The Day of Reckoning Draws Near!
The big problem for the British is that our partners wish to move in the opposite direction to us. The United Kingdom will argue that the powers of the European Commission should be reduced, while our colleagues demand that they be increased; we will insist that the all-important power of 'veto' is untouched, while the rest will push for an increase in Qualified Majority Voting (QMV); we shall champion the issue of national sovereignty, while the others enthusiastically embrace the concept of federalism. In short, it is hard to find a single matter on which we can agree with our Euro-friends.
The economic damage inflicted by the 'beef crisis' (about which more later) has been exploited almost gleefully by our neighbours, who have poured salt and vinegar into the open wound with positive relish. At last! A chance to show the Union's naughtiest member that it's time to toe the line! Consequently, a worldwide ban was slapped on our beef; appeals to the Eurocrats' common sense were contemptuously brushed aside; and we were compelled to plead like beggars for financial aid, despite subsidising for years upon years the wasteful farming methods (and downright fraud) employed by our continental cousins. Even the so-called 'Europhiles', who actually favour further integration or harmonisation, were dismayed and infuriated by the posturing.
On the fundamental issue of European Monetary Union (EMU), which would result in the pound being scrapped and many of our economic decisions being made by a central bank, it transpires that Britain's opt-out, negotiated by Dear John in the original Maastricht Treaty and heralded as a 'masterstroke', will prove worthless. The French and Germans, painfully aware that UK withdrawal from the catastrophic Exchange Rate Mechanism has boosted our economy, cannot tolerate what they perceive as our 'unfair advantage' in being able to devalue the pound, thus making export goods more competitive, while at the same time avoiding the huge welfare costs imposed by the Social Chapter. The wonderful new idea just dreamt up in Paris and Frankfurt is that, even though we can remain out of EMU itself, our currency would have to be pegged to the wretched 'Euro', with possible sanctions being taken against those countries believed to have made 'competitive' devaluations. Thus we would be denied the supposed benefits of EMU membership and at the same time denied the genuine benefits of EMU non-membership! It is like being invited to a party and forced to drink only Malibu!
The Foreign Office minister responsible for European Affairs, David Davis, talks and acts quite unlike most Foreign Office ministers. He is coherent, seemingly straight-talking, and not afraid to say 'non' to a frog. Whether this attitude will prevail once he is on the receiving end of a few harangues and excoriations from the other delegates remains to be seen. Although EMU is not part of the main agenda, we must ensure we are not bounced or patronised into accepting any of the nonsensical propaganda issuing forth from the French, Germans or their Benelux lapdogs.
If it becomes apparent that we will not be able to integrate with the rest of Europe, there is a simple course of action we can take. We can withdraw from the European Union and attempt to stand on our own two feet. Before the squeals of anguish threaten to overwhelm, allow me to qualify the statement. To those who cry that our economy would be ruined, consider Norway, who rejected full membership while remaining participants in the EFTA (European Free Trade Area). Despite the rantings of Brussels busybodies that their economy would collapse, growth actually increased following the decision. There is no reason why the UK could not trade with Europe from a similar position. By doing so, the rest of Europe could decide in complete accord that lederhosen must be worn every other Tuesday and horse meat consumed on Sundays. The UK would not be a thorn in anyone's side: indeed, other countries might realise it would be in their best interests to get out, too.
Vital to the decision, whatever Fat B*****d Clarke thinks about it, is the consent of the people. If Dear John is to be remembered as anything other than a rude four letter word, he must consent to a referendum. Then he can go down in history as 'the man who got us out' rather than 'the man who sold us out'!
The statement by Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell, in which he raised the possibility that humans might be at risk from beef products, was bound to prompt furious debate, at best. The notion that it might precipitate a disaster of the scale now envisaged seems to have passed by ministers without attracting a backward glance. As a result, the long-suffering voters were needlessly distressed by the appearance of Douglas Hogg, Minister for Agriculture, on every radio and TV programme prepared to endure his gutteral pronouncements.
Even at his most lucid, Mr. Hogg sounds as though he is chewing coarse gravel, and his forbidding countenance may well frighten small children. Unable to state unequivocally that beef was safe, he resorted to endless waffle intended to exonerate his department of responsibility. The sole abiding image was that of a nervy government official trying to 'pass the buck'. Mr. Dorrell fared little better, appearing tetchy and evasive as he deflected all questions with the plaintive cry that it was "for the scientists" to decide what to do.
So, as the market for cattle disintegrates, threatening an economic blow of potentially devastating consequences; and the boffins embark on the laborious research into cross-species transmission that should have been conducted ten years ago, Messrs. Dorrell and Hogg are obliged to sit on the fence and bluster. Their utterances are either disbelieved or treated with cynical suspicion; and any pretence of leadership is abandoned.
