F.U.

Thus Worstall, master of pith. (My emphasis.)

Britain simply should not be in the same political organisation as France. 

For our bedrock political and legal belief is that the rules are more important than political will. 

We’ve spent much of a millenium, including several rather bloody wars and revolutions, enforcing this point on those who would rule us. 

We call it “the rule of law” and if you want to impose upon us a system where the law does not rule then you can fuck right off. 

We might just give you a bloody nose like we did James II, allow you to weep in alcoholic exile like Charles III, IV and so on or cut off your head like Charles I. 

But we will get you to fuck off.

One muses, à propos...

The F.U. proposed by Merkozy (cf. Élysée Treaty) is merely a relaunch of the existing Stability and Growth Pact but this time with the teeth and claws necessary to force compliance by weak economies like Greece, the mañana nations coerced or conned into the Euro by Franco-Germany.

If F.U. goes through (a helluva big if, of course) it will be fascinating to watch foreign soldiers (French? German?) using fire-hoses (?) (bullets?) on the streets of Athens in order to persuade protesting Greek partisans to do the Brussels-writ will of their masters: the Élysée Treaty countries.

For, you see, France firmly believes in the rule of law - for its vassals and its enemies. Not for La Patrie. France was the first country insouciantly to ignore, for its own domestic political convenience, the laws of the current Stability and Growth Pact to which it had signed up, and persuaded other nations to do likewise, with the usual communautaire flourish.

No-one had (or has) the balls, or the means, to force France back into line.

But it'll be different next time, of course. For the Greeks, anyway.

Oh, I almost forgot. Welcome to the EU, Croatia.