Welcome to Britain. Our Weather Is Appalling.

歡迎移民英國，天氣不是問題

SARAH LYALL 報道 2013年01月31日

Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

去年在英國女王登基60周年慶典上的皇室支持者。

 百年戰爭(The 100 Years』 War)實際上持續了116年。啞劇中的滑稽老太婆往往是男扮女裝的。氣墊船是克里斯托弗·科克雷爾爵士(Sir Christopher Cockerell)發明的。約克大教堂有着非常精美的彩色玻璃窗。瑪格麗特·撒切爾(Margaret Thatcher)成功地馴服了工會，並通過放開對金融市場的管制，把倫敦變成了一個強大的國際金融中心。
你可以在《英國生活：新居民指南》(Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents)中找到此類有趣的點滴信息。這是一本由保守黨領導的政府出版的修訂版指南，從今年3月開始，其內容將構成修改後的英國移民考試的基 礎。為了通過考試，想要獲得英國國籍、或英國永久居留權的申請人必須正確回答24道考題中的18道。

從政府發佈的樣題看，這項考試可能會相對容易。不過，這本充斥着各類信息的指南反映了保守黨的觀點，即有太多的人正努力移民到英國，而一旦到了這裡，他們卻不能正確認識這個國家。
英國移民部長馬克·哈珀(Mark Harper)上周末說，「新版指南和考試將聚焦於為英國的偉大做出貢獻的事件和人物上。」
宣布新版指南出爐時，哈珀特地批評了工黨(Labour Party)政府2007年發佈的舊版指南《英國生活：入籍之路》(Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship)。
工黨版的指南包含了一些英國歷史，不過它傾向於更多地關注英國當前的實際事務，而不是歷史上的輝煌。（而且，出於它的黨派偏見，指南說撒切爾夫人是一個「導致分歧的人物」，她的政策可能「導致了英國工業的大幅衰退」）。
哈珀說，「新版指南正確地把重點放在身為英國人的核心價值和原則上。」提到舊版指南時，他說，「我們刪去了關於水表、如何查詢列車時刻表、以及如何使用互聯網的日常瑣碎信息。」
的確，工黨版指南里有一章題為《日常需要》(Everyday Needs)，針對各種問題提供建議，比如如果你感到身體不適該怎麼辦（「打電話給你的家庭醫生」是可能性之一）；如何租一個房子；以及如何以最得體的方 式表述「垃圾」（這有些怪異），指南解釋說，「Refuse也被稱作waste，或rubbish。（這幾個詞在英語里都有垃圾的意思——譯註）」
反對歐洲一體化、反對移民的英國獨立黨(UK Independence Party)的歐洲議會(European Parliament)議員羅傑·赫爾默(Roger Helmer)說，是時候讓舊版指南退休了。
赫爾默在接受採訪時表示，「他們刪掉了大量涉及新工黨(New Labour)成就的陳述，這是一件大好事。」
但是移民權益網絡(Migrants』 Rights Network)主任唐·弗林(Don Flynn)說，新版指南宣揚一種對英國文化和歷史自命不凡、過時、高高在上的態度。他特別指出，題為「悠久而輝煌的歷史」的歷史章節格外令人反感，這一 章的第一頁描述了特拉法加海戰(Battle of Trafalgar)中驚心動魄的一幕。
這一章對一些爭議問題一筆帶過。例如，在談到20世紀大英帝國往往血腥、往往留下創傷的解體過程時，該書輕快地說，這「基本上是一個有序的從帝國到英聯邦的轉型，各國被授予獨立地位」。
正如《衛報》(The Guardian)所指出的，「它絲毫沒有提到1947年印巴分治時，英國的撤退導致大約100萬或更多的人死於派系及宗教暴力。」
英國一直積極地想方設法收緊入境限制。英國新聞媒體最近報道，英國政府擔心，明年依照歐盟條約解除針對保加利亞人和羅馬尼亞人在英生活和工作的限制後，會有大量不合適的人湧入，為此英國政府正考慮投放廣告，指出英國的種種壞處，比如氣候。
內政部(Home Office)的一位發言人沒有否認這些報道，但表示官員們「正與別的政府部門緊密合作，看看我們有哪些吸引人之處會鼓勵歐盟公民來英國，包括那些來自保加利亞和羅馬尼亞的人。」
英國獨立黨的赫爾默對政府的態度嗤之以鼻。
「他們不爽快地說，『我們只想要這些人中的500人入境』，」他說，他隨便說了一個數字，指的是羅馬尼亞人和保加利亞人，「而是不得不發動一場廣告宣傳，說英國下雨。天哪，這有多荒謬！」
入籍指南竭盡全力宣傳政府心目中英國的最佳素質（下雨不算在內）。該書驕傲地談到偉大的國王、偉大的成就以及偉大的首相，與英國去年在夏季奧運會開幕式上展示的怪異、創新、非軍事的令人喜愛的形象格格不入。
工黨議員、議會內政事務委員會(Home Affairs Committee)主席基思·瓦斯(Keith Vaz)說，保守黨人在製作入籍指南時採取了「一種非常奇怪的方法」，他質疑道，由一個政府部門單方面決定如何對外陳述英國的歷史，這麼做是否正確。
他在接受採訪時說，「這種書最好讓不參與黨派政治的人來寫。」

翻譯：曹莉、張薇 

 

 

London Journal

Welcome to Britain. Our Weather Is Appalling.

By SARAH LYALL January 31, 2013

 

LONDON — The 100 Years’ War actually lasted 116 years. Pantomime dames tend to be men dressed as women. The hovercraft was invented by Sir Christopher Cockerell. York Minster has very nice stained-glass windows. Margaret Thatcher successfully tamed the unions and turned London into a powerful international financial center by deregulating the financial markets.
These and other interesting pieces of information can be found in “Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents,” a revised book issued by the Conservative-led government that, starting in March, will form the basis of the country’s revised immigration test. To pass, applicants who want to become citizens or live here permanently will have to answer 18 of 24 questions correctly.

