Hashim Thaci Implicated in Organ Harvesting from Serb Prisoners

Back in April 2009 I first wrote about allegations of KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) atrocities committed against Serbian prisoners and civilians during the Kosovo War.

It is now being widely reported that the trail leads right to the very top of the Kosovan government:

He was all smiles a few months ago as he honoured Tony Blair for helping to liberate his country.

But yesterday Kosovo’s prime minister was sensationally named as the boss of a brutal mafia network that allegedly specialised in butchering enemies for their kidneys.

He strongly denies the allegations.

In a bombshell report Hashim Thaci was described as ‘the most dangerous’ of organised crime leaders who engaged in assassinations, beatings, drug smuggling and a weapons racket.

Most macabre are testimonies alleging how his mafia network harvested human organs from kidnapped prisoners, who pleaded not to be ‘chopped into pieces’ before they were shot dead by henchmen.

Their kidneys and other organs were removed and sold in a deal with an Albanian clinic.

The claims about the country’s premier come as a slap in the face to those who supported Britain’s efforts to free Kosovo and help its rebel leaders to power.

Actually, it was well known even at the time that the KLA was a brutal criminal racket and terrorist group.

As its leader, it is only logical that Thaci would be involved.

Of course, this information was hushed up at the time because it didn't fit the "Serbs are evil" and "Albanians who have colonised and wrested control of Kosovo are angels" narrative.

Remind me again - what exactly did we "free" Kosovo from?

It was a province of Serbia. It's now run by gangsters and wishes to be absorbed into the far more violent, corrupt and backward state of Albania.

If the US government decided to bomb London until we gave up control of Yorkshire to a rebel government backed by Pakistan, would the Daily Mail describe that as "liberating" or "freeing" Yorkshire?

The article continues:

Dick Marty, the Swiss senator who wrote the report, said he felt ‘moral outrage’ as he allegedly discovered how Thaci’s ‘Drenica Group’, a faction of the KLA, was implicated in harvesting human organs.

He claimed captives were held in a secret network of six detention facilities in lawless northern Albania, near its border with Kosovo. In one case, a ‘handful’ of men were held in a farmhouse in the town of Fushe-Kruje.

The report states: ‘As and when the transplant surgeons were confirmed to be in position and ready to operate, the captives were brought out of the “safe house” individually, summarily executed by a KLA gunman, and their corpses transported to the operating clinic.’

‘At least some of these captives became aware of the fate that awaited them. Some are said to have pleaded with their captors to be spared the fate of being “chopped into pieces”.’

Some victims were allowed to live, minus their robbed organs.

Well, infidels are expendable, aren't they? If only all the fearless, truth-seeking Western journalists who descended on the area at the time, desperate for the tiniest hint of dirt on the Serbs, had known.

The good news is that "lawless" Albania has just been given £320 million by the EU, out of an "accession fund" to which Britain contributed about £1.1 billion. This, despite the fact that no negotiations to admit Albania are currently being held, and it is widely acknowledged the money will simply be abused.

The EU, in its eternal and benevolent wisdom, has also relaxed visa rules for Albanians and Kosovans.

Who says crime doesn't pay?

Norway's Response to the Stockholm Bombing

Yesterday I reported that, in accordance with Lawrence Auster's "Non-Islam Theory of Islamic Extremism," Saturday's suicide bombing in Stockholm was the fault of Britain and the British university where the Jihadi studied.

That's right; not Islam, not the Koran, not the teachings and example of the prophet Mohammed, not Sweden's mad immigration policies and insistence that everyone, everywhere is exactly the same - but Britain.

I was interested to note that the response of the Norwegian government followed a similar vein - i.e. a complete and utter refusal to stare objective reality in the face:

Knut Storberget [Norwegian Justice Minister] told newspaper Dagsavisen, for example, that Norway’s special police intelligence unit PST has received a 50 percent boost in funding and a 30 percent boost in staffing for anti-terrorism operations. “And we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Swedish colleagues on this,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Storberget also used the suicide bombing on a busy shopping street in downtown Stockholm, which killed the bomber but no others, as another reason why the Parliament should go along with an EU directive that would require storage of telecommunications records, to aid police in terrorism investigations.

But of course. The solution isn't a national debate about Muslim immigration, about whether mass immigration, and if so which kinds, are desirable for Sweden or Norway - no.

The solution is not spend more money on domestic anti-terror police, give the EU draconian powers, and apparently keep importing hostile aliens and throwing money at them as before.

The article continues:

There’s little doubt the bombing, the first of its kind in Scandinavia, has shaken Norwegian officials and disclosed flaws in Sweden’s own anti-terrorism operations. Questions were flying over how the perpetrator, a young Iraqi man living in Sweden who had publicly revealed increasing radicalism, had evaded police attention.

As well it might. If such things keep happening, ordinary people are going to put two and two together - there were no suicide bombings in Scandinavia before mass immigration from the Islamic world. When they do, they're going to place the blame squarely on the government.

It's a shame other questions aren't being asked about his presence in Sweden (and 400,000 or so unassimilable, alien others potentially like him) in the first place, but you can't expect miracles; no, clearly it is the job of the Swedish police to know when every young Muslim male tires of beer and blondes and becomes interested in Jihad and slaughtering infidels instead.

The best is yet to come:

Norway’s ambassador to Sweden, veteran diplomat Anna K Lund, said Sweden was now “at a crossroads” and that the bombing was viewed as “very dramatic.” Lund told newspaper Aftenposten, however, that there are differences between Swedish and Norwegian society and Sweden has experienced many more dramatic incidents than Norway.

Brynjar Lia, a researcher for the defense ministry, noted that Norwegian police have invested heavily in preventative measures, including constant dialogue with Islamic groups in Norway and with individuals. He also noted that Sweden is twice Norway’s size in terms of population, suggesting that extremists can have more room to operate.

Very dramatic, indeed. I would add that, unlike certain other dramatic incidents, this one could have easily been prevented - and not by recording everyone's phone calls.

But, as long as Norway continues its dialogue with its Muslim immigrants (I imagine that actually means making more and more apparently minor concessions in order to avoid violence), everything should be absolutely fine.

I mean, anyone who would consider doing such a thing must be completely rational and open to reason!

Just make a few points about how generous, tolerant and open Norway is, how it doesn't deserve to be attacked and everything should just work out.

How unlike Sweden it is in it's regard to prostrate itself to make others happy. Also, let's not forget that most of these immigrants are fully integrated and love having girlfriends and drinking, so they'll probably never have a problem with them anyway.

Right?

"Asylum Seekers" Protest in Malta

A truly extraordinary article appeared in yesterday's Times of Malta:

Around 70 Sudanese migrants living in Malta turned up at the offices of the UN Refugee Agency this morning to protest against the slow process of resettlement to other EU countries.

Farouk Bebekir, 28, said the government seemed to prefer resettling other East Africans to keep Sudanese in Malta because they are hard-working, adaptable and can communicate in Maltese.

“But there is no future here,” he said, pointing out that permanent work was difficult to find and bills were constantly increasing.

“We have been here six years and we don’t get any help. Others have gone to Europe to become doctors and we are still here, struggling to pay water and electricity bills.”

Good lord - lucky Malta - but poor old everyone else, missing out on the this particular chunk of enrichment. Apparently, every semi-literate Third World chancer who gets out of Malta goes on to become a doctor!

They must have quite an education system there. Obviously, an alternative view is that it is beneath contempt for any self-respecting newspaper to repeat this utter propagandistic drivel verbatim.

