Brexit: Daniel Hannan v Alexander Stubb - BBC Newsnight

The former prime minister of Finland, Alexander Stubb, says the Brexit process could take 5-10 years. He was speaking to Emily Maitlis in a discussion together with the Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan.

Daniel Hannan & Chuka Umunna Debate on Brexit

Burning the Koran Makes You a Dummkopf, Not a Criminal
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – DANIEL HANNAN: Book-burning neatly symbolizes the know-nothing bellicosity that lies behind so many authoritarian movements. As the fascist general, José Millán-Astray, screamed when confronted with an idea he disliked: ¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte!

Sion Owens, a BNP candidate in Wales who was arrested when police discovered that he had burned a Koran in his garage, was behaving with extraordinary narcissism. Even the BNP dunderheads who troll this blog can’t have failed to notice that a similar stunt has led to a spate of murders in Afghanistan. What Owens was effectively saying was: “My right to indulge in this little jape matters more to me than any increased threat to my country’s interests or citizens”. He would no doubt argue that he is not to blame for any bloody consequences and, in a sense, this is true: any retaliation will be entirely the responsibility of its perpetrators. But so what? At best, Owens is causing needless offence; at worst, he is seeking to provoke a violent response. The man is evidently – there is no way of putting this gently – a total dick. Continue reading and comment » | Daniel Hannan | Monday, April 11, 2011

My comment:

One of the things I hate about my country is that there is nothing written on paper that explains our rights. In other words, there is no written constitution. Our rights are merely those that Her Majesty and Her government think our rights ought to be – they are fluid, to say the least.

This is anachronistic; and if something isn't done about it soon, I fear that I shall turn from being a pro-monarchist into a full-blown republican! I am sick to death of politicians – most of whom I would not rate as being very intelligent – telling me what I can, or can't, do – and it's usually the latter! 'Ban' seems to be the middle name of so many of the Dummköpfe (thickos, dimwits, fools)! One immediately springs to mind: Tony Ban Blair! And when so many politicians have a love affair with banning, having a written constitution becomes more important than ever.

Regarding burning the Koran, especially on one's own property, is, or should be, no concern of the police at all. How dare the police interfere in one's private affairs! He was not creating any public disorder. So what's the big deal? As Archbishop Cranmer said: The police wouldn't react in this way if one were burning the Bible. They wouldn't give a damn! So why is the Koran given special treatment?

Personally, I would not burn the Koran, because I don't think it serves any purpose. I would prefer to show better. But it is rather irksome to think that my country has travelled so far down the road of dhimmitude. And that it has done so does not auger well for the future; on the contrary, it bodes ill.

One cannot help but ask oneself the question: Has the fact that Sion Owens – It appears that he can't spell his own name! It should be spellt 'Siôn', being as it is Welsh (of Hebrew origin) for John – is a BNP candidate in Wales got anything to do with this arrest, I wonder? Were they trying to discredit him?

Be all that as it may, I am sick to death with spineless politicians (of all hues) using political correctness as a reason to do nothing about the growth of Islam in Europe in particular, and the West in general. Perhaps if they were to take a stand for Judeo-Christian culture, there would be no need for extremists to take matters into their own hands and burn Korans. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Daniel Hannan – I Admit It: I Was Wrong to Have Supported Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – DANIEL HANNAN: In three and a half years of blogging, this has been my single most unpopular post. There’s little point, I know, in reminding readers that my support for Barack Obama was qualified; that I simultaneously endorsed GOP Congressional candidates; that I never saw Obama as a messiah and, indeed, was repelled by the millenarian fervour of his supporters. Nor is there much purpose in rehearsing John McCain’s shortcomings. The fact remains that I backed the Democrat.

I was wrong. Not that Obama is without his good points, obviously. His commitment to school choice is unfeigned. His foreign policy has been a jolly sight cheaper than McCain’s would have been. The election of a mixed-race president who opposed the Iraq war has made the USA slightly more popular.

