Current Affairs The House of Lords

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Bruce Wayne said:
What have the government done to help Port Talbot Pete? Assuming that your free market utopia doesn't permit 'lame ducks' to be propped up?
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I may be wrong but I thought the Welsh Assembly put in a few tens of millions a little while back. Bearing in mind that if the Government attempts to help industry then the EU usually slap us down for interfering with competition. The upshot is that whatever money goes to our regions from the EU is merely some of our own money being returned......
 
peteblue said:
I may be wrong but I thought the Welsh Assembly put in a few tens of millions a little while back. Bearing in mind that if the Government attempts to help industry then the EU usually slap us down for interfering with competition. The upshot is that whatever money goes to our regions from the EU is merely some of our own money being returned......
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As again though Pete, in your free market world, state aid is a bad thing, so the money would surely be spent on retraining or such? I was in Port Talbot at the weekend and there was an EU-funded mountain bike park, but precious little other investment in the old mining villages.

It just seems as though in this instance the EU is a villain of convenience, as they're upholding exactly the same principles you have supported yourself in the past, yet have done more to help communities adjust to the repercussions of those principles than our own government have.
 
Bruce, don't you think our government have input into investment decisions by the EU? Otherwise, if we did the investment ourselves, the EU might divert those same funds to a new motorway in Eastern Europe or somewhere. The EU have the easiest job in the world, spending other peoples money. The only problem they have is where to spend it.
 
Methuselah said:
Bruce, don't you think our government have input into investment decisions by the EU? Otherwise, if we did the investment ourselves, the EU might divert those same funds to a new motorway in Eastern Europe or somewhere. The EU have the easiest job in the world, spending other peoples money. The only problem they have is where to spend it.
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No, I think we're completely powerless and at the behest of foreign powers. Whilst I do largely agree with Friedman that spending other people's money on other people isn't generally a recipe for efficiency, at least the EU aren't beholden to the political whims that so impact government spending in the UK. It's not like there aren't plenty of examples of governments starving areas that don't often vote for them of funding.

I've also said before however, that there are EU funds available to all member states to help communities adapt to changes in population as a result of migration, be it internal or external. The government not only refuse to use that fund, but they haven't invested anything near as much in this kind of work to fill that gap. It's perhaps no surprise therefore that people are do disgruntled by perceived degradation in services as a result of population changes. It's just a change the proverbial baby has been thrown out with the bath water when the real culprits were right under our noses.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
No, I think we're completely powerless and at the behest of foreign powers. Whilst I do largely agree with Friedman that spending other people's money on other people isn't generally a recipe for efficiency, at least the EU aren't beholden to the political whims that so impact government spending in the UK. It's not like there aren't plenty of examples of governments starving areas that don't often vote for them of funding.

I've also said before however, that there are EU funds available to all member states to help communities adapt to changes in population as a result of migration, be it internal or external. The government not only refuse to use that fund, but they haven't invested anything near as much in this kind of work to fill that gap. It's perhaps no surprise therefore that people are do disgruntled by perceived degradation in services as a result of population changes. It's just a change the proverbial baby has been thrown out with the bath water when the real culprits were right under our noses.
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I agree that the EU aren't beholden to the political whims of EU member states. The EU have their own priorities. The power is with the unelected EU Commission. Every member state has a vote, Malta's vote has the same value as the UK or France. Most of the smaller countries are net receivers of EU aid and apart from some of the independently minded (Poland, Hungary) will always vote for what the Commission require. The keywords are: Influence, Threats and Vested Interests. There have recently been discussions about changing the voting structure by applying 'weighting' so that the votes of bigger countries are worth more. There is no chance of this getting past the Commission unless, after Brexit, the value increases only for Germany and France, and as Germany run the whole charade anyway, it won't then make much difference.
 
So, it’s looking like the spotlight is now focused on the HoL with Frank Field leading the way with a bill to abolish the HoL in its current form and turn it into some form of Senate. About time too really, and helped along the way by their own ego and arrogance regarding Brexit.......
 
Well, it really does look like they are finished now. They have stabbed the Government in the back to the benefit of the EU negotiating team. This will not be forgiven.......
 
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