Judging from the sample questions released by the government, the test may end up being relatively easy. But the guidebook, crammed with information, reflects the Conservative view that too many people are trying to immigrate to Britain, and that once they arrive they are failing to appreciate the country properly.
“The new book and test will focus on events and people who have contributed to making Britain great,” Mark Harper, the immigration minister, said last weekend.
In announcing the revised guidebook, Mr. Harper went out of his way to criticize the old one, “Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship,” which was issued by the rival Labour government in 2007.
While it includes some history, the Labour version tends to concentrate less on the excitements of the British past than on the practicalities of the British present. (Plus, in its own partisan contribution, it says that Mrs. Thatcher was a “divisive figure” whose policies might have “caused a massive decline in industry.”)
“The new book rightly focuses on values and principles at the heart of being British,” Mr. Harper said. Referring to the old book, he said, “We’ve stripped out mundane information about water meters, how to find train timetables and using the Internet.”
Indeed, a chapter called “Everyday Needs” in the old Labour version gives advice on things like what to do if you feel sick (“call your G.P.,” is one possibility); how to rent a house; and, weirdly, how best to refer to garbage. “Refuse is also called waste, or rubbish,” it explains.
Roger Helmer, a member of the European Parliament from the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, said it was about time the old manual was retired.
“They’ve taken out a lot of references to New Labour achievements, which is a jolly good thing,” Mr. Helmer said in an interview.
But Don Flynn, director of the Migrants’ Rights Network, an interest group, said the new version propagated a snobby, atavistic, superior approach to British culture and history. He singled out as particularly objectionable the historical chapter, called “A Long and Illustrious History,” whose first page depicts a rousing scene from the Battle of Trafalgar.
The chapter sometimes skates shallowly over contentious issues. Discussing the often bloody, often traumatic shedding of the component parts of the British Empire in the 20th century, for instance, it says happily that there was, “for the most part, an orderly transition from empire to commonwealth, with countries being granted their independence.”
As The Guardian pointed out, “There is no mention of the million or more people who died in communal and religious violence at Britain’s withdrawal during the 1947 partition of India.”
Britain is actively trying to find ways to tighten its borders. The British news media reported recently that the government, terrified that the lifting next year of European Union restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians living and working here would result in an influx of unwanted people, is considering an advertising campaign pointing out Britain’s bad qualities, like its climate.
A spokesman for the Home Office did not deny the reports, but said that officials “are working closely with other government departments to look at the pull factors that may encourage E.U. nationals, including those from Bulgaria and Romania, to come to the U.K.”
Mr. Helmer of the U.K. Independence Party scoffed at the government’s attitude.
“Rather than simply say, ‘We only want 500 of those people coming in,’ ” he said, choosing a random number and referring to Romanians and Bulgarians, “we have to run an ad campaign saying that it rains in Britain. For heaven’s sake, how ridiculous is that?”
The guidebook does its best to promote what the government considers Britain’s best qualities (rain is not among them). But filled as it is with proud references to great kings, great achievements and great prime ministers, it is strangely at odds with the quirky, creative, nonmilitary image Britain presented of itself at last summer’s ecstatic and much-loved Olympics opening ceremony.
Keith Vaz, a Labour member of Parliament who is chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, said the Conservatives had taken “a very odd approach” to their guidebook and questioned whether it was right that a government department should unilaterally get to decide how to present British history to the outside world.
“This is the kind of work that is best written by people who are not party political,” he said in an interview.

 

 

 

Mr Bean, Rowan Atkinson

憨豆先生亮相倫敦西區舞台受好評

更新時間 2013年 1月 30日, 星期三 - 格林尼治標準時間14:18

英國喜劇演員阿特金森深信，只要是性格演員，扮演滑稽角色和嚴肅角色並沒有區別。

「憨豆先生」羅溫·阿特金森（Rowan Atkinson）重返倫敦西區舞台，以一名英語教師的形像出現在舞台上；劇評人士稱他演繹「嚴肅角色」藝技不輸滑稽角色。

他這次出演主角的是已故劇作家西蒙·格雷（Simon Gray）創作的悲喜劇《誇特梅恩的條款》（Quartermaine's Terms）；劇情圍繞一家為外國人開辦的語言學校七位老師的生活故事展開。

阿特金森說，劇中那位蹩腳的老師是他扮演過的角色中「顯然最嚴肅的」。
性格演員
《每日電訊報》劇評給這部戲打了滿分，五顆星，並形容58歲的阿特金森的演技「超級精湛」。
《衛報》評論還提到這部劇1981年首次上演時扮演主角的愛德華·福克斯，稱阿特金森完美地表現出「這位遠程教育老師的孤獨」；既保留了福克斯留下的印象，又讓人感到他的善良必然是悲劇性的。
在接受BBC廣播4台1月30日一檔晚間文藝節目採訪時，阿特金森說，他給人們留下印象最深的是那些「膚淺的喜劇表演」，但他深信，對一名性格演員來說，演嚴肅角色和演滑稽角色沒什麼區別。
《誇特梅恩的條款》從1月29日起在倫敦西區溫德姆斯劇場（Wyndham's Theatre）上演12周。
回歸舞台
阿特金森上一次登台演出是2009年在音樂劇《霧都孤兒》（Oliver!）裏出演反角費金（Fagin）。
闊別舞台20多年的阿特金森當時表示，這一短暫的體驗讓他「重新找回了對劇場和舞台的熱愛」。
1981年，阿特金森在倫敦西區首次亮相，並出演了《阿特金森的諷刺劇》（Rowan Atkinson In Revue），並隨後以電視形像「憨豆先生」（ Mr Bean）火遍全球。