I must say I have some sympathy for Farouk; just look at what he's missing out on:

He added that refugees who are resettled to other EU countries can get a passport to travel and can even bring over their families to live with them and build a future together. But in Malta, they cannot travel freely and have not seen their family members in six years.

“If the government wants to keep us here, the conditions must improve. We need to be given help to find good work and job training. We need to get benefits Maltese employees get and we need to be able to travel.”

He added that if they could not be resettled and the situation in Malta did not improve, they would probably prefer to go back to Darfur and die there.

“At least we will die in our country with our friends and family not here alone, with nothing.”

As you can see, the benefits - for the immigrants - are innumerable. I'm not quite so sure what the rest of us are getting out of it, but then that's hardly new.

I particularly enjoyed the "if the government wants to keep us here..." line - I was rather under the impression that they all just turned up illegally and the government and people of Malta didn't have too much say in the matter. However the likes of Farouk may like to delude himself, I highly doubt engraved invitations were sent out.

Obviously, it would never have occurred to Farouk and the countless others that perhaps they should have stayed and strived to improve their own country; no, far better to travel to someone else's and then throw petulant fits because you haven't been elevated to the status you think you deserve or offered a free ride to an even more lucrative destination.

The insanity continues, however:

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the UNHCR, Fabrizio Ellul, explained that the process for resettlement took long but the agency did not discriminate between nationals of different countries.

“Twenty per cent of Sudanese have been resettled,” he said, adding that this was not a low figure compared to other nationalities.

He stressed, however, that resettlement was not a right and if countries offered to take migrants from Malta the decision of who to take was theirs.

Countries generally take vulnerable migrants who find difficulty integrating.

The UNHCR spokesman added that integration programmes needed to be improved for people who had to stay in Malta at least until they are resettled.

A meeting was held this morning between Sudanese representatives and the UNHCR while another one is scheduled for Friday.

Hmm. Nice work if you can get it; how about we just save everyone the bother and improve repatriation programmes instead?

That way, knowing they would be thwarted at every turn by the proper authorities, the illegal immigrants would largely stop coming in the first place.

Just a thought - might leave Fabrizio out of a job though.

Sweden Suspends Deportations to Greece

Today the BBC reports that Sweden is the latest in a line of EU countries to announce it will no longer deport "asylum seekers" (i.e. illegal immigrants) to Greece.

Under the rules of the Dublin II treaty implemented by the European Union, "asylum seekers" must make their claim and be processed in the first EU country they reach.

Unfortunately for the Greeks, this is generally them when it comes to "asylum seekers" travelling by land, particularly from countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. The border between Greece and Turkey has recently been announced as one of the EU's "pressure points" when it comes to illegal entry, and a team of border guards from across Europe have been posted there under the EU banner.

Incidentally, shall we just take a brief moment to imagine how much more intense the "pressure" would be if Turkey joined, and the EU bordered Syria, Iraq and Iran?

Anyway, back to the point; the problem with the EU's grandstanding is that it's all largely for show. Most European countries have great legal difficulties expelling asylum seekers they detect as bogus, and many don't even seem to have the will to do so. The vast majority of illegal entrants will end up staying, one way or another, as their host countries tie themselves in legal and ethical knots - throwing even more money down the drain than they spend supporting the vibrant newcomers and their (invariably numerous) dependants.

Which brings me to Sweden's announcement (following similar ones last week from Austria, Finland and Norway); the BBC helpfully informs us:

Under the EU's Dublin II Regulation, asylum seekers generally have to be processed by the first EU member state they come to. That means many have been sent back to Greece.

But in Greece far fewer asylum seekers are granted refugee status than in northern European countries.

Sweden's decision affects about 100 people who would otherwise have been returned to Greece, said Swedish Migration Board director Dan Eliasson.

"The situation in Greece is deteriorating constantly for asylum seekers," the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.

'Inhuman' conditions

Last month a UN special rapporteur, Manfred Nowak, said Greek holding centres for migrants were in a "critical state" and conditions for many of them were "inhuman".

So, the reason for not sending "asylum seekers" back to Greece is simply that they have a much lower chance of being accepted than if they're lucky enough to reach Northern Europe?

Given that the vast majority of these illegal immigrants are simply Third World people, often young males, seeking a new life, often on the Western taxpayer, such criteria simply beggars belief.

On that basis, shouldn't the governments of Sweden and Norway simply send a delegation around the Third World, addressing large crowds and asking "hands up if you want a new life, to you akin to winning the lottery, courtesy of Scandinavian taxpayers."

It would probably be cheaper for them in the long run than maintaining any pretence about "border security".

The flow will only be stemmed when getting into Europe doesn't automatically mean staying in Europe, and UN employees in non-jobs funded largely by Western taxpayers don't describe any conditions which don't include free flights to Scandinavia, large wads of cash, free accommodation and a free hand to harass Swedish women as "inhuman".

I shan't be holding my breath, however.

Whose Country Is It Anyway?

Two Lithuanians have been sent to jail for attacking a man and his two daughters who confronted them about their anti-social behaviour.

The twist is that the man who was attacked, Mr Boateng, is black. Apparently, the two thugs made monkey noises before they attacked him.

Is this particularly relevant? Well, as he sentenced Mindaugus Krisiukenas, 20, and Paulius Kulikauskas, 24, the judge told them:

"It's their country, not yours."

Under no other circumstances would he have made such a remark - or been permitted to. If he had said that to any other foreign criminals, no matter how heinous the offence (I know that to the elite rape and murder are not as heinous as incorrect attitudes, but work with me here), he would have been denounced as a racist himself, and probably harassed out of his job.

I'm not condoning the behaviour of the two Lithuanians, or disputing that they deserve to go to prison; it's just that in my world, it is attacking an innocent family that warrants a custodial sentence, rather than stupid name calling or politically incorrect opinions.

I just thought this case was worthy of note; not once in my (unfortunately) extensive reading of all manner of crimes being perpetrated against British people in their own land by foreigners have I ever heard a judge express such a sentiment - or even felt that they would wish to, that they were thinking it very deep down.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that, in the view of the elite, whilst British-born minorities are entitled to be protected from unenlightened foreigners who do not have the benefits of political correctness, brain-washing from birth and diversity of their own, the rest of us are not entitled to be protected from foreign crime, from people who come from violent, hard societies where attitudes are often very different - and even expressing such a wish marks one out as a bigot.

For what does "It's their country, not yours," mean?

It means if you don't want to play the game and fit in, then you can leave, because you are not welcome.

If only we could persuade the majority of judges that that sentiment should apply to all violent crime and subversion of our society rather than being politically incorrect, then we might stand a fighting chance of saving our country.

A Snapshot from Britain's Courts (VI)

Snippets of current cases from the London courts taken from Court News UK.

None of these cases seem to have been reported in the national or local press.

ONONUGA: SEX ATTACKER FORCED VICTIM TO FLEE HOUSE IN NIGHTIE
CHADWELL HEATH, ESSEX; MILTON KEYNES, BUCKS; A would-be rapist forced his terrified victim to flee her home dressed in just a skimpy nightgown, a court heard today (Mon). Onosoji Ononuga, 44, sneaked into the woman's ground floor flat in Chadwell Heath, Essex, before tip-toeing into bedroom and molesting her, it was said.


SHEIKH: ATTACKER KNOCKS WOMAN OUT WHILE CHILDREN PLAY DOWNSTAIRS
ILFORD, ESSEX. A man who repeatedly punched a woman in her own home was jailed for 12 months today (Mon). Zein Sheikh, 28, attacked the woman in a bedroom while her children were downstairs.


