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Saturday 13 January 2018

Theresa May - EU’re Pants On Fire

Politicians can be shameless in their appropriation of others’ achievements, especially when their own record is particularly weak. So it was no surprise to see the Tories, after a shambolic reshuffle by Theresa May which exposed recent talk of her renewed strength as another invention of her pals in the press and commentariat, claiming credit for something that has been enacted in spite of them, and certainly not by them alone.
The party’s Twitter feed told, over an image proclaiming “We’ve banned credit card charges … Saving you money when you shop online or in-store”, that “Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card will be banned from today - helping millions of people to avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money”.
Theresa May went further, using the same image and claiming “From today we're banning hidden charges for paying with your credit or debit card - a move that will help millions of people avoid rip-off fees when spending their hard-earned money”. There is no wriggle room here: this claims sole credit for this move for the Tories.
But it did not take long for the claim to unravel. Citing an article in Irish News, one Tweeter responded to the PM “Theresa, how did you manage to do it in Ireland too? I'm impressed!” It’s a difficult ask to get the very same move enacted in a country over which our Government has no jurisdiction. And it wasn’t just Ireland.
One economic consultant in London noted Theresa May’s claim and responded “So is the rest of the European Union”. D’you know, this sounds rather like one of those EU directive thingies - agreed by all member states and then approved by their individual sovereign Parliaments. Perhaps a look at the European Commission Twitter feed was in order.
And sure enough, there it was: “As of today, new EU rules on payment services apply … They will prohibit additional charges for payments with credit or debit cards, both in shops or online … introduce strict security requirements for e-payments … enhance consumers' rights”. There was even a link to yesterday’s press release. From Brussels.
The adverse response to the sham claims by Theresa May and her party was swift and, worse for the Tories, knowledgeable, one particularly indignant responder putting them straight: “How can she have bare-faced cheek to claim this as a Tory policy? This is EU directive PSD2. Shameful”. The Tories seem to have missed something here.
When they and their press pals openly slag off the rest of the EU, they can hardly complain when all those fluent English speakers across the Channel form a less than totally positive view about the UK and the intentions of its politicians. 
Moreover, they can’t complain when an increasing number of voters refuse to believe the propaganda they are being fed by the Tories and their press pals, instead looking to the EC for the real story. You propagandise and lie, you get found out.

And claiming credit for the work of a body you’ve told the voters isn’t worth the membership fee is totally beyond the pale. Pants on fire, Prime Minister.

9 comments:

Arnold said...

Looking on the bright side, it will make it harder for her to reinstate the charges after Brexit.

Anonymous said...

tories don't change.

They'll always be what Nye Bevan labelled them.

Starbuck said...

the BBC news, from breakfeast to evening, got it all wrong : never mentioning that it was an EU decision, and instead having government spoke-people on air singing their own praises

Anonymous said...

Well now, even the Daily Heil is claiming costs are rising because the 2.5% fees are being added to base prices. Will, I wonder, the Tories claim the glory of rising inflation or blame the EU?

Pavi said...

Its official says the BBC and the daily hail, ( it was their campaign after all)
After lengthy negotiations with god and other deities the sun is guaranteed to come up in the east tomorrow and for the next 200 million years. Rupert Murdoch said he was proud to have a heavenly body named after his paper. That's not right you c**nt said Paul Dacre and promptly bit him on the arse.
Donald Trump has yet to comment but watch this space.

Rivo said...

In a display of epic, yet subtle trolling, Theresa May's tweet popped up in my Twitter feed, courtesy of Guy Verhofstadt giving it a cheeky like...

Anonymous said...

Oh, do spill the beans.

Are you predicting Trump sticking the Daily Mail (US) on the fake news pile?

What a kick in the Goebbels.


Anonymous said...

If it actually was May and Co doing this, you can guarantee there'll be a sting in the tail somewhere.

Why? Well, UK government has a habit of "gold-plating" EU directives - the latest example of this was seen only last week, and you can read about it at https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/08/fca_mifid_gold_plating_bans_byod/. The new ruling was supposed to apply only to investment firms: UKGOV have applied it across the entire financial sector.

It would appear that UKGOV did the same with normal minimum clearance for overhead electrification - thus rendering electrification schemes far more expensive.

One to watch...

Tim Fenton said...

@8

I think the rail electrification one was the UK failing to request a derogation for the existing UK overhead line clearances - 200mm above and below the contact wire instead of 275mm, for 25kV AC. Ineptitude on our part. No change there.