Indefinite means they are not yet prepared to specify when they end - they have not said perpetual have they? It is understandable that in the short term with the migrant / refugee crisis and now terrorism controls will be increased but abandoning SCHENGEN (sorry Superhorns I did not realise you were part of the typo / spelling police) is contra to the long term philosophy of the EU
Very happy to help out with the spelling. Can you imagine a French politician willing to put his name to an order allowing open borders again? It would be political suicide if another attack happened. Politicians have one common trait , that is to cover their political backs.
Not sure about that one Leo the Schengen agreement was only fully implemented in 1995. All it means is that there are no regularly manned border controls but....police in European countries are entitled to ask for proof of identity at any time and it is illegal to be caught without it (It is only the British who do not have an ID. card). So, in reality any policeman can stand on any border and execute controls there fully within the Schengen agreement. What they cannot do is to deny entry to anyone who is legal and has a EU passport or ID card. All Schengen countries can bring in temporary controls for an indefinite time without bringing the agreement itself into doubt.
Well put Cologne but Juncker sees the developments as a threat to the very existence of Schengen. He has vowed to fight to stop countries putting back up the walls of Europe. The priority of individual government officials is to keep their population safe, EU unity will come way behind.
Strangely the idea of recording all passengers landing at EU airports is opposed by the FN here. They do not wish to see peoples civil liberties reduced.
What currently intrigues me regarding the NF is the relationship between Marie Le Pen and her father. Are her views less extreme than her father's or does she realise that it is necessary to tone down the rhetoric to become electable. As I have previously stated there does not need many balls to fall into place for her to gain power. I would expect her popularity rating to have increased lately, especially if she can adopt some extra popular causes.
I think that what started out as an effort to make the party look less extreme has now turned into a bitter battle with court cases between the two. Her support has actually gone down over the last week, with Hollande having something of a Falklands boost.
Today's Independent has stated that she is set to top the first round of France's 2017 presidential elections. It will be contested between her and Sarkozy, who has recently been trying to out right wing her. Hollande is very unlikely to be in the running.
Well that is brave of the Independent. Up until 10 days ago I would have agreed that Hollande was unlikely to get through the first round, but he has taken on a number of the policies suggested by Sarko and has staged a mini recovery. I don't think that Sarko has been trying to out right wing her at all. It is not certain that he will be a challenger yet, and is trying hard to gain much support from the middle of the road parties. If she does get through the first round the bile she comes out with will draw both left and right together to prevent her winning. Last time in 2002 when her father beat a socialist in the first round, he came a very distant 2nd in the second round. My view is that taking into account what has happened recently it is far too soon to guess what might happen.
The Independent reported Sarkozy leap frogged over Marine Le Pen to criticise the state-and moved much further harder right. Sarko also called for all of the estimated 10,000 extremists under French intelligence surveillance to be tagged and placed under house arrest. That doesn't seem middle of the road to me. Marine Le Pen is a much more accomplished performer than her father with far greater support. To some extent she has detoxified the FN. She is set to win the northernmost area in December elections. The recent terrorist attack will only strengthen her support.
I was commenting on the comment that the Schengen agreement was effectively dead - which I think is mistaken. Your comments show that it is alive and well but has more flexibility than perhaps most thought. Schengen survives and borders can be periodically more or less controlled - the question of police asking for proof of ID runs alongside Schengen - or an EU without it. The UK has always resisted ID cards - unlike most countries we are not obliged to carry proof of who we are when we are out and about. I actually see a change to that being more likely than the abandonment of Schengen
I like the idea of pollsters being able to forecast 18 months or more ahead. Anyone remember their success at our General Election?
Last years polls stand out because they were wrong when usually they are fairly accurate. At the last minute people looked at Miliband and asked themselves could they trust this clown with our money. He even joked in the last few days that they have elected (Corbyn) somebody worse than him.!!!
Agree that those polls were spectacularly bad. Not sure why. If people had doubts about Miliband that ought to have been reflected in the polling - it is not as if Labour's perpetual mismanagement of the economy crept up on anyone. However 18 months is far too long a period to predict. All they show is how people are thinking now. Did Milly say that - cheeky of him
Talking about polls...... The Independent on Sunday asked: 'I trust Jeremy Corbyn to keep me and my family safe" Only 17% agreed. Is this his fault or 'the media campaign against him'?
I would suggest that rather than concentrating your efforts on attacking the Labour Party at every turn that you and other Tories concentrate on the task in hand because the next election will be decided not just by Labours performance. How are this collection of geriatrics and rogues (meaning the Tories) going to get their party through the EU referendum in one piece without serious meltdown ? Also, what will happen if Cameron supports the losing side in the referendum itself ?
Cameron does seem to me to be quite a "lucky" PM in that events tend to very often fall in his favour. That is not intended as a criticism of him as it's a very good commodity to have. Even as a seasoned gambler I wouldn't want to make any predictions about the EU referendum as there's far too many unknowns about what voters will do on this one. As a comitted staying in type of person I hope that Cameron's luck holds.
I'm not attacking the Labour Party whatsoever. Your misguided hope of a socialist revolution in the UK, starting with the hapless Corbyn, is floundering. The average LP supporter along with the rest of the country have no time for old fashioned confrontational politics. It is quite sad to see a once great political party made to look a laughing stock. I don't want the LP to be re-elected but I do want them to be an effective opposition, which they are clearly not at the moment. Whatever happens the one certainty is the present leadership team of the LP are doomed. You will try to blame the media, Corbyn not known yet, or the stars in the wrong place but the real reason is the UK's politics is set firmly in the middle ground.
Still focusing on Labour you just can't let go of this. The Tories have a largish number of fundamentalist right wingers who want to leave the EU at all costs, and scrap the human rights act in the process. They also have a section which remains heavily orientated towards Thatcherism, free market, neo liberal economics - the worshippers of Hayek. You also have the modernisers in the party - those who wish to take over some aspects of Labours policies. I think sometimes that you wish to concentrate on divisions within the Labour Party to keep conveniently away from this topic - how is Cameron going to get over the next 5 years with a majority of 12 and get his party through this referendum ?