BARKAT:ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FACES JAIL FOR BOTTLING WAR HERO
CLAPHAM, SOUTHWEST LONDON. An illegal immigrant who launched a brutal attack on a former Royal Marine when he bravely tried to stop him causing carnage in the street faces years behind bars today (tues). Algerian Mohammed Barkat, 22, pushed a broken bottle into hero Jamie Caddis' armpit, severing an artery in the early hours rampage outside a bar.


SOYLER:SEX PEST CAFE BOSS GUILTY OF GROPING YOUNG WAITRESSES
KENTISH TOWN, NW LONDON. A sex pest cafe boss is facing possible jail after he was found guilty of repeatedly groping two young waitresses. Ramazan Soyler, 45, fondled the victims' bottoms and breasts on a daily basis while they were trying to do their jobs.


15-YEAR-OLD BULLY WHO KNIFED 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL TO 'LOOK TOUGH' FACES JAIL
PECKHAM, SOUTHEAST LONDON; SHEPHERD'S BUSH, WEST LONDON. A teenage bully who stabbed a 13 year-old girl in the chest to make herself look tough is facing jail. The 15 year-old was upset by rumours she had been called 'moist' - street slang for stupid - and wanted to save face.


GREWAL: STUDENT FACES JAIL FOR SEX ATTACK IN UNI HALLS
HOUNSLOW, WEST LONDON A desperate virgin who tried to rape a fellow university student on her birthday faces jail today (FRI). Amanpreet Grewal, 20, forced himself on the victim after getting drunk at her party in the Tiger Tiger bar in London's West End.


OJAJUNI: GIRL GANG MEMBER JAILED FOR THREE YEARS
STRATFORD, EAST LONDON A sadistic girl gang member who stripped a teenage rival naked and lashed her with a belt was jailed for three years today (Fri). Funmilola Ojajuni, 18, known as 'Sarah' was part of the east London 'Girls over Men' gang which had abducted the victim by knifepoint before assaulting her in a filthy alleyway.


SOMOYE:BUSINESSMAN AND WIFE ACCUSED OVER £3M MORTGAGE SCAM
CAMBERLEY, SURREY; DEWSBURY, WEST YORKS; SALFORD, MANCHESTER; LEICESTER. A Nigerian businessman and his wife appeared in court today (Thurs) accused of taking part in a £3million mortgage scam. Dr Adesina Somoye, 51, and Laikeun Looi-Somoye, 47, allegedly plotted with a fraud ring to pocket home loans and launder the proceeds.


GIRLS STAMPED ON MAN'S LEG TIL IT BROKE AFTER HE TOLD THEM OFF FOR SWEARING
LAMBETH, SW LONDON. Two 16-year-old girls acted like 'wild animals' when they stamped on a man's leg until he heard it crack after he told them off for swearing, a court heard today (Thurs). The pair pulled stroke victim Patrick De-Cambre to the ground before punching and kicking him 'too many times to remember', jurors heard.


TEEN FOOTBALLER FACING RAPE RETRIAL
HACKNEY, EAST LONDON; A promising young footballer accused of repeatedly raping a schoolgirl over a nine day period is now facing a retrial. The 15-year-old, who cannot be named, allegedly forced the 14-year-old virgin to have sex with him in an alleyway, a toilet and in a park.


AHMMADI:THREE TEENAGERS ACCUSED OF MURDERING MAN FOR HIS BLACKBERRY
THORNTON HEATH, CROYDON, SURREY. Three teenagers accused of murdering a man for his Blackberry mobile phone will stand trial in April next year. Jegir Ahmmadi, 19, and two 17 year-old boys allegedly robbed Saravanakumar Sellappan on the evening of October 17 this year.


OMAR:EIGHT YEARS FOR KNIFE YOB WHO NEARLY KILLED TAKEAWAY DELIVERYMAN
HACKNEY, EAST LONDON. A teenager who stabbed a takeaway delivery man in the chest was jailed for eight years today (Mon). Ahmed Omar, 18, pounced on Carlos Alberto as he dropped-off a Chinese meal at a block of flats.


ABELKADER: JEALOUS EX SPARED JAIL FOR NURSERY OUTBURST
ST JOHN'S WOOD, KILBURN, NW LONDON; A stalker who burst into a nursery and accused a mother of being a prostitute narrowly escaped jail today (Fri). Raezki Abdelkader, 35, ran into Portman Early Childhood Centre in St John’s Wood, northwest London, claiming to be the father of one of the children.


MUSA: PERVERT STALKER JAILED FOR HARASSMENT CAMPAIGN
PECKHAM, LEWISHAM, SE LONDON; A convicted sex attacker who forced a student out of her home with a 'disgusting' harassment campaign was jailed for 18 months today (FRI). Saed Musa, 28, stalked the young woman for eight days to declare his love for on the doorstep of her one-bedroom flat in Peckham, southeast London.

News on Lisbon from Ireland

On 2nd October 2009, the people of Ireland will be given their second opportunity to vote on The Treaty of Lisbon, i.e. the European Constitution Mark II.

The very fact that they have to vote again after rejecting the treaty (which must be ratified by all EU member states to become binding) speaks volumes, but many predict that this time the 'yes' campaign could clinch the deal.

The economic crisis and the idea that Ireland would be cast out of the European Union in every meaningful sense if they vote no a second time seems to have somewhat overshadowed the flagrant bullying and double standards meted out since the people last spoke their minds.

Most of the threats are implicit; "What would Ireland's place in Europe be if it rejected the Treaty a second time?"

Never mind the right of the Irish people to decide the fate and direction of their own nation. Never mind the blood spilt in the struggle for Irish sovereignty, independence, freedom, nationhood. Never mind that the voters of France and The Netherlands have already rejected the thing, resoundingly, when given the opportunity.

This time, once more, the Irish are the only voters in the entire EU who get a democratic say on the ratification of a document which purports to 'tidy up' the EU's powers, but will actually see powerful centralisation and further integration occur.

We have already had an unelected Prime Minister speak on our behalf, despite promising a referendum on the Treaty.

Despite all of this, as I said, many have predicted the 'yes' side have it all sewn up this time. Of my two Irish friends, one is in favour of 'yes' and already jubilant at the scent of victory, and the other favours 'no' - but still thinks it is a lost cause.

But is it? The latest poll results look promising:

A new opinion poll shows that there has been a massive surge in support for the No side, which, if it holds till voting day would result in the Lisbon Treaty being heavily defeated by a margin of 59% NO ‘V’ 41% YES.

In one of the largest polls of its kind ever carried out: Gael Poll polled 1,500 respondents in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Kilkenny, Galway, Athlone, Tralee, Dundalk and Letterkenny over the course of six days last week.The respondents were asked one single question: How do you intend to vote in the Lisbon Treaty Referendum?

A substantial 723 (59 %) said they intended voting No as opposed to 502 (41%) who indicated that they would vote Yes. The survey also showed that 15% percent of voters were still undecided. When pollsters discounted the don't knows: an overwhelming 59% of people would vote No in the referendum as opposed to 41% who indicated that they would vote Yes.

The last Gael Poll which was published in the Irish Sun (June 4th 2008)
accurately predicted that the Lisbon Treaty would be defeated by a margin of 54 % for the No side versus 46% for Yes campaigners.

On the day of the count -which took place nine days later- the actual result was 53.4% No and 46.6 % Yes.

The uncanny poll prediction which was out by only a half a percent was the
most accurate poll in the country.

It seems there is certainly cause for hope.

For any undecided Irish voters who may stumble across this, I urge you to watch Daniel Hannan's appeal to the people of Ireland:

I too have faith in the outcome - the people of Ireland know more than most the price of freedom and the cost of servitude.

