Home » Posts tagged 'britain' (Page 8)

Tag Archives: britain

Yesterday we said that in the historic fallout and unprecedented confusion over Brexit, so far only one sure winner has emerged – namely Russia, where Vladimir Putin is watching the slow-motion collapse of this latest artifical aggregation of Europen states (a quick search of failed attempts at European integration results in tens of pages of results) with great interest and willingness to pounce at any opportunity – even as all of Europe is a loser, and nobody more so than Germany, whose chancellor Merkel is now watching her legacy go down in flames as first the UK, then France (National Front), Italy (Five Star Movement), Denmark (Danish People’s Party), and Holland (Freedom Party) have all called for either a EU referendum of their own or a renegotiation of their country’s EU membership.

As would be expected, the more worried and desperate Germany gets, the more ridiculous things Germany is apt to say. Case in point is what German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said earlier today, when he tried to reassure onlookers that the EU would weather the shock of the British vote to leave the union as he convened crisis talks.

Well, one small nuance: Steinmeier wasn’t focusing on the EU, he was far more concerned about Germany and how the one nation that has benefited more than anyone one else from the customers union and the common currency is struggling to keep up appearance that asll is well.

As Steinmeier was heading into a Berlin meeting with his counterparts from the EU’s six founding members, he said the following: “I am confident that these countries can also send a message that we won’t let anyone take Europe from us.”

Or else? Because while “us” was meant to refer to the EU, he really meant Germany.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

British Exit From EU Not Inevitable, Despite Referendum

June 25, 2016

British Exit From EU Not Inevitable, Despite Referendum

IN THE FIRST HOURS after the British public voted to exit the European Union, amid all sorts of triumphal statements and recriminations, one declaration was notably absent: the formal notification to the EU that the United Kingdom intends to leave the organization, which is required to start the clock on negotiations for a departure.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the failed campaign to convince voters to stay in the EU, told the public that an exit would not happen soon, as he intended to resign in three months and leave it to his successor to decide “when to trigger Article 50″ of the union’s basic agreement, the Lisbon Treaty, which says that a member state has two years after declaring its desire to leave to negotiate the terms of its exit.

David Allen Green @DavidAllenGreen

Has Article 50 been invoked yet?http://hasarticle50beeninvoked.uk/

1:53 PM – 24 Jun 2016

Speaking to the press a short time later, the man considered most likely to be prime minister in October, Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, also seemed in no hurry to get the process started.

“In voting to leave the EU, it is vital to stress that there is no need for haste,” Johnson said, “and indeed, as the prime minister has just said, nothing will change over the short term, except that work will have to begin on how to give effect to the will of the people and to extricate this country from the supranational system.”

Given that the popular mandate his side had just won was summed up in a single word on the backdrop behind him, “Leave,” it seemed odd that Johnson made no mention of the fastest way to get that process started, by pressing for an immediate Article 50 declaration.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Despite the Vote, the Odds Are Against Britain Leaving the EU

June 25, 2016

Despite the Vote, the Odds Are Against Britain Leaving the EU

The Brexit vote shows that a majority of the British voters understand that the UK government represents interests other than the interests of the British people. As difficult as the British know it is to hold their own government to account, they understand they have no prospect whatsoever of holding the EU government to account. During their time under the EU, the British have been reminded of historical times when law was the word of the sovereign.

The propagandists who comprise the Western political and media establishments succeeded in keeping the real issues out of public discussion and presenting the leave vote as racism. However, enough of the British people resisted the brainwashing and controlled debate to grasp the real issues: sovereignty, accountable government, financial independence, freedom from involvement in Washington’s wars and conflict with Russia.

The British people should not be so naive as to think that their vote settles the matter. The fight has only begun. Expect:

— The British government to come back to the people and say, look, the EU has given us a better deal. We can now afford to stay in.

— The Fed, ECB, BOJ, and NY hedge funds to pound the pound and to short British stocks in order to convince the British voters that their vote is sinking the economy.

— More emphasis on the vote’s weakening of Europe, leaving all to the mercy of “Russian aggression.”

— Hard to resist bribes (and threats) to prominent members of the leave majority and pressure on such leave leaders as Boris Johnson to be reasonable, concillatory and to maintain good relations with Washington and Europe, and to reach a compromise on remaining in the EU.