Rowan Atkinson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is an English actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the sitcom Mr. Bean, along with satirical sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line. Wikipedia

Born: January 6, 1955 (age 58), Consett Spouse: Sunetra Sastry (m. 1990)

 

 

 

Fears of a clown

He's the rubber-faced joker with millions in the bank and a 007 spoof on the way, yet Rowan Atkinson would still swap the burden of comedy for the joy of fixing a plug

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• Amy Raphael
• The Observer, Sunday 30 March 2003

Hapless spy: Rowan Atkinson as Johnny English

In early 1976 a group of young Oxford students would meet to discuss sketch material for the summer review. Richard Curtis noticed this rather odd electrical engineering PhD student who always turned up but failed to utter a single word. In the final meeting, the 19-year-old Curtis read out what he describes as a 'rather feeble sketch'. Then the dark, silent one stood up and overcame his stutter. 'He did a monologue about driving followed by the thing he still does now, where he mimes and talks at the same time. It was unlike anything else I had ever seen. It was pure genius.'

1. Johnny English
2. Production year: 2003
3. Country: UK
4. Cert (UK): PG
5. Runtime: 87 mins
6. Directors: Peter Howitt
7. Cast: Ben Miller, John Malkovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Rowan Atkinson
8. More on this film

Within three years, Rowan Atkinson was a star. The excessively shy farmer's son had grown up obsessed with all things electrical - Curtis says he was always locked away in his room at Oxford with a fusing iron, making an electric organ - and it seems the comedy was almost an accident. Still, by 1979 he was appearing in the ground-breaking satirical sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News alongside Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Pamela Stephenson (with Curtis as co-writer). Not the Nine O'Clock News was as short-lived as it was vital but it showcased a new generation of comic talent.

For a few years Atkinson went off and did his own thing (including The Secret Policeman's Ball) before meeting up with Curtis again in the early Eighties to create Blackadder. Co-written by Curtis and starring Atkinson, Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson, later joined by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Miranda Richardson, it was a surprise hit. Wordy, dense and super-smart, it was not ostensibly mainstream but became so popular that it was unable to maintain cult status for long and television repeats continued throughout the Nineties.

By the end of the Eighties, Atkinson's portrayal of the caustic Lord Edmund Blackadder had won him several awards; he was taken seriously and held in high regard. Then he brought Mr Bean to television. The character had existed for 10 years before he was even given a name; Curtis recalls sitting around at Oxford watching Atkinson perform silent sketches of this hopelessly self-centred, unaware character. 'I've never laughed so much in my life,' says the co-writer of Mr Bean, barely able to hold in a snigger even now. But while the deceptively simple Mr Bean has won an Emmy and a Golden Rose of Montreux, to name but two overseas awards, it has never been recognised here in the same way.

Whether or not you find its silent slapstick funny, Mr Bean is a phenomenon; the highest-rating comedy show on commercial TV in the Nineties, it has been sold to more than 245 countries and 50 airlines. The film Bean took £152 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing UK film ever. Such international success, of course, means that Atkinson, worth in excess of £65m, is one of TV's wealthiest stars. And Curtis, who has been friends with him for almost 30 years, has some good news: 'Row just improves with age.'

Rowan Atkinson leads the way into a suite at the Dorchester. Although it's a sunny day, the room is shadowy and, pulling strange faces, he flicks all the lights on and off in a slightly manic style before finding the appropriate setting. He sits on the sofa and pours a cup of Earl Grey, milk no sugar. He has a reputation for being awkward and even rude with the press; perhaps this is partly due to the stammer which has never quite gone away.

As long as he's not wound up, Atkinson is polite, gentle, dry. He is well-spoken, coming from a family of wealthy farmers in the Northeast who sent him to Durham's historic Chorister school (Tony Blair was a fellow pupil). Curtis says Atkinson is 'very unhaunted by fame'. This may be true in the sense that he is very private and unimpressed by celebrity, but it doesn't mean that, at 48, he's necessarily at ease with himself professionally.

We talk about his new film, Johnny English, in which he plays a hapless spy: Bean does 007. Based on his character in the Barclaycard commercials, it is directed by Peter Howitt and co-stars Ben Miller, Natalie Imbruglia and John Malkovich. There are some very funny scenes in which Atkinson - borrowing a little from John Cleese, his childhood hero - proves that accumulating all that money has done nothing to take the edge off his comedy.

I ask if he enjoyed making Johnny English. He sits back in the sofa, stretching out his famously long legs. 'Nope, I don't enjoy work generally. Not because I'm lazy; it's just all so stressful and worrying. I have always worried about things more than I should. It's particularly bad with Mr Bean because then you don't even have valuable props... sorry, that's a terrible word. Support.'

He sips his tea. 'I loved doing Blackadder because there was a fantastic sense of shared responsibility; there were half a dozen very able performers so there was a great sense of sharing the worry. But I always feel that whatever I do, I could do better. I suppose it is perfectionism.' A wry smile. 'I have to say that I've always believed perfectionism is more of a disease than a quality. I do try to go with the flow but I can't let go. I've been involved in every stage of Johnny English and now I can't wait to see the back of it. In the nicest possible way, of course.'

Atkinson is not so self-critical that he is unable to realise the quality of his back catalogue. 'If enough time passes, I can forget the torment of the process. I was on a plane about a year ago and I watched an episode of Blackadder that I'd never seen before. I couldn't remember any of the lines or being in any of the scenes.' He laughs. 'But there was one joke. Someone asked, "Do you always have a cigarette after making love?" And the response was: "Yes, I do. Back home I'm a 20-a-day man." Feeble joke, but funny.'