Albanian Villagers Block Harvested Organs Probe

From Expatica:

Tirana -- Albanian villagers stopped a team of European investigators from approaching a house where Kosovo rebels allegedly harvested the body organs of hundreds of Serbs 10 years ago, reports said Tuesday.

"The residents of the village of Ripa blocked the road for two hours (on Monday) and prevented Council of Europe investigators entering the Katuci house without a warrant issued by Albanian prosecutors," News 24 television said.

The investigators, overseen by Dick Marty, rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, were forced to give up the attempt to visit the Katuci family home in the Balkan country's north.

The Council of Europe is yet to comment on the incident.

Marty was in Albania's capital Tirana at the time of the incident, which came at the end of a week-long investigation that also took him to Serbia and Kosovo.

His team is investigating Serbian allegations the rebels killed up to 500 of its citizens in Albania for their organs to be sold abroad after they were kidnapped during the 1998-1999 war in neighbouring Kosovo.

The conflict between Kosovo guerrillas and forces loyal to late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic left around 10,000 people dead, most of them ethnic Albanians from the breakaway southern Serbian province of Kosovo.

The claims arose in the memoirs published last year of former UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, who wrote the organs were removed at a "yellow house" since identified as the Katuci family's.

Del Ponte's book prompted the Council of Europe to reopen the case briefly investigated by her office five years ago.

Albania's Justice Minister Enkeiled Alibeaj told AFP last week that his country was "open to all demands for an investigation in accordance with the criteria" of a Council of Europe convention.

But the owner of the yellow house, Abdulla Katuci, told News 24 that Marty's team was prevented from entering his home because they had "no legal mandate and we do not know who they are.

Seeing as Serb crimes were so hotly pursued, I tink it is an outrage that this investigation is seen as pretty much optional.

Can you imagine the outcry if the Serbs had done this to the Albanians?

Bogus Wedding Ring Discovered

Police have raided a gang which set up 'brides' from the European Union and men from Africa for bogus weddings, intended to gain EU and this British citizenship for the grooms, often illegal immigrants or failed asylum seekers.

Although it's good these people have been found out, I always wonder just how many such arrangements slip through the net.

Recently the law was changed so that migrants who marry British citizens do not have to prove the relationship is genuine, even if the marriage occurs just as their permission to stay is about to expire.

The Law Lords ruled such measures are 'abitrary and unjust' (I kid you not).

From the Mail:

It looked like it was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.

But instead of walking down the aisle with bouquets of flowers in their hands, two brides and their grooms were handcuffed and taken to a police station.

The arrests were part of a coordinated operation investigating an international bogus marriage scam to allow immigrants to stay in the country.

Bogus marriage scam: A woman is arrested at a service station in west Yorkshire in an international immigration crackdown

Police and immigration officers raided two homes and arrested the Slovakian brides and Nigerian grooms before they reached the churches yesterday.

Another four men from Nigeria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, who are believed to be making up to £15,000 for each sham wedding, were also arrested. A further six Nigerian men were also detained on suspected immigration offences.

The arrests were centred around two gangs in Manchester and Bradford, west Yorkshire.

Officers waited until the Nigerian gang drove from Manchester to Bradford before arresting them in a service station just hours before the two weddings were due to take place.

Detective Sergeant Peter Gallagher, who led the operation, said: 'We believe we have cracked an organised conspiracy in which marriage fixers and European brides were making money from Nigerian grooms desperate to find a way to stay in the UK.'

Handcuffed: The Nigerian and Slovakian suspects were arrested just hours before the 'sham' weddings were due to take place

Conspiracy: Another four men from Nigeria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, believed to be making up to £15,000 for each sham wedding, were also arrested

The Churches believed to have been targeted by the gangs are St Philip & St James in Scholes, South Yorkshire, and St Lukes in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

UK Border Agency regional director Jeremy Oppenheim said: 'We will not tolerate immigration abuse and will punish those who break the immigration laws.

'Over recent years we have clamped down on sham marriages introducing Certificates of Approval, family permits and encouraged registrars to highlight suspicious cases.

Suspect: A bride waits in handcuffs just hours before her wedding

'That's why suspected sham marriages fell from over 3,500 in 2004 to under 400 in 2008. Under the tougher rules, anyone trying to play the system can expect to face imprisonment for up to seven years.'

It follows a vicar being charged with conspiracy to aid unlawful entry to the UK by helping to organise more than 180 'sham' weddings for illegal immigrants earlier this month.

Reverend Alex Brown, 60, was arrested in a dawn raid on his rectory home in St Leonards, East Sussex, and his church, St Peters, 200 yards away.

He is accused of holding a 'conveyor belt' of services to allow African and Eastern European immigrants from outside the European Union to marry those with the right to stay in the UK.

When a migrant completes a bogus marriage, they can remain in Britain and move freely in the EU.

Those with residency rights in the UK, often from other EU countries, are paid up to £2,000 a time to take part in the sham weddings.

Labour toughened marriage laws in February 2005 after the number of suspect ceremonies - often arranged by criminal gangs who could earn £10,000 a time - reached 3,700 per year. Migrants were made to get a special certificate to marry if they lived outside the EU, or had only limited rights to live in the UK.

Those with only three months' leave to remain were routinely refused on the grounds that the ceremony was performed just to avoid removal from the country.

The number of sham weddings has since fallen to around 300 a year. But the crackdown was left in tatters after the Law Lords ruled it breaches migrants' human rights.

Law Lords said forcing a migrant to prove a relationship is genuine is 'arbitrary and unjust', even if they were getting married only weeks before their permission to stay in Britain ran out.

Jeweller Branded a Racist for Banning Gypsies

This is a slightly unusual story from Cheshire.

A jeweller was repeatedly targeted by criminals gangs, believed to be gypsies from countries which have recently joined the European Union.

Naturally, the police were unable to do anything.

In response, he put up a sign in his shop banning 'Eastern European Gypsies' - and has now fallen foul of racial discrimination laws.

The rights and wrongs of this aside, what is not explained (of course) is why the government is not enforcing our borders, and has gone out of its way to make arrangements which allow poor countries with large groups of people known for their endemic criminality to prey on people in this country at will.

The full story:

In the past 18 months alone jeweller Michael Plant has repeatedly been targeted by Eastern European thieves.

At first he left it to the police to track down those responsible and hoped they would eventually be brought to justice.

But with no sign of any arrests and still more raids, he decided to ban them from his shop - only to be threatened with prosecution for racial hatred.

'I'm not racist, but the fact is I have been targeted repeatedly by Eastern European criminals,' said Mr Plant, 62, yesterday.

'I should have a right to say which people come into my shop and not face allegations of racial discrimination.

'Obviously I don't think all of them are bad, but how can I distinguish who is good and who is bad? Some people coming in to this country illegally seem to have more rights than me.'

The final straw came last Saturday after thieves snatched a men's gold wedding ring from his shop, M&M Plant in Altrincham, Cheshire. Mr Plant, who believes those responsible are Romanian travellers, has run the business with his Austrian wife Monika, 62, for more than two decades.

After each raid he called in the police to investigate but with no arrests and more stock stolen he decided to make a stand and placed a sign in his window which read: 'Sorry, we do not serve Rumanian or East European gypsies.'

After a tip-off from a member of the public, a senior police officer warned him that if it was not removed immediately he could be charged with producing racially offensive material.

'The sign was written in anger after the robbery,' said Mr Plant. 'I feared we would get more in that afternoon.

'I just put it straight in the door. The police took offence at the word "gypsies".

'I've had several robberies and the capture of criminals is very low.