When the evidence is examined, the danger from beef appears slight. A hitherto unidentified strain of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), the human affliction that may derive from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or 'Mad Cow Disease'), has been blamed for the deaths of at least ten young people, mostly in the North-East. As it is a new strain, none of the boffins can be sure exactly how it was transmitted to its victims, so the fact that they had all, at some stage in their tragically shortened lives, partaken of beef assumed particular significance.
Previous statements by government to the effect that there was no evidence that BSE could be transmitted to humans was based upon the statistic that the incidence of CJD in other European countries is similar or even higher than in the United Kingdom, despite some of those countries having no recorded cases of BSE in cattle. This would indicate that the agent causing CJD, if indeed it was connected to cattle at all, was unlikely to have been transmitted during the consumption of infected meat. But the new strain, which has not as yet been identified in any other country, could theoretically derive directly from BSE-infected foodstuffs.
Approximately 3,500 people die in road crashes annually; c. 4,500 from household accidents; and well over 100,000 deaths a year can be attributed to smoking related diseases. Yet there is no suggestion that we should slap a total ban on roads, houses or cigarettes (although it is increasingly difficult to smoke in public places). The same sensitive individuals who have forsaken English beef will doubtless still screech around our streets after a few pints pretending to be Damon Hill; stay up all night at raves having dropped a couple of 'E's; and drink themselves insensible at any slight opportunity.
Eventually, as it becomes clear that the crisis is a storm in a Bovril mug, demand for beef and its associated products should rise again, as was demonstrated to a minor extent when the supermarkets slashed prices in order to cut their losses and sales suddenly went back up again, albeit briefly. The damage, though, has been done for many farmers, who will be forced into bankruptcy, and for the government, whose handling of the situation has been, if possible, more incompetent than its handling of any of the other endless self-induced crises that have bewildered the nation.
The grim sight of Mr. Hogg extending a begging bowl to our smarmy 'European partners' is one that I hoped I would never witness. Although we (as in the British) are only trying to grab back what is rightfully our money anyway, we are treated as greedy children sneakily attempting to snaffle up extra sweets. The indignity of it is almost too much to bear, compounded by the fact that the government could have avoided all but a fraction of the present trouble had it introduced proper controls back in 1988, when the BSE scare first arose.
If a pet is for life, not just for Christmas, a farm animal is just an optional extra, expendable on the whim of public opinion or panic-stricken politicians. By the way, is 'Roast Hogg' back on the menu yet?
...are the officers and men of The Royal Green Jackets, whose troops are apparently permitted to blaze a trail of destruction across Cyprus, or whichever unfortunate country is playing host to them, without heed or hindrance. The shame and dishonour resulting from the revolting behaviour of our troops abroad is worse even than that of our football hooligans, for the British Army, with its many excellent traditions, is supposed to 'set an example' and 'fly the flag'.
The ultimate consequence of the laissez-faire attitude of the top brass was the rape and murder of pretty 23 year old Danish tour guide, Louise Jensen, in quite hideous circumstances. The three soldiers responsible, Alan Ford (27), Justin Fowler (28) and Geoff Pernell (24) were sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter at a court in Larnaca. During the trial, a horrifying story emerged of mass drunkenness, brawling and increasing hostility with local Cypriots. Ford had already been charged with offences relating to an attack on a British tourist with a broken bottle that left the victim scarred for life. Despite this, and many other such incidents involving the three, they were allowed to continue their violent, drunken trips into town.
Brigadier Arthur Denaro, Chief of Staff in Cyprus, pathetically tried to justify the Army's position by saying that Ford had pleaded his innocence to the earlier charge (despite numerous eye-witness reports that he was responsible!) and his commanding officer did not consider him to be any threat! Furthermore, went on the Brigadier, the drinking culture that surrounds young male Britons means that it is society's problem rather than the Army's problem. Forgive me, Brig., but what a load of b***ocks!
While it would be absurd to expect battalions of fit young soldiers to visit musuems and churches when posted abroad, it is equally absurd to allow to flourish the poisonous atmosphere of menace and aggression that became 'the norm' in Ayia Napa. I have sat in a pub full of pissed-up squaddies spoiling for trouble and it is a deeply unpleasant experience: they are allowed to behave appallingly because no-one in his right mind would wish to take on a mob of trained fighting men bonded to one another by regimental loyalty.
But any self-respecting officer worth his commission must feel a sense of deep unease when discipline breaks down to such a level that the local populace would prefer a visit from angry Millwall fans to the continued presence of British Army troops!
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