Time for a Break?

A question which can apply at many levels.

Today Britain takes a break from the European Union. I hope it won't be a long one.

But the break I propose to address this evening (when I wrote this), is whether it is time to take a break from "the News". I have been a compulsive news consumer for as long as I can remember. Whether it was newspapers; radio & TV news from the 1970s onwards - through to the era of rolling news, and the explosion of access to news (and some that don't deserve being called that) sites. As of the 1st January this year I had subscriptions to The Guardian (UK), Le Monde (France), Washington Post (USA) and China Daily (China). I also took news via alerts on my iPhone & iPad from all of those and others - as well as being signed up for emails from Roll Call; The Hill; the House of Commons Library; and as a result of being the Labour Party Candidate for Buckingham during the recent General Election, I still receive all the news from the Labour Party Press Office including Overnight Media & Broadcast briefs on a daily basis. I have also been a frequent user of twitter.

Enough is surely enough?

I've been cutting down - I'm so disillusioned by the News and Current Affairs output of BBC TV & Radio, that I no longer listen. I'm running my subscriptions to newspapers down - and unsubscribing from alerts and emails - and rarely look at Twitter.

Is that going too far?

Whilst down in London recently (one of the British Museum visits) I popped into Foyles and purchased a book called "STOP READING THE NEWS" by Rolf Dobelli. It really is a good read - with some very sensible points. It is subtitled "A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life', I would thoroughly recommend it to you.



Its contents include
- How I gave up the News (did I mention it was a signed copy?)
- News is to the Mind What Sugar is to the Body
- Radical Abstinence
- The Thirty-Day Plan
- The Soft Option
- News is |rrelevant
- News gets Risk Assessment All Wrong
- News is a Waste of Time
- News Obscures the Big Picture
- News is Toxic to Your Body
- News Confirms Our Mistakes.....
...
- News Encourages Terrorism
- News Destroys Our Peace of Mind

Dobelli also deals with potential objections to his argument, including 'What About Democracy'

In my view he makes some very good points. Do read it yourself!

I've been reflecting on what he says, and how I feel about some of the news and certain news organisations (and last night went to see the excellent film, "Bombshell" (French Title - "Scandale") about Fox News - part of the truly awful Murdoch Empire) - and came to the following conclusions -

I will "stop reading the News" - that doesn't mean that I won't be keeping myself informed about what is going on in the world. But instead of "consuming news", I'll be harvesting information about issues that matter to me. (Spoiler alert - Education, The Environment, Transport, Health (particularly avoidable illnesses)

There are a number of sources - I will still use (for the time being) the Daily editions of Le Monde, China Daily & the Washington Post - but only look at the in-depth pieces about issues. I'll still dip into France 24, Euronews, CGTN & CNN for in depth stories - but will make more use of the House of Commons Library, and regularly visit the websites of the British Parliament, the French Parliament, US Congress, the National People's Congress of China - and the Executive websites for those countries.

I'll still be making notes on the issues - what they are, and how different countries or International bodies are seeking to tackle them.

I'd welcome any comments or suggestions - you can post them here - or send to MorganBuckinghamLabour@mail.com (I might as well recycle the email account I used during the election - but just for Washminster responses.

Thankyou.

My Personal News Sources

I use a number of news websites (or subscriptions) to keep up to date with the news. These are my personal favourites.


Le Monde - France (Newspaper, French)
France 24 - France (24 hr news, available in a number of languages)
RFI - France (Radio, French - website in 16 languages)
Washington Post - USA (Newspaper, English)
The Guardian - UK (Newspaper, English)
Politico (European)
China Daily- China (Newspaper, English)
CGTN - China (News Channel, English, French, Chinese, Russian & Spanish)

For coverage of US Politics

RollCall
The Hill
Politico

















Sadly, I've not been able to include the BBC. I still have a great affection for the Corporation - but in recent years it has succumbed to political pressure - the Government sets the Licence Fee, and Conservatives have used that power to intimidate the BBC - and as a result the BBC has lost his reputation for fairness and balance. In the Last General Election it was little more than a mouthpiece for the (ruling) Conservative Party - and I was distressed by the way it decided to run some stories and ignore others (which were widely reported elsewhere). The BBC still produces some great non-News programmes (and one should never forget the value of BBC local radio) - but again it is not as good as it used to be. I find now that I watch more BBC produced programmes on PBS America - than I do current output.

