Very sad news that Vaclav Havel has died.

I spent a bit of time this afternoon watching some old films from 1989 on You Tube. It is amazing how it now all seems so long ago and a different world, which I suppose it was.

We owe him, and his fellow leaders in what we had used to call Eastern Europe, a huge debt of gratitude not just for what happened then but also in the way they managed to navigate those first few months and years of freedom.

Maybe not everything happened perfectly or without problems, but in avoiding bloodshed and a return to communism, the debt that we, and particularly the citizens of those contries, owe to people such as Vaclav Havel is vast.

I would support New Forest with his endorsement of Lee Childs.

I have recently read one of his books after it had been leant to me by a friend. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading it, not really liking crime thriller type books but I was hooked from page 1 and can’t wait to get round to reading another of his books.

IE

I agree Doors4 – I can’t help but see this as yet another of Branson’s tiresome publicity stunts. It would be interesting if BA/IAG called his bluff and pulled out of the deal to see if Virgin went ahead with the purchase – somehow I doubt it.

I have been fond of the airline as a consequence of growing up very close to East Midlands Airport. Although it has lost its way in the last few years, it played a critical role in the development of the competitive airline sector that we now have in Europe and challenged the domination of the ‘flag’ carriers almost single handedly.

The airline passenger of today owes a lot to the airline, and it is unfortunate that the competitive market it spent so long trying to establish has finally forced it into the ‘enemy’s’ hands.

I will be sad to see it go.

I don’t really see the point of stories such as these – apart from providing excellent pr for the club concerned.

The article tries its best to be shocked but, assuming the story is true, we should be celebrating that despite the economic problems there still are sucessful firms making money and putting money into the economy rather than the endless stories of doom and gloom that most media outlets seem to like serving on a daily basis.

How sad, and tragically British, that a discussion that should be about the future shape of our continent, its future and Britain’s role in driving that future forward should descend into an argument about the Second World War and if we could have won it on our own.

Weather we like it or not, the world has moved on from 1945. There are plenty of countries that having thrown off the shackles of imperialism are rightly seeking to play their part on the world stage and in global commerce.

The idea that we are going to be able, in the future, to hold our own against these emergent economic powerhouses is a fallacy.

We are a trading nation, and we need to use our membership of the EU to get the best deal for the UK, standing up for ourselves when we have to (like on Friday) to ensure that the deals the EU negotiates work for us as well as Germany, France and the others.

I just don’t see how we could pull out of the EU – doing so would represent a unforgivable decline in our influence and economic power.

With over half of our exports going to the EU, we can’t afford to turn our back on our major trading partners. As standards are harmonised across the EU and as trade barriers are reduced further between member states, we are just making things harder for ourself if we choose not to participate in such developments.

Now I appreciate the argument that we can pull out of the EU and do more trade with non EU member states, and I particularly like the view that we can trade more with the Commonwealth countries.

But I don’t think that is workable in practice. I don’t see how we could trade with these countries more than we already are. After all, we are not in a command economy where the Government is requiring firms to export to the EU in preference to other countries. Firms are free to export to whichever markets they choose, and the reason we are not exporting more to the Commonwealth is because there isn’t a market for any more of our goods than we are currently selling.

And in pulling out of the EU, we are hampering our chances of trading with these countries anyway. Don’t forget they are under no obligation to trade with us anymore. They can choose who they trade with, and who are Indian trade negotiators going to be keenest to to open their 1.2 billion sized market to? Negotiators from the EU, representing 0.5 billion people or a negotiator from the UK who can offer Indian firms access to a paltry 62 million consumers in return?

The realities of the modern world mean that there is no place for small countries like ours on their own any more. We need to be part of a larger group to have any influence, so we are, however reluctantly, stuck with the EU.

What we need to do, though, is make sure that the EU works wherever possible for the UK’s best interests. It is nice to know that our interests in Europe are now being upheld by someone willing to do so.

I doubt that Argentina will ever seek to re-take the islands militarily.

First of all, as John Green pointed out, the military sitiuation in the islands has changed since 1982, meaning that the Argentinians would face a much tougher task to succesfully invade the islands, even if they were able to surprise us.

But secondly, what would Argentina gain from such an invasion?

Argentina has changed since 1982. It is no longer a failing military dictatorship, but a democracy that is enjoying a high level of ecomic development. Why put that at risk with the opprobrium from the international community that an unprovoked invasion of the Falklands would generate?

I appreciate that the Falklands may be more attractive than they have in the past by virtue of the oil and gas reserves, but an invasion to secure them would again only see the international community condemning Argentina for such an aggressive act.

A much better course of action would be to wait for the oil and gas reserves to be realised and then soften their stance to allow Argentina to share some of the benefits via the support industry.

After all, if Argentina was ready to re-take the islands, wouldn’t they have done so when our attention was diverted on both Iraq and Afghanistan?

I just can’t see an invasion happening – Argentina have too much to lose.

IE