The right to say no

Above:  very interesting and perceptive article by Simon Heffer in today's Daily Mail.  I don't normally read the Daily Mail, but Agnes Poirier was so outraged by the newspaper on Dateline London earlier that I thought it would be worth buying.  Agnes Poirier cultivates a sort of pantomime-villain style of offensiveness (rather like a French female Jeremy Clarkson) and presumably the BBC includes her in various broadcasts because they knew her rudeness will get attention.

The symbolism of yesterday's veto of the European treaty continues to fascinate me.  Since its inception the EU has progressed inexorably towards "ever closer political union" with no-one brave enough to say no.  David Cameron's veto not only stopped that process dead, it has also made it a lot easier for other politicians, of all nationalities, to exercise the right to say no.

On the whole I do not think David Cameron was acting to "protect the City" (which as several commentators have pointed out was not at risk anyway).  I think the veto was ideological, and came from his convictions (which presumably is why Merkel and Sarkozy find it so inexplicable).  Coalition policy in any case is to reduce dependence on the City.

In another of its bizarre front page articles the New York Times today describes the United Kingdom as a "big loser" without actually saying what Britain is supposed to have lost.  Is it possible that the New York Times is being disingenuous in its coverage of the Eurozone negotiations?  Is it possible the New York Times wanted the United Kingdom fully integrated into the new treaty set up so that when the City of London was trashed a lot of the financial services would migrate to New York?

Interesting article in the New Statesman by Owen Jones looks at the veto from the perspective of the Left.

Reading the Daily Mail has been a revelation (for which I must thank Agnes Poirier).  Normally I don't pay any attention to accusations of "bias" in the BBC, but an article by Sam Greenhill in today's newspaper about pro-Euro reporting has made me wonder how many staff in the BBC have been on Common Purpose training courses?  A Freedom of Information request to see the details of the BBC's training expenditure would presumably reveal whether Common Purpose has an undue influence in the Corporation.