Wednesday 20 December 2017

How is the EU's row with Poland a problem for Britain?

I gave the Telegraph a miss yesterday. I just couldn't be arsed. Today I managed to reach page 4, only to be confronted by the headline "May caught in the middle of Poland-EU row". I read the item by Peter Foster, the paper's Europe Editor, once - and, unable to make the slightest sense of it, read it once more. That didn't help. Here are the first three paragraphs of the online version:
"Theresa May is facing calls from the European Parliament’s Brexit chief to condemn Poland’s autocratic government as a “test” of the UK’s commitment to the EU’s liberal, democratic values and the future relationship with Europe...



...The demand came as the European Commission meets on Wednesday to discuss whether to launch unprecedented “Article 7” legal proceedings against Poland's hardline conservative government for violating the EU’s commitment to democracy and human rights.
The threat to make Poland a pariah in the EU family comes at a highly embarrassing moment for Mrs May who is due to visit Warsaw on Thursday as part of a massive diplomatic charm offensive that has been launched by Britain towards Poland since Brexit."
One of Britain's leading European enemies, Guy Verhofstadt - some Belgian - told the Telegraph that Mrs. May's visit is "an important first test of the UK's pledge to defend European liberal democratic values..."

European liberal democratic values? You puffed-up, self-righteous, gap-toothed wanker, with your silly floppy hair-do and your trendy specs - your precious "European liberal democratic values" wouldn't exist if it weren't for Britain and America.

Later in the article, Peter Foster tells us that, if Article 7 is triggered, "Britain would face the first acid test of its loyalties in a vote in the European Council..." Loyalty to whom? To what? A gang of arrogant, fascistic, protection-racket bullies to which the British people have clearly indicated they no longer wish to belong? Loyalty to an organisation which has failed just about every "acid test" of its commitment to the democratic rights of member states, which has thrown several member states to the economic wolves to preserve its unworkable single currency, and which has willingly abetted an invasion of its territory by a vast army of Third World economic migrants?

No matter what the Polish government is up to, it makes no sense whatsoever for Mrs. May - the democratically-elected leader of a country which has been subjected to a non-stop barrage of lies and threats from the EU for the past 18 months - to join its anti-democratic socialist thugs by bullying  another member state which has displeased it. The last time a keen proponent of European political and economic integration decided to give Poland a kicking, Britain didn't join in - it went to war on Poland's behalf. I don't suggest Mrs. May goes that far this time - but telling Guy Verhofstadt to fuck right off would be a great start.

18 comments:

  1. Germany is breaking EU rules

    As every fule kno: "A current account deficit larger than 4% of GDP or a persistently very large surplus above 6% are among the warning signs in the Commission's scoreboard of around 30 economic indicators".

    "Germany has had a current account surplus in excess of 6% of its gross domestic product since 2007". So we were told in 2013.

    Since then it's been more like 8%.

    How long before we read: "Theresa May is facing calls from the European Parliament’s Euro chief to condemn Germany’s autocratic government as a 'test' of the UK’s commitment to the EU’s liberal, democratic values and the future relationship with Europe"?

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  2. " Britain didn't join in - it went to war on Poland's behalf."

    Indeed.

    Then Britain and France stood aside and watched and dithered while Poland succumbed to the dual invasion of Germany and Russia [the German rear flank was wide open and the French had a huge, modern army].

    Then Poland repaid her "debt" by making an invaluable contribution in "The Battle of Britain" [probably shading it in our favour] and fought gallantly alongside the British Army in Norway, North Africa, Italy [they took Monte Cassino],Normandy [Falaise Gap] and Holland [Arnhem]. The other country that supported us and fought for the duration of WW2 was Canada [as they did in WW1].

    The behaviour of the current loud-mouthed French, Belgians and Luxembourgers or whoever left a lot to be desired at the time.

    And then Churchill and later Atlee bushwacked them at Yalta and stuck the knife in at Potsdam and ratted them out to the Reds. We should not forget our real friends and what we owe them historically and please don't give me Palmerston's tired quote about British interests.

    This is probably all new to Mrs May as she and Phil plan their next run through the wheat fields. Hope she catches Lyme's Disease....

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  3. All my life I have been aware of what we owe Poland, and have recently been sorry to see that in parts of this country their presence has been resented. Theresa should certainly back Poland - but Lyme's Disease, SDG? Oh dear!

