New LABOUR is malignant, not incompetent … at last, conservatives have woken up. But will they do anything, or hand credit to the BNP, which the Gramscians trumpet us to hate?

David Davis

What have we been saying all these years, about socialism: why it is applied where, and in what ways, and what it’s for?

Read Simon Heffer here.

The comments alone are worth an hour or so. I’ve never seen such a hoo-hah … the lefties are on there too, battling their corner like grampuses. “micky 2 shoes” and “realing” are typical ones.

Northern Rock could yet come unstuck … Perhaps we are better off for now in the EU after all: its masters are not as nasty as our masters, and are further away.

David Davis

We picked this up on a hat tip from Christina Speight.

This is not unexpected,  but the shoddy package Darling and Brown have put together could well come unstuck.   Banks are already complaining that the state guarrantees given to Northern Rock give that company a substantial trading advantage.

Although it may offend euro-sceptic sensibilities this may be a case where the EU can save us from the excesses of our own profligate government.

Christina

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SKY NEWS   2.4.08

EU Probes Northern Rock Revamp Plans

Updated:10:38, Wednesday April 02, 2008

The EU Commission says it has begun an in-depth investigation into the UK’s restructuring plans for Northern Rock.

Bank was nationalised last month

It says it wants to look at potential distortion to the market – the probe will last several months.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said it was needed “to ensure legal certainty, notably in view of the large scale of the aid measures, the background of current conditions in financial markets and the risks of distortion of competition.”

Britain’s fifth-largest mortgage lender was nationalised last month but the Government needs EU approval for such action.

It was bailed out to the tune of some £24bn by the Bank of England.

UK taxpayers are now subsidising the bank in loans and guarantees to other lenders to the tune of about £55bn. It wants to pay the money back as soon as possible. 

However, it admitted in its results statement that it expects to remain “significantly loss making” throughout this year.

The commission has already endorsed the rescue aid loans to the bank

It has also backed the action taken by the Government last December to bail it out.

However, such a rescue package is regarded as only temporary – the restructuring moves the commission is investigating are a separate matter.

Restructuring aid allows a government to inject capital into a company – but in return that company must shrink in size so that the cash it receives will not unfairly affect its competitors.

The commission acknowledged that the UK plan would reduce Northern Rock’s lending operations and the size of its balance sheet.

I think the point we want to begin making on here as Libertarians – and I know Sean Gabb agrees –  is that although we DO view the EU as a problem extistentially, it is not any more the MAIN one.

If our current political masters and their emplaced Enemy Class did nothing more than enact EU Law (as they have to) and then went back to sleep as is the general case with their comrades on the Continent, life in the UK could remain quite tolerable and free of either the present gross State corruption, or much of the tyrannical aspects of it, or both.

We have to hope that the EU wil pull the current cosy “Northern Wreck” deal apart. It was as clear as mud that it was only held afloat and “rescued” because of the salariat-votes and new-Laborg-payroll-jobs in its Stalinist heartland of the North East.

STOCKHOLM NETWORK … new press release backs education vouchers

As parents signal willingness to run schools themselves, think tank launches DVD calling for school vouchers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 02/04/08 In the wake of increasing numbers of parents taking matters into their own hands and setting up independent, no frills schools (The Daily Telegraph, ‘Parents set up their own primary’, page 10, 02/04/08), the Stockholm Network offered its vision for British education in 2020. Launching a new film on the internet, Stockholm Network CEO, Helen Disney said:  “The State should continue to fund most primary and secondary education, but such money ought to follow pupils in the form of a voucher and be spent in a much more competitive and open market of independent providers.  Learning from the Swedish policy agenda which has greatly encouraged school choice, parents and teachers must be allowed to set up their own schools where there is a critical mass of local support.” Launching the DVD: Back to School: How Choice and Competition could make Britain’s future brighter, which explores market reforms in education, the Stockholm Network recommends three key policy changes that it believes will greatly improve school standards and outcomes:  1)      Money to follow pupils via a voucher which can be spent in any school;2)      All schools to be set free from Whitehall control and therefore to be in the independent for-profit and not-for-profit sector by 2015;3)      All schools to initially work to a national curriculum with the possibility of later deregulation and flexible opt-outs. To view the documentary please visit:http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/gregoryjude/video/x4b7ax_back-to-school_politics  Following the example of the New Model School Company, set up to make independent education available to a wider range of families by keeping fees below £5,000 per annum, the Stockholm Network wants to see traditionally over-priced public schools competitively challenged by an influx of new market entrants: “It is vital that the supply of independent schools increases in response to the growing demand, in order to stimulate competition. The independent schools sector should be able to cater for the children of low- and middle-income parents, as well as the rich. The reason that many of the leading independent schools have been able to increase their fees by nearly 100% in the last ten years in that they reside in an essentially ossified market, without genuine competition,” explains Robert Whelan, Managing Director of the New Model School Company, which runs Maple Walk School in Kensal Town.  Commenting on the debate that will be sparked by the new film, Helen Disney concludes: “This DVD fires the starting pistol on the education debate for the next general election. I have no doubt that the idea of state money following the pupil will be attractive to a vast majority of voters. I also believe that once set free from Whitehall, state schools will thrive in a new and universal market of independent provision. The time is now right for politicians to allow competition to drive up school standards and to do so not just for the well-off but for everyone.” - ENDS -

For quotes and commentary on the above, please call Cara Walker, Head of Media and Communications on 00 44 20 7354 8888 or cara@stockholm-network.org

  Notes to Editors: The Stockholm Network is the leading pan-European think tank. It offers a unique network of 130 + market-oriented think tanks across Europe providing access to the best European policy thinking. Tel: 020 7354 8888, Fax: 020 7359 8888  www.stockholm-network.org