Irish Taxi Drivers Aren't Any Wiser

Irish journalist Vincent Browne confronts the ECB's Klaus Masuch demanding to know where the money is going.

If you're Irish and in any doubt how to vote in the forthcoming referendum, watch this exchange. It could change your opinion from this.

Now I know why these people need 'management' - such as he has on his right hand side?

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The Bilderbergs, Twinings And The Mafia

As the Bilderbergs' meeting draws to a close in St Moritz, Switzerland today, it's without doubt - given the size of the British contingent - that over the four day event, tea will have been served as one of the main beverages. I wonder if, in the assortment of teas which are bound to be on offer, if any are the product of Twinings.

One of my favourite beverages is Twinings Digestif, a blend of fennel and peppermint.  Last year it suddenly vanished from Tesco's shelves and when I asked the reason I was told the tea was no longer produced.

Then came the news that Twinings was moving part of its production to Poland with a loss of 400 jobs in the UK.  The name Twinings has always been associated with England and afternoon teas so it seemed that the move was a cost saver and nothing more.

But it was more.  Through a Polish subsidiary R Twining and Co., Twinings applied for an EU subsidy which would net then €12m.  The guidelines state these grants must be used for new investments and not moving factories from other member states.

Last year the Financial Times and the UK's Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that millions of euros in EU subsidies had been allocated to companies relocating plants from western to eastern Europe.  The investigation raised questions about whether the EU oversight of grants was strong enough, since EU officials rely upon regional authorities to avoid funding relocations.

Due to the joint investigation which was handed over to MEPs, the EU has blocked Twinings' €12m grant as they are not convinced the money is to be spent appropriately.

The EU Structural Funds Programme, which distributes €347bn of European taxpayers' money across 271 regions in 27 countries, makes up the EU's second biggest budget after the Common Agricultural Funding programme and with only 25 anti-fraud investigators and a web of bureaucracy it's almost impossible to track how money is being distributed and billions is being wasted and lost to fraud.

Twinings is only an ice cube in an iceberg. They should have taken advice from certain people in Italy:

'Italy’s most dangerous mafia, the ndrangheta, has become an expert at getting its hands on these funds'


I wonder if Mario Borghezio was offered the pleasure of tea after his incident with the security which surrounds the Bilderbergs? It's somewhat ironic he is protesting at the secrecy of the Bilderbergs when, as an EU official, he must be aware how opaque the EU is in much of its business.

Back to my wee tale: a month after Tesco's response, I was delighted to find Digestif on the shelves of the local Co-operative.  Concerned they perhaps were stocking it as an 'end of line' item I contacted Twinings in London. Their answer was very positive and I was assured there were no plans to end production. "Tesco has decided to concentrate more on our fruit teas." they said. There's only one reason for that.

source

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A Response from No 10

Some time ago now I signed an online petition concerning the fact that EU auditors have refused to sign off the accounts for the 13th successive year.

Details of Petition:

“To continue to allow the EU commissioners to defraud the EU population is tantamount to theft by every politician representing the population which makes up the EU. This is something which the UK population does not wish to be involved through continued huge donation of taxpayer pounds to this corrupt organisation. If this cannot be sorted within a year then we need to withdraw unilaterally and completely from the EU.”

The No 10 response received today -

Thank you for your e-petition.

The UK has always been determined to ensure that EU funds are used properly and efficiently.  The UK was instrumental in setting up the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and strongly supported the establishment of the European Commission’s internal audit service as an independent unit.  In addition, the financial rules have been strengthened with the introduction in 2003, amended in 2007, of a new Financial Regulation, which sets out clear rules for those officials able to authorise spending - similar to those for accounting officers in the UK.

The government is disappointed that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has been unable to give the EU accounts a clean bill of health for the 14th year in succession. This continues to be a matter of real concern as mismanagement of public funds undermines the confidence of taxpayers in the EU.

While the government welcomes the fact that a greater proportion of expenditure is now getting a positive Statement of Assurance, it is clear that much remains to be done.  The UK will continue to press member states as well as the European Commission to take further action to support sound implementation of the European budget.

There is no evidence of widespread corruption within the EU. The government is confident that there are robust procedures in place to ensure that any malpractice identified will be thoroughly investigated.

Finally, the UK firmly believes that continued Membership of the EU is strongly in the UK’s national interest. The EU is the UK’s main trading partner with trade worth in excess of £400 billion, or 52% of the UK’s total trade in goods and services. The free movement of goods, labour and capital under the single market has raised gross domestic product by an estimated 2.2% across the EU, bringing an average benefit per person of £360 a year and a higher standard of living for UK citizens.

Membership of the EU brings other real benefits, many of which are not easily quantifiable. By working together with other European countries, we can achieve much more in terms of promoting peace and stability, economic prosperity, environmental protection, and a range of other important issues than we could achieve by ourselves.

The Westminster government insists there is no evidence of widespread corruption.  We know there must be serious breaches of financial management or the auditors would have signed off the accounts. What business could be run in this way? MEPs seem powerless in their efforts to resolve this serious matter and that is worrying.

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