Libyan lash-up..........

It seems that my initial assessment of the Libyan fiasco was correct; another fine mess you’ve got us into, Willie. The whole episode was completely addle-pated. The SAS kill people; they are not Securicor minding some FO wallah from the Camel Corps. But the troops should have been on familiar ground; after all, it was only 2 years ago that the government sent a team of SAS to train the Libyans. Smart move.

I reckon our Foreign Secretary is due for an early bath. As Dave may well be if the Tories get monstered in the up-coming local elections.

With the country up the creek, the economy in the merde, and the public services down the drain, how is the Dear Leader responding? Why, he’s going to have ciggies sold in plain wrappings and under the counter, like rubber johnnies and dirty books when I was a lad. That should do it. At least the Nanny State has survived the budget cuts. Apropos which, we are told that 18,000 servicemen are to get the axe under the defence review. We are not told how many MOD civvies are to get the chop. Since there are more of them in the MOD and its satellites than there are people in uniform there must be enormous scope. Or not.

Question: What is Cameron’s ‘Big Society’? Answer: BS.

And I have no reason to change my initial reaction to the Prince Andrew nonsense. He is being castigated for hobnobbing with unsavoury foreign politicians in pursuit of business for UK firms. That’s his job. He apparently does it very well – for free! The DT is now bellyaching about his ‘friend’ Epstein landing his private jet at a RAF airfield. Well, that has nothing to do with Andrew; it’s up to the pilot-in-command. Anybody can land at a service airfield with prior permission. I have taken a tiddly Cessna into front line fighter stations, amidst Phantom jets roaring around me. But, as they say ‘any old stick........’

What appears to be doubly disgraceful is that there has been briefing (i.e. muck-raking) against Andy from within high government circles. Not good politics to use dirty tricks against royalty. He may not be the most liked member of the Firm but I can’t imagine the public taking too kindly to the crooks in Parliament striking moral attitudes against him. One comment was that ‘he has done little with his life’. Apart from a full career in the RN including active service in the Falklands, retiring with the rank of Captain, that is.

Justice – Brussels style.

The Times reports that 22-year-old Andrew Symeou is due to appear in court tomorrow in Greece after being arrested in 2008 under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). Symeou was extradited to Greece in 2009 and spent almost one year in a Greek prison awaiting trial, before finally being granted bail last year. A leader in the Times notes, “Others worry that a warrant that was designed to speed up the extradition of people suspected of terrorism or organised crime is increasingly being applied to ordinary citizens, with too few safeguards.”

So this young fellow has been held in Greece for 3 years awaiting trial – and on very dodgy evidence. Magna Carta said ‘To none will we deny, nor delay, justice’. But that was before Blair abolished it, along with many other ancient rights and freedoms like the ‘double jeopardy’ rule.

Euronomics.

The CAP is now costing € 120 bn a year, which is greater than the value of Africa’s entire agricultural output. This compares with $20 bn spent by the US government. When grain prices are rocketing and food is getting scarce world-wide, the EU is subsidising the conversion of wheat and maize into bio-fuels. That should save the planet.

Immigration? Pas de probleme.

Another helpful ruling from the ECJ. Illegal immigrants are entitled to residence and a work permit if they produce a child during their stay in the EU. Births of convenience in place of marriages of convenience, then.

And finally......

I have discovered a good reason for the famous neglect of their teeth by the English. It is to safeguard their driving licences. I own a breathalyser. By way of experiment I tested my breath for alcohol. It came up with a reading of 22, about one drink. I then rinsed my mouth with mouthwash and took a second sample. It read 200! QED. Mouthwash contains a quantity of ethanol. Tell that to the Old Bill and they won’t believe you.