OBAMA'S EU HYPOCRISY

United States President Barack Obama thinks that the UK should remain within the European Union, and he's making sure that we know it. An article in the Daily Telegraph plus a forthcoming speech will tell us which way we should be voting on 23rd June.

The blatant hypocrisy of this stance by a President who will be an ex-President in 9 months time, is breath taking but utterly American. Ever since the end of the second world war, when the rest of the western world was bankrupt, the USA has become the major economic and political force in the West, if not globally. It has become used to telling every other nation what to do while doing whatever it wants itself; it has ignored the views of others and batted away all criticism of its own policies and actions.

Over the last 70 years, the USA has engaged in wars, or armed conflicts, all over the world. It has invaded numerous countries, including Grenada, a sovereign territory of the United Kingdom, while it refused to allow British forces access to its bases during the Falklands War. Since 2002, the USA has maintained a gruesome prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a place where hundreds of prisoners have been held without trial, routinely tortured and denied all human rights. The USA has habitually ignored the complaints of the international community about its assorted activities in many places. Would they welcome being told to be subservient to the wishes of, say, a group of other American states such as Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador ? Of course not, and they'd be outraged if anyone told them this would be in their own best interests.

However, Obama is quite happy to come to Britain to tell US what we should be doing. How dare he ! The UK is not a dependency of the USA and Europe is not an American fiefdom. What Obama wants, as does every American, is what is good for America, not what is good for anyone else. If Obama thinks that keeping the UK within the European Union is good for the USA, fine, let him say so. What he has no right to say is that it's good for the UK. That is a decision for British voters to make, based on the arguments put forward by British politicians, businessmen and others; it has nothing to do with any nation outside of the European Union and especially nothing to do with an interfering, dead-duck American President.

Mr Obama, give Her Majesty your birthday wishes for her by all means, but stay out of our politics.

EU REFERENDUM INTERFERENCE

It's astonishing how many foreign politicians, diplomats and other 'big names' are joining into the clamour around our forthcoming referendum. The vast majority of these establishment figures are firmly on the side of 'Remain', telling us how terrible a vote for 'Leave' could be.

The sheer brass neck of these people in interfering in our local politics is incredible. Should the UK government try to tell the US administration how it should conduct its affairs, they would be told, very firmly, to shove off. When senior British figures have suggested how French farmers or Spanish fishermen should be controlled, they've been roundly condemned. However, it appears to be perfectly alright for senior US, French and other figures to tell us what we should do and, today, it's the turn of a bunch of former US Treasury Secretaries.

All of these establishment figures have one thing in common and that is that they ARE establishment figures. They all want the continuation of the status quo because that is what they know and can understand; they are all terrified of change and the less well known or, heaven forbid, the unknown. They are reactionary in the extreme and desperate to avoid anything that might lead to them and their like losing control. Very noticeably, none of these people have said that a UK exit from the EU WILL cause mayhem, they all talk only about coulds, mights and maybes.

Well, the more these self-serving members of the self-selected intelligentsia tell me what to do, the more I'll do the opposite. VOTE LEAVE and be rid of them.

EU REFERENDUM - TAKE THE RISK !

Most politicians are naturally risk-averse. They hate uncertainty because they aren't in control and will stick resolutely to the status quo at all costs. When it comes to the EU referendum, many are lining up on the 'Remain' side citing the 'risks' of leaving, even though those risks are unknown, uncertain and, possibly, non-existent.

Yesterday, a life-long Euro-sceptic, Jeremy Corbyn, dramatically changed his tune and spoke out strongly in favour of a vote to  'Remain'; today, Alistair Darling has spoken vehemently about the 'risks' of leaving. David Cameron and others, including a range of bankers, have equally stressed these 'risks' as a major factor in voting to leave, but other than making vague generalisations and frightening noises there is little substance to their words. Indeed, after the banking crisis of 2008, most bankers are probably too frightened of their own shadows to do anything even slightly scary, while Cameron knows his job is on the line if the vote goes against him.