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    1. Helen, I accept your admonishment. Cheap shot. Forgive?

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    2. Helen, I'm sorry, I don't quite follow what you mean, "All my life I've been aware of what we owe Poland..."
      I'm not trying to start an argument, but what just do you think we owe Poland?

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    3. When I was a child, we moved from London to Hemel Hempstead to escape the Blitz. My aunt, who at that time was working as a billeting officer, got to know of Polish airmen who were in the area. Also a family friend's partner, not an airman but a mathematician, who I only knew as Henrik, was in fact Henrik Zigalsky who helped set up Bletchley Park. So I have always had it in my mind that the Poles were a great help to us during the war.
      Does this answer your question? I can only give a personal viewpoint.

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    4. When you betray an ally you then owe them something. You are obviously part of the British brigade who think they won WW2 on their own.

      What do we owe Poland? Read my comment above.

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    5. No, you completely misunderstand and it's just silly to resort to insults like "part of the British brigade..." I'm well aware of the enormous sacrifice and contribution many Poles made during WW2. But don't forget the prime reason Britain became involved in the war to begin with was because Poland had been invaded. Of course there can be no doubt that eventually we'd have become embroiled, but still...And as for "selling them out to the Reds..." Please, that's pathetic. Our nation had given everything. There was no way we could possibly take on Russia,particularly as they had been a major ally, after what our people had been through. It's very easy to take the high moral ground 70 odd years after the events.

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  4. A courageous and resilient people.
    Poland's history is without a doubt fascinating.
    The unelected EU elite are aiming to pick off the Visegrad countries plus Austria one by one.

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  5. As with many things that the EU and Parliament get up to, the stance towards the UK and Poland is largely tactical. The policies of the present governments of Poland and Hungary do not in the Commission's and EU grandees' view conform sufficiently to European values, as your quote from Verhofstadt illustrates. The implicit threat is that they will be watching to see whether the UK conforms to the EU orthodoxy as required by the EU solidarity clause - the duty of sincere cooperation - or supports the right of its long-standing allies to determine their own policies. In the event of the latter, the implication is that the UK can expect less favourable treatment round the Brexit negotiating table. So essentially it's a threat to know our place and do as we're told..

    A couple of other points. You shouldn't be too hard on Verhofstadt. As the years go by, there is less and less call on the celebrity impersonation circuit for a David Mellor look-a-like and since ceasing to be PM of plucky little Belgium, he struggles to fill his days with meaningful activity. And, joking apart, SDG, you wouldn't wish the awfulness of Lyme disease on anyone.

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    1. In 1177 Frederick Barbarossa prostrated himself in front of Pope Alexander III to avoid excommunication. See the drawing by Federico Zuccaro [1585].

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    2. SDG, that's enough sackcloth and ashes for now!

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  6. Britain went to war on behalf of Poland's Government.

    That Government was a military Junta.

    Democracy did not enter the equation.

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  7. . . and don't forget, it was the Poles who made the first crack in the Enigma code.

    Don't expect May to go against a (political) lifetime of stupidity, cupidity and downright mendacity: she'll vote with the EU bureaucrats against Poland.

    Umbongo

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    1. I don't want to appear awkward, but it was the Americans who cracked the Enigma code. My source is the film "U-571" [2000] where Matthew McConaughey gains entry to a German sub mid-Atlantic and removes the machine and American code-breakers do the rest. This event took place apparently one year before the Americans entered the war.

      Historical inaccuracies are beginning to creep into the comments section of your otherwise excellent blog.

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    2. Quite right, SDG! It's surely time we accepted that our knowledge of our history is completely wrong, and we must rely on The USA to put us right - through the medium of films or whatever. As the Great Donald would say "Believe me". Or should that be "Me"?

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  8. Hard to believe but "Mr Juncker, 63, risks being caught up in a scandal that threatens his reputation at a critical time for the EU. Marco Mille, former director of the Luxembourg intelligence service, who is on trial for illegal phone-tapping, said: 'The falsification of evidence and the deliberate deception of parliament, the judiciary and, ultimately, the public are an unbearable attack on the rule of law' ..."

    How long before we read: "Theresa May is facing calls from the European Parliament to condemn the European Commission’s autocratic government as a 'test' of the UK’s commitment to the EU’s liberal, democratic values and the future relationship with Europe"?

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  9. To SDG: Of course - and a Happy Christmas to all!

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