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| Britain |
| How Brussels spends YOUR money as if it grows on trees |
| 2016-06-21 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna A strange atmosphere hangs over Brussels. On the one hand, there is Donald Tusk, President of the European Council (representing all 28 EU governments), warning of Armageddon if Britain votes to leave the European Union on Thursday. As he told a German interviewer last week: 'I fear Brexit could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also Western political civilisation in its entirety.' But you won't hear a squeak on the subject from most people in the vast glass-and-steel bureaucratic palaces across this city. As an EU fromage of great magnitude, Mr Tusk can get away with saying this sort of thing. Lesser Eurocrats are under strict orders to say nothing on the subject, for fear of adding any further heat to the issue. There has even been a ban on using the word 'Brexit' in official communications. Given the whopping great perks and privileges bestowed on those who work for the European Union, no one is going to step out of line. In any case, most people here still cannot really believe that we pesky Brits really would have the temerity to abandon the Grand Project. But then, if you live in this hermetically sealed bubble -- a world of long lunches, long weekends and retail discounts worth 36 per cent -- your grasp of normality is somewhat distorted. During a week here in the gilded capital of Europe, I have been amazed by the gulf between this place and the real world. Just take the wage bill of the 47,000 people who work inside the bubble. Since 2010, it has been British policy to disclose the number of government officials earning more than our Prime Minister, who gets paid just shy of ÂŁ150,000. In Britain, the latest figure stands at 319. And the equivalent number for the EU? According to documents leaked ahead of the last European elections two years ago, EU tax perks mean that at least 10,000 EU employees are taking home more than David Cameron. Many are mere middle managers. Among the extra perks are the ÂŁ240 monthly allowance for stay-at-home spouses and the ÂŁ100-a-month allowance per child. On top of that, European taxpayers spend an estimated ÂŁ80 million each year in school fees for Eurocrats' children. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #3 ...like a vast bankruptcy in the consent of the governed. Nice rituals, but well rigged and fixed. And then there's the ultimate spasms of 'you do what you are told' that the ruling class enjoys playing. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-06-21 09:10 |
| #2 During a week here in the gilded capital of Europe, I have been amazed by the gulf between this place and the real world. Just like Washington DC and the rest of the US. Say, you don't suppose there's a common theme here, do you? |
| Posted by: Raj 2016-06-21 08:58 |
| #1 There has even been a ban on using the word 'Brexit' How do they feel about "sharia" or "radical Islam"? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2016-06-21 08:28 |