David Cameron is hopping around Europe in the vain hope of persuading other European countries to support his wish that more of the EU rules should be made voluntary rather than mandatory. He is expected to get short shrift in Madrid, Paris and Berlin but then maybe he should be heading to Nicosia and Valetta instead.
The Prime Minister might find support for opt-outs of EU directives in Cyprus and Malta, and he might be taken to see some illegal shooting of migratory birds too. A quick tour around the lime-sticks would allow him to sympathise with this traditional country pursuit (and sigh over the banning of fox-hunting back home) and give his support to the need for the removal of EU environmental red tape. As a nightingale is removed from a mist-net and its head squeezed between finger and thumb our Prime Minister could launch the Anglo-Cypriot accord for the removal of EU environmental regulations.
I heard another DC on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday; David Conlin is heading for Cyprus, as part of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter campaign against, well, against, bird slaughter.
I know who would get my vote.
[registration_form]
If Nightingales manage to avoid getting their heads crushed by bird-limers in the Mediterranean they risk arriving here to find their habitat has been destroyed. See Medway Council’s proposal to destroy one of the best Nightingale sites in the country at Lodge Hill. Opposition to that is also scorned as nanny state interventionism blocking the legitimate aspirations of hard-working property developers
Luckily Cameron and Osborne stand together in their determination to be the greenest government ever!
It seems that DC’s futile Euro junket has been cut short by the death of his most famous predecessor.
As the bird laws are already voluntary in the UK [ask any Red Grouse moor owner!] why worry about Malta and Cyprus which have totally ignored any EU laws any way. The number of birds shot in Malta have been falling while the liming in Cyprus has increased thanks to a ready market for eating small birds. When you vote for a conservative party you get a conservative party.
Bad news coming out of Malta now that Labour are back in power. They’re even more pro-hunting than the last lot., they’ll definitely be up for a spot of voluntary rulings. If Malta was bigger Cameron would be over there like a shot (bad pun). Look for an increase in illegal hunting and the hunters pushing for more relaxed (!) hunting laws. It’s not good. I feel really quite ashamed.
Just like Mrs T, Cameron is just not interested in wildlife protection in any meaningful way. It’s way, way down his to do list. Malta doesn’t have oil or need jet fighters so probably leaves him cold. It does attract lots of UK visitors but so long as they are spending their own hard earned money what business is it of his?