton faced scathing accusations of incompetence yesterday in a Brussels showdown.

The former Labour minister came in for criticism during an assessment of her first 18 months as the European Union’s foreign affairs chief.

Even top diplomats keen on the European External Action Service – the EU’s diplomatic corps – questioned whether she was up to the job of leading it.

One said: “We have seen an accumulation of frustrations and stupid mistakes. She has surrounded herself with yes-men and adopted a bunker mentality rather than deal with problems.”

Tory MEP Syed Kamall added: “Baroness Ashton has come in for criticism from right across Europe. It seems to be one of the few things European politicians can agree on. My concern is that her performance reflects badly on Britain and damages our standing in Europe.”

The row, which flared at a meeting between Baroness Ashton and EU foreign ministers yesterday, followed widespread anger at her demand last month for a 5.8 per cent increase in her £405million a year budget.

Baroness Ashton has come in for criticism from right across Europe

Tory MEP Syed Kamall

A spokesman for Baroness Ashton last night insisted the meeting was “routine” and added: “There were many issues discussed. The main focus was on Libya.”

Baroness Ashton's obscene £230,000 a year salary makes her the best paid female politician in the world, you'd think for that money the EU would be getting the best politician in the world. If ever there's a case for performance related pay I'd say this is it.  

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/248467/-Incompetent-Ashton-under-fire-Incompetent-Ashton-under-fire#ixzz1NIDEJbF7

Daily Express - EU QUANGOS REGULATE UK BANKS

Hector Sants said EU quangos now control the UK’s banks and its financial system

Monday May 23,2011

By Daily Express Reporter

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THE full extent of the EU’s grip on Britain’s financial system has been laid bare after the UK’s financial watchdog admitted it was simply Europe’s “supervisor”.

Hector Sants, head of the Financial Services Authority, made his admission as he announced a major shake-up of Britain’s regulatory regime.

At a press conference to announce the creation of the Prudential Regulatory Authority, Mr Sants said EU quangos now control the UK’s banks and its financial system. He said: “The PRA will essentially be a supervisory arm of the European regulatory regime.”

Mr Sants’ revelation that Brussels was prising loose Britain’s grip on its own banking system was underlined by Olli Rehn, EU commissioner for economic affairs.

Mr Rehn told business leaders three super-quangos had taken over the regulatory role of the continent’s 27 national banks, including the Bank of England. They are the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority.

Tory MP Douglas Carswell criticised the move. “Given the financial mess in the eurozone, the last thing we should be doing is handing control of the City of London to the EU.

The unelected bodies have the power to impose rules on the UK’s banks and financial institutions. Mr Rehn said it meant the European Commission can bypass dissenting member states. He admitted: “The veto’s been weakened.”

Just how does this happen? And more importantly where was the resistance from our MPs? Another act of EU subversion leaves us with the Bank of England effectively out of our control.

How healthy is it for a democracy such as the UK to be governed by unelected foreign bodies? Our political structure is steadily becoming  non-functional, so what's the point of electing the same old MPs if all they do is follow the EU agenda at the cost of the British peoples sovereignty? 


  

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/248261/EU-quangos-regulate-UK-banksEU-quangos-regulate-UK-banks#ixzz1N9tJtA8N

Daily Express - CARBON PLEDGE WILL DOUBLE ENERGY BILLS

BELEAGUERED Energy Secretary Chris Huhne yesterday committed Britain to “exceptionally ambitious” cuts in carbon emissions despite warnings that they could help double domestic energy bills in a decade.

Mr Huhne, who is fighting for his political life over allegations about speeding points, said that by 2025 Britain will have halved its greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.

That is a significant expansion of the previous pledge to cut emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.

He also announced plans to develop giant offshore wind turbines, which would be nearly as tall as Big Ben.

Mr Huhne overcame Cabinet resistance to push through the plan and make Britain the first country in the world to make legally binding commitments to slash emissions in the 2020s.

But critics warned that the consumer will have to foot the bill. Mark Todd, director of price comparison service Energyhelpline.com, said the drive would cost households around £10.8billion a year extra by 2020, taking the average bill from £1,150 to £1,600.

It puts Britain at the leading edge of a new global industrial transformation as well as making good our determination that this will be the greenest government ever

Energy Secretary Chris Huhne

He warned: “Fuel scarcity, political turmoil and natural disasters will drive this figure even higher and it would not be beyond the bounds of possibility to see bills almost double to £2,000 by 2020. Once again the ordinary consumer is ending up footing the bill.”

Price comparison site uSwitch.com also warned that annual energy bills could hit £1,600 within nine years.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy, said: “By 2020 the average bill will have rocketed by nearly £500. This doesn’t even take into account any price rises.

“Today’s announcement could be the death knell for cheap energy.”

Others feared big business would be driven abroad. The Civitas think-tank said the plans would create the “highest energy costs in the world” and send turnover worth £60billion and 600,000 jobs “up in smoke”.

UKIP’s environment spokesman Lord Monckton said the move would not make any difference to the climate. He described it as “the largest tax increase in human history” driven “by blind, superstitious faith”.

Even supporters warned the scheme was ambitious.

David Symons, of environmental consultants WSP Environment & Energy, said the move meant that by 2030 the UK would have to generate 97 per cent of electricity from low carbon sources, insulate 3.5 million homes and have 60 per cent of new cars run on electricity.

Dr Tim Fox, head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “These proposals are welcome but exceptionally ambitious and are unlikely to be achieved without policy support.

“The scale of  the engineering deployment required to reduce emissions on this scale has never been seen in any industrialised nation.”

The Prime Minister said: “This is the right approach for Britain if we are to combat climate change, secure our energy supplies for the long-term and seize the economic opportunities that green industries hold.”

Mr Huhne said: “It puts Britain at the leading edge of a new global industrial transformation as well as making good our determination that this will be the greenest government ever.”

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/247373/Carbon-pledge-will-double-energy-billsCarbon-pledge-will-double-energy-bills#ixzz1Mk399Sfb