Is Brown starting to look a bit better ?

[Ivanhoe]

Papaumau,

""The "little Englander" mentality stops us from thinking this way or even looking at the big picture and I cannot see any way out of this in the near future.

Very soon, the world is going to be split into half a dozen powerful trading blocs and Britain - on it's own - is not going to be one of them""

What you have written, sums it all up.

[Wrinkles]

Whilst you may well be correct about the trading blocks that is what the EU should be, what we signed up for all those years ago, we didn't sign up for the current evolution and it's eventual maturity as a socialist state run by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats paying only lip service to the democratic ideals

[Ivanhoe]

Where did you get you're information about the EU from ?

[Papaumau]

Whilst you may well be correct about the trading blocks that is what the EU should be, what we signed up for all those years ago, we didn't sign up for the current evolution and it's eventual maturity as a socialist state run by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats paying only lip service to the democratic ideals

In fact Wrinkles, the EU membership is certainly not "a socialist state", it is a mish-mash of many alliances that are as fluid as any political alliances could possibly be.

The right-wing group - which Cameron's boys are now part of - are a serious group of fascists that are only a very small step away from being Neo-Nazis.

Here is a listing of the groupings that make up the power-base of the European Union. Anyone who looks will immediately see that it is a very complex and crude set of co-alitions that are not comfortable with each-other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_political_parties_in_Europe_by_pancontinental_organisation

No right wing or left wing group have any overall control of what goes on in Brussels as they are all far too fragmented to be effective in this way.

[Wrinkles]

I did say it's "eventual maturity as a socialist state" and as it may well be a mish mash at present, watch this space

[Ivanhoe]

Wrinkles, If anything is happening in Europe it is that European countriues are all slowly moving to the right wing.

And if Blair wins Presidency of the EU for 2 or more years, then Britain will have it's empire back with Blair in charge.

[Papaumau]

I did say it's "eventual maturity as a socialist state" and as it may well be a mish mash at present, watch this space

As Europe has as strong a history in fascism as it has in communism I am afraid that neither of these extremist views will finally conquer the rest of the middle-of-the-road voters there.

Sadly, as most of the active politicos in Europe come from the extremist camps they do hold some sway and just as the political activists are in Britain it will be their voices that will rise above the background noise of the rest. This does not mean that they will ever gain overall control of any greater Europe.