"MIND THE GAP"
The recent contributions by Professor Minford reminded me of the old satirical double-act of Bird and Fortune and the masterly way they postured preposterously...
Bird & Fortune: "Europe" (1996) - Masters of Posturing
Prof. Minford's closing comments on Britain's EU membership (2015)
Professor Minford sounds just like Bird and Fortune along with the other waffling persons in the above clip. The attitude is strikingly similar to the pantomime of the satirist above.
In a lot of the EU debates, there's a very "dreamy" posturing social behaviour going on; perhaps the atmosphere of high social ranking persons produces such ineffectual actual debate and discussion?
Quoting Dr. RAE North at EUReferendum.com:-
Yet, what is especially significant is that, even with (then) nearly 50 years of political and economic integration to come, the Law Officers already thought that withdrawal would be "an immensely complex operation". And that currently, is the position we confront, with the possibility of Mr Cameron and the "colleagues" confusing the issue with an offer of associate membership of the European Union.
Despite the superficial attraction, that idea is not at all acceptable. It keeps the UK in a subordinate position where, in a Brussels-centric supranational treaty organisation, the European Commission still has the right of initiative when it comers to making the rules and therefore calls (too many) of the shots.
The thing is, we've been here before. Edward Heath in 1963 had made it clear that the question of associate membership had been considered and rejected.
Quoting Dr. RAE North at EUReferendum.com, again:-
Although tariffs do still have a role, in restricting trade or directing flows, they have been largely replaced by non-tariff barriers (NTBs), sometimes called technical barriers to trade (TBTs). This we have remarked upon in earlier blogposts, although the concept of there being barriers other than tariffs has barely if at all percolated the upper reaches of the Eurosceptic aristocracy.
Sometimes, one wonders if they read their own material. In 2012, an IEA report stressed that: "Non-tariff barriers need to be brought to the forefront of the trade debate". This was with reference to developing countries, where NTBs make it difficult to move into the export of higher value added products. Yet it is hard to get people such as Ruth Lea even to mention NTBs in any context, while Global Britain managed to produce a whole report on international trading without referring to them.
Looking at some serious sources on the EU, the promise of a simple and complete break, with the EU along the lines of:-
EU Referendum: David Cameron's Political Destiny Defined
David Cameron has been posturing for so long on "EU Reform" it seems he's been preparing for this his final and greatest act, his entire political career:-
1. Cast-Iron Guarantee (2009)
2. No Ifs, No Buts Immigration promise (2010)
3. Phantom EU Veto (2011)
4. Cutting/Freezing the EU Budget (temporarily) (2012)
5. Tub-Thumping ""Late EU bill"" (2014)
6. Deadly Serious (2015)
Lost Leonardo - Coming Attractions
“Our participation in the Single Market, and our ability to help set
its rules is the principal reason for our membership of the EU.”
Pete North - Setting the stage for the Cameron deception
White Wednesday - Patterns In The Smoke
Putting it all together:-