'The thieves use distraction techniques like a child running around and they get away with your stock. One morning I lost nine bracelets, worth well into four figures.

' I bet if these people are caught for stealing, they probably wouldn't even go into a magistrates court. They would just get a fixed-penalty fine.

'I've spoken to various people, including foreign friends of mine, and they seem to agree that the whole country is belly-up.

'The police are reactive rather than proactive to crime, they wait for it to happen before they solve it rather than the other way round.'

'I should be able to choose who I serve. That's not just Eastern Europeans - if someone comes in drunk they will not be served either. All I want is some common sense to prevail.'

Police said Mr Plant had fallen foul of the Race Relations Act which recognises gypsies and travellers as ethnic groups.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Police received a report that a shop was displaying a sign which contained writing that was deemed to be offensive.

'Officers have spoken with the owner of the shop. He has been advised that the notice is offensive and he has since removed it.

'We take all complaints of this nature extremely seriously.'

Of course, if they took actual crime and the legitimate concerns of ordinary people seriously, the notice would never have gone up in the first place.

Immigrants Come Full Circle

We're used to being told how desperate many Third World migrants are to reach Europe or the wider Western world.

It is certainly true that many risk their lives and endure appalling conditions in order to make it to the promised land (generally considered western and northern Europe).

It is once they arrive here that the majority of the problems come; however, we are told to accept that the price for diversity and cultural enrichment is worth paying, no matter how steep it is.

Well, a report from Finland suggests that once citizenship or residency is guaranteed and the welfare tap is turned on, many immigrants and refugees decide that their homeland isn't so bad after all, compared to their new home - they send their children back to be 'de-westernised'.

From Islam in Europe:

Officials say they are learning of an increasing number of cases in which immigrant parents in Finland are forcibly sending teens back to their home countries to de-westernize them.

The Finnish Red Cross as well as social welfare offices say that every year dozens of parents who believe their children are becoming too westernized send their offspring back to African, Asian and Middle Eastern states.

Leena-Kaisa Åberg, head of the refugee and immigration section at the Finnish Red Cross, says school teachers rarely question the sudden absence of students with immigrant backgrounds.

“In some cases sports coaches are the ones who look into these disappearances,” says Åberg.

Authorities say these types of matters often fall beyond their jurisdiction, as parents are responsible for minors.

Janne Kanerva, a legislative counsellor at the Justice Ministry, says it’s not a crime if both parents decide to send their child abroad.

Migrant Camps Cleared in Greece

The sheer overwhelming numbers of illegal immigrants entering Greece as a gateway to the rest of the European Union continues to cause the country problems.

Last week there was a march in Athens against 'racism', which is what the country's far-Left calls tougher rhetoric on illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers.

The conservative government in Greece have toughened their stance in response to gains made by the far-Right in the European Parliament elections:

Athens -- About 2,000 people took to the streets in Athens last week to protest against racism and government plans to deport clandestine migrants.

Demonstrators marched to parliament, carrying banners, reading "No to racism, no to the government measures" and shouting "Hands off immigrants" and "No to expulsions".

The protest was organised by trade unions, a migrant defence committee and left-wing groups.

Far-left groups including anarchists marched in Athens on Tuesday and clashed with far-right groups and police in a district inhabited mainly by migrants.

Greece's conservative government took a tougher position on immigration after the extreme right won seven percent of the vote in last month's European Parliament election.

The interior ministry announced last week it would step up the number of expulsions using charter flights.

More than 250,000 clandestine migrants live in Greece, many hoping to reach western Europe, according to estimates by experts and non-government organisations.

In reality, the figure is probably much higher, some think closer to 2,ooo,ooo.

Yesterday, a makeshift migrant camp which has plagued the city of Patras for nearly ten years was cleared by riot police. The only structures left standing were a makeshift clinic and mosque:

Greek riot police have led an operation to demolish a makeshift camp housing illegal immigrants in the western port city of Patras.

The camp was used by migrants hoping to smuggle themselves onto ships bound for Italy and Western Europe.

Its closure is more proof of Greece's tougher stance on illegal immigration.

The camp had been a source of tension with many Greeks who regarded it as a major eyesore for themselves and for tourists arriving from Italy.

About 100 riot police escorted bulldozers into the camp before dawn.

They levelled scores of cardboard and plastic hovels.

Only a makeshift mosque and a tent used by volunteer doctors were left untouched.

The camp in Patras had been in existence in some form or another for 13 years.

A few months ago, it accommodated about 1,800 people, mainly from Afghanistan.

But that number had dwindled to about 100 following large-scale arrests and also because the port authorities had made it nearly impossible to get on board ferries to Italy.

The early morning operation was described by Red Cross officials in Patras as "terrorising" the migrants.

One worker said it was designed to send a message to all illegal immigrants that they had no future in Greece.

The conservative government in Athens has started taking tougher measures against the so-called "clandestines" in recent weeks, especially since the success of the right-wing nationalist Laos party in the European parliamentary election.

A new law has been passed which makes deportation easier.

Greece has been criticised internationally for its handling of would-be asylum seekers.

But recently the EU Justice Commissioner, Jacques Barrot, acknowledged that the "uncontrollable flow of immigration" posed a major threat to the equilibrium of Greek democracy.

The clampdown in Patras will push some migrants into the hands of traffickers in Athens and Italy who are demanding up to $8,000 (£4,940) for passage out of Greece.

Others have given up trying to catch a boat to Western Europe and have headed for Greece's land borders with Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.

Don't you just love the BBC's unbiased, completely objective coverage?

This is good news for Greeks, but the reality is that unless the European Union nations get equally tough or abandon the concept of free movement between internal borders, the problem will only end up somewhere else.

Asylum Centre Staff Strike in Belgium

From Expatica:

Staff of the Federal Asylum Agency Fedasil protested outside the organisation's headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday.

The staff are unhappy with the Belgian Government's lack of progress in drawing up a new asylum policy.

Fedasil is responsible for providing accommodation for asylum seekers.

Protester Geert Knockaert told the VRT: "We are demanding clarity from the government. We want to know what our asylum policy is. We support a regularisation for certain groups of people who have been here for a long time and who are not catered for by any of the removal programmes.

We also want policies in place to ensure that the people whose application for asylum has been turned down are returned to their country of origin.

At the moment we see people who keep on filing new applications and the number of asylum seekers being processed does not fall."

Fedasil is pressing for 2,000 extra places to accommodate asylum seekers.

At present 700 asylum seekers are staying in hotels. Hundreds of others are in emergency accommodation.

Fedasil staff are also taking their protest to the ministers concerned as well as government party headquarters.

The Belgian Government has been struggling to draw up a new asylum policy, but with five different coalition partners this has not proved to be easy.

The challenge is to establish criteria that will allow some of the people who have been living here and are integrated into mainstream society to be regularised.

We didn't really need confirmation that the system isn't working, but it is helpful when the staff involved choose to highlight the matter in this way.

However, the government will not make the policy more clear - because if they came out and said they think the border controls should be relaxed, they would be punished at the ballot box.

Like all European governments, they choose instead to talk tough but not back up their rhetoric with action.

Thoughts on the Latest Griffin Controversy

BNP leader Nick Griffin has become embroiled in controversy once more after stating that boats bringing illegal immigrants from Africa should be sunk. Well - that's how The Guardian headlined it - here's the full exchange:

Boats carrying illegal migrants to Europe should be sunk Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, said yesterday.

In a provocative intervention, Griffin, elected to the European parliament last month, called on the EU to introduce "very tough" measures to prevent illegal migrants entering Europe from Africa.

