From the Google cache.
2/7/05 at 7:57PM
Playing: Stop! In the name of love, by the Supremes
From BirdLife International:
UK proposes slashing funds for nature07-12-2005
As part of their Presidency of the European Union, the UK Government has proposed cutting 25 per cent of the ‘green’ EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) funds, in an attempt to spare the much-criticised subsidies to intensive agriculture.
However, these proposals make a mockery of the UK commitment to sustainability, BirdLife International said today, as Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Brussels to discuss the future of the EU’s Financial Perspective.
In an attempt to reach an agreement, the UK government has proposed to slash the already tiny budget for rural development: the only part of the CAP budget that supports environmentally sensitive farming in the EU.
This proposal, if accepted, would spare the lion’s share of direct subsidies that go to the biggest and most intensive farmers in the EU. …
Clairie Papazoglou, Head of EU Policy at BirdLife International said, “The Presidency’s compromise causes us a great deal of concern as funding for the environment remains unclear.
Unless the LIFE+ budget is increased from the proposed 0.2 per cent of the overall budget, some of Europe’s most precious habitats and wildlife, such [as] the Imperial Eagle and Great Bustard, face a very uncertain future.”
The only thing green on Bush and Blair is the infamous green zone in Baghdad.
More Blair, from the Google archive:
UK: Blair’s attack on civil liberties fails
Date: 11/9/05 at 8:50PM
Mood: Thinking Playing: Liar, by The Sex Pistols
Tony Blair wanted to show George W. Bush he was a real poodle by having a Blairist British style version of Bush’s “Patriot Act” attacking civil liberties.
However, AFP reports today:
Blair suffers stinging defeat over anti-terror powers09/11/2005
LONDON – Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered his first parliamentary defeat during his eight years in power when British lawmakers voted down a core aspect of his anti-terrorist legislation.
Members of Blair’s own Labour Party joined opposition lawmakers in the House of Commons in rejecting by a margin of 31 votes a plan to allow the police to hold terror suspects for up to three months without charge.
The defeat was all the more severe as Blair had put his personal authority on the line to pull his party with him, and cited a “compelling” case made by police in the wake of the July 7 London suicide bombings.
A disappointed Blair played down suggestions by opposition leaders and others that his grip on power was slipping.
See also here.
And here.
And here.