— Expect the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to attribute the loss of British jobs and investment opportunities to the leave vote.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Contagion Begins

June 25, 2016

The Contagion Begins

Brussels will try to now punish Britain as they punished the Greeks for daring to vote against them. Our sources are already saying the attitude behind the curtain is turning nasty as in how dare those “limies” vote to leave. The derogatory remains off camera are telling. Brussels will try to be hard on the Brits because there are already movements to enter referendums to leave the EU surfacing in the Netherlands, France and the Northern League in Italy. Indeed, the Brits just slapped the face of those elitists in Brussels who refuse to see they are ever wrong. It is always everyone else’ fault. The entire EU project has gone way too far. It is no longer about trade – it is an autocratic anti-democratic establishment hell bent on federalizing Europe.

The consequences of leaving the party

June 25, 2016

The consequences of leaving the party

The collective decision of the British electorate is to reject the recommendation of its government, excepting those of its few dissenting ministers, that Britain should remain in Europe.

It is a signal failure of government policy. Above all, it is a failure that undermines the state’s control over ordinary people. Time will tell whether it is just a temporary setback for the world’s economic planners, or the removal of a keystone supporting the whole structure of modern statism.

There are, therefore, two aspects of this development that must be considered, domestic UK politics and the international economic and political consequences.

There can be little doubt that David Cameron and George Osborne the Chancellor are now only caretakers, with the duty of managing a planned withdrawal from Europe until their replacement as executive politicians. The withdrawal will be a lengthy process, which over the next two years at least, will lead to the final, official separation. It is possible there will be attempts by the European elite in Frankfurt and Paris, to come up with proposals to keep Britain in the EU club and to force a second referendum. Any such attempt will fail, because it cannot even be entertained by a caretaker Prime Minister.

David Cameron’s days as Prime Minister are numbered and he now has no real authority. The Conservatives will have to elect a new leader, and the bookies’ favourite is almost certain to be Boris Johnson. He is likely to be elected by the Conservative Party by the end of this year.

Britain’s future will therefore be subject to the policies of a Boris-led government, which it has to be admitted, will have obtained power basically through the failure of the Remain camp to come up with a convincing argument. It was arguably Remain that lost, and not Leave that won.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Black Friday: Shocking Brexit Vote Result Causes The 9th Largest Stock Market Crash In U.S. History

June 25, 2016

Black Friday: Shocking Brexit Vote Result Causes The 9th Largest Stock Market Crash In U.S. History

Has the next Lehman Brothers moment arrived? Late Thursday night we learned that the British people had voted to leave the European Union, and this could be the “trigger event” that unleashes great financial panic all over the planet. Of course stocks have already been crashing all over the globe over the past year, but up until now we had not seen the kind of stark fear that the crash of 2008 created following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The British people are certainly to be congratulated for choosing to leave the tyrannical EU, and if I could have voted I would have voted to “leave” as well. But just as I warned 10 days ago, choosing to leave will “throw the entire continent into a state of economic and financial chaos”. And “Black Friday” was just the beginning – the pain from this event is going to continue to be felt for months to come.

The shocking outcome of the Brexit vote caught financial markets completely off guard, and the carnage that we witnessed on Friday was absolutely staggering…

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 610 points, and this represented the 9th largest one day stock market crash in the history of the Dow.

-The Nasdaq was hit even harder than the Dow. It declined 4.12 percent which was the biggest one day decline since 2011.

-Overall, Black Friday erased approximately 800 billion dollars of stock market wealth in the United States.

-Thursday was the worst day ever for the British pound, and investors were stunned to see it collapse to a 31 year low.

-Friday was the worst day ever for European banking stocks.

-Friday was the worst day for Italian stocks since 1997.

-Friday was the worst day for Spanish stocks since 1987.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Murder, Lifeboats, an Iceberg and an Orchestra

June 20, 2016

Murder, Lifeboats, an Iceberg and an Orchestra

DPC White Star liner S.S. Olympic, sister ship of Titanic, NY 1911The reason the Brexit debate has gotten so out of hand is nobody understands what it’s about.

The Brexit campaigns have started anew in the UK, and from what I’ve seen here from left field barely a thing has changed since the murder of MP Jo Cox. Neither side has any qualms about using her death to make their respective points. The main, and perhaps only real, point is that nobody understands what the vote is about. Jo Cox, bless her soul, didn’t either.

This lack of understanding is also, at the same time, the reason why the debate has gotten so out of hand. Nobody seems to understand it’s not about Cameron or Nigel Farage, or Michael Gove vs Boris Johnson, it’s about voting for or against the EU, for or against Juncker and Tusk and five other unelected presidents having a say in one’s life.

