EU diplomats costing us billions

The European Union has been accused of spreading a federal message around the globe via a network of embassies which cost taxpayers billions of pounds a year.

A survey by the Taxpayers' Alliance claims EU diplomats based in lavish residences are being publicly funded to the tune of £3.4 billion a year as part of an EU "Foreign Service".

The Alliance says the EU's own diplomatic service - which the European Commission says does not exist - "has quietly grown to effectively challenge the British Foreign Office around the globe".

The property portfolio of "EU embassies" is worth £55 million pounds, says the Alliance, while the occupants enjoy classic diplomatic perks, allowances, and even, in some cases, butlers and chauffeurs.

Dr Lee Rotherham, EU Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "British taxpayers are funding EU diplomats to supplant our own Foreign Office around the world. The EU has its own agenda that is often in conflict with British national interests, but they are still pursuing it using our money.

"While the Foreign Office talks about the EU serving Britain's needs, well-paid employees of Brussels are promoting a country called Europe around the globe. It is astonishing that British ministers are still in denial about the way this harms our international standing"

A former UK Ambassador to Washington, Sir Antony Acland, said: "Members of the public will be surprised at just how active the EU's own diplomatic corps already is today. The EU Constitution in the form of the Treaty of Lisbon will take the process even further."

One Commission insider insisted: "There are no 'EU diplomats', just European Commission representatives pursuing contacts in the wide range of issues the Commission is responsible for, such as trade. They do not replace national diplomats and ambassadors."

But the report insists that the efforts of the Commission's delegates in more than 120 "ambassadorial residencies" around the world are progressively usurping the UK's "global standing", absorbing "huge amounts" of taxpayers' money in the process.

"Brussels has developed an identity on the world stage in its own right. The EU now has a budget of £3.4 billion a year to be spent on its international affairs programme, called the External Relations programme. This is distinct from its international development budget" says the report.

Showdown looms for tuna in Brussels

Brussels, Belgium / Rome, Italy - - European Union member states and the European Commission will decide in the next week whether to support bluefin tuna conservation – or to encourage the continued wilful overexploitation of an endangered marine resource.

Today, the European Commission’s Directorate General for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, DG MARE, will consider DG Environment’s support for a listing of the severely overfished Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to temporarily ban all international trade – the same day that EU member states are asked to give their own feedback on the proposal.

“It would be scandalous if the European Commission were to allow the region’s most emblematic marine species associated with a thousand-year-old fishing tradition to go extinct on its watch,” said Tony Long, Director of WWF’s European Policy Office in Brussels. “This would be a shameful legacy for the Barroso Commission.

They must back the proposal to temporarily ban international trade.”

Following an initial proposal tabled in July by the Principality of Monaco, several EU countries – France, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Austria – quickly expressed support to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on CITES Appendix I, which would give the overexploited species a chance of recovery.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was first to express his country’s support for an international trade ban through CITES, saying: “It is against this great responsibility that we will be judged by our children and the generations to come.”

In addition, the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Environment has since recommended in a draft report – excerpted in a recent Financial Times story – that “from a scientific and technical point of view, the criteria for the listing of Atlantic bluefin tuna appear to be met. (...) There is no doubt about the link between international trade and overexploitation of the species.”

If the EU Commission and member states cannot reach consensus today, the decision risks instead running to a showdown of all 27 European Commissioners, as early as next Wednesday.

“It would be extraordinary if DG MARE, the very department tasked with protecting this iconic species, sought to block a CITES listing to ban trade in this endangered animal,” said Tony Long. “How could any of us have faith that the Commission is serious in wanting to end the catastrophic policy failures in the existing Common Fisheries Policy?”

Listing Atlantic bluefin tuna on CITES Appendix I would be a real chance for the species to recover from decades of massive overfishing and overexploitation, plagued by illegal takes and disregard for scientific advice.

Once bluefin tuna shows signs of recovery, WWF hopes to see a sustainably managed, thriving fishery in the EU and around the Mediterranean again in the years to come.

Spelman calls on Labour to come clean over £300 million incompetence fines

Important regeneration and business projects face cuts to funding due to Government incompetence and financial irregularities, it was revealed today.

Hidden in the small print of the Department for Communities & Local Government’s accounts was the revelation that Labour Ministers are preparing for a record £285 million of financial penalties from the European Union, on top of £40 million of fines already paid out to date.

The fines are for financial irregularities in handling regeneration and business programmes funded by the European Commission’s European Regional Development Fund.

The administrative incompetence includes failure to follow procurement rules and lack of supporting documentation to account for expenditure. This has led to the EU auditors issuing fines to effectively claw the money back.

Caroline Spelman, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, warned, "Having to pay out almost £300 million in fines will mean more cuts to regeneration and business support when firms are struggling and the public coffers are empty.”

And she stressed, "Rather than trying to bury this scandal in the small print of financial accounts, Labour Ministers need to come clean and make a public full statement on this sorry tale of incompetence."

Flag this message UKIP on Glenys Kinnock appointment

On the appointment of Glenys Kinnock as Minister for Europe.

"This appointment of Glenys Kinnock as Minister for Europe is totally inappropriate" said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader. " The political and financial loyalties of the Kinnock family are to the European Union and not to Britain."

Lord Stoddart of Swindon Says VOTE UKIP

Lord Stoddart of Swindon, the Independent Labour Peer and former Labour MP for Swindon, who usually spurns European Parliamentary elections, has decided to use his vote on 4th June for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and has encouraged other Labour voters to do the same.

In a statement confirming his voting intention Lord Stoddart said: “I am appalled at the refusal of the Government to tell the public the truth about the extent to which the United Kingdom is now governed by the European Union and that vital decisions affecting our interests are being taken by a gaggle of twenty six other nations, whose interests are often inimical to those of Britain.