The use of EU law

Interesting story in today's Guardian. Apparently the UK is considering using EU Law to "ensure the Spanish government allows the free movement of people across the border with Gibraltar". One to watch. I can't but help note that the desire to opt-out of anything connected with the EU declines when the advantages to the UK are obvious. Hence the pressure to opt out of the European Arrest Warrant - demanded by the Eurosceptics - is being resisted by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

I'm currently marking essays on Free Movement (of Goods). It's another area where consumers have seen the advantages of being in the EU. Customs duties and "charges having equivalent effect" on goods imported and exported within the EU are prohibited. (TFEU) Article 30. Of greater practical significance is the prohibition on "Quantitative restrictions...and measures having equivalent effect [MEQRs]" (TFEU Arts 34 & 35). The case law demonstrates the clever wheezes Member States came up with to discourage goods from other Member States coming in and competing with national products.

Bresciani - a case where a charge was imposed for compulsory veterinary and public health inspections carried out on imports of raw cowhides - even when home country inspections had been undertaken and the cost was disproportionate.

Schottle - charges made for freight involving long distance road journeys, but not short journeys (in other words within Germany)

Dassonville - Belgian requirement that all importers of Scotch whisky have a British certificate of authentication. Direct imports to Belgium would generally have these. Imports from (usually a cheaper source) in another country where such certificates are not required could be discouraged.

Schloh v Auto Controle Technique - Test for imported cars (requiring a fee), even when the car had a certificate of conformity with Belgian rules.

Commission v France (21/84) - French authorities consistently refused to approve postal franking machines from other Member States.

Commission v France (C-265/95) - French authorities had failed to police demonstrations where imported goods were seized and destroyed. Cassis de Dijon - ban on sale of alcohol which had "insufficient alcoholic strength", favouring the German version of 'Cassis' but banning the French version.

Cassis de Dijon - ban on sale of alcohol which had “insufficient alcoholic strength”, favouring the German version of ‘Cassis’ but banning the French version.

In each of these cases the European Court held that the ploy was illegal & couldn’t continue. As a result we as consumers have greater choice.

[This article also appears on my new Blog "Positively European". That website, unlike Washminster, is not primarily an educational website. Instead it seeks to provide some balance to the strongly eurosceptic bias within the UK Press. Please feel free to take a look]

There are some articles about 'juries' in the newspapers of Thursday 21st February - as a result of the dismissal of the jury in the Pryce case. If you are a student on the Open University's W200 course, or studying 'English Legal System' for a Law Degree or Law A-Level - it would be well worth reading at least one serious paper on the issue.

I identified stories & articles in the paper versions of

The Guardian p1,2 & 32
Independent p1,4 & 14

Online
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/feb/21/lawyers-jury-system-vicky-pryce
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/20/vicky-pryce-jury-did-its-duty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/feb/21/vicky-pryce-case-jury-failure
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/vicky-pryce-trial-q-can-a-juror-come-to-a-verdict-based-on-a-reason-that-was-not-presented-in-court-and-has-no-facts-or-evidence-to-support-it-8503566.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/editorials/editorial-dont-blame-the-jury-system-for-this-failure-8503841.html
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/crime/article3693891.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/liberaldemocrats/9883130/Jury-discharged-in-Vicky-Pryce-trial-after-failing-to-reach-verdict.html
David

My Favourite Newspapers

We all have our favourites - mine are the Guardian (UK); the Washington Post (US) and Le Monde (France). It's interesting to compare stories - and news priorities across these papers! It is amazing how easy it is today to follow news in other countries. I remember when things were very different - when satellite broadcasts were rare and short. Now thanks to the internet we can get the latest news as it happens and often unfiltered by a broadcaster. (Yes - I can - and do - watch the US Congress; UK Parliament; European Parliament and Assemblee nationale on my computer.)

I do regret that there is less coverage of what is actually said in Parliament/Congress/EP & An. As a youngster I used to enjoy reading the Parliamentary reports - now we have sketchwriters (I love Simon Hoggart's pieces) and journalists explanations - but you can't beat the raw material!

What do you think? Is it time for the papers to revive the parliamentary page?