Again, Wat posts the graph that matters
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Burning our money: Pathetic Autistic Castrates.
As everyone and his dog prattles on about the politics of the Conservatives and the EU, Wat Tyler (link above) keeps his head and posts this graph (click for the full misery);
He observes, drily;
UK withdrawal would hurt them a lot more than it would hurt usGiven the graph he posted the other day, by what logic is Britain such a huge net contributor? Why is Poland, doing better in the crisis than most other EU countries, taking so much from the Germans, Brits and Dutch? I lived there 11 years and love the place dearly, but do they think we have some moral obligation to compensate for their years of suffering under Communism? Though they like to blame it on the Russians now, let's not forget the KGB was founded by a Pole. As for the Greeks, really guys! A few millennia is long enough for anyone to rest on their laurels, however magnificent. It might be time to roll up your sleeves and do a bit again.
Whatever the (massively undemocratic) politics of the EU may be and regardless of its murky accounting to conceal its shameful corruption, it is an enormous rip-off for the British. The crowing EU-philes* enjoying David Cameron's (well-deserved) embarrassment should instead be doing something about that. Whoever is the next Prime Minister, I suggest Margaret Thatcher sends him her biggest, heaviest handbag and he takes it to Brussels with a house brick in it.
If you want us to love this bastard child of yours, at least get its hands out of our pockets!
* I really object to them stealing the word "europhile." I am a europhile. I holiday in France in my Italian car while wearing my Swiss (or sometimes my German) watch. I drink only French wine and would prefer only ever to eat French food. I speak French and Polish and understand German and Russian. I am no Little Englander, yet I completely detest the EU. I see it as a threat to all European freedoms, not just those of Britain.
"...I could buy them five in Berlin"
Very true. I felt well off for the first time in my life when I lived in Berlin.
Posted by: Beaman the Interiors Chap | Monday, November 09, 2009 at 05:20 PM
I am trying my best Moggsy. Send me more readers please; feel free to blog and link to me, call your friends / relatives and give them the URL. I can't afford to buy a newspaper company!
Posted by: Tom | Sunday, November 08, 2009 at 11:16 PM
"hope that he is playing a more strategic long game."
I don't wish to be rude, Phillip, but if you hold to that hope you are truly part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Cameron will do nothing about the EU.
How many last chances do you want to give these people? Surely after thirty-five years of "not next time" we can conclude that the Tories are a waste of space in this respect? Stand behind them? Why, exactlty? What do you think they'll do different next time?
No, sorry, if you want change, it's time to stand behind someone else. I don't care if that lets Broon in for another five years.
Remember that as from December 1st our government is in Brussels - the unelected, unaccountable, unresponsive (to us) EU commission. It makes no difference whatever who is wielding the rubber stamp in Westminster.
Until this nettle is grasped, nothing else matters, nothing else is worth worrying about.
Posted by: Andrew Duffin | Friday, November 06, 2009 at 01:55 PM
It seems so obvious when you look at that graph. Maybe it needs wider publicity.
Posted by: Moggsy | Friday, November 06, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Tom
I agree entirely. It has enraged me for as long as I can remember that this dishonest divide has been promoted by the enthusiasts for a political european integration. I feel that I am a europhile not because I want every country to be governed the same way with the same daft regulations concocted in the interest of 'fairness' but because I love each individual country for the differences they represent. The graph is deeply depressing as it confirms what we all know - that we get a spectactularly bad deal from the EU! Cameron's statement this week was very disappointing although I think I am inclined to be more generous than you and hope that he is playing a more strategic long game. That doesn't stop me thinking that we need some form of referendum regardless. I'm not holding my breath but I fear we have no alternative other than to stand behind the Conservatives if we are to rid ourselves of the people who have put us in this position.
Posted by: Phillip Downs | Friday, November 06, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I have tried and enjoyed all of the above but once you have a taste for Czech beer, there is no going back. Even the Germans acknowledge its superiority (and they prefer Polish sausage too). When patriots endorse the products of countries of which they are not notably fond, it's time to pay attention.
Posted by: Tom | Friday, November 06, 2009 at 05:10 AM
But the average voter has no appetite for it or interest in it. Every time the EU is mentioned, another non-voter is born. The political establishment and their media have managed to bracket UKIP with the BNP, by the simple smear tactic of never mentioning the one without the other. Ironically, voters for the UK parliament want prospective MPs to talk and make promises about things now outside their control. How to overcome this uneducated apathy?
Posted by: Tom | Friday, November 06, 2009 at 05:04 AM
I shortened the URLs and it looks OK in Firefox now. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Posted by: Tom | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 09:21 PM
Getting out of the EU is hardly prattling - it's the first step to economic recuperation in this country.
Posted by: jameshigham | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 07:02 PM
Tom, my comment which was made
using Firefox appears to be
truncated at the right-hand
column. Similarly when viewed
with Google Chrome. Though
'tis fine with Internet
Explorer *spits*.
Is it just me? Any ideas?
Posted by: Diogenes | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 04:54 PM
I had a look at the GDP and GDP per capita figures for an explanation of the net contribution data.
http://bit.ly/2TbLqw
It's still a mystery.
I looked at the contribution vs expenditure figures.
http://bit.ly/3sicr3
Didn't help.
Spain and Italy have comparable economies yet their net contributions are at opposite ends of the scale.
I wonder if it all comes down to relative dedication and skill at claiming EU subsidies.
The 'europhile' label grabs my goat too. Similarly I am branded a 'climate change denier' because I believe that climate has always changed.
Posted by: Diogenes | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 04:35 PM
Yes to all this.
And spot on about'europhile', but it's not just what Europe is now,there are centuries of achievement to admire.
What do you think the future of the EU is?
I think,and hope, it'll implode in the next 20 or 30 years, IF there is a folk memory of what it was like to live in free countries. But as your 'Me Mine You Yours' post suggested, there is propaganda put in front of the children nowadays.
Finally,French wine OK, but do try Belgian beer at an appropriate time.
And English beer too.
And Brains.
Posted by: Kevyn Bodman | Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 03:17 PM