QUOTE: "What Ed does not mention are the businesses the British own in other European countries and in America (not to mention the rest of the world) as that does not fit his argument."
Although we are all now the best of friends, for some mysterious reason the European countries have chosen to retain control of all their own infrastructure. In the looming energy crisis, it may well be that they choose to look after their own interests first. The French seem to be best placed for this. Their electricity supply is almost entirely nuclear and they are already the powerhouse of Europe.
Our nuclear power stations need replacement but we no longer have the expertise or manufacturing capability to do so. When we come to ask EDF if they would be so kind as to start building new ones for us, they may decide that their own replacement programme comes first.
Having a portfolio of investment in other countries may not cut much ice in this respect. This investment is through our city institutions which have now come a spectacular cropper. Turning up on EDF's doorstep and asking them if we could interest them in a substantial tranche of sub prime mortgages in Alabama is not quite the same as owning and renewing our own power stations.
I suspect that the general reaction in Europe will be "You chose to sell off your family silver, we chose to save ours for a rainy day. Tough."
That rainy day is now here. As the lettering on an umbrella I saw on sale in Montreal at the weekend said: "Merde. Il pleut."
http://www.iamagreedygirl.com/2008/02/merde-il-pleut-umbrella.html