He says the Blackadder set was often stressful, with a number of people slightly unhappy about what was going on and who was saying what and to whom. 'Occasionally it got a bit frosty and negative. But, generally speaking, it was just people staring at the ceiling and thinking about a line for 25 minutes. It was fun but tiring. Very tiring.' He appears to wilt as he remembers.

According to Curtis, Atkinson is resistant to hard labour. He feels better if he can see the immediate result of his work, which is why he often gets led astray by some practical task. 'We would have a rehearsal for something and Row would be missing for an hour,' says Curtis. 'He was off changing plugs; he enjoys technical pottering. He doesn't like shouldering the burden to succeed creatively at all.'

In some ways it's remarkable that Atkinson manages to do any work at all. He hardly needs the money and the perfectionism must, at times, prove almost debilitating. When he's not working, Atkinson spends time with his wife and two young children in their rambling Home Counties mansion. Or, he occasionally writes about cars and races his Aston Martin V8 Zagato (he takes this very seriously, too, although he has yet to win a race). Despite owning six or seven cars, he doesn't like to be thought of as a car collector. He doesn't think his hobby should be about showing off.

He drives the family around in an Audi A8 and drives himself in a McLaren F1. He was in the McLaren when he rear-ended a woman's Rover Metro while driving along the A6, which of course made all the tabloids the next day. He wriggles around, raising an eyebrow at the mention of it. 'Ah yes. The prang was embarrassingly low-speed and therefore not related to my handling of the car, thank God. I was very, very lucky.'

Although the cars are fun and work is often painful, he admits we will probably see more of Mr Bean: 'When the film came out in 1997, I'd been playing Bean on TV for six or seven years and that felt long enough. Now I'm beginning to think about doing another movie. I love playing him. I find him absolutely fascinating. It's such a fantastic escape to be able to play a character so completely... unpleasant and vindictive.'

He claims not to miss the creative process when he's taking time off but does occasionally wish he was involved in a project such as Not the Nine O'Clock News, especially at times of political tension. For a long time after the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan era, politics lacked caricatures, but the world has changed again in the past 18 months. 'I remember sitting around with Richard Curtis the month after 11 September thinking of a sketch in which I'd play Osama bin Laden. Wearing a beard, I'd probably bear a slight resemblance to him. We thought of him slipping out of his cave and singing "Reviewing the Situation" from Oliver! and then scuttling back inside.'

He starts to giggle. 'Richard penned these absolutely outrageous and extremely amusing lyrics which we knew we'd never dare do, partly because we're not involved in any topical comedy programme but also because we're a lot more scared now than we were in 1976 when we first met.' He sighs. 'Still, there's a part of me that yearns for that... danger.'

Curtis, in turn, thinks Atkinson is being nostalgic. 'Row has this sentimental yearning for satire, but the truth is that we were the least satirical of the Not the Nine O'Clock News lot. It doesn't come naturally to either of us. He was absolutely never a satirist. At the same time, I know what he means. As you get older, you get into bigger deals; comedy is all about sitcoms and films. Row definitely misses the speed of Not the Nine O'Clock News .'

Atkinson loves what he's seen of Alan Partridge and The Office. The low-key, reality-based comedy that has emerged in the past few years has impressed him. He has occasionally experimented with naturalistic comedy but has found he's much better at extreme, exaggerated performances. He will always suit slapstick and always excel at visual, physical comedy.

While he's interested in what his family and friends think about his work, they are not a motivating force; he doesn't feel as though he needs their approval. 'It's myself and the audience out there who I'm interested in,' he says. Is he confident about his instincts? 'I think I have an inner confidence that my tastes are pretty simple, that what I find funny finds a wide audience. I'm not particularly intellectual or clever or minority-focused in my creative instincts. And I'm certainly not aware of suppressing more sophisticated ambitions.'

Although he is happy enough to promote Johnny English because he believes it's a good British comedy, Rowan Atkinson isn't hanging around. 'I'm very good at having time off. I tend to take whole years off - I had 1994 and 1997 off. I find it very easy; I just love pottering around doing normal things.' He sits back in the sofa and smiles. 'I'm not planning to do anything for the rest of this year or next. Or anything else. Ever.' He laughs. 'Well, maybe one more Mr Bean movie...'

· Johnny English is released on 11 April

Call the Midwife 【呼叫助產士】 Jennifer Worth

Call the Midwife　【呼叫助產士】 Jennifer Worth

David Cameron speech: UK and the EU 完全脫離歐盟也不符合英國的利益 英国没有中间道路/ 否決歐洲聯盟（EU）條約修訂案New Eurozone Deal Won't Include UK: Europe's great divorce

英國首相公佈“脫歐公投”時間表

英國《金融時報》 喬治•派克 倫敦, 昆廷•皮爾 柏林報導

英國首相大衛•卡梅倫(David Cameron)昨日將英國在歐盟(EU)的未來前途置於危險之中，他的大膽賭博讓保守黨保持了團結，卻可能給保守黨和英國帶來深遠的影響。

卡梅倫承諾，如果他贏得下次大選，最晚將在2017年底就英國是否退出歐盟舉行全民公投，並堅信其他歐洲領導人會為英國提供更好的條款。

卡梅倫在外界期待已久的歐洲演講中表示，他相信能為英國爭取到更好的協議（包括從歐盟收回權力），並堅稱，“帶著勇氣和信念”，他有望贏得這場爭論。

他表示“對這項任務的難度沒有抱任何幻想”，柏林和巴黎的反應立即強化了這種說法，兩國政界人士明確表示，他們希望英國留在歐盟，但不會不惜代價。

法國外交部長洛朗•法比尤斯(Laurent Fabius)表示，如果英國離開歐盟，法國“會鋪開紅地毯歡迎”逃離的商人，同時德國外長基多•威斯特威勒(Guido Westerwelle)表示，“挑三揀四的政策不是選項之一”。