"If there's measures to set up some kind of force or to help, say the Italians, set up a force which actually blocks the Mediterranean then we'd support that," Griffin told BBC Parliament's The Record Europe.

"But the only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration and stop large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans dying on the way to get over here is to get very tough with those coming over. Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats. Anyone coming up with measures like that, we'll support, but anything which is there as a 'oh, we need to do something about it' but in the end doing something about it means bringing them into Europe we will oppose."

Shirin Wheeler, the programme's presenter, interrupted him to say the EU did not murder people. "I didn't say anyone should be murdered at sea – I say boats should be sunk, they can throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya," Griffin said. "But Europe has, sooner or later, to close its borders or it's simply going to be swamped by the third world."

Griffin's comments were especially controversial because many thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa attempt to make the crossing to Europe on rickety boats during the summer. Many land on Lampedusa, the Italian island less than 100 miles from Tunisia. The BBC said 37,000 migrants landed on Italian shores last year, a 75% increase on the year before.

In many respects I think he has a valid point - once several of the boats had been sunk and the people traffickers realised we meant business, presumably they would have to re-think their position or their routes.

Despite the hysterical reaction of the presenter, this does not constitute murder or necessarily have to result in anyone dying.

Even if some did die, presumably in the long run less people would die - on long marches organised by unscrupulous gang masters across the Sahara, gunned down at North African border posts, drowned at sea - and a lot less native Europeans would die from immigrant crime waves or be displaced from their native cities.

It's easy to pretend that morality simply means giving the migrants whatever they want; but does it?

The waves of migration from the Third World to the West go beyond mere 'immigration' - they are an invasion, a demographic conquest which will change our countries and our way of life altogether if left unchecked.

Are Griffin's remarks 'particularly controversial' in summer when many migrants are crossing, or is the fact that Lampedusa has a stable population of just over 6,000 people, but must somehow accommodate the arrival of over 37,000 migrants from completely alien and unassimilable cultures and backgrounds the real controversy here?

Such demographic change is unprecedented in history - aside from in terms of conquest.

The sad thing is that it takes a Griffin interview to draw attention to the invasion of Europe - the fact that so many arrive illegally should really be the big news. His comments may be hard line, but sensible minds should have been turned to solving this problem long ago - the favoured method for me being simply towing the migrants back (which Italy is now doing, albeit about 25 years too late).

Griffin hits the mark in that the only way to stop this invasion is to stop the arrival of the illegals on our territory in the first place. Once they are here, they are here to stay.

It was reported in January that around 90% of failed asylum seekers stay in the United Kingdom after being rejected and having no right to remain. Many simply disappear into the black economy or appeal to the point where they've been here so long they have to all intents and purposes settled:

As many as nine out of ten failed asylum seekers are being allowed to stay in Britain despite having no right to remain, a report from a Government watchdog reveals today.

The backlog of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation is growing fast as the UK Border Agency fails to keep pace with the number of rejected applicants. The number of unprocessed cases is also growing.

And Government rules stating that all successful asylum seekers must have their cases reviewed after five years - to see if their country is now safe enough to return to - have descended into farce, because the Border Agency has no way of tracking those living in Britain and no plans for a review.

Today's report acknowledges that the £800million-a-year system is now 'better organised than before', but highlights grave problems which in many cases are getting worse.

A surge in the number of asylum claims saw the backlog of undecided cases more than double in a year, to almost 9,000.

The NAO tracked more than 25,000 claims lodged from January 2007 to February 2008, of which almost 14,000 were refused.

But of 10,719 cases processed in the seven regions around the UK, only 918 - less than 10 per cent - had actually been deported by the following August.

The rate was higher for 3,000 false claimants who were fast-tracked in detention. Including these claims, the overall removal rate was just one in four.

A severe shortage of detention spaces is making removals harder, the report warned, with much of the available capacity taken up by foreign criminals who have completed their sentences and are awaiting deportation.

The NAO also highlighted glaring inefficiencies, including:

• Seventy per cent of planned deportations - where security staff accompany deportees on flights home - are cancelled, often due to lack of proper coordination, leading to 'additional work and costs'.

• The Agency often has to buy emergency travel documents from foreign governments to deport failed asylum seekers, but 13,000 of these have been wasted because individuals absconded, or because the papers expired.

• Since 2005, Britain has granted asylum for five years only - after which cases should be reviewed in the hope that some immigrants will be able to return home.

But astonishingly the Border Agency 'has no process' to track refugees living in Britain and 'no plans in place to review these cases'.

There are 8,000 due for review next year.

It seems that stopping the flow at its source is perhaps the only solution. The asylum system in Britain is now in such utter disarray that many cases are simply being abandoned due to the backlog, as The Telegraph reported yesterday:

At least 144,000 asylum seekers will be allowed to stay in Britain due to a backlog of claims.

More than 63,000 of the 450,000 historic cases that were found to have slipped under the radar for years have now been told they can stay.

Many are because they have been in the country for so long hat the Home Office would have difficulty trying to remove them on human rights grounds because they have effectively settled here.

Officials working through the so-called legacy backlog have so far examined 197,500 cases and there has been a 32 per cent approval rate, Lin Homer, the chief executive of the UK Border Agency, told MPs yesterday.

If that continues then some 144,000 will be able to stay once all the cases files have been looked at, in what the Tories have labelled an amnesty by the back door.

Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: "Any progress is painfully slow on this."

The 450,000 files in the Case Resolution Programme were unearthed in 2006 after the foreign prisoners scandal.

Among them are claimants who should have been deported as far back as the mid-1990s.

The list includes 5,150 from Zimbabwe, 4,900 from Pakistan and 4,500 from Somalia.

Miss Homer revealed that at least 7,000 so far may never be traced and their files have been archived.

The problems are similar in many Western countries, with the number of people claiming asylum after illegal entry soaring.

We don't have the space or the resources for this to go on forever - so at the very least we can be grateful to Nick Griffin for actually airing the subject in the first place.

U.K. Must Pay France to Enforce its Borders

British taxpayers are to fork out £15 million in a deal to get the French to enforce their own borders and immigration laws.

Gordon Brown met Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in a meeting held prior to the G8 summit.

From the BBC:

The UK has promised France £15m for border protection in return for help deporting immigrants, it was announced.

Under a deal agreed at the summit, the UK will provide £15m to pay for new technology to search vehicles and goods approaching its borders.

There are estimated to be about 1,000 migrants in makeshift camps in Calais, most hoping to enter Britain illegally.

A pilot scheme will be conducted out at Calais before being rolled out to cover Boulogne, Dunkirk and the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

In the House of Commons, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "The investment will be made on the understanding that the French will, in return, effect significant returns of illegal migrants from northern French regions."

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the French had promised to step up removal flights and pledged that "these changes will further strengthen the ring of steel that protects Britain".

But shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the government had struck a bad deal for taxpayers.

He added: "We are apparently paying £15m so that the French agree to enforce their own laws. Surely they should be deporting illegal immigrants anyway?"

Meanwhile, in a parliamentary written answer, Mr Woolas said the UK government spent £26.8m on flights to remove immigrants in 2008/9 - including £18.6m for scheduled flights and £8.2m on charter services.

This is mere window dressing. We know that despite his tough reputation, Nicolas Sarkozy does not care about reducing immigration to France.

Therefore, the British taxpayer will simply be paying to remove immigrants who should not be in France in the first place - provided, of course, any actually do get removed.

Meanwhile, Italy continues to show us the way in these matters. Italian citizens will be compelled by law to report all illegal immigrants to the authorities.