Life is about risk. Every time we venture out, we take a risk; every time we start a new job, it's a risk; every new relationship is a risk, and so on. Driving a car, riding a bike, taking part in sport or any adventure is a risk. Without risk, there is no prospect of change or gain. Maintaining the status quo isn't risk free, though it's always seen as the 'safe option' because it's what we 'know'; really ? Does anyone really know what the consequences of remaining in the EU will be in 5, 10 or 20 years time ? What is certain is that staying in will lead to ever increasing centralisation of power in Brussels, ever decreasing sovereignty and self-governance, increased protectionism and many years of economic unrest and stagnation.

When the UK joined the EEC in 1973, did any of the general population know where it would lead ? Did we understand that the ultimate goal was the sweeping away of sovereign nation states and the political unification of Europe ? Few did, but that was the 'risk' we took, unknowingly, by joining and then failing to vote 'Leave' in the referendum of 1975.

Leaving the EU will be a risk but it's a risk well worth taking. The UK will be free to make its own choices, develop its own laws, trade with whomever it wants free of the shackles of the stifling Euro-bureaucracy. It will be free to spend its resources on projects of its own choosing rather than being 'directed' at every turn by the faceless men, and women, of Brussels. Yes, there may be a period of uncertainty which will cause concern but, ultimately, the rewards will far outweigh any short-term negativity.

Be brave and don't be scared off by these risk-averse, self-serving individuals. TAKE THE RISK and VOTE TO LEAVE !

VOTE LEAVE AND FORGET THE IMF

As the EU debate, or should that be row, rumbles on, a host of major political figures and organisations have lined up to tell us how dangerous a UK exit would be. They tell us all manner of horror stories about what 'could' happen, without any of them saying that these disasters actually 'would' happen.

The latest intervention from the International Monetary Fund warns of the potential 'severe regional and global damage' that BREXIT 'could' cause, as well as saying that it would disrupt established trading relationships. Implicitly, the IMF seems to be acknowledging that a UK withdrawal from this protectionist bloc might result in problems for the bloc itself which others have rather ignored. However, problems for the remainder of the EU would also surely mean that they'd have no choice but to be very cautious about being unfriendly to the UK; in a roundabout way, the IMF is actually implying that a UK exit may well be potentially so disruptive that everyone else would have to treat us with kid gloves in order to avoid global meltdown. The deal we might then get from a position outside of the bloc might well be far better than anyone can currently imagine.

The IMF is, of course, little more than a supra-national company doing its best to maintain the status quo; it doesn't want change and would rather have a stable and stagnant world than a changing and vibrant one; for them, change is dangerous as it's much harder to control than is stagnation. Major change is anathema. the IMF is also renowned for revising its forecasts every 5 minutes, rendering its economic foresight of rather less value than such an apparently august body would like it to be. It's head is a former French Finance Minister, Christine Legarde, raising questions as to its independence when it comes to matters relating to the EU anyway.

The truth is that no one really knows what the consequences of BREXIT would be, but the global establishment would much rather have stability and everything staying as it is than risk the consequences of change. Leaving the EU would undoubtedly test the ability of much-vaunted politicians to manage a tricky situation but it is, without doubt, the only sensible option for the British people to take. Let's leave this suffocating organisation; vote to leave on 23rd June.

EU CRUNCH TIME FOR CAMERON.

Oh dear, oh dear. The poor old European Union is huffing and puffing and making out that agreeing to new arrangements for the UK is a huge problem. As we get closer to the supposed 'crunch meeting', key players are letting it be known that the negotiations are hard, agreement may or may not be possible, there are 'sticking points' and so on. The truth is very different.

Of course there'll be agreement, mainly because there's very little that can't be agreed. Cameron's 'demands' are virtually meaningless and will make almost no difference to anything. The EU will continue on its merry way as before and all of the fuss that's been made over the last year or so will be forgotten. Migration into the UK will continue; paying benefits to migrants will continue as will having to provide them with all of the social facilities enjoyed by long term residents, such as free access to the NHS and assorted local authority services. The UK will continue to be beset by vast volumes of rules and regulations issuing from the faceless bureaucracy that will continue to shuttle back and forth between Brussels and Strasburg, not forgetting the vast costs incurred by simply having the various EU bodies of parliament, council, commission and God knows what else.

