VAT goes up today

ToryBoys are divided. Some are a bit sheepish about the fact that this was opposed by both the Cleggerons during the election campaign; others feel that this government can do no wrong and all criticism is an evil attempt to destroy the great coalition.

Richard Wellings of the IEA looks at the likely effect of the VAT rise and is not happy. If one stops bleating about the importance of keeping the coalition together and the Boy-King in Number 10 and looks at what matters: the country's economy and wealth creation, the situation is not good.

Let us not forget that the Chancellor has already told us that 20 per cent is here to stay indefinitely (for which one can read: I honestly don't know what to do except raise taxes) and, in any case, it cannot go below 15 per cent as the EU would not allow it.

Ho-hum

According to the BBC Russian Service the Kyrgyz Prime Minister, Almazbek Atambayev has signed an instruction that has gone to the Parliament for ratification (a great way of doing things) that will name of one the hitherto unnamed peaks in the Tian Shan range of mountains after Vladimir Putin the Russian Prime Minister. Make what you will of it. But one can't help wondering how soon Kyrgyzstan will be Kirghizia again? Here is the story in English on Indian Express.

She has a point

Mary Ellen Synon does not precisely defend Viktor Orban, the ever more unpleasant but democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary. She merely points out the hypocrisy of those who criticize him and the new media law.

Also, check out what these let's-protect-the-Press eurocrats actually believe. First they believe in trying to influence journalists by way of big chunks of the commission's annual €2.4bn annual propaganda budget (that is the figure for 2008, calculated by Open Europe, and at todays exchange rate equal to just over £2bn). Plenty of perks, free trips, prizes and 'training' courses in nice places are available for compliant journos. In some cases the European insitutions simply hand cash to reporters for unvouched 'expenses.' (And before you ask, no, this blog doesn't take EU dosh.)

More to the point, look at the detail of the so-called Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the Lisbon Treaty. Article 11 is supposed to guarantee 'freedom of expression and information,' including 'the freedom and the pluralism of the media shall be respected. ' (Wouldn't the judges at the European Court have fun defining 'pluralism?' Is Britain soon going to be forced to subsidise a national Islamic newspaper to ensure 'pluralism' in journalism?)

Okay, then keep going, past all the other 'freedoms,' until you get to the final article of the charter, Article 54: 'Nothing in this Charter shall be interpreted as implying any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms recognised in ths Charter or at their limitaton to a greater extent than is provided for herein.'

In other words, far from protecting the right of each man to express his political opinions as he will, this charter limits the protection of the right to free speech and the right to the freedom of the press to the right to support the 'permissible' opinions defined by the charter.

Her example is the outrageous decision to allow "Aso Mohammed Ibrahim, a failed asylum seeker who ran over a 12-year old girl and left her to 'die like a dog,'" to stay because deporting him would violate his rights to family and private life, enshrined in Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union that is part of the Lisbon Treaty, passed without that referendum promised to us by all three main parties.

But to the point about the freedoms allegedly secured in the charter (a charter which, I will repeat, has been secured by Cameron): since this so-called 'right to repsect for private and family life' is guaranteed in Article 7, that means that, according to Article 54, none of us has the right to campaign for the destruction of that article.

In other words, while Ibrahim can kill and the charter will protect his freedom to stay in Britain, any British citizen campaigning against the ludicrous justice-dodging wheezes in the charter can be stripped of his right to free speech, and any journalist doing the same thing can lose the protection of the freedom of the press.

She has a point. And I have no desire to defend Mr Orban either.

A fascinating interview

John O'Sullivan is one of the best political commentators around and I do not say that just because he is a friend of many years standing. (In fact, I knew him before he was famous and important but that was a long time ago.) His book on Pope John Paul II, Thatcher and Reagan was a splendid and astonishingly (for someone who lived through those years) exciting account of a breathtaking period of modern history. I blogged about it here.

Since then the book has been translated into many languages, most recently into Italian. Here is an interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez of the National Review with John O'Sullivan about the launch of his book, its importance and many other matters.

I bet there were concerns raised

The BBC reports that several weeks ago two local employees of the UK Consulate in East Jerusalem have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to fire rockets into a football stadium.

Fine, one has to accept that the offence is still an alleged one and, furthermore, the men in question did maintenance work in the Consulate and did not have any sort of a security clearance. Or so the Foreign Office tells us. But the case does raise the odd question about basic vetting procedures in a politically sensitive part of the world.

How can they possibly manage outside the EU?

When it comes to Norway, rather well by the sound of it.

The New Year’s outlook for the Norwegian economy is even better than prospects were a few months ago, according to several local economists. They predict solid economic growth in 2011.

“We’re working now at adjusting our projections upwards,” Harald Magnus Andresssen, chief economist at First Securities in Oslo told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN). Andressen said he sees several signs that demand from both business and households is rising both in Norway and internationally.

Other economists are less optimistic but remain reasonably hopeful. Indeed, considerably more hopeful than those inside the EU.

Kjersti Haugland, senior economist at DnB NOR Markets, is less optimist than Andressen but still expects “better development” in the economy. DnB NOR expects the mainland economy (excluding offshore oil and gas) to grow by 2.5 percent in 2011.

“We still see a quite moderate upswing, but it is moving gradually upwards,” Haugland told DN. Ida Wolden Bache at Handelsbanken agrees, predicting mainland economic growth of 2.6 percent.

Most of the economists polled by DN expect the unemployment rate in Norway to remain low, at around 3.6 percent, while incomes will rise by between 3.4 and 3.7 percent and private consumption will rise by around 3.5 percent.

I bet they are regretting voting twice not to join the European project.

Believe it when I see it

The fragrant hackette Melissa Kite of the Daily Telegraph tells us that

David Cameron faces the prospect of an embarrassing defeat on Europe next week as Labour prepares to join forces with Conservative Party rebels to oppose a flagship Bill.

Mind you, the actual article is not nearly so straightforward and that possible defeat is hedged with lots of maybes and possibles. But still, a possible Tory rebellion and defeat for the government over matters to do with the EU. Now when have we heard about it before? (Here, here and here) And next week? Well, we shall see.