http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8289535.stm

Go on, 'Dave'!

The Lisbon Treaty will be long ratified by the time Cameron comes to power.

Leaving the heart of Europe will only end badly for the United Kingdom. Do we really want to risk being left on the back burner, or worse, being kicked out on our collective arses?

No matter what anyone's personal opinion on the treaty, the 'let's have another go at this voting thing' doesn't inspire confidence in the project

The last thing they want is to kick out a major contributer to the amzingly badly run finances

If you actually look into the funding issues and why the accounts don't get signed off, you'll generally find it's not the EU to blame per se, but rather it's the fault of Member States and how they spend (and importantly, how they record what they've spent) EU grants.

and yet they still give more and more money to the member states even though they are not recording how and for what its spent? Ahhh the good old piss poor management process. Move around all responsibility until it becomes no ones responsibility and then when some one challenges the accounting and funding process. Persecute them out of a job

I recommend you read the auditing reports.

accounts 2007
From the staement of assurance

A.










there appear to be some problems.

More soundbites from the "Policy Free" vacuum that is David Cameron!
His problem is that many in his party hate the EU with a vengance. He and Jimmy Clithero's stupid younger brother (Haig) have banged-on about Labour's "broken referendum promise" for ages, now they might have to actually do something, bricks are being excreted.

Far worse than any of this (they'll be let off the hook, believe me) is the Tory plan for sacking "incompetent" teachers and replacing them with "graduates" straight from college. Oh and they want to "de-centralise" Education funding and policy by giving it direct to schools. I worked in Education in the late 1980's when they devolved funding to schools 1st time around (LMS) and introduced Ofsted, and the National Curriculum. De-centralisation PAH! The old motto "divide & conquer" is true. OK so schools get to decide how much to pay teachers and wheteher to buy hard or soft bogroll, but its all pretty minor stuff compared to deciding the TOTAL spend and how that's divided (Tax-payer-funded private schools anyone?).

Cameron is vacuous, there is nothing substantial to any of his ideas (I won't go so far as to call them policies).

Aside from that, his party is in a happy EU bed with some right wing parties that means I will not be voting for him.

Great, the 2 major parties seem to be as lame as each other. I'll have to look for this elusive "third way"...

You have to hand it to Blair though, taking the referendum off the table when he was PM and now it looks like he will be the EU President, whatever that means as there is nothing iron clad about what that position does or does not have the power to do.

I think that is a bit of a complement for him. He's just scum.

Aye, but then that may imply that some MPs aren't.