Article

2005-01-25 Britain

Brussels flips a birdie: We'll halt Howard's curb on migrants--we're the masters now!

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Posted by Sobiesky 2005-01-25 17:49|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Sleep with a dog, wake up with fleas.

-Assyrian wisecrack, ancient, ~ 2300BC

People never learn, do they?

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-01-25 6:22:54 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:22:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 "Europe's intervention in what has become a major issue in the election campaign took Westminster aback."

I'll say! If the Tories had engineered this in some way, I'd say there was political genius at work. Not the case though: just good luck. The Tories can thank Brussels for massively bolstering the their eurosceptic credentials.

"The Conservative leadership responded by saying that a Tory government would immediately opt out of the new rules. If that were blocked, it would insist on renegotiation to allow Britain to determine its own asylum and immigration policies."

The EU aren't the only ones to attempt to interfere with Howard's plans for immigration reform. Incredibly, the UN also immediately bitched about it:

"The UNHCR said it would not cooperate with a Conservative government over its quota plan if Mr Howard withdrew from the convention on refugees."

Posted by Bulldog 2005-01-25 6:28:39 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:28:39 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Give up your sovereignty to the Beauzeaux of Brusselsâ¢ & look what happens. What do you think of your new Continental Overlords now?

Hey, Brussels, I've got an idea! You take in all migrants who want to emigrate it Europe - from anywhere in the world. ALL of them.

And make sure you follow all your hand-tying regulations. :-D

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2005-01-25 6:29:30 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:29:30 PM|| Front Page Top

"The UNHCR said it would not cooperate with a Conservative government over its quota plan if Mr Howard withdrew from the convention on refugees."

Hey, Bulldog, if they won't go along with a "quota" plan do you think they'd accept a "no immigrants at ALL" plan? That would get their knickers in a twist. ;-p

Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2005-01-25 6:34:21 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:34:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 BD: The Tories can thank Brussels for massively bolstering the their eurosceptic credentials.

The Tories have euroskeptic credentials? Can't say I've detected any euroskepticism in that lot.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2005-01-25 6:43:04 PM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2005-01-25 6:43:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Barbara - I think there would be a lot of spilled lattes somewhere in Manhattan.

Howard's proposals are for a quota system which would in effect dictate the number of immigrants to the UK every year. Howard (himself the son of refugees) doesn't want to stop immigration - just make the rate of immigration manageable. I'm not sure if a quota's the right option myself (I'd prefer a fairly high cap to allow for contingencies, but with a lot stricter screening), but he's not calling for an end to granting asylum to refugees. He also wants a new system whereby immigrants cannot claim refuge after illegal entry to this country - they'd have to apply elsewhere. That, it would seem to me, would deal effectively with the sort of scum which turns up here uninvited and successfully claims asylum because they've engaged in such barbarity back home that they're under sentence of death. Under Labour the rate of immigration has shot up - and that's just officially acknowledged immigration.

Posted by Bulldog 2005-01-25 6:48:49 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:48:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 The Tories have euroskeptic credentials? Can't say I've detected any euroskepticism in that lot.

Then you haven't been watching, ZF. They're not all Chris Pattens and Ken Clarkes. Generally the Tories are the more eurosceptic party, Labour the more europhile. Howard's going to run on a platform of rejecting the proposed Consitution outright, at the next election.

Posted by Bulldog 2005-01-25 6:51:49 PM|| 2005-01-25 6:51:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 The Tories' "Europe and the World" policies:

Number 1 Keep the Pound
Number 2 Oppose the European Constitution
Number 3 Spend more on our Armed Forces
Number 4 Get a grip on asylum and immigration
Number 5 Bring back powers from Brussels

I'd call that fairly eurosceptic.

Posted by Bulldog 2005-01-25 7:09:21 PM|| 2005-01-25 7:09:21 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 If a future British government were to enact laws that contravened EU regulations, the commission would begin "infringement proceedings". Those would be followed, if resistance continued, by legal action in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Y'know, that might not be a bad idea. Fight it out in a court of law to see if the regulations are actually legal -- how many of us suspect regulatory overreach by the Brussels bureaucrats? If they are legal, the various national referenda on the constitution take on a new level of seriousness; if they are not legal, the immediate problem goes away and the Brussels bureaucrats will start controlling their efforts to avoid such a face-losing exercise in the future.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-01-25 7:18:14 PM|| 2005-01-25 7:18:14 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 That's an overly optimistic appraisal I'm afraid, tw. For one, this is Howard talking - not Blair. For Blair, there's no problem (though you can guarantee with absolute certainty that he's working on a speech echoing his concerns about the issue but will do nothing in practice). He'll go along with whatever Brussels dictates in order to not rock the boat. So all we're going to see for the moment is this threat, which may or may not be picked up elsewhere.
As for any overreach - Brussels bureacrats will work on how to gain the powers they don't yet have, not accept their limitations. Any oversights would be written into the next treaty or added to the draft Constitution (added and re-added to drafts as necessary until accepted eventually during horse-trading).

Posted by Bulldog 2005-01-25 7:29:27 PM|| 2005-01-25 7:29:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 May as well turn over the keys to the UK government, they have signed over their lease.

Posted by Mrs. Mark Dayton 2005-01-25 7:42:06 PM|| 2005-01-25 7:42:06 PM|| Front Page Top

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