德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)表示：“我們當然樂意討論英國的願望，但人們應該記住，其他國家也有他們自己的願望。”

默克爾願意做出讓步，但人們預計，在她的底線範圍內是不會允許卡梅倫破壞現有歐盟條約的，她擔心這可能導致其他國家借助談判破壞單一市場的規則。

如果卡梅倫在2015年英國大選中獲勝，他需要德國的支援，以求在兩年後將最終協議交給英國人民決定前，確保“歐盟具有靈活性、適應性和開放性”。

卡梅倫沒有說明如果談判失敗，他是否會爭取讓英國離開歐盟，儘管保守黨內相當多的人無疑會要求退出。

英國是否退出歐盟的不確定性沒有擾亂市場，但部分企業領導警告稱，這將阻礙他們的國內投資。

一些企業領導人支援卡梅倫尋求達成“新協議”，酒業集團帝亞吉歐(Diageo)首席執行官保羅•沃爾什(Paul Walsh)就是其中之一。

  David Cameron speech: UK and the EU
PM David Cameron: "We will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice"

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Cameron speech on EU

• Cameron speech on Europe Live
• Key quotes from Cameron speech
• Q&A: Beginner's guide to speech
• Labour 'backs return of EU powers'

David Cameron has said the British people must "have their say" on Europe as he pledged an in/out referendum if the Conservatives win the election.

The prime minister said he wanted to renegotiate the UK's relationship with the EU, before asking people to vote.
The British people would face a "very simple choice", he stated, either to accept the result of the talks or to leave the EU altogether.
Labour said Mr Cameron was "weak" and being driven by "party interest".
In a long-awaited speech, Mr Cameron pledged to hold a referendum during the early part of the next parliament - by the end of 2017 at the latest - if the Conservatives win the next general election.
He said it would be a decision on the UK's "destiny" and, if he secured a new relationship he was happy with, he would campaign "heart and soul" to stay within the EU.
"It is time for the British people to have their say," he said. "It is time to settle this European question in British politics. I say to the British people: this will be your decision."
However, Mr Cameron did not spell out what powers he would like to see the UK take back as part of a new settlement or what would happen if the negotiations did not go his way.
'Very simple choice' The Conservative leader has been under pressure from many of his MPs to give a binding commitment to a vote on Europe.

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Analysis

Iain Watson Political correspondent, BBC News

It has taken quite some time for the prime minister to go from promising a major speech on Europe to delivering it.
But today marks the beginning of a process, not the end.
The many Eurosceptics in his party will be pleased that he is offering an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU - although some will regard the timescale as tardy.
But there are important hurdles. He has to win the next election with an overall majority. His European partners will have to be willing to renegotiate Britain's relationship.
And while the promise of a referendum will unite many in his party this side of an election, the process of renegotiation might re-open divisions. What the PM didn't say today is what would he do if the negotiations deliver less than he would like.
Would he still proceed with an in/out referendum? Would he still argue for a yes vote? Would others in his party who would be prepared to stay on the EU on the right terms defect to the No camp if they don't like the deal the PM strikes with Brussels?
Labour and the Lib Dems say David Cameron is creating damaging uncertainty for business, but he has thrown down the gauntlet to them.
Can they allow him to be the only major party leader to offer voters a say on EU membership after the next election?

Mr Cameron said "disillusionment" with the EU was "at an all time high" and "simply asking the British people to carry on accepting a European settlement over which they have had little choice" was likely to accelerate calls for the UK to leave.

"That is why I am in favour of a referendum," he said. "I believe in confronting this issue - shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away."
Setting out the conditions for a future poll, he said he would seek a "mandate" for a renegotiation and a referendum in the next Conservative election manifesto.
"And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in-or-out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms; or come out altogether. It will be an in/out referendum."
But he said holding such a referendum now would be a "false choice" because Europe was set to change following the eurozone crisis and it would be "wrong to ask people whether to stay or go before we have had a chance to put the relationship right".
Mr Cameron said he "understood the appeal" of Britain going it alone and he was sure the UK would survive outside the EU. But, he said, the UK must think "very carefully" about the implications of withdrawal for its prosperity and role on the international stage.
"If we left the European Union, it would be a one-way ticket, not a return," he added.
The prime minister rejected suggestions that a new relationship was "impossible to achieve", adding that he would prefer all other EU countries to agree a new treaty but would be prepared to seek negotiations on a unilateral basis.
Conservative MPs who want a looser relationship with the EU have said they are "satisfied" with its contents.
Douglas Carswell told the BBC it was the speech he had "been waiting to hear from a Conservative prime minister all his adult life" while Mark Pritchard said it was "a major triumph" and would unite his party over the issue.
'Threatening to leave' But the former European commissioner and Labour cabinet minister Lord Mandelson told the BBC that Mr Cameron was putting forward a "completely bogus and rather phoney set of demands and circumstances" designed to appease critics in his party.

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“Start Quote

We understand the need for change but I don't honestly believe the best way to get change in a club of 27 is to stand at the exit door demanding change or threatening to leave”

Douglas Alexander Shadow foreign secretary

Labour said the referendum pledge defined Mr Cameron "as a weak prime minister, being driven by his party, not by the national economic interest".