And that’s not all either. It’s about voting to leave, or remain in, a Union that is already dead and preserved only in a zombie state. Brexit is just one vote and many more will inevitably follow. Brexit is not the first, Grexit had that ‘honor’ last year. Later this month, elections in Italy and Spain have the potential to turn into preliminary Italix and Spexit votes. And then there will be more.

The reason why these things are taking place, and will be, going forward, is that the economies of all these countries are fast deteriorating. The sole reason why people have accepted the rule of Brussels coming from far away over their daily lives, is the promise that it would make those lives better and more comfortable.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

“The Specter of a Break-up Is Haunting Europe”

June 5, 2016

“The Specter of a Break-up Is Haunting Europe”

Internal Strife and Divisions Blossom in Euro Land.

Since the Eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis began, in 2010, Europe’s leaders have faced a Herculean task: keeping the rickety European edifice intact. Now, five years later, there are much more ominous signs of wear and tear. Everyone is focused on the dire threat posed by a vote later this month for British exit from the Union, but Brexit is just one of a dizzying constellation of threats and challenges the EU faces.

The sovereign debt of many nations on the EU periphery has reached wholly unsustainable levels. Some of the continent’s biggest banks look increasingly shaky. And core nations are witnessing an intensifying public backlash against further bailouts and the EU’s mishandling of the immigration crisis.

Things have gotten so bad that even the staunchest of eurocrats are beginning to express doubts. Many people have lost trust in “entire institutions, whether national or European,” lamented European Parliament Chief Martin Schulz. He warned over a possible “implosion of the EU” due to the blossoming Euroskeptic movements in member states.

Now, the eurocrats are not just falling into despondency and despair, they’re beginning to turn on each other.

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker tried to convince a hall packed with French mayors of the need for austerity à la carte in France. The linchpin of his argument was that France has been allowed by the Commission to repeatedly break Eurozone fiscal rules, not just due to its size and influence over EU policy but also its “reflexes, its internal reactions, its multiple facets” — an oblique reference to the tendency of its workers to bring the national economy to a halt whenever the government introduces measures that are not to their liking, as is happening right now.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Mafia Expert Calls Great Britain the “Most Corrupt Place on Earth”

June 4, 2016

Mafia Expert Calls Great Britain the “Most Corrupt Place on Earth”

The City is a semi-offshore state, a bit like the UK’s crown dependencies and overseas territories, tax havens legitimized by the Privy Council. Britain’s financial secrecy undermines the tax base while providing a conduit into the legal economy for gangsters, kleptocrats and drug barons.

Even the more orthodox financial institutions deploy a succession of scandalous practices: pension mis-selling, endowment mortgage fraud, the payment protection insurance con, Libor rigging. A former minister in the last government, Lord Green, ran HSBC while it engaged in money laundering for drug gangs, systematic tax evasion and the provision of services to Saudi and Bangladeshi banks linked to the financing of terrorists. Sometimes the UK looks to me like an ever so civilised mafia state.

– From last year’s post: Guardian Op-Ed – The City of London Has Turned Britain Into a “Civilized Mafia State”

This shouldn’t come as any surprise to Liberty Blitzkrieg readers, but it’s a provocative statement nonetheless.

From The Independent:

Britain is the most corrupt country in the world, according to journalist Roberto Saviano, who spent more than a decade exposing the criminal dealings of the Italian Mafia.

Mr Saviano, who wrote the best-selling exposés Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, made the comments at the Hay Literary Festival. The 36-year-old has been living under police protection since publishing revelations about members of the Camorra, a powerful Neapolitan branch of the mafia, in 2006.

He told an audience at Hay-on-Wye: “If I asked you what is the most corrupt place on Earth you might tell me well it’s Afghanistan, maybe Greece, Nigeria, the South of Italy and I will tell you it’s the UK.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US Assaults British Sovereignty

April 21, 2016

US Assaults British Sovereignty

The Washington elite believe that the British people should serve Washington’s interest and not their own. To this end, President Obama has been sent to London to emphasize that the UK must remain in the EU.

Does this make you wonder why it is important to Washington for the British people to surrender their national sovereignty to the European Union? If not, it should.

It is easier and less expensive for Washington to control the EU government than to control 28 seperate governments. For example, if Washington wants to open up Europe to Monsanto, it is easier for Washington to bribe one EU government than to deal with 28 governments, especially as the European Commission is not accountable to the European people, whereas the individual populations of the countries would make their objections known to the national governments. The EU can open the door to Monsanto without accountability.

