Cameron Attempts to Snatch Defeat from Jaws of Victory; Euro Project Intellectually, Morally, Democratically Bankrupt

It is disgusting to see UK Prime Minister David Cameron all but throw away the victory he achieved when he vetoed the Merkozy treaty.

Please consider these sniveling, apologetic snips from the New York Times article Cameron Says His Veto on Europe Treaty Protects Britain

Mr. Cameron, a Conservative, seemed at pains to offer soothing words to those afraid that he had so alienated his European allies that Britain was bound to leave the European Union altogether.

“Britain remains a full member of the E.U., and the events of the last week do nothing to change that,” Mr. Cameron said. “Our membership of the E.U. is vital to our national interest. We are a trading nation, and we need the single market for trade, investment and jobs.”

Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, said Britain could hardly wall off its financial industry, the bustling City of London. “I regret very much that the United Kingdom was not willing to join the new fiscal compact, as much for the sake of Europe and its crisis response as for the sake of British citizens and their perspectives,” Mr. Rehn said. “We want a strong and constructive Britain in Europe, and we want Britain to be at the center of Europe, and not on the sidelines. If this move was intended to prevent bankers and financial corporations in the City from being regulated, that is not going to happen.”

Mr. Rehn also offered a reminder that Britain had approved “the six-pack of new rules tightening fiscal and economic surveillance” that goes into force on Tuesday. “The U.K.’s excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of surveillance like other member states,” he said, “even if the enforcement mechanism mostly applies to the euro area member states.”

Mr. Cameron faced a few gentle questions about whether to hold a national referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union, something the anti-Europe faction dearly wants, he batted them briskly away.

Threats From Rehn

Clearly Olli Rehn will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and by sucking up to the EU, Cameron practically admits he is willing to sell the UK down the river next time, for a few useless promises.


UK not to Blame

Telegraph writer Boris Johnson nails it with We’re right about the euro - that’s why Europe is angry

I know some people are unsettled to see all these powerful Europeans getting so very, very cross. Angela Merkel has said that we weren’t even negotiating properly. Nicolas Sarkozy can hardly bring himself to mention Britain by name and has been filmed apparently refusing to shake David Cameron’s hand. Across the Continent, the papers are full of wrathful headlines about the general arrogance and stupidity of the Englanders/Anglais/Inglesi. I watched some poor Lib Dem Euro MP who seemed about to explode with disgust at the UK’s handling of the recent summit.

And there must be many people in this country who find themselves a bit spooked by the vitriol of the criticism. For some days, the BBC has been telling us in sepulchral tones that we are “isolated” and “marginalised” – as if a decision had been taken to abandon us in our misty island like a bunch of woad-painted savages.

Now look. It wasn’t the Anglo-Saxon bankers who caused the trouble in the eurozone, Sarkozy mon ami. It was the utter failure of the eurozone countries – starting with France, incidentally – to observe the Maastricht rules. It was the refusal of the Greeks to control their spending or to reform their social security systems. In Greece and Italy, the democratic leaders have been effectively deposed in the hope of appeasing the markets and saving the euro; and what makes the leaders of the eurozone countries even more furious is that it doesn’t seem to be working.

They blame David Cameron for “vetoing” a new EU treaty, when really he has done no such thing. It is perfectly open to the other EU countries now to go ahead and form their own new fiscal rules. If they want, they can decide to create an economic government of Europe. They may decide that now is the time – even though electorates are already feeling alienated from the political process – to hand sensitive decisions on tax and spending to unelected bureaucrats. It strikes me that this would be an amazingly dangerous thing to do, since the peoples of this Supra National And Fiscal Union (Snafu) would rapidly discover that they could no longer remove their government from office. I doubt very much that it would work, since there seems no particular reason why national governments should respect a collection of new “binding” rules any more than they respected the “binding” rules of Maastricht – not unless there is some secret proposal to enforce them by violence with a Euro-army.

But even if the Snafu has little prospect of success, there is no reason for David Cameron to commit this country to a project that is intellectually, morally and democratically bankrupt.

Intellectually, Morally and Democratically Bankrupt

Indeed the Euro project is exactly as Boris Johnson describes. And that is precisely why Cameron should have gone on the offensive and put membership in the EU to popular vote instead of making sniveling, apologetic statements to appease Merkel and Sarkozy,  both of whom will be gone after the next set of elections.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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