The Italian government, after a deal with Libya, continues its policy of simply towing boats full of illegal immigrants back to North Africa instead of allowing them to land and claim asylum, clogging up the system with lengthy appeals and being held or supported at taxpayers' expense.

The areas most heavily affected by immigrant violence and unrest will also be permitted unarmed civilian vigilante patrols, which may include uniformed nationalists of the type seen in this report:

The sad thing is that it had to get to the stage where such people are needed for ordinary citizens to feel safe in their own cities in their own country.

Dismantling the Borders by the Back Door

Last week there was a large demonstration in Calais against the fact that migrants sleeping rough there can't simply enter Britain at will.

Many of the protesters were hardcore anarchists, and French riot police arrested around 47 people, finding weapons such as metal poles, machetes and pepper spray.

Many of the anarchists' threats, such as tearing down the border, leading migrants to Britain through the Channel Tunnel and burning symbols of capitalism and authority never came to pass, however.

This is a situation which has been going on for years now. The migrants live in Calais, daily trying to illegally sneak into Britain so they can claim asylum here and enjoy a range of benefits simply not on offer in France, plus the knowledge that only a minute fraction of them will ever be kicked out, even if their claims are turned down.

Since the Red Cross reception centre at Sangatte was closed in 2002, it is estimated that 2,000 illegal immigrants live rough in Calais.

Many in the town are sick of the situation, claiming that women are harassed, businesses are affected and hygiene is a problem.

The solution which is most often put forward by the French government involves the United Kingdom joining the Schengen Agreement, which would abolish border controls between this country and the other signatories (members of the EU an EEA).

Well, that won't happen any time soon, but it seems that the French government and the anarchists will get their wish in some form or another; on Wednesday the UN High Commissioner for Refugees opened its first full-time unit in Calais since Sangatte was closed.

It will now begin advising thousands of migrants on the steps they should take to come to Britain and claim asylum.

This is simply tearing down the borders by the back door - by legally subverting them.

Britain 'Wrong' to Freeze Assets of Hate Preacher Qatada

Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada has been living in Britain since 1993. In that time, he has claimed tens of thousands of pounds in benefits for his wife and five children.

After the 11th September 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, Qatada was identified as one of al-Qaeda's top men in Europe, and he was added to a list of known terror suspects, meaning his assets were frozen throughout the European Union.

Qatada is currently being held in HMP Belmarsh as the British government struggle in vain through the forests of red tape they created to deport him to Jordan - a move he is fighting, because presumably he won't be kept in the style to which we've let him become accustomed.

Obviously these appeals cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds.

The Law Lords have ruled that he can be deported, but he is struggling on in the European Court of Human Rights, a body which has already awarded him £2,500 in compensation because his detention is 'unlawful'.

Well, if they get their way he will be able to access that cash soon - because the European Court of First Instance has just ruled that putting him on the terror list and freezing his assets in the first place was illegal:

EU judges overruled the Government and the United Nations yesterday by unfreezing the assets of Al Qaeda 'ambassador' Abu Qatada.

The verdict, reached on human rights grounds by the EU's Court of First Instance, paves the way for the fanatic to receive a compensation payout controversially awarded against the British Government earlier this year.

The latest case goes back to October 2001, in the wake of 9/11, when Qatada was put on an EU list of terrorist suspects whose money and other assets in Europe are blocked.

The UN Security Council's sanctions committee had named him as associated with Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda.

All member states are instructed to freeze 'the funds and other financial assets controlled directly or indirectly by such persons or entities'.

When Qatada was awarded £2,500 by the European Court of Human Rights for being 'unlawfully detained' in Belmarsh high security prison, South East London, he could not lay his hands on the cash.

But now the Court of First Instance, which is linked to the European Court of Justice, has said that putting him on the terror list breached his 'fundamental rights'.

It's a real shame that the rest of us don't have the right to live in a country capable of controlling who is allowed in and who must leave.

Peter Mandelson Wants Britain to Join the Euro

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has praised the 'great success' of the European single currency, the Euro, and declared that it is Britain's ultimate aim to ditch the Pound and join.

I find this interesting from a political perspective; no top politician has spoken publicly or seriously about joining the Euro for five years or more.

Keeping Britain out of the Euro is in fact one of Gordon Brown's major achievements as Chancellor - his 'five economic tests' pretty much buried all talk of the project.

As a former European commissioner, Mandelson receives a £31,000 a year pension - provided he does not criticise the European project.

Lord Mandelson, on a trip to Berlin, said: 'Does it remain an important objective for Britain to find itself in the same currency as that single market in which it interacts? Obviously yes.'

He insisted such a decision was for 'the future' and had to be made on the 'right terms in the right circumstances'.

However, he added: 'It is perfectly clear that the euro has been a great success in anchoring its eurozone members during the financial crisis.

'I hope people will recognise this represents a major vindication for the single currency.'

Presumably that would be a point in the future when Labour isn't second to UKIP in the European Parliament and Eurosceptics hadn't won astonishing political victories in Britain and Europe?

Some Media Reactions to the European Election Results

The media are nothing if not predictable; and last night's victory not just for the BNP but for UKIP and the Right across Europe was clearly very trying indeed for them.

David Dimbleby, stalwart of the BBC's political coverage, a man who considers Boris 'my great grandfather was a Muslim slave-owner and I'm proud' Johnson a fascist, managed to keep his voice on an even keel when he mentioned the BNP and Nick Griffin.

Some of his panellists were not so polite; one went so far as to chastise David Cameron for wishing to leave the 'centre-Right' EPP block, ranting: "he wants to join gypsy-bashers and climate change deniers", as if there is no degree of difference between the two.

Most disturbing though is the way that these upsets for the mainstream have been pretty much dismissed out of hand by many; they blame the expenses scandal or the financial crisis without bothering to look at why some people might turn away from the mainstream.

Some went so far as to suggest that the only reason to vote in future was to 'stop the BNP'; they did not seem to consider that if this is truly the only reason to bother voting, that is a damning indictment of our political elite.

Is that really all they can offer us? What about hope, talent, inspiration - do they really have so little? What about a willingness to listen to ordinary people and observe objective reality and formulate a manifesto accordingly? What about allowing reality to trump ideology?

If they put half as much effort into listening and governing as they do trying to smear and stop the BNP, we would reside in a country approaching a veritable utopia.

The BNP needed this breakthrough in their quest to become mainstream. The real winners of the night, however, were UKIP and the Greens.

For a 'fringe' party to push Labour into third place is unprecedented. But it proves that issues such as immigration and rule from Brussels are important to millions of British people. Most people who vote Conservative probably feel the same, deluded that Dave is the man to take the Tories forward.

UKIP and the Greens are seen as the polite protest vote. That certainly does not make every point the BNP makes moot, however. Now that they have access to major funding and a platform, we shall see them in their true light, as others have said here.

Some people are determined to be silly, however; I found the following comments on an article by the Times:

So now we know. Whilst the USA can elect a Black President, we are a country of racists who elect openly racist parties.
After University, I think I might leave for America. There's nothing great about Britain anymore. Sam, Blackpool

Yeah, never mind what a disaster he is - just focus on his colour whilst, er, accusing everyone else of racism.

many are/have been fooled into believing that somehow the difficulties they are facing can be attributed to Asylum seekers or other minorities. ...Most however are covert rascist and are looking for an excust to vote BNP...'Boo hoo an asylum seeker stole my job! Grow up!
Ola, London, UK

No, I know for a fact that huge problems exist in this country caused by unacceptably large numbers of unassimilable Third World immigrants. The numbers involved belie the fact that this victory comes from a couple of racists complaining that a black guy moved in next door. The very existence of this nation is under threat. Why is it illegitimate to wish to control our borders and say that immigration should work for us?

