The Finnish Centre Party has pulled out of the new Conservative and Reformist grouping in the European Parliament; Twitter pal jamesgraham, not a big fan of Vulpes Vulpes by any means looking at his tweets, posted this link here for our delectation. There is a certain dryness to the report, and I don't follow European politics (I learned a long time ago there was only so much I could get upset about at any one time) that much but James seems to think it gives more than just a passing shove to the possibility of the BNP-ski group really taking off.
I'll pull a random card from the Magic database instead of using my own, and up comes...
False Memories - Blue - Instant
"My enemies will forget everything other than their anguish." - Ambassador Laquatus [yes it's him, yes he's a Merfolk...].
This card deals with changing events at random and refreshing available resources (although technically the "graveyard" is where spent spells and dead creatures go in the game - a discard pile, if you will - there are always spells to bring those creatures back to life, such as the Makeshift Mannequin spell we have seen in readings before). It creates nothing - it doesn't seriously alter the state of play that much - but it subtly alters the landscape, maybe removing resources from Vulpes Vulpes' control or warping what he thought was available both in Europe and beyond. It seems the Finns might have betrayed their British friends because the loss of influence by leaving their current grouping may actually have been too great for them to bear. As I said, it doesn't change anything directly, but it provides Foxy with a potential set of falser friends and shows the transience of loyalties originally pledged. Not an auspicious omen to say the least.
Owlperson adds that the Tories have been losing support because they count on the friendliness of the centre-right currently in power in France and Germany, but he does wonder about the lack of support for a far-right grouping in general and is sceptical himself of this move. In the sense of "false memories" here, he also counsels that the card brings a random element into play - rather than relying on what you have directly available, you trust that the alternatives are better, but have to stick with what you have rather than being able to recall that which you have rejected. In a sense it is a metaphor for the whole concept of the "BNP-ski" group: the Tories are gambling on the unknown rather than sticking with the known. This could be good, it could be bad, but Owlie stresses the balance of power is no longer in their hands if they confine themselves to this strategy of non-cooperation to appease a few radicals. They have traded influence abroad for influence over a few rebels at home. It remains to be seen whether the gamble will pay off, particularly with Merkel and Sarkozy fairly stable at home and yet committed to the EPP. Foxy may have gained marginal allies at the expense of core support, always a foolish move. The falseness may not hit home domestically yet, but a diminishing influence even within the larger grouping in the European parliament was in his mind quite foolish.
We'll see, he says ominously.