"We understand the need for change but I don't honestly believe the best way to get change in a club of 27 is to stand at the exit door demanding change or threatening to leave," shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said.
The Lib Dems say pursuing a wholesale renegotiation of the UK's membership will cause uncertainty.
"The prime minister's efforts to reconcile his own position with that of his eurosceptic backbenchers leads logically to the position that if he could not get what he wanted out of Europe, he would be willing for the UK to leave," said its former leader Sir Menzies Campbell. "This will hardly commend his approach to those in the EU whose co-operation he requires."
The UK Independence Party said the "genie was out of the bottle" about a possible exit from the EU.
"Winning this referendum, if and when it comes, is not going to be an easy thing but I feel that Ukip's real job starts today," said the party's leader Nigel Farage."
John Cridland, director general of employers group, the CBI, said "closer union of the eurozone is not for us" but Mr Cameron "rightly recognises the benefits of retaining membership of what must be a reformed EU".
The speech, which has been in the planning for six months, had been scheduled for last Friday in the Netherlands, but was postponed because of the Algerian hostage crisis.

卡梅倫：有權要求改變英國歐盟關係

更新時間 2013年1月6日, 格林尼治標準時間22:23

英國首相卡梅倫在BBC政論節目「安德魯·馬爾秀」上表示有權要求改變與歐洲關係。

英國首相卡梅倫周日（1月6日）在BBC訪談節目中表示，英國「完全有權」要求改變與歐洲的關係。

卡梅倫是在政論訪談節目「安德魯·馬爾秀」（Andrew Marr Show）闡述上述主張的。

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不過他也同時強調說，完全脫離歐盟也不符合英國的利益。

脫離歐洲

卡梅倫所屬的保守黨長期對與歐洲合作持懷疑態度；很多保守黨議員希望政府能夠就英國是否應該繼續留在歐盟之內舉行一次全民公決。

卡梅倫稱如果有任何公民表決都會在五年內舉行；他同時保證說，保守黨在四年之後的大選中一定會在歐洲問題上給民眾一個「選擇的機會」。

英國首相在談到與歐洲關係時特別指出，由於歐元區國家正在為了歐元的存亡而著手推進歐元區的政治、經濟等方面的一體化進程，因而這樣的一個「新歐洲」已經與英國所同意加入的歐盟大不相同了。

他舉例稱，歐洲央行2014年將有權直接監管歐元區內約200家大中型銀行，並且有權直接介入營救出問題的小型銀行。

英國則希望保持金融體系的更多自主權。

「當歐元區國家做出改變的時候，英國也同樣希望做出改變，」卡梅倫說。

限制移民

卡梅倫指出，英國政府希望做出的改變包括限制歐盟內部的人口流動。

歐盟最初建立時的一大好處論點是成員國之間可以實現勞動力、商品與服務的自由流動，因此最終使得所有成員國獲利。

卡梅倫則表示：「我們是否應該重新審視這一論點，是否應該使其它歐盟國家的人來英國居住和領取福利金變得更困難……實話講這理所當然。」

不過，卡梅倫也同時指出，完全退出歐盟也與英國的國家利益不符，因為對歐盟貿易額佔英國整個對外貿易額的50%。

他說，一旦英國完全退出歐盟，則將失去「對我們最大的市場失去規則制定的發言權」。

卡梅倫在訪談中透露說，他準備2015競選連任，並爭取執政至2020年。

英国没有中间道路

作者：英国前首相托尼•布莱尔的办公室主任 乔纳森•鲍威尔 

政府差不多一年前就承诺过，首相将就欧洲问题发表一场决定性的讲话。从最近透露出的消息来看，首相将在圣诞节前、还是节后发表这场讲话尚属五五之数。我知道，当局肯定巴不得赶紧做完这场演说，但我想劝戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)推迟演讲。

因为，这可能将是他担任首相期间做出的最重大决定。我担心我们还没有考虑清楚后果就匆忙踏上了退出欧盟(EU)的道路。

从伦敦市长鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)擅自的预告中，我们知道，演讲的主题将是承诺举行公投，让民众决定是与欧盟建立更加松散的新关系，还是脱离欧盟。然而，一场有效的公投必须提供两个实实在在的选项。卡梅伦曾巧妙地展示过他对这一点的理解：在苏格兰独立公投问题上，他迫使苏格兰民族党(Scottish National Party)领袖亚历克斯•萨尔蒙德(Alex Salmond)放弃了第三个选项——“自治权最大化”(Devo max)。但从相关报道来看，在欧洲问题上，他对这一点的把握没有达到同样的清晰程度。保守党的下议院后座议员利亚姆•福克斯(Liam Fox)及其欧洲怀疑论支持者所期盼的那种“回到未来”的选项是不存在的。

挪威的例子清楚表明，我们不可能重返欧盟在早期的前身——共同市场(Common Market)。挪威已经加入了单一市场，但最近挪威政府发布的一份报告指出，“在对挪威产生直接影响的决策过程中我们没有代表权，也没有任何大的影响力”。挪威只是从传真机上拿起欧盟的指示，予以执行而已。按照此项调查负责人的个人观点，“唯一切实的结论是加入欧盟——我们事实上置身于欧盟内部，但我们没有投票权”。如果挪威对这种地位不满，那么换做英国，同样也难以接受。顺带提一下，如果我们处于与挪威一样的地位，我们仍然需要向欧盟缴款——大约是目前净缴款水平的一半。

欧洲怀疑论者支持的另一种选择——“瑞士路线”对我们来说也不现实。瑞士通过120项双边协议与欧盟缔结关系。但这一关系已经破裂，2010年欧盟理事会(EU Council)明确表示，除非出现制度变革，否则不会与瑞士缔结新的协议，实际上对瑞士与挪威一视同仁了。

