Nothing new to this blog's readers, but Booker has a go at the "increasingly surreal state of our public finances", as highlighted by several events last week, not least the Budget. There, those who could stomach listening to the preposterous Osborne, will recall that he claimed he was intended to encourage growth in the economy while continuing to remedy the hole in our bank balance created by the last government's reckless overspending.

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Using Baroness Ashton as a weapon of war would almost certainly be a violation of the Geneva Convention - on a par with poison gas and germ warfare. She should be safely disposed of with proper precautions in one of the very deep ocean trenches.

Yes ... they even have a special section for her.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/h ... _index.htm

"That invites a rather entertaining comment that "Baroness" Ashton's remuneration and pension package, servants, cars, homes and expenses, amount to about £1m per annum, same as the missile. Why don't we drop her on the Libyans?

If we could then enlist the RAF to drop off the 500,000 or so who were demonstrating against the "cuts" yesterday, then we might at last have found something useful for the junior service to do – even if Ryanair could probably do it cheaper".


What an inspiring suggestion.

O/T though to do with the EU.

Dr North, I read this comment on Peter Hitchen's blog.

I recently emailed my MP John Hemming (LD, Birmingham Yardley) asking him to sign a petition for a referendum on EU membership. Initially he merely stated that he was not in favour of withdrawal, but when I pointed out that the petition was simply for the right to decide, he told me (email, 22 March - copy available):
"The EU has no power over parliament. In fact the Lisbon Treaty included a change for a provision to leave the EU. Parliament can simply refuse to incorporate EU law and in my view should be a bit more critical."


If this is right it begs the question, which I've asked many times, why the majority of politicans come across as ardent EU supporters. why are they afraid to tell it as it is.

This is not a good idea. She may be a duffer but our armed services have had problems with dud ammunition before, particularly at Jutland, (Was it?), and wasn't there a problem with duff ack-ack shells in 1940?

It may seem like a cheap way of disposing of unwanted scrap but the damage to morale would be too great if, expecting a huge bang, we were rewarded with no more than a dull thud in the sand. Another blow to already seriously battered 'British' prestige.

We'll have to look for less spectacular ways of usefully employing the noble lady. May I suggest reinforcement for a viaduct pier on the proposed London - Birmingham high speed snailway? If the entire line were built on stilts we could solve the problem of Big Government within months.

It isn't right ...

Since the comment you post was by a "lib-dem" it cannot by definition be right. I have met, unfortunately, several of them, they tailor their remarks to who is listening at the time, lying all the time. They are of course, fully in support of all things EU as are lab and con.