"Filthy Brussels Eurocrats back terror fund with taxpayers' money!"
is doubtless how this will be pitched by some of the more rabid on the Eurosceptic side, who are always happy to distort any positive EU news. And I can think of little that isn't positive in using some of the EU's fund to help the victims of terrorism to aid a family in their quest to track down their relative's killers.
By offering to help fund any civil action the McCartney sisters may take against members of Sinn Fein or the IRA suspected of involvement in their brother's murder, the European Parliament (for it was our elected officials, not the so-called Eurocrats - although this distinction often seems to be missed in certain quarters) could help not only avoid the need for direct British funding but also put even greater international pressure on Sinn Fein and especially the IRA.
Considering the high profile the McCartneys have managed to build, any court case would already have drawn interest, but now the attention of the whole of the EU will be caught up in it, as it is EU money funding this campaign against terrorists. They may not be the popular, dusky-skinned, desert-dwelling sort, and the murder may have been in a bar fight rather than a suicide bombing, but make no mistake, they are terrorists nonetheless.
This will, of course, at once be a long-overdue EU action on the Northern Irish situation at a critical time (now that the hardliners of both sides have increased their seats in the general election) and a handy bail-out for the UK justice system which may otherwise have ended up footing the entire bill. But I'm sure someone from the anti-EU camp will be up for trying to spin this to the EU's disadvantage anyway.
Either that, or they'll ignore it - just as the voters did the anti-EU parties on Thursday.
Wednesday Update: Sure enough, the ever-reliable Richard North of EU Referendum has tried to spin this against the EU - apparently the activities of a trans-national terrorist organisation based within one of the EU's member states is "none of its business". Genius. (Link fixed)
Wednesday update 2: Missed this - eurosceptic North Sea Diaries also has an anti spin, albeit a slightly more reasonable one - arguing that separation of powers should prevent the European parliament from meddling with the judicial process. This is actually almost a fair point - although it somewhat ignores the fact that the UK system doesn't actually have separation of powers, and seems to impy that a judge is going to be swayed by knowledge of where the funding of a civil action is coming from. This in turn implies that there should really be no state funding for any legal case lest the implicit support government money would suggest also affect due process... Still - a good effort...
9 Comments:
No;I dont think such a headline will made unless theres more to it than at first seems.The fact that there may be the occasional good in the EU doesnt mean anything.
I would like all the activities of the Parliament to come under srutiny and nothing ignored.
And Nosemonkey,I wish you would not say such things as desert dwelling and dusky etc.I think I know your point but it doesnt help debate and makes you look rascist,which I know you`re not.
Who gives a fuck what you think. Stop blogging, you pompous twat.
robin - you must have missed some of the innumerable distortions of a similar kind, of which this was so blatantly a hyperbolic parody, which have appeared all over the shop at various stages. Some examples can be found here and here.
Anonymous - was that aimed at robin or at me? Either way, it's not very nice. But if you're wondering who cares what I think, perhaps you should look in a mirror - I've got you logged as having visited this blog over 70 times... That's more regular than my mother. (fnarr fnarr etc.)
oo-er, scary. Talk about anal.
Not meant to be scary, old dear, and certainly not anal. Most websites have some kind of visitor tracker.
I'm just trying to work out how someone who works for the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products could be quite so silly as to go around swearing anonymously on the internet from a work computer and not think they're going to be traced. It's a taxpayer-funded organisation. They're likely to have some kind of system in place to prevent wastage.
Now, do you have something constructive to add, or should I start deleting your comments for your own good?
Anonymous internet swearing is the modern world's answer to the fag break.
As a Eurosceptic I am in favour of this move by the Euro Parliament. It will give them less time to do other things.
Whilst the McCartneys do look like a very deserving cause, it doe raise a question about access for justice to all.
I do second your opinion on the EU waking up to Northern Irelands problems though.
fuck fuck fuck fuck arse wank tits. Now let 'em sack me, the Eurocratic buttwipes. PS You remain a pompous gobshite.
Heh - I like you. You're entertaining. A bit of a tit, but entertaining.
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