UK/EU - Osborne says EU treaty veto helps protect UK interests

Where it says "UK interests" substitute "banks" to make it more accurate.  For even more accuracy, change it to "banks run by extremely wealthy men who went to school with members of the current Tory government".

Couldn't have put it better!

I don't know. To be honest, I live in London. I'll take Cameron's love of the British financial sector over some quixotic need to preserve the Euro (...as well as the desire of the banks in Paris and Bonn to recoup every last bit of their poorly thought-out loans.)

Like a stopped clock, even the Tory party is very, very, very occasionally right.

I don't know. To be honest, I live in London. I'll take Cameron's love of the British financial sector over some quixotic need to preserve the Euro (...as well as the desire of the banks in Paris and Bonn to recoup every last bit of their poorly thought-out loans.)

Like a stopped clock, even the Tory party is very, very, very occasionally right.

Perfectly stated!

Like a stopped clock, even the Tory party is very, very, very occasionally right.

A stopped clock is never "right" in any meaningful sense. It just happens, twice a day, to echo the indication of an accurate clock.

I think if Cameron had voted yes for the treaty, in fact, it would have had little to no impact at all on British banks or its financial sector - further agreements & negotiations would have to have taken place anyway before it could have.  But it earned him some back slapping points from city friends & Eurosceptic Tories - for his own personal interests, I don't see how he could have voted any other way & maintained his credibility within his own party - that & the city were always going to come before what was best for Britain.

As things stand, the Euro seems likely to fail - which will be bad news for Britain, with Europe as one of the biggest markets for British goods (what little remains manufactured here post-Thatcher).  So we had the choice of having some input into that & maybe trying to help it from failing, or we could stand on the sidelines & watch.

Sarkozy got what he wanted & while it's kinda funny to see someone tell Cameron to butt out, I think this was a failed outcome for Britain.

Europe is also a large share market for Chinese goods, so perhaps they will step in at the 11th hour - who knows?

We shall see.

I agree that the Lib Dems are toast.  I wonder if Clegg will ever get an appointment to the European Parliament/Commission/anything now as well?  Wonder if he is rethinking his grab for a wee bit of power (lapdog), at what expense?

I don't know. To be honest, I live in London. I'll take Cameron's love of the British financial sector over some quixotic need to preserve the Euro (...as well as the desire of the banks in Paris and Bonn to recoup every last bit of their poorly thought-out loans.)

Perfectly stated!

[sarcasm] You mean the European Union might somehow screw up and cause a worldwide financial meltdown, followed years of economic hardship? 

Yes, good thing David Cameron stood up for the established system of banking, which is so well regulated that sort of thing could never happen.[/sarcasm]