Rule by euro
The Berlaymont building, the Brussels headquarters of the European Commission, is currently decked with a full-height poster featuring the euro and the slogan: “Towards a stronger European economic governance”. So the aim is not a stronger economy, but stronger governance – using the euro as an instrument of rule.
Still in love with the single currency
Blair said on 24 June, "Now I don't actually take the view that some people take, that Britain joining the euro, in the past or now, will be a disaster. However I always said, unless you can make a compelling case for it economically you were never going to win a referendum on it. And the case for Britain joining isn't compelling. Now it may become that at a certain point."
Steadfast support
Two faced? Peter Oborne wrote in the Daily Telegraph on 6 June, “Far from pursuing a rigorous policy of Euroscepticism, [Cameron] has consistently conducted himself as a pro-European. Indeed, he has been a far more steadfast supporter of the EU than Tony Blair […] While Blair’s rhetoric was consistently warm about Europe, he routinely failed to deliver. Although Cameron still articulates the language of Euroscepticism, he is in practice the most pro-European prime minister since Sir Edward Heath.”
Secret abuse
Robert Galvin, the European Parliament’s chief internal auditor, uncovered abuse of £185 million in MEP allowances and expenses, paid without receipts. The EU’s General Court said there is “overriding public interest in disclosure” of the report. But the European Parliament refuses to release it.
They want more, and more, and more
MEPs voted on 8 June overwhelmingly for a 5 per cent rise - an extra £41.5 billion - in the EU’s budget for 2014-20, an end to national rebates, and the introduction of EU taxes. Britain would have to pay an extra £5.2 billion in contributions to the EU between 2014 and 2020. So the EU would cost the average British family £700 a year by 2020. ■