I've met Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, son of the celebrated anthropologist, who though definitely Tory is not a naturally dishonest man. Certainly the article puts a spin on the judgement (by way of an exaggerated drawing out of the consequences), but nonetheless it is a pretty poor judgement, that indicates the authoritarian instincts of the Commission as regards democratic scrutiny. The British government, too, often hides behind employment law in the suppression of whistle-blowers like Peter Wright, Richard Tomlinson et al - former security agents driven to spill the beans on the country's rotten dealings. Sarah Tisdall, I recall, was jailed for alerting CND to the siting of American Cruise Missiles on British soil on the grounds of breach of her contract (having been required to sign the official secrets act).
In message <20010409071236.11716.qmail at web5505.mail.yahoo.com>, Daniel
Davies <d_squared_2002 at yahoo.co.uk> writes
>
>--- Michael Pugliese <debsian at pacbell.net> wrote: >
>http://www.google.com/search?q=The+Rotten+Heart+of+Europe.&btnG=Google+Searc
>
>> Euro-court outlaws criticism of EU
>> By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
>>
>> THE European Court of Justice ruled yesterday that the
>> European Union
>> can lawfully suppress political criticism of its institutions
>> and of
>> leading figures, sweeping aside English Common Law and 50
>> years of
>> European precedents on civil liberties.
>
>This is pretty dishonest reporting even by the standards of the
>Telegraph. Since the article quotes Mr Connolly repeatedly
>criticising the EU in pretty vitriolic terms, one might be
>forgiven for wondering why he hasn't been chucked in the
>clanger, if the ECJ has *really* outlawed criticism of the EU.
>
>The answer is that, it hasn't. Connolly's actual case was an
>employment one, relating to the fact that he was sacked from
>his job as a senior economist working for the Commission for
>publishing a book called "The Rotten Heart of Europe" which
>called his employer a bunch of corrupt bastards. I think that
>this fact really ought to have been mentioned in the article
>....
>
>dd
>
>=====
>"Never trust a man who doesn't drink
>Though he's less likely to throw up in your sink
>For I'd rather be half plastered
>Than a blue-nosed wowser bastard
>So never trust a man who doesn't drink" -- Barry Humphries
>
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