If you think the US government has too much integrity and righteousness to force the EU to serve
Europeans and not Monsanto, read this: http://www.globalresearch.ca/gmos-produced-through-gene-editing-european-commission-fails-to-regulate-new-gmos-after-intense-us-lobbying/5521139

Then there is the NATO consideration. NATO is cover for Washington’s war crimes. Without this cover there likely would be arrest warrants for US officials and, if not, certainly much hostile publicity. The notion that Washington is bringing “freedom and democracy” when it destroys a country would no longer fly.

If the UK leaves the EU, other countries are likely to follow. The desertion could spread to NATO, in which case Washington’s hegemony over Europe and ability to threaten and destabilize Russia disappear. The neoconservatives cannot stand the thought.

Just as have the Americans and Europeans, the British have been lied to, deceived, and brainwashed for so long that it is surprising that such a large part of the population and political element are in favor of the UK leaving the EU.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Parliamentary group warns that global fossil fuels could peak in less than 10 years

April 20, 2016

Parliamentary group warns that global fossil fuels could peak in less than 10 years

British MPs launch landmark report on impending environmental ‘limits’ to economic growth

A report commissioned on behalf of a cross-party group of British MPs authored by a former UK government advisor, the first of its kind, says that industrial civilisation is currently on track to experience “an eventual collapse of production and living standards” in the next few decades if business-as-usual continues.

The report published by the new All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Limits to Growth, which launched in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, reviews the scientific merits of a controversial 1972 model by a team of MIT scientists, which forecasted a possible collapse of civilisation due to resource depletion.

The report launch at the House of Commons was addressed by Anders Wijkman, co-chair of the Club of Rome, which originally commissioned the MIT study.

At the time, the MIT team’s findings had been widely criticised in the media for being alarmist. To this day, it is often believed that the ‘limits to growth’ forecasts were dramatically wrong.

But the new report by the APPG on Limits to Growth, whose members consist of Conservative, Labour, Green and Scottish National Party members of parliament, reviews the scientific literature and finds that the original model remains surprisingly robust.

Authored by Professor Tim Jackson of the University of Surrey, who was Economics Commissioner on the UK government’s Sustainable Development Commission, and former Carbon Brief policy analyst Robin Webster, the report concludes that:

“There is unsettling evidence that society is tracking the ‘standard run’ of the original study — which leads ultimately to collapse. Detailed and recent analyses suggest that production peaks for some key resources may only be decades away.”

The 1972 team used their system dynamics model of the consumption of key planetary resources to explore a range of different scenarios.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Brexit Alarm

April 12, 2016

The Brexit Alarm

BERKELEY – I have no special expertise on the question of whether Britain should leave (or “Brexit”) the European Union. True, I did live in the United Kingdom until a bit less than a year ago. And here in California, we have our own Brexit-like debate, with a movement to place a proposal to secede from the United States on the November ballot. But while the idea of California independence might seem comical, the Brexit referendum on June 23 is no laughing matter.

Most obviously, Brexit would damage Britain’s export competitiveness. To be sure, ties with the EU would not be severed immediately, and the UK government would have a couple of years to negotiate a trade agreement with the European Single Market, which accounts for nearly half of British exports. The authorities could cut a bilateral deal like Switzerland’s, which guarantees access to the Single Market for specific industries and sectors. Or they could follow Norway’s example and access the Single Market through membership in the European Free Trade Association.

But Britain needs the EU market more than the EU needs Britain’s, so the bargaining would be asymmetric. And EU officials would most likely drive a hard bargain indeed, in order to deter other countries from contemplating exits of their own. The UK would have to accept EU product standards and regulations lock, stock and barrel, with no say in their design – and would be in a far weaker position when negotiating market-access agreements with non-EU partners like China.

In addition, Brexit would undermine London’s position as Europe’s financial center. It is quite extraordinary that the principal center for euro-denominated financial transactions is outside the eurozone. This attests to the strength of EU regulations prohibiting discrimination within the Single Market. But in a post-Brexit world, Frankfurt and Paris would no longer be prevented from imposing measures that favored their banks and exchanges over London’s.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Cameron Unleashes ‘Project Fear’ – UK Military Leaders Warn Against Brexit Threat To National Security

February 21, 2016

Cameron Unleashes ‘Project Fear’ – UK Military Leaders Warn Against Brexit Threat To National Security

Just as the government did in the lead up to The Scottish Referendum in 2014, it appears David Cameron is already unleashing resorting to the so-called Project Fear. As The Telegraph reports, following Boris Johnson’s lack of acquiescence to Cameron’s call for no Brexit, more than a dozen of the country’s most senior military leaders will argue that Britain should vote to stay in the European Union because of its importance to national security.