英国首相的策略似乎是，利用公投结果，迫使其他欧洲国家接受与英国形成更加松散的新型关系。但此计恐难奏效，理由很充足。当去年12月英国退出欧盟理事会的谈判时，英国得到的善意就被消磨殆尽了。如果英国退出，欧盟就成了德国人主导的俱乐部，很多欧洲人会安心接受这一现实。

来自不同党派的历任英国首相始终反对“双速欧洲”的局面，这也是有充分理由的。一旦我们不能进入欧盟关键的决策机构，我们就失去了所有左右我们自身未来的权力和影响力。因此，当欧洲理事会主席赫尔曼•范龙佩(Herman Van Rompuy)在本周峰会上提议进一步采取措施建设政治联盟时，英国不应该一开始就说不想成为其中一分子，从而把自己边缘化。相反，英国应该就欧盟的未来表达己见，构建同盟。

最近YouGov的一项民调显示，英国人之所以不喜欢欧洲，是因为我们只能俯首听命，却不能领导欧洲。英国人民是正确的。加入欧盟的唯一意义是，如果我们满腔热情地成为欧盟成员，就要领导欧洲，左右我们自己的命运。如果我们只能按规则行事，却对规则没有发言权，那么这种不上不下的状态会非常令人不舒服。

因此，如果不能完全并且满怀热忱地加入欧洲，那么唯一切实的选择就是抽身而退，连单一市场都不参加，而这正是欧洲怀疑论者的希冀。这并不是说要重现帝国时期的伟大、或者构建一种新联邦的可笑想法。而是说，只要其他欧洲人能接受，英国可以成为一种“大开曼群岛”(Greater Cayman Islands)式的离岸避税天堂，对欧洲大陆和世界其他地区只有很小的影响力。

当然，这一切都是国内政治。在约翰•梅杰(John Major)的时代，怀疑论者是少数，他们穿着颜色鲜艳的夹克，目光狂野。但今天，疯子占领了精神病院，卡梅伦制定政策必须听取后座议员们以及英国独立党(UK Independence party)的观点了。

但他也应该听听专家的意见。英国外交部官员暗示，假如退出欧盟，就不存在其他成员资格可供磋商，欧洲怀疑论者为此指责外交官们抱着失败主义思想。但这可能是因为，与后座的下议院保守党议员不同，外交官们拥有在欧盟内部以及更广阔的舞台上为英国争取利益的经验，他们更加明白什么可以磋商、什么不能。

如果首相要在演讲中提出举行公投，那么唯一切实的选择就是，要么全面加入欧盟，要么彻底退出。想象中的第三条道路是不存在的。

2011.12.13
白金漢大學教授不排除英國退出歐盟可能性
柏林隨著卡梅倫首相拒絕歐盟協議改革，英國白金漢大學政治學家格利斯（Anthony Glees）稱，英國完全可能有一天退出歐盟。格雷斯教授週一（12月12日）在接受德意志電台的採訪時指出，英國與歐盟的關係恰似婚姻關係，"雙方都應幸福，若有一方不再願意，婚姻便也完結"。格利斯教授指出，卡梅倫首相對歐盟所持懷疑立場獲得多數英國人的認可，"這對歐洲、對卡梅倫，以及對英國本身都是一個巨大的危險"。