I'm British and my wife is Japanese. In September we will be moving to England. It is unbelievably depressing that we'll be moving to country where national elected politicians will regard our future children as foreigners merely because of their mother's race. Sad beyond words. James, Numazu, Japan

This annoys me. Firstly, if Japan is so wonderful, why come? Secondly, Japan is the only industrialised nation not being colonised by the Third World, the only one which retains the right to control its borders. Why are we evil for wishing to do the same?

I am a British Asian and am not too disgruntled at the vote, face it most of the BNP voters are too stupid to go and get a job themselves so it is easy to blame others. I have worked in estates where the BNP's catchment area is and you would get more sense out of the residents at a Zoo. Pav, Leeds

The utter contempt is amazing. Do these people not have the right to vote for who they wish? Pav is probably employed by the state in some money wasting, social engineering capacity, yet still he mocks those who pay for him. Perhaps, Pav, they are sick and tired of the crime rate of 'British Asians', i.e. Muslims, in the regions in which the BNP were successful.

Over in Holland, Robin Pascoe, the founder of the English-language Dutch News site, was not best pleased with the rise of Geert Wilders, but liked the overall results:

There is some good news in the results of Thursday's Dutch elections for the European parliament.

For a start, despite, the upward march of Geert Wilders' PVV, which took around 17% of the vote, over eight out of 10 people did not vote for his anti-Islam, anti-European party. And as only 37% of the total population bothered to exercise their democratic results at all, his actual support is very small indeed.

In Rotterdam, seen as his biggest urban stronghold, just 29% of the population turned out to vote, and of them, just 22% voted for him. Hardly an overwhelming victory.

The PVV was also the biggest party in The Hague - an embarrassing result for a city which likes to portray itself as the centre of peace and justice.

But in Amsterdam, Wilder's party was in fourth place - and the pro-European Liberal Democrats and left-wing greens GroenLinks rule the roost. The picture is similar in Utrecht.

So despite the four - or possibly five - seats that the PVV will take up in Brussels, only a small fraction of his potential supporters actually bothered to vote for him.

And he failed to do what several polls had predicted: overtake the Christian Democrats to become the biggest party in the country. Given the massive amount of publicity he has had over the past few weeks, that could be construed as surprising. But it does mean by far and away most Dutch people are not xenophobes who want to knee-cap football hooligans and ban the Koran.

The other piece of good news is that the pro-Europeans won. Well under half of the Netherlands 25 seats have gone to avowedly anti-European parties - the PVV and Socialists. The biggest pro-Europeans - D66 and GroenLinks have doubled their representation and take six seats between them - more than Wilders.

As for the established parties - the coalition government and the free-market Liberals - they have been given a serious warning. Labour in particular has been punished for its invisible campaigning and mixed message.

The bad news of the night is that Europe is still a massive voter turn-off. Only 37% of us bothered to vote, and that is a big win for voter apathy.

Much to criticise here, but the first thing that jumps out at me is the old chestnut of describing anyone who opposes the European Union as 'anti-Europe'.

I would respectfully suggest, after reading Mr Pascoe's diatribe, that Mr Wilders is far more pro-Europe than he is, if that is taken to mean commitment to European values and the preservation of individual European cultures in the lands they emerged from.

Secondly, why is it embarrassing that Mr Wilders' PVV party is the biggest in The Hague, and not embarrassing that some areas of The Hague are ruled by criminal Third World colonists? Surely that too strikes a blow for peace and justice?

Europe is a massive voter turn-off because people know they will not be listened to. Look at the Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland, and before it the European Constitution votes in France and the Netherlands.

People who feel genuinely powerless may see Wilders as just another establishment stooge. Foolish, because it looks like he is the best that the Right has to offer in Europe, but still.

Lastly, there is that notion that any Dutch who lament their country being taken over by hostile aliens are 'xenophobes'.

The real good news of the night for the likes of Pascoe is that the status quo has been largely maintained. The EPP block was large and powerful before - but still, nothing changed.

Will it this time? I have faith in Mr Wilders, and a few select others such as Daniel Hannan -but overall, we will have to wait and see.

Here is Daniel Hannan's victory speech from last night - well worth a watch:

European Election Results Trickle In

20 of 69 seats on mainland Britain have been now been declared.

The big news is that the British National Party has won its first seat in the European Parliament. Interestingly, the BBC predict they will win a second.

Earlier in the evening BNP leader Nick Griffin's car was attacked by far-Left protesters as he attempted to enter Manchester Town Hall to attend the vote count.

In the end, he had to come back in a police van and be escorted into the building by a rear entrance.

Griffin said in an interview:

BNP leader Nick Griffin says he is against the "huge racism" which is "directed at people who look like me". He attributes the party's success in Yorkshire and the Humber to the fact the problems of "indigenous people" are "consistently ignored by the mass media". Asked about his own chances of winning another seat in the North West region, he says it is "too close to call".

***UPDATE*** Nick Griffin has won a second seat for the BNP.

The media have gone into overdrive with the 'rise of the far-Right' nonsense. Here are a few select quotes from the BBC's live online coverage:

JulietteG tweets: Pleased that the Tories have done so well. Very disappointed about the BNP. Griffin's interview was appalling. Read JulietteG's tweets

0004 "It's a disappointing night for British politics that the BNP have been elected," says Shadow Europe Minister Mark Francois. "We have to expose what they believe in."

bowlandtilidie tweets: It seems our disillusionment with politics in the UK has caught up with us and our tolerant image has taken a blow. Sad day. Read bowlandtilidie's tweets

2332 Health Secretary Andy Burnham says the election of the BNP is a "sad day for British politics". He adds: "We have to understand why people have voted BNP and try to win these people back". Mr Burnham notes that voters in Burnley - where the BNP previously had a base - have rejected the party after seeing them at close hand.

Etc etc ad infinitum.

Of course, no one wants to look at why the BNP won that seat, and why the Tories have only raised their overall share of the vote by one percent, despite Labour's falling by eight percent.

It is easy to blame the expenses scandal, but that would imply that the nation was actually being governed well beforehand - quite a claim.

The really big winners of the night seem to be the United Kingdom Independence Party and the Greens - the former has raised its overall share of the vote by 2.2 percent, the latter by 2.7 percent. This table shows the situation as it stands:

Votes		MEPs
Party	%	+/- %	Total	+/-
CON	25.9	1.3	7	0
UKIP	17.2	2.2	4	1
LAB	16.7	-8.9	4	-2
BNP	7.5	1.8	1	1
PC	3.1	-0.3	1	0
GRN	7.7	2.6	0	0
SNP	0	0	0	0
SSP	0	0	0	0
OTH	8.3	2.0	0	0

Elsewhere in Europe, success seems to mainly be attached to safe, centre and pseudo Right parties run by the likes of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.

The best news is still the success of Geert Wilders' PVV, which has won four seats in the European Parliament and become the second largest party in Holland with 17% of the vote.

There is also good news from Demark - the Danish Peoples' Party has won another seat, and now has two.

More good news from Finland:

Finland's Eurosceptic True Finns party have seen a strong rise in support, winning 9.8% of the vote on Sunday. Party leader Timo Soini won 130,400 direct votes, more than any other candidate. Miter Repo, an Orthodox priest who was defrocked for the campaign, won the third most votes on a Social Democratic ticket. The governing conservative National Coalition came first nationally, however, with 22.5%, followed by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's Centre party with 20%. The main opposition Social Democrats took 17.8%.