Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

EU 1 Cameron/Osborne 0 – alittleecon 7/11/2014



George Osborne went to Brussels today to try to negotiate a ‘better deal for Britain’ with regards to the £1.7bn the EU has said the UK owes due to statistical revisions over the last 20 years. Osborne came out of his meeting triumphant, saying he had negotiated a reduction of 50% which would be interest free, with payments staggered over 2 years.

It took about half an hour for Osborne’s claims to unravel after a number of his counterparts in other EU countries revealed that the £1.7bn bill was in fact unchanged, but that the UK’s ‘rebate’ had also been revised, and would total £850m, and that this was always the case. Originally then, the UK would have paid £1.7bn, and then receive a rebate of £850m. Now, after George Osborne’s shrewd negotiating, we will pay £850m and forego the rebate. Still sound like a good deal?

I had wondered whether this latest EU controversy had been engineered by Cameron and Osborne to make the look like they could stand up to Europe and win concessions to appease the right of the party and try to win back some of the UKIP vote. If so it has rather spectacularly backfired.

Osborne makes clear in his announcement today that he thinks we are all idiots and won’t be able to see through an obvious ruse. It doesn’t bode very well for Cameron’s hopes to renegotiate Britain’s role in the EU in advance of a possible referendum in 2017. It seems pretty clear the other nations of the EU have no intention of giving Cameron what he wants, and now view him as a bit of a joke (if they didn’t already). Far from bringing back his detractors into the fold, this latest stunt is more likely to drive people further away.

Eurosceptic Tory MEP Daniel Hannan suggested the deal achieved by the chancellor may not represent any reduction in the total amount.

He also wrote on Twitter: "The EU sticks us with a bill. Ministers double it, apply the rebate, return to the original figure and claim victory. We're meant to cheer?

.

Osborne economic with the truth
and that looks to be about as polite as one can be
yes, the payment has been spread and without interest charged and apparently some rules have also been changed, but scarcely the fighting victory that was claimed

even the initial premise that £1.7bn would have to be paid is pretty suspect - ie it was always pretty though not absolutely certain that this £850m rebate could be used as offset

how can ANY politician - and there are plenty of other cases in the past - be so crassly stupid as to believe his story will not be quickly and correctly shredded?

A tory likeness.

Which minister is the closest?

Ps. Could be Haze and CC.

This crew are making the €U look honest.

Max.

It feels as if we are in a "grubby" period of politics in this country.

I think a lot of it may be down to the concentration on PR by the crew in charge at the moment and the mimicry of American (Australian) politics.

But it may be the grumblings of an old man and the media and internet exposure which so called "politics" is getting.

But dashing of hopes and expectancies in 2008-2010 and continuing demoralisation by the "said" necessary austerity programmes with obvious disparities of those who have from those who have not and no chances of having had led to an apathetic and demoralised public,

I think policies carried out by the Death and Glory Boys in charge for the last four years did not consider the effects or reaction to their policies and the deaths were of Joe Bloggs while the expected the glory.

Sad.

But political lying seems the bases of politics to-day. The problem is the liars are no longer plausible!

It is a miserable day!
=======

The problem is the liars are no longer plausible!

does that mean that plausible liars are more than acceptable? :-)

I think the dissemination of information is becoming a big problem for the lying classes. (you know who they are)

The interweb has opened the door to knowledge far beyond what was available 20 years ago.

Basically, the lying bastards cant get away with half thought out bullshit anymore.

you know who they are ......

indeed; all politicians of all colours along with their brothers the snake-oil salesmen

Right on c!

The rebate has been brought forward as it wasn 't due till the next year. We would have had to pay the bill in full and then claim the rebate later. We can pay much later in installments. The rules have been changed. We can now challenge the calculations and get some money back if there are errors. Lastly, we are not being charged interest on paying later.

It all looks like a great result.

Eurosceptic Tory MEP Daniel Hannan said the government's argument was "insulting".

He said: "If Brussels had come to us and said you are going to have to pay £850m - enough to hire and fund the pensions of 350 nurses - it would have caused outrage.

"And what we have done instead is we've pretended that the rebate did not apply, we've gone up to a much higher figure, we've then reapplied the rebate, come back to the figure that there was all along and claimed a victory.

"I think that is insulting our intelligence."

"I think that is insulting our intelligence."

You attempt to do exactly the same every day Mr 90% Arf!

http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/

Over the last year couple of years Labour’s lead has gradually been whittled away, from ten points in 2012 they are now holding onto only the very narrowest of leads, with many polls showing them neck and neck.