Britain and the EU summit

Europe's great divorce

Dec 9th 2011, 8:03 by Charlemagne | BRUSSELS

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WE JOURNALISTS are probably too bleary-eyed after a sleepless night to understand the full significance of what has just happened in Brussels. What is clear is that after a long, hard and rancorous negotiation, at about 5am this morning the European Union split in a fundamental way.
In an effort to stabilise the euro zone, France, Germany and 21 other countries have decided to draft their own treaty to impose more central control over national budgets. Britain and three others have decided to stay out. In the coming weeks, Britain may find itself even more isolated. Sweden, the Czech Republic and Hungary want time to consult their parliaments and political parties before deciding on whether to join the new union-within-the-union.
So two decades to the day after the Maastricht Treaty was concluded, launching the process towards the single European currency, the EU's tectonic plates have slipped momentously along same the fault line that has always divided it—the English Channel.
Confronted by the financial crisis, the euro zone is having to integrate more deeply, with a consequent loss of national sovereignty to the EU (or some other central co-ordinating body); Britain, which had secured a formal opt-out from the euro, has decided to let them go their way.
Whether the agreement does anything to stabilise the euro is moot. The agreement is heavily tilted towards budget discipline and austerity. It does little to generate money in the short term to arrest the run on sovereigns, nor does it provide a longer-term perspective of jointly-issued bonds. Much will depend on how the European Central Bank responds in the coming days and weeks.
Some doubt remains over whether and how the "euro-plus" zone will have access to EU institutions—such as the European Commission, which conducts economic assessments and recommends action, and the European Court of Justice, which Germany hopes will ensure countries adopt proper balanced-budget rules—over Britain's objections.
But especially for France, on the brink of losing its AAA credit rating and now the junior partner to Germany, this is a famous political victory. President Nicolas Sarkozy had long favoured the creation of a smaller, "core" euro zone, without the awkward British, Scandinavians and eastern Europeans that generally pursue more liberal, market-oriented policies. And he has wanted the core run on an inter-governmental basis, ie by leaders rather than by supranational European institutions. This would allow France, and Mr Sarkozy in particular, to maximise its impact.
Mr Sarkozy made substantial progress on both fronts. The president tried not to gloat when he emerged at 5am to explain that an agreement endorsed by all 27 members of the EU had proved impossible because of British obstruction. “You cannot have an opt-out and then ask to participate in all the discussion about the euro that you did not want to have, and which you also criticised,” declared the French president.
With the entry next year of Croatia, which will sign its accession treaty today, the EU is still growing, said Mr Sarkozy. “The bigger Europe is, the less integrated it can be. That is an obvious truth.”
For Britain the benefit of the bargain in Brussels is far from clear. It took a good half-hour after the end of Mr Sarkozy's appearance for Mr Cameron to emerge and explain his action. The prime minister claimed he had taken a “tough decision but the right one” for British interests—particularly for its financial-services industry. In return for his agreement to change the EU treaties, Mr Cameron had wanted a number of safeguards for Britain. When he did not get them, he used his veto.
After much studied vagueness on his part about Britain's objectives, Mr Cameron's demand came down to a protocol that would ensure Britain would be given a veto on financial-services regulation (see PDF copy here). The British government has become convinced that the European Commission, usually a bastion of liberalism in Europe, has been issuing regulations hostile to the City of London under the influence of its French single-market commissioner, Michel Barnier. And yet strangely, given the accusation that Brussels was taking aim at the heart of the British economy, almost all of the new rules issued so far have been passed with British approval (albeit after much bitter backroom fighting). Tactically, too, it seemed odd to make a stand in defence of the financiers that politicians, both in Britain and across the rest of European, prefer to denounce.
Mr Cameron said he is “relaxed” about the separation. The EU has always been about multiple speeds; he was glad Britain had stayed out of the euro and out of the passport-free Schengen area. He said that life in the EU, particularly the single market, will continue as normal. “We wish them well as we want the euro zone to sort out its problems, to achieve stability and growth that all of Europe needs.” The drawn faces of senior officials seemed to say otherwise.
The 23 members of the new pact, if they act as a block, can outvote Britain. They are divided among themselves, of course. But their habit of working together and cutting deals will, inevitably, begin to weigh against Britain over time.
Mr Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, have given notice of their desire for the euro zone to act in all the domains that would normally be the remit of all 27 members—for example, labour-market regulations and the corporate-tax base.
Britain may assume it will benefit from extra business for the City, should the euro zone ever pass a financial-transaction tax. But what if the new club starts imposing financial regulations among the 17 euro-zone members, or the 23 members of the euro-plus pact? That could begin to force euro-denominated transactions into the euro zone, say Paris or Frankfurt. Britain would, surely, have had more influence had the countries of the euro zone remained under an EU-wide system.
It says much about the dire state of the debate on Europe within Britain's Conservative party that, as Mr Cameron set out to Brussels, another Tory MP portentously invoked the memory of Neville Chamberlain, who infamously came back from Munich with empty assurances from Adolf Hitler. Mr Cameron may have made a grievous mistake with regard to Britain's long-term interest. But at least nobody can accuse him of returning from Brussels with a piece of paper in his hand.
(Picture credit: AFP)
Read more: Bagehot's take on Britain falling out of the EU

New Eurozone Deal Won't Include UK

David Cameron vetoed a series of financial regulations at EU talks, leaving the 17 eurozone countries to move forward on t

European leaders hammered out the new deal outside of the EU framework
Photo illustration by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

After nearly 10 hours of talks in Brussels, European leaders agreed Friday to an intergovernmental pact aimed at enforcing more disciplined budgets in the wake of a debt crisis that has threatened the euro.

But the big news from the agreement, brokered by all 17 countries who use the euro as their currency (the eurozone), is that it will be done outside of the framework of the European Union after British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to sign on.

Cameron balked at joining the deal after a series of exceptions he demanded to safeguard British interests were blocked by France, the Guardian explains. Cameron defended his decision, saying, "What is on offer isn't in Britain's interests so I didn't agree to it."

The agreement and new rules are seen as necessary and urgent as the eurozone economy teeters on the brink of collapse. The crisis started in Greece two years ago, prompting huge bailouts, but with Italy and Spain in a troubled economic state, the crisis has worsened recently and the entire eurozone is now stagnant, if not already in a recession, CBS News and the New York Times explain.

Without some sort of stabilizing plan in place, the commitment of institutions like the European Central Bank to continue to purchase bonds from heavily indebted countries is questionable. ECB’s head Mario Draghi gave a promising response to the new agreement, saying: "It is a very good outcome for euro area members."

To attempt to stabilize the euro by forcing more fiscal and financial discipline, the 17 eurozone countries will hammer out a deal that includes penalties for those countries breaking the new rules. (Overspending countries will face sanctions, for example.) A handful of countries who hope to use the euro as their currency in the future will probably also sign, the BBC reports. The leaders are aiming to have the pact in effect by March of next year.


沈子涵/整理

　法新社倫敦10日報導，根據10日新出爐的民調，大多數英國人認為首相卡麥隆（David Cameron）本週在布魯塞爾高峰會上否決歐洲聯盟（EU）條約修訂案，是正確的抉擇。

　根據英國「週日郵報」（Mail on Sunday）調查，卡麥隆做法不但獲得疑歐派（eurosceptic）英國媒體讚賞，也贏得62%民眾支持，僅19%受訪者認為他做錯了。

　多達66%民眾希望公投表決英國是否退出歐盟，而認為倫敦當局應與布魯塞爾重新磋商雙邊關係的受訪者也占66%。卡麥隆所屬的保守黨（Conservative party）中早有許多人要求付諸公投決定去留歐盟。

　 真正希望英國退出歐盟的受訪者較少，只有48%，33%希望留在歐盟。

　不過有48%民眾認為歐盟會因債務危機解散，29%認為不會；約65%民眾相信歐元會消失，僅19%認為歐元能度過危機。

　儘管歐盟廣泛認為卡麥隆動用否決權誤事，但51%英國受訪者覺得卡麥隆在歐盟峰會表現得宜，44%認為德國總理梅克爾（Angela Merkel）表現優異，35%讚賞法國總統沙柯吉（Nicolas Sarkozy）作為。

　這項Survation網路民調昨晚和今天進行，受訪者共1020人。