-:Undertaker:-
27-03-2011, 12:45 PM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1370044/Euro-hyenas-laughing-matter.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Euro-hyenas are no laughing matter!
Pro-Brussels peers behaved 'like a pack of hyenas' in the Lords this week when urged to declare strings-attached pensions they receive from the European Commission. The peers, including the increasingly unseemly Neil Kinnock, ganged up on Ukip's Lord Pearson in an extraordinary manner. Some shouted at the Ukip man, heckling him, sneering, scoffing and generally making him feel threatened.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/25/article-0-001F5E9900000258-583_468x286.jpg
'It was like a pack of hyenas coming in on one': Ukip's Lord Pearson was rounded on by Pro-Euro peers
Lord Pearson's 'crime'? All he did was ask why ex-Brussels Commissioners are not required to declare their fat EC pension loyalties before they make parliamentary speeches. The crucial thing about these pensions is that they are 'forfeitable'. That means they can be taken away if recipients criticise Europe. By any standards, surely, this is an ongoing financial inducement. It seems amazing they can get away with not having to declare it.
Tuesday's debate on the European Union Bill was among the most visceral the House of Lords has known. The Upper House may recently have been increasingly raucous, but what was unprecedented about Tuesday was the way a special-interest group (of supposedly dignified grandees) ganged up on an individual. In effect, the Euro-bullies tried to silence Lord Pearson by vocal intimidation. 'It was like a pack of hyenas coming in on one,' says Lord Pearson, who felt that some of the 'outrageous' intimidation bordered on the 'fascist'.
He stuck to his guns, he says, because 'it was like skiing on ice — once you've started you need to keep going'. Lord Pearson was treated so badly that he has since received letters of sympathy from colleagues across the political spectrum who were appalled by the Europhiles' conduct.
Ex-European Commissioners who made speeches in the debate were Lord Clinton-Davis (Lab), Lord Richard (Lab) and Eighties pin-up Lord Brittan (Con). Lord Clinton-Davis did admit to receiving some EC largesse, but airily said 'it is not a vast sum of money'. Other (non-pensioned) Euro-whooper-doopers joining the 'pack of hyenas' included former Foreign Office panjandra Lords Hannay and Kerr, ex MEP Lord Tomlinson and sometime Ministers Lord Sewel and Lady Quin. Disgraceful.
Now I don't have a problem with good parliamentary debate, which is the point. This is what we should be having - awkward questions being asked, whether its over Iraq, the Libson Treaty, Afghanistan or our involvement in Libya. MPs this week simply nodded through the Libya issue, all in complete agreement with the Prime Minister and no real hard questions asked as per usual. I read a while back, MPs in the Commons spent 6 hours debating the Iraq war.. but spent 600 hours debating the fox hunting ban.
The issue of politicians taking EU money though, which binds them not to criticise the EU is also taken by the BBC in the form of loans - something which should be questioned and when it is questioned, obviously makes Kinnock and his ilk very very angry that somebody dared to. Real opposition and hard questions are only good for democracy. They don't like it when you ask them the questions you are entitled to ask.. remember Mrs Duffy? thats the contempt they show for us, thats the way they see us - not as their masters, but as their servants.
The latest article (http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/) on the Hitchens blog talks about the Libya issue concerning Parliament if anybody is interested.
Thoughts?
Euro-hyenas are no laughing matter!
Pro-Brussels peers behaved 'like a pack of hyenas' in the Lords this week when urged to declare strings-attached pensions they receive from the European Commission. The peers, including the increasingly unseemly Neil Kinnock, ganged up on Ukip's Lord Pearson in an extraordinary manner. Some shouted at the Ukip man, heckling him, sneering, scoffing and generally making him feel threatened.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/25/article-0-001F5E9900000258-583_468x286.jpg
'It was like a pack of hyenas coming in on one': Ukip's Lord Pearson was rounded on by Pro-Euro peers
Lord Pearson's 'crime'? All he did was ask why ex-Brussels Commissioners are not required to declare their fat EC pension loyalties before they make parliamentary speeches. The crucial thing about these pensions is that they are 'forfeitable'. That means they can be taken away if recipients criticise Europe. By any standards, surely, this is an ongoing financial inducement. It seems amazing they can get away with not having to declare it.
Tuesday's debate on the European Union Bill was among the most visceral the House of Lords has known. The Upper House may recently have been increasingly raucous, but what was unprecedented about Tuesday was the way a special-interest group (of supposedly dignified grandees) ganged up on an individual. In effect, the Euro-bullies tried to silence Lord Pearson by vocal intimidation. 'It was like a pack of hyenas coming in on one,' says Lord Pearson, who felt that some of the 'outrageous' intimidation bordered on the 'fascist'.
He stuck to his guns, he says, because 'it was like skiing on ice — once you've started you need to keep going'. Lord Pearson was treated so badly that he has since received letters of sympathy from colleagues across the political spectrum who were appalled by the Europhiles' conduct.
Ex-European Commissioners who made speeches in the debate were Lord Clinton-Davis (Lab), Lord Richard (Lab) and Eighties pin-up Lord Brittan (Con). Lord Clinton-Davis did admit to receiving some EC largesse, but airily said 'it is not a vast sum of money'. Other (non-pensioned) Euro-whooper-doopers joining the 'pack of hyenas' included former Foreign Office panjandra Lords Hannay and Kerr, ex MEP Lord Tomlinson and sometime Ministers Lord Sewel and Lady Quin. Disgraceful.
Now I don't have a problem with good parliamentary debate, which is the point. This is what we should be having - awkward questions being asked, whether its over Iraq, the Libson Treaty, Afghanistan or our involvement in Libya. MPs this week simply nodded through the Libya issue, all in complete agreement with the Prime Minister and no real hard questions asked as per usual. I read a while back, MPs in the Commons spent 6 hours debating the Iraq war.. but spent 600 hours debating the fox hunting ban.
The issue of politicians taking EU money though, which binds them not to criticise the EU is also taken by the BBC in the form of loans - something which should be questioned and when it is questioned, obviously makes Kinnock and his ilk very very angry that somebody dared to. Real opposition and hard questions are only good for democracy. They don't like it when you ask them the questions you are entitled to ask.. remember Mrs Duffy? thats the contempt they show for us, thats the way they see us - not as their masters, but as their servants.
The latest article (http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/) on the Hitchens blog talks about the Libya issue concerning Parliament if anybody is interested.
Thoughts?