eurealist.co.uk

With today’s worldwide information technologies is this sort of thing really necessary?

A delegation from the European Parliament arrived in the Maldives last night to observe the rebuilding efforts after the Tsunami and the constitutional reform process currently underway.
The delegation was welcomed at the Male’ International Airport by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hussain Shihab and the Secretary General of the People’s Majlis Mohamed Nasheed.

The six member delegation today met the Attorney General Dr. Hassan Saeed and the Chief Government Spokesman Dr. Ahmed Shaheedh. During this meeting a presentation was made on the Maldivian reform agenda and the work being carried out to reform the constitution.
The delegation also visited the National Disaster Management Center and met some cabinet ministers and viewed a presentation on the work being carried out to rebuild the country after the Tsunami disaster.

Telegraph | Opinion: “Cattle trail

Because of EU regulations, a cow can be tracked from its birth to the day it ends up on your dinner table. However, the Government cannot trace the numerous asylum-seekers and illegal immigrants it has let in.

The UK Independence Party has studied this matter and now has a new policy in its manifesto. Instead of the current practice of giving every asylum-seeker a human rights lawyer (paid for by you and me), they will be given a cow.

Grham Cannon, UKIP Parliamentary candidate, Colne, Lancashire”

A good article in the Times by Michael Portillo

Comment: Michael Portillo: The escape door’s open, but Blair stays on as EU hostage - Sunday Times - Times Online

The integrationists want a constitution, president and foreign minister because those are the attributes of a nation state. The treaty does not bring about a United States of Europe, but it seeks to accustom us to the terminology and institutions of a country called Europe. It lays the ground for further integration that will doubtless be proposed if the constitution is ratified.

There is no evidence that the British people want to travel towards constructing a country of Europe. The government recognises that. It denies that we are heading there. But why then have a constitution, president and foreign minister? The main reason to vote no is that the EU has proposed no way of making its institutions democratic. That a democratic deficit exists is common ground between integrationists and their opponents. Little is being done to address it. There is no proposal to elect the European commission (which provides appointments for those, like Peter Mandelson, who have failed in national democratic politics).

Our experiences with the European parliament are not encouraging. We vote not for candidates but for parties. Those elected are chosen by the parties, not the people. Voters have little sense of choosing between competing policies in Europe. Elections are held at the same time in every country, but they are really 25 national elections.

Those problems are not easily wished away. Europe lacks a Europe-wide political consciousness. We Europeans do not have the Americans’ sense of nationhood. We have not defined what political values we share. Yes, we are all broadly supportive of liberty and democracy, but a Frenchman and a Briton have fundamentally different views about the power of the state and the citizen’s defences against it.