The Daily Telegraph understands that Downing Street is organising a letter stating the importance of the EU to Britain’s national security to combat the growing threat of Isil and increasing Russian aggression.

Those likely to sign the letter include Admiral Lord Boyce, General Lord Stirrup and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, three former Chiefs of the Defence Staff, and General Sir Peter Wall, a former Chief of General Staff.

Lord Stirrup told The Daily Telegraph: “I don’t carry a torch for the European Union at all but one has to look at the realistic alternative not just the World as we wish it to be. In light of the current threats like Isil, Russia and other threats that might emerge you have to think about how we secure our society.”

Lord Bramall said: “I have always felt that a strong Europe in political terms is infinitely stronger if it has Britain inside it.

“If Britain left it would be a much weaker Europe and therefore it would affect the whole balance of power and equilibrium in the Western World.

“That affects not just security, but the political side. The negotiations. It is important to have a match for the various power blocs – China, Russia – it’s complementary to Nato. I am sure America would very much want us to be in.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

UK’s European Future In Jeopardy: London Mayor Boris Johnson Will Campaign For Brexit

February 21, 2016

UK’s European Future In Jeopardy: London Mayor Boris Johnson Will Campaign For Brexit

Yesterday, when we summarized the statements by UK politicians regarding the June 23 EU referendum, we said the one most important opinion has yet to come: that of London mayor Boris Johnson’s whose “opinion may sway the vote one way or another in four months. As the Telegraph reproted that “David Cameron is mounting a last-ditch effort to woo Boris Johnson to back his campaign to stay in the European Union, by drawing up plans for a new constitutional settlement that puts the sovereignty of British institutions beyond doubt.”

As the Telegraph added, “sources close to Johnson said he remained “genuinely torn” and that he would “chew over” what the prime minister has to say when Cameron appears on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, before issuing some form of statement this evening. He will then spell out the reasons for his decision in his column for the Daily Telegraph on Monday.”

It appears that Cameron’s effort to “woo” Johnson has failed because moments ago BBC reported that “Boris Johnson is to campaign to leave the EU in the UK’s referendum, BBC understands.”

The Guardian has more:

Boris Johnson is to transform the terms of the EU referendum by announcing that he is to throw his weight behind the campaign to take Britain out of the EU, according to the BBC.

In the biggest boost to the Leave campaign so far, the London mayor is to announce that after much soul-searching he now believes the time has come for Britain to sever its EU membership.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Despite UK Flooding, A Yorkshire Town Remains Dry

January 7, 2016

DESPITE UK FLOODING, A YORKSHIRE TOWN REMAINS DRY

Despite widespread flooding in North of Britain last week, Pickering, Yorkshires main flooding region, beat the weather and stayed dry. Notwithstanding, the town had been refused financial aid for a defense mechanism, so it tackled it with wringing success.

The town prevented the recurrent inundation by using what many will call an “old-fashioned”method.

On their own, the citizens worked with nature to control the floods.

The towns triumph should influence the decisions that were made by policy makers after last month’s floods which saw at least £5 billion channeled to flood control schemes elsewhere.

Success of the town is a mock to the people who believe that flood cannot be prevented in an environmental friendly manner. The people who subscribe to this school of thought fail to understand why the government fails to take into account all safety measures, and insist on dredging waterways, in order to order to protect fauna and flora.

Dredging is largely unsafe, pointless and environmentally unsafe. This is because scooping of silt and weed from the river bed causes water to flow faster increasing the danger of downstream flooding.

Pickering is situated at the bottom of a steep gorge draining of the North York moors, the residents of the town have been victims of perennial flooding. There have been 4 floods recorded since 1999-2007 causing damage of about £7 million. The solution mooted to the residents was to build a £20 million wall to keep water out of the river. This solution was however disadvantageous as it would reduce the attractiveness of the area hence reduce tourism. It was also found to be uneconomically viable as the costs would outweigh the benefits accrued; too few people would be protected by the wall.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Tag Archives: britain

Content

Post categories

Economic Links

Energy/Resource Links

Environmental Links

Geopolitical Links

Liberty Links

News Links

Other Links

Survival Skills

Post Archives by Category

Parliamentary group warns that global fossil fuels could peak in less than 10 years

Post navigation

Latest Posts