A good read Louise! Interesting that the article assumes the UK is part of Europe: not a working assumption for the UK of late as they do all they can to distance themselves from Europe. But perhaps that is only at the level of the politicians?
It reminds me of those great episodes from Yes Minister with Sir Humphrey advising the Minister that the UK is only going along with the European experiment to keep it from working coherently.
A good read Louise! Interesting that the article assumes the UK is part of Europe: not a working assumption for the UK of late as they do all they can to distance themselves from Europe. But perhaps that is only at the level of the politicians?
It reminds me of those great episodes from Yes Minister with Sir Humphrey advising the Minister that the UK is only going along with the European experiment to keep it from working coherently.
Is the UK part of Europe ?
embarrassing question I know!
I once said in an interview that it was (as part of conversation) and this UK guy gave me a short pause
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least the last 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, with the French and Italians against the Germans, and with the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now when it's worked so well?
James Hacker: That's all ancient history, surely.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn't work. Now that we're inside we can make a complete pig's breakfast of the whole thing: set the Germans against the French, the French against the Italians, the Italians against the Dutch. The Foreign Office is terribly pleased, it's just like old times.
James Hacker: But if that's true, why is the foreign office pushing for higher membership?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: I'd have thought that was obvious. The more members an organization has, the more arguments it can stir up. The more futile and impotent it becomes.
James Hacker: What appalling cynicism.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: We call it diplomacy, Minister.
Interesting! I'm suprised Spain was rated so highly though. THings are pretty tough there at the moment with the high unemployment rate and the government's financial woes. I would have thought the quality of life in Austria was higher than in Spain.
Just curious how you'd all compare the quality of life in Austria with that of Canada or the US?
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