Turn your back for one moment …

[RAENORTH]

… and they'll come out with another "daft" idea, this one suggesting that British naval bases should be handed over to Brussels. The story comes from Justin Stares via Lloyds List, a usually reliable source, also copied out in The Daily Mail, which runs the item big.

The idea is that British (and other member states) naval bases around the world should be at the service of the European Union to protect shipping lanes. For Britain, that would include our bases in Gibraltar, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, set up as part of an EU "forward presence" for securing vital trade routes.

View full article here

[Bleepless]

So shipping lanes will be more secure if British ships are run by the EU. Uh, why?

[pipesmoker]

It is the 1st of April ;-)

[anthony scholefield]

Make everything as simple as possible or KISS-the principle of Ray Kroc,founder of McDonalds is the principle whch should apply to all public or large private institutions such as banks let alone governments.

[RAENORTH]

It is the 1st of April ;-)

The piece is dated 31 March ... no, it's not an April fool ... either that, or there is such a chasm in the EU parl between reality and their foolish notions that it is impossible to know the difference.

However, Luis Simon is a real person and does write about EU defence issues.

http://www.rhul.ac.uk/politics-and-IR/A ... /PhDs.html

[pipesmoker]

Ok well it was 5.30 am! apologies Richard.

There is a picture on page 21 of today's Torygraph, "All in a spin at the summit" and I haven't stopped laughing. Has someone got something on their shoe or broken wind ;-)

Then on page two it is reported that Caroline Flint, Minister for Europe, has admitted that she hasn't read the Lisbon Treaty and on page eight the members of the Commons Business committee appear ignorant of the reasons for the proposed sale of parts of the Royal Mail.

They are probably all too busy filling in their expenses claims!

[SandyRham]

Hmm, how do you separate intentional April fooling from the incompetent fooling of normal shoddy reportage??

[Peter]

"Trade lanes can be secured only if the far-flung bases belonging to the two main European naval powers are put to common use, the report argues: "As the world moves towards a dynamic multipolar system and US relative maritime power declines as powers like China and India rise".

America would have to go a long way before it declines as far as the EU where naval power is concerned.India and China may be beyond the EU now.So what are they going to put in thses bases,token bits of the French aircraft carrier or the blue prints of the British ones?

[RAENORTH]

So what are they going to put in thess bases, token bits of the French aircraft carrier or the blueprints of the British ones?

How quaintly old fashioned ... blueprints?

They can fill the harbours with computer-generated colour photographs of ships, to match the computer generated colour photographs of A400Ms flying overhead, bringing in colour photographs of supplies. All we need is for our enemies to oblige by sending us colour photographs of their white flags, and honour will be satisfied.

[John Archer]

How quaintly old fashioned ... blueprints?

They can fill the harbours with computer-generated colour photographs of ships, to match the computer generated colour photographs of A400Ms flying overhead, bringing in colour photographs of supplies. All we need is for our enemies to oblige by sending us colour photographs of their white flags, and honour will be satisfied.

Ah, yes! The Goon Show.

I don't remember which character it was now (Spike Milligan's probably) but his substituting a photograph for the real thing was hilariously surreal in those days.

They had it in for me but little did they know what a mental conflagration that seminal spark would light in my fevered brow. Pure genius. I have made great progress since then and my plan is now falling nicely into place.

Yours sincerely,
Moriarty
Destroyer Of Worlds Inc.

<Manic laughter> Ha ha ha ha .............

[RAENORTH]

I don't remember which character it was now (Spike Milligan's probably) but his substituting a photograph for the real thing was hilariously surreal in those days.

T'was Neddie Seagoon (Harry Secombe) ... he held up a bank with a colour photograph of a gun, because he didn't have the real thing. They gave him a colour photograph of some money.

[Watchet]

To me the whole thing is a mixture of Brussels schoolboy fantasies, & a roundabout way of both taking over EU member countries' armed forces & also of deciding what their foreign policy & who their friends will be (the EU being anti-US again). Despite its ridiculousness, the fact that this absurdity has happened shows that this is Brussels' aim. When Brussels does something, haowever odd it may seem, it always means to do it. Its actions may often seem an awful mistake to us. But they are always deliberate, even if they are often initially intentionally misleading.

So what about our bases in Germany, or ones shared with the US - eg Diego Garcia & Ascension? And once members have agreed to sharing their external/foreign bases with the EU, what about internal/home bases too? That will follow, depending on how successful this piece of nonsense proves to be. So Brussels' ultimate aim appears to be to decides member countries' foreign policy, not they themselves. And their homelnd security too. That is the EU staff's fantasy aim, I bet - however far-fetched & insolent it may seem to us today!

Watchet

[Peter]

"How quaintly old fashioned ... blueprints?"

Old fashioned they may be,but the end product did float. The computer generated cartoons seem to be an end product in themselves.

BTW,is it very sensible of the Feeble Empire to shake a stick at China?

[Peter]

"All your bases are belong to us"/

[Andrew]

Formidable asset - see how it takes the EU to state this. Aren't we cutting back on the fleet size? Countries like India and China - well I think they're quite different.