None of these advantages, however, can make up for the single most important fact of Obama’s presidency, namely that the federal government is 30 per cent larger than it was two years ago[.] Continue reading and comment >>> Daniel Hannan | Monday, June 14, 2010

Le traité de Lisbonne entre en vigueur
Une brève cérémonie, organisé par le gouvernement portugais, la présidence suédoise de l'UE et la Commission européenne, devrait se dérouler mardi soir dans la capitale portugaise pour célébrer l'entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne. Photo crédits : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Le traité de Lisbonne est entré en vigueur mardi 1er décembre. Ce texte, censé améliorer la fonctionnement de l'UE et sa visibilité dans le monde, va lui donner "les outils nécessaires pour relever les défis futurs et répondre aux demandes des citoyens", affirme le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, dans un communiqué. Une brève cérémonie, organisée par le gouvernement portugais, la présidence suédoise de l'UE et la Commission européenne, devrait se dérouler mardi soir dans la capitale portugaise pour célébrer l'entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne. >>> LeMonde.fr avec AFP | Mardi 01 Décembre 2009

At Midnight Last Night, the United Kingdom Ceased to Be a Sovereign State
THE TELEGRAPH: We woke up in a different country today. Alright, it doesn’t look very different. The trees still seem black against the winter sun; the motorways continue to jam inexplicably; commuters carry on avoiding eye contact. But Britain is no longer a sovereign nation. At midnight last night, we ceased to be an independent state, bound by international treaties to other independent states, and became instead a subordinate unit within a European state. >>> Daniel Hannan | Tuesday, November 01, 2009

The Great EU Debate: Daniel Hannan, Conservative MEP
Mr. Hannan, you’d better be careful what you wish for! You seem not to be taking into consideration that the people of Scotland and Wales might well not wish to come out of the EU as you so desperately wish to do. So, if the time came to vote on it, the Scots and the Welsh could well decide to remain in the EU. After all, the Irish have done very well out of the EU, haven’t they? Indeed, the EU has brought the Irish a great deal of prosperity.

There is a strong separatist element in Scotland. In Wales it is rather weaker, but it is there nevertheless. It is not beyond the realms of possibility, therefore, that the Scots and Welsh would indeed choose to remain in the European Union even if England were to choose to come out. If this happened, it would leave England very badly isolated. Then the English would have neither Europe nor Scotland nor Wales to count on. Be careful, therefore, what you wish for, Mr. Hannan. The outcome might not be that which you intended. – © Mark



The Case for Leaving the EU >>> Daniel Hannan | Saturday, November 14, 2009

The Great EU Debate >>>

Daniel Hannan: Government-run Healthcare Would Be ’Deeply Un-American’

MEP Dan Hannan's 'Brezhnev Apparatchik' Attack on Gordon Brown Is a YouTube Hit
THE TELEGRAPH: An MEP's withering attack on Gordon Brown in which he likens him to a "Brezhnev era apparatchik" has become a surprise hit on the internet.

Daniel Hannan challenges Godon Brown
Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP for South East England, publicly lambasted the Prime Minister over his economic record after he addressed the European Parliament on the global financial crisis on Tuesday.

With Mr Brown looking on, he told fellow MEPs that Britain was entering the recession in a "dilapidated condition", with an "almost unbelievable" deficit.

In a blistering riposte to the Premier's calls for a concerted international effort to tackle the crisis, he accused the former Chancellor of trying to "spread the blame" and called him a "devalued Prime Minister".

The three-and-a-half minute speech, which drew cheers and laughter from fellow MEPs in Strasbourg, was not covered on mainstream broadcasts.

But it was posted on the video sharing website YouTube shortly after the sitting and attracted 90,000 viewers within 24 hours after being picked up by US news outlets and political blogs.

In the most critical passage, he told the Prime Minister: “When you repeat, in that wooden and perfunctory way, that our situation is better than others, that we are well placed to weather the storm, I have to tell you, you sound like a Brezhnev-era apparatchik giving the party line.

"You know and we know, and you know that we know, that it's nonsense."

Accusing Mr Brown of losing his moral authority by failing to live up to his own rhetoric, he said that 11 years of his stewardship had left the entire country in "negative equity".

Every British child is now born owing around £20,000,” he said.

“Servicing the interest on that debt is going to cost more than educating the child.”

He added that Mr Brown, who hopes to strike a "global new deal" at the summit of G20 leaders in London next month, was “pathologically incapable” of taking responsibility. >>> By John Bingham | Wednesday, March 25, 2009