CONFUSED WITHOUT THE .COM

Stayed last week in a very nice, comfortable bungalow overlooking St. Ives Bay.   Nothing to grumble about except that it didn`t have any broadband connection.   So we spent the week off-line and had to rely on the television and papers for the news.   And it became apparent that unless you are on-line then you can miss out on a lot of stuff.   I lost count of the number of times I was invited to `visit our website for more details` and even the weather presenters were reduced to advising us to `find out more about the flood warnings by going on line.`  Which was a tad unnerving.

But what added to the confusion were the conflicting reports I did hear about Britain`s place in the European Union - a subject close to my heart!   Now before the last General Election I think I recall David Cameron promising in his manifesto that, if elected, he will give the British people a referendum on Britain`s membership of the EU.  Nothing`s happened, of course and so he has now come up with the beezer wheeze that, if he wins the next General Election (yeah, right) he will propose `repatriating` as many as 130 powers back to the UK from Europe;  moreover, he will promise a referendum on whether to accept the return of these powers, whatever they turn out to be.

My confusion arises not only from the absence of the referendum we were promised, but also from the reality of Cameron`s latest wheeze.   If he returns as Prime Minister (yeah, yeah) and gives us the referendum on whether to accept the return of those powers, then a `yes` vote will ensure that we stay in the EU, as it won`t be a straightforward `in or out` vote;   and of course a `no` vote will ensure we stay in the EU anyway.  No wonder I despair, especially as the EU are seeking a budget increase resulting in yet another £10billion of UK taxpayers` cash being swallowed up by the black hole of Brussels.

Cameron`s threatening to veto the EU budget if they don`t agree (yeah, right.)   And so the madness of modern day democracy goes on and on and on.......and I`m not sure it gets any clearer for being back on-line.