The European Union is a huge conglomeration of nations which serves no one but itself. It is inherently socialist, protectionist and inward looking. It is like an old-fashioned 'closed shop' trade union, with its leadership hell bent on maintaining power and status at all costs; no one can 'enjoy' its privileges unless they're members and no one can be members unless they sign up to its ways. Leave, and you forfeit all rights. This is a doomed organisation, utterly unfit for a world in which communications and trade are global; while it may have been a good idea, once, its day has passed.

Cameron will return from his latest round of talking just like Neville Chamberlain did in 1938. He will have at least a metaphorical piece of paper to wave at onlookers and will claim that he has achieved a wonderful result, and that all is now well. He will say that we can now vote to stay in this organisation without fear but that to leave it would be both foolish and highly dangerous.

POPPYCOCK.

Vote to leave. Get out. Open up the UK to business and opportunities with the rest of the world without all of the baggage of the EU around our necks. Di it now. Do it in June. Do it as soon as possible. Just DO IT !

WOGAN SIGNALS TIME FOR CHANGE.

I didn't dislike Terry Wogan, but neither was he entirely my 'cup of tea'. His death yesterday was sad but hardly justified the extensive coverage afforded by the BBC.

As with the demise of David Bowie a couple of weeks ago, the BBC and other media went overboard. The BBC made Wogan's death the main news story of the day and gave it massive coverage on every news broadcast. The story was deemed more important that David Cameron's EU discussions, the upcoming Iowa primaries in the US, the inquest into the still unexplained death of a young soldier at Deepcut barracks in 1995 and its possible implications in relation to 3 other deaths, the ZIKA epidemic, a financial crisis in Nigeria, the murder of 11 people at  a party in Mexico, and much more. Indeed, the events in Nigeria and Mexico did not even merit reporting.

Terry Wogan may well have been a very nice, generous man; he was undoubtedly a good and well-liked broadcaster, but the effusive praise now heaped upon him is simply out of all proportion. This is another example of the media seeing itself as being 'the story', rather than being the reporter of stories; it sees its own as being more important than all else. The pompous, opinionated and self-indulgent hordes of television and radio presenters and regular guests need reminding that they are NOT the story.

It is time for change.

CAMERON, JUNCKER AND TUSK PLAY GAMES WITH US ALL

David Cameron's much reported discussions with Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk are a sham, as anyone with half a brain cell must know. All Cameron is trying to do is to show how hard he is 'fighting' for the UK, while Juncker and Tusk are trying to show how tough they are. In reality, this is a case of 'aunt sallies' being set up simply so that they can be knocked down, and both sides can claim 'success', 'victory' and anything else that occurs to them. To cap it all, Cameron is desperately trying to finish things off so that he can call a referendum as quickly as possible, and before the opinion polls move even further in the direction of 'leave'. To this end, he is prepared to have the referendum campaign going on at the same time as campaigns for the Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly AND most local authorities throughout the UK; this is utterly ridiculous, though not to Cameron.

The whole EU re-negotiation is a political exercise designed from the start to end with Cameron claiming enormous reforms that will free the UK from vast swathes of intrusive EU rules and regulations; in truth, it will achieve very little, though that won't prevent an utterly disingenuous and Europhilic Cameron from telling the voters that we must stay in this 'reformed' organisation as we now have membership on our own terms and to leave it would be terribly dangerous.

Ha, bloody ha. Whatever Cameron 'achieves' will be dressed up as victory, though it will be a hollow one. The potential confusion caused by holding 4 separate electoral campaigns at much the same time will be destructive for all of them, but will allow Cameron and his fellow Europhiles to muddy the waters still more. For me, the clearer it becomes that Cameron and his fellow travellers are hell-bent on rushing the population into an early and ill-conceived vote, while campaigning to remain in with lies, half-truths and scare-mongering, the more I am certain that the only way to vote is 'LEAVE'.