Norwegian satire

The Norwegians must be having a laugh - awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU in a week which has seen French fishermen chucking half bricks at UK fishing boats and demonstrations in Greece against the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Satire may have died when the prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger but, if so, it has had a miraculous resurrection. Ironically, Norway is not a part of the EU. If it were, perhaps its government would not be so quick to praise that most undemocratic of institutions for 'advancing democracy'. As for 'peace and reconciliation', tell that to our fishermen. Their job is dangerous enough without a barrage of missiles to contend with. Tell it to the Greeks, whose economy has shrunk by 25% under German-imposed austerity measures. There may not have been a pan-European war since 1945 but the shadows of the last one are all too present in the current Greek crisis. We would do well to remember that the cause of WWII was the punitive reparations forced on Germany at the end of WWI.

Bank charge evasion

Of course it's morally wrong to collude with a tradesman in tax evasion by paying cash. Let us not forget that one of the things that has turned the Greek economy into a basket case has been large scale tax evasion and a burgeoning black economy. It's time we stopped seeing dodging the taxman as a faceless, victimless crime because, in the end, we are all the victims of it. That said, it's also time we stopped taxing low earners and small businesses to death. The Libdem policy of raising the personal allowance has been a welcome step in that direction. Increasing the mileage allowance for businesses would be another step in the right direction, one which is long overdue. And we need to remember that businesses pay through the nose in bank charges for every cheque they pay into their business account, which is why many prefer cash. They are not necessarily on the fiddle. Just trying to avoid lining the pockets of bankers.

Out of the Eurozone

Anyone who still thinks that joining the Eurozone is not a one-way ticket to loss of sovereignty must have their head stuck so far in the sand it's popping up in New Zealand. EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy, the man responsible for providing the EU's political direction, has made it clear that the single currency is irreversible. So much for Greece being able to bail out. And so much for German posturing about not being responsible for southern Europe's debts. When push comes to shove, as it did last night, preservation of the Euro comes out top and the Eurozone is one step further along the road to political, as well as financial, integration. Which is exactly where Van Rompuy, a fan of global governance, wants it. Calton can feel a Farage-style rant coming on when he considers that this Belgian unknown, who has just been chosen for another 30 month term not by the people of Europe but only by the 27 heads of the EU member states, can wield so much power behind the scenes. If Salmond doesn't want to become a puppet, he will follow the Great Broon's lead and keep well out of the Eurozone.

Man the lifeboats!

If you're wondering why Calton has not been posting much for a couple of days, it's because he was doing this week's Scottish Roundup of blogs. Head on over to Scottish Roundup and have a read - there are a lot of good blogs out there. Unfortunately one of Calton's favourites has hung up his keyboard - the Wee Red Squirrel is sadly missed.

Looking further afield, the Greeks seem to be heading for another election, which will effectively be a vote on their continued membership of the Eurozone. The EU is steaming into uncharted waters now and the iceberg of Greek and French public opinion is threatening to sink the Euro. Calton would not be sorry to see it go, were it not likely to pull the UK down with it. Man the lifeboats!

Bye bye Merkozy

Alex Salmond must be breathing a huge sigh of relief that the fallout from the French and Greek election results has replaced his relationship with Murdoch as top news and fallout it is, as Merkel comes out all guns blazing over the suggestion by Hollande that the Merkozy austerity deal might be up for renegotiation. At least we are all spared the problem of trying to combine Merkel and Hollande into a single snappy name. Merkande sounds like something from Arabian Nights and Hollkel is too close to hell for comfort, although it might be the way the Eurozone is heading. The Greeks are revolting, France has said 'non' to cuts, the Dutch coalition recently collapsed over the issue before a deal could be agreed, Spain is in big trouble and Merkel is channeling Margaret Thatcher 'the lady's not for turning'. And our First Minister wants to join this lot? Nein danke!

France, Greece and Fife

There's an old adage that says when you are in a hole, stop digging. Similarly, when in debt, stop borrowing. That message has not got through to the voters of France and Greece. They have, fairly predictably, voted against austerity. In the same way, the voters in Fife have punished the previous SNP/Libdem coalition for council cuts by swinging to Labour - the party of spend. Never mind where the money is going to come from. It just goes to show that, although democracy is probably the best political system we have, voters will ultimately vote in their own self-interest, which is not necessarily the country's interest. Looks like the Eurozone is in for some stormy times.

Independence Greek style? No thankyou.

Following on from comments on his earlier post, this audio slideshow from the BBC News website does a good job of explaining why Calton does not want the Greek variety of independence.

Information on the EU

For those who wish to know why Calton is not a fan of the EU, read this report by Stratfor.