Tag Archives: European Union

HOW FAIRLY WILL CAMERON’S IN/OUT EU REFERENDUM BE CONDUCTED?


HOW FAIRLY WILL CAMERON’S IN/OUT EU REFERENDUM BE CONDUCTED?

I notice that in the last few days we have had a number of articles from the Europhiliac media, like the Times Leader on Tuesday May 19th, talking up the prospect of having the In/Out Referendum next year, probably next May.

The noteworthy fact is that it is the Europhiliacs in the Conservative Party who generally want to get it over with quickly rather than many of their more Eurosceptic voices. The Eurosceptics want the referendum in 2017. This set me to thinking why that would be? I also started to consider how the referendum would be conducted.

The Eurosceptic argument for having the referendum in 2017 was to allow David Cameron a full and reasonable opportunity to negotiate repatriation of powers to Westminster. Thus if nothing sensible is offered Eurosceptics will be able to prove that the EU is un-reformable and thus we are better off out.

In the meanwhile, however, of course various voices within the EU, including Angela Merkel and the President of the EU Commission, Jean Claude Junker, have made it clear that there will be no meaningful negotiation with substantial powers being returned. In these circumstances it is easy to understand why Europhiliacs would want to get the referendum over with as quickly as possible before voters can start to build-up resentment that so little is being offered, which, of course, would help in building a head of steam for British exit from the EU (“BREXIT”). 

Then of course there is the serious question of what version of the electorate will be given the entitlement to vote in the referendum. I notice that some, particularly Labour and SNP voices, are currently saying that 16 year olds should be allowed to vote, who of course have had the “benefit” of 10 years of Europhile propaganda, at public expense in their schools and are therefore thought to be likely to mostly vote in favour of staying in.

There is however the wider question of whether the electorate will be restricted to just British citizens or the General Election franchise which includes Irish citizens as well and various other categories, including some Commonwealth voters. Particularly and rather more alarmingly whether it will be the local government franchise which would include all those EU citizens who have registered on the electoral roll. If the millions of EU citizens resident in the “United” Kingdom are permitted to vote then that will make it much more unlikely that the vote will be in favour of “BREXIT”. The franchise will therefore be a crucial battleground. David Cameron appears to have indicated recently that he has conceded the Eurosceptic demand for the franchise to the General Election one but we all need to check the Bill’s wording on this when it is published.

Then there is the question of how the EU referendum itself will be conducted. Perhaps the model to consider is the referendum organised by John Prescott when he was Deputy Prime Minister. This was when Prescott hoped to start the process of breaking up England by getting a democratic mandate to separate the artificially created “Region” of the North-East. Labour had recently gerrymandered this “Region” to give itself a permanent majority (N.B. John Major’s original “Northern Region” gave the Conservatives an impregnable majority by including Cumbria).

It is worth remembering that in that referendum the preamble to the question which was put on every ballot paper miss-stated as fact a number of inaccuracies and misleading claims designed to encourage people to vote in favour. There was widespread protest, including even the usually useless Electoral Commission, but nevertheless that wording was included in the Act which meant that it had to be on the ballot paper by law. The question itself was somewhat loaded as well in favour of a Yes vote, all of which gave Labour, it thought, the best chance of winning that referendum.

If loading the question and misleading the voter wasn’t enough then they also thought that they wanted to make the referendum a conquest between North-Easterners and Tory “toffs”. So even though Neil Heron, the metric martyr, had got a highly successful No campaign going and was undoubtedly almost single handedly the principal reason why the result was a No vote, nevertheless Labour manipulated the setting up appointment of a No campaign so that a Tory millionaire businessman, John Elliott, was put in charge of it.

I notice on Twitter and Facebook that some over excitable UKIPers seem to think the pro-BREXIT campaign might be led by them with Nigel Farage. I would be very surprised if that was the case. I think it is much more likely that Cameron will engineer it so that it is led by a Labour figure. By doing this he will aim to split Labour on the issue and make it as repellent as possible for Conservative loyalists to vote in favour of BREXIT.

The most credible leader from the Labour side of the BREXIT campaign would be Frank Field. For that reason I think he will be excluded and the appointee will be a less credible Labour figure but one who has at least some Eurosceptic credentials. Would you like to speculate on who that person will be?

I suspect also that the time period given for the referendum will be short so that the BREXIT campaign cannot really get going and the amount awarded to the Yes and No campaigns will be kept to the statutory minimum with the smallest permitted ceiling on spending by third parties. This will allow the Europhile media to have the maximum influence possible.

The leading media organisation in trying to influence the public to vote to remain in the EU will of course be that media outlet which has by far the largest and most dominant market share of all in our media, this is of course the, partly EU funded, BBC. It doesn’t require any imagination to guess which result the BBC will be supporting!

However event though the cards will most likely be stacked as heavily as possible against a Yes to BREXIT result that should not lead us to total despair. In the North-East referendum 79% voted to reject the break-up of England despite all the cards being stacked against that result. Despite also the BBC’s efforts on behalf of the Labour Party in the recent General Election, we now know that many of our fellow citizens weren’t taken in. The big question is whether that will happen again this time. What do you think?

