La Treizième Étoile: 07/03/10 - 14/03/10 Blog Archives
Cornish Flag An Tredhegves Steren - agas pennfenten a nowodhow dhyworth an Kesunyans Europek.
Icelanders resoundingly reject Icesave bill

Sunday, 7 March 2010
Voters in Iceland have resoundingly rejected a law to compensate the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for savings lost in the collapse of the country’s largest bank, Landsbanki, in the midst of the financial crisis in 2008.

An Icelander reads a referendum pamphlet in Reykjavik (Source: AP)Although only provisional results, 93% who voted in the referendum, the first held since 1944 when Iceland voted for its independence from Denmark, rejected the deal whereas less than 2% supported it.

When the bank collapsed, the British and Dutch paid out some £3.4 billion in compensation to those 400,000 savers who had lost money in the events, but they now want it back.

A referendum was called when Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson refused to sign the deal into law and yet while polls consistently showed that Icelandic people believed the debts should be repaid, they bitterly resented being stuck with a bill for the mistakes of a handful of bankers under the watch of foreign governments.

One voter explained to journalists why he voted no as a means to express his opinion that his neighbours should not cover the debts. “I feel that citizens should not pay for the financial mistakes of companies,” he said. Another described the result as a “token of the people's unhappiness with a flawed system.”

With a timid population of only 320,000 people on the island, each household has become effectively liable to pay Britain and the Netherlands something in the region of £8,500

Speaking to the BBC this morning Chancellor Alistair Darling told the Politics Show that the UK would get its money back, but not for many years.

"It's not a matter of whether the sum should be paid. There is no question we will get the money back but what I am prepared to do is to talk to Iceland about the terms and conditions of the repayment," he said.

“You couldn't just go to a small country like Iceland with a population the size of Wolverhampton and say: 'Look, repay all that money immediately.’”

Icelandic Foreign Minister Össur Skarphéðinsson said talks with the UK and the Netherlands would continue after the referendum, adding that the result was good for his government's position.

"It certainly doesn't weaken our hand," he said. Although with EU candidacy in the pipeline, finding a quick solution would prevent two of its members throwing a few less spanners in the accession process…


Posted by Andrew at 11:14.
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Outspoken Nigel Farage fined for his ‘wet rag’ and ‘non-country’ rant

Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Controversial MEP Nigel Farage has been fined 10 days' MEP allowances, almost €3000, for his verbal rant in the European Parliament chamber last Wednesday in which he said Herman van Rompuy, the newly chosen President of the European Council, had “as much charisma as a wet rag”, the appearance of a “second-rate bank clerk” and came from Belgium, “a non-country”.


The UKIP leader who serves as an MEP for the South-East, was summoned to Parliament President Jerzy Buzek’s office this morning to explain himself and hear the sanctions that would be imposed upon him following his comments, which could have seen him suspended from the chamber.

After the meeting, Mr Farage used his Twitter page to declare: "Sentence passed, letter from parliament. President: Maximum allowable fine 2,980 Euros. Free speech is expensive in Brussels." He has said he would appeal against the fine.

"I have been called a great many things in my time – that's politics," he later told the Daily Politics programme. "I am not going to apologise to Mr Van Rompuy, and I am not going to apologise to the people of Belgium.

"Surely I am entitled to have a dig at a man representing 500 million people, who is paid more than the US president and who has not been elected by us?,” he said.

"As for apologising to the Belgian people – look, I'm not going to do that for what I said about their country, which doesn't have proper political parties."

In a statement on his official site, the Parliament's President Mr Buzek said he explained to Mr Farage in their meeting that he “attaches the highest importance to freedom of speech. Members are completely free to express their views on the policies and institutions of the European Union, but not to insult colleagues or special guests, such as Mr Van Rompuy, on the floor of the chamber.”

The President stated that such behaviour was inappropriate and disrespectful to the dignity of the Parliament and some of the comments which Mr Farage had made were offensive to Mr Rompuy personally and to Belgium as a country.

"I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union,” he said, “but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. His behaviour towards Mr Rompuy was inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the house.”

The UKIP leader denied accusations made by the English press that this was a publicity stunt to increase his profile ahead of contesting the seat held by the Speaker of the Commons John Bercow in the next General Election. He did confirm however that he will take his seat in Strasbourg for the next European Parliament session next week.

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say on this matter in his allotted speaking time…


Posted by Andrew at 15:59.
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