“The only way to save our country from complete absorption into a single centralised European state is to leave the EU and, since not one of the major political parties supports this policy, UKIP is the only realistic alternative.

“Those Labour voters who value democracy and self-government can, by voting UKIP on 4th June, send a clear message to their own and the other traditional parties that the hand-over of powers has to stop and be reversed.”

The EU's latest attempts to close down The City

"The latest proposals out of Brussels on financial regulation are just another power grab." said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader.

"The entire European Union system is paralysed by the fear that someone, somewhere, might be going unregulated, doing something, anything, without their permission.

"They're also refusing to let a good crisis go to waste. The Commissions' proposals centre on regulating hedge funds and private equity: neither of which has had anything at all to do with the current problems. And just for good measure they've thrown in some financial protectionism.

Only funds which are domiciled in Europe can be sold in Europe, that's just to make sure that you can't invest your money with anyone the Commissars disapprove of.

"The entire set of proposals reek of an attempt to close down The City. Not for any rational or logical reason but simply because the bureaucrats in the Commission simply do not understand markets."

David Cameron accuses Gordon Brown of chopping and changing on the promised referendum on the EU Constitution.

The accusation is here:

“First he was against the Constitution, then he was for it; one day he promised a referendum, the next he backtracked. While he has chopped and changed, our position has remained exactly the same."

The first part is true, that Brown has indeed chopped and changed. The second is not, for the Tory Party and David Cameron have done the same thing.

From the 2005 Tory Manifesto:

"We oppose the EU Constitution and would give the British people the chance to reject its provisions in a referendum within 6 months of the General Election."

Cameron's current position is that:

"David promised that if the Constitution was not in force at the time of the General Election, a Conservative Government would hold a referendum on it, urge a no vote, and reverse Britain’s ratification if successful."

That is a change of position, that is chopping and changing.

"It's a classic political manouvre to accuse your opponent of what you yourself are doing" said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader. "This is just what Cameron has done. The last Conservative manifesto promised a referendum, no ifs or buts, just like the Labour one did. Now it's been weakened to only if no one else minds very much.

"Only one of the major political parties at these euro-elections has not chopped and changed over this EU Constitution and that's us in UKIP. Regardless of what other people or other countries do we call for, now as then, a referendum in which the British people can decide for themselves. We know that the majority do not want more integration, more handing away of our freedoms and it's about time they were allowed to stand up and say so."

Recession costs dwarfed by cost of EU membership

The cost of the recession is dwarfed by the total cost of Britain’s membership of the European Union, UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said today.

Mr Farage said that there was a general consensus among studies examining the cost of EU membership, including regulatory costs, that the true figure amounted to over £133 bn per year for the UK, equivalent to 7.1% of GDP based on figures announced this morning.

In comparison, government borrowing over the past 12 months to ease the current recession currently stands at £ 90bn, or just under 5% of GDP.

Mr Farage said that while these costs were scandalous and amounted to a sum sufficient to build over 1,300 new, fully equipped hospitals every year in the UK, they also wasted a huge opportunity.

A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that a removal of the EU’s regulatory burden from the UK would produce a boost of between 10 and 12% of GDP to the UK economy, potentially reversing the effects of the credit crunch.

Mr Farage said, “It is quite clear from these figures that the government is caught in a trap of its own making.

“Reducing the regulatory burden on the UK economy would accelerate the UK’s recovery from the current recession, and yet the government’s hands are tied by its EU membership.

“If you asked pretty much anyone outside of our parliament at Westminster whether they’d prefer new hospitals or more regulation, it’s pretty clear which they’d choose.”

Barack Obama called for Turkey to be granted entry into the European Union.

"Barack Obama should remember that while he's been elected President he's been elected President of the United States only." said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader.

"This doesn't mean he has the power to decide which country enters, or does not enter, the European Union. So his remarks yesterday that Turkey should be allowed in were the grossest cheek.

"It would of course be a disaster. Just as when it was decided that any Eastern European who wanted to could come to the UK we were swamped by a million or more of them, allowing another 80 million poor people the same access would lead to another wave, one that might well sink us.

"Incredibly, the other three main parties, everyone apart from UKIP, supports this near insane idea of Turkish entry.

"My advice to President Obama is that he concentrates on the problems of the country he was elected to lead and leave us to decide our own futures."

Stuart Wheeler has announced a £100,000 donation to the UK Independence Party.

Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, said " I'm thrilled that Stuart Wheeler has decided to support our vital campaign. The decision of who rules Britain is vastly more important than any traditional tribal loyalty."

Mr. Wheeler said: "The public know that the EU is incompetent, ineffective, hidebound and riven with fraud but the current political class in Westminster don't want to talk about it. I believe that millions of people want a say on the matter, and by voting UKIP they can be heard."

Ken Clarke says that increasing the inheritance tax threshold is "an aspiration", rowing back from previous party committments.

"We´re seeing the same old Tory behaviour once again" said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader. "They announce some sensible policy, like raising the inheritance tax threshold, and see their support jump. More than 11% in the polls that one got them. Then a few months or years later they row back on that promise.

"Now it´s only an aspiration as Ken Clarke told us instead of a firm promise. It´s typical, they tell us what they think we want to hear and then renege as soon as is indecently possible. With this sort of inability to keep their word, how and why could anyone trust them when they talk about the European Union?

"Whether those promises of "in Europe but not run by Europe" are promises that they won´t keep or that they can´t keep is irrelevant: what´s obvious is that they are promises that they won´t keep. Which of course is why so many Conservatives are going to be lending their votes to us in UKIP for we do keep our promises. As indeed we will do with our committment to abolishing inheritance tax altogether."