Regardless of the language being spoken, there is one word in particular where the clarity is unequivocal, the meaning is absolute. That word in English is no.
So when President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, was asked by a journalist to comment on whether David Cameron was going to be able to repatriate any powers from Brussels, and brushed him off with a contemptuous laugh; but was followed by his Chief of Staff, Johannes Laitenberger, who responded with a firm ‘no’, the conclusion we can draw is very simple.
As Richard has already made clear, Cameron thinks he is setting the pace on cutting EU bureaucracy. But he is two weeks behind the curve as the European Commission had already announced its REFIT initiative which at least claims to be seeking to do just that.
And now Cameron thinks he is making the weather on the subject of repatriation of powers, despite the very notion running completely contrary to the principle of ever closer union. Yet here we have Barroso chortling away at the idea of the UK getting cherry-picked powers back from the EU, while his Chief of Staff – who as an experienced communications professional knows about how to deal with the media in surefooted fashion – slams the lid on the idea with a clear ‘no’ in response to the question.
This shows there is a clear disconnect between Cameron’s self aggrandising perceptions and reality. Too much time spent in the Westminster bubble seems to have exacerbated Cameron’s capacity for delusion. Nevertheless, those sections of the media that worship at the altar of prestige eat it up. They can’t get enough of it. And so the public continues to be deceived and the interests of the establishment are maintained.
Autonomous Mind 
Cameron is looking for minimums for placation and despite the offhand no nein or whatever from the collective, to discourage others, he’ll be being ably assisted by them to achieve the desired result. To all intents we are playing a gentleman’s game, our opponents are not gentlefolk
“To all intents we are playing a gentleman’s game, our opponents are not gentlefolk”
I think I was making that point on here the other night.
Our very “Englishness” is getting in the way a bit here. We’re suckers for fairplay.
Someone should have at least stuck a leg out whilst Barroso was walking past at speed.
AM “And so the public continues to be deceived and the interests of the establishment are maintained.”
Possibly, but I think that deception is rapidly being dispelled by the sheer coverage of “energy prices” both on the MSM and on Internet blogs such as this.
As the truth about the real villains and high energy prices are now being increasingly exposed, (green ideology, lack of competition with a reduced number of energy suppliers, and of course the intensely wasteful absurdities of wind farms), then the general public are now waking up as
their pockets are picked..
Come March/April 2014 after another possibly hard winter, increased reports of deaths via hypothermia, and as the harsh realities of “green” policies are more fully revealed, then I think the establishment’s zeal for these policies will be seen to be electorally counter-productive, and probably quietly dropped one by one.
Nothing like the prospect of a lost seat at Westminster to concentrate the mind of our political numpties.