Leaving the EU


On the 18th February I attended, at David Campbell Bannerman MEP’s invitation, a conference that he had organised at Europe House, the former Conservative Party Headquarters at 32 Smith Square in London. The conference was entitled ‘Alternatives to EU Membership: What are the UK’s options?’

The conference was extremely well planned, supported and very interesting with a series of interesting speakers. We had the history of the relationship between the UK and the UK and, indeed of Europe, generally extending back over the last 2,000 years from Adrian Hilton, AKA the blogger, Archbishop Cranmer. His speech can be found here >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMc4AElHRAw&list=PLhBwLqL-Q9j9LAg45qcCuWJCZVfcjRvyM&index=2 and is well worth listening to.

The meeting was chaired by Tim Montgomerie currently of the Times and formally of Conservative Home, who was kind enough to welcome me personally and assured me that he supported an English Parliament and wished the campaign every success.

We heard from Ruth Lee, from Martin Howe QC and interestingly from Heming Olaussen, leading No to EU campaigner, and also Thomas Aeschi, member of the Swiss Parliament for the Swiss Peoples Party, as to what the situation is in terms of resistance to EU membership in both those countries. Also from David Campbell Bannerman himself and also from Sir Bill Cash MP.

There were also impressive contributions from Matthew Elliott, John Mills, leading Labour Eurosceptic, and Dr John Warmould, an expert in the motor manufacturing sector, recorded messages from Owen Patterson MP and Niall Gardner, of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, an entertaining speech from UKIP’s Earl of Dartmouth MEP and also a great speech from Christopher Chope MP. All of these speeches can be found by following the YouTube links.

The upshot of the meeting was also useful for the Eurosceptic Cause, as it became clear there is really a very simple option which does not depend on anyone else agreeing to anything. We could simply leave the EU and there would be an automatic access to the fundamental agreements governing world trade under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation.

Other options would simply give rise to the sort of confusion which did not help the ‘Yes’ side in the Scottish Independence Referendum, as we would be left arguing that we need the agreement of particular people and trying to convince people that the negotiations would proceed favourably.

Bill Cash pointed out that because the UK does not have a written Constitution and the fundamental rule of parliamentary sovereignty (that one parliament cannot bind the next), means that there is nothing constitutionally to stop us simply repealing the European Communities Act, which means that the UK is automatically out of the EU.

Therefore with that simple constitutional step the UK would be back amongst the trade nations governed by the World Trade Organisation. No doubt also, given the balance of payments, we would also be able to get favourable terms with the EU in due course in any case. The only part of the economy which needs special consideration is the motor industry which may need special support negotiated with the industry leaders.

This clarification is of course great news from the point of view of the campaign to leave the EU, since it makes all the arguments much simpler and much easier for everyone to understand.

What do you think?

Not punching above our weight any more? Given his enthusiasm for the UK to “punch above its weight” and following his government’s draconian defence cuts, the numbers of servicemen and women at Mr Cameron’s disposal are extremely modest compared to those available to his 19th and 20th century predecessors. A deteriorating situation in Eastern Europe might find the UK with little choice but to leave any punching to others.

“Not punching above our weight any more?”

One of our key members in the Sout-West had this published by the Western Morning News | Posted: August 04, 2014 

What do you think?

“In recent times ministers have been fond of stating that being a union of four nations allows the UK to “punch above its weight” especially when it comes to military or foreign affairs. I read that our Prime Minister has developed this theme further and is now saying that being part of a European Union of 28 nations increases the UK’s ability to act in this way.

I suspect this belligerent mindset harks back to the days of Empire when the British political and military establishment had at their disposal a fleet on every ocean and regiments on every continent. Such a situation obviously no longer exists by any stretch of the imagination.

Today the Prime Minister is one of the most vociferous, second only to the Americans, in calling for action against Russia over Ukraine. At present this action is confined to trade and financial measures but economic war could escalate into something more serious.

Given his enthusiasm for the UK to “punch above its weight” and following his government’s draconian defence cuts, the numbers of servicemen and women at Mr Cameron’s disposal are extremely modest compared to those available to his 19th and 20th century predecessors. 

A deteriorating situation in Eastern Europe might find the UK with little choice but to leave any punching to others.”

by Steve Wright

Ilminster, Somerset

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/WMN-Letters-punching-weight/story-22066558-detail/story.html#ixzz39pKgP41J

English EU exit anyone?


What do you think of this English Democrats’ members’ letter published in Western Daily Press (Bristol, England) – Monday, July 21, 2014?

UK citizens are ravaged by EU


Greg Heathcliffe, Ukip spokesman ( Western Daily Press Letters, June 25) tells us Ukip’s aim is “to protect the UK” within the EU.

He may not have noticed but it is the country and people of England that are being financially and politically ravaged under the “UK member state” banner – whilst the other UK countries are beneficiaries of the EU. The UK ceased to be a single political entity in 1999 due to the advent of devolution a fundamental constitutional change that bestowed self-governance on Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland only.

As such the so-called UK is the most incongruous and illogical member state in the EU. For unlike the other 27 member states which are countries and nations in their own right, the UK is neither, it being a mere union of countries and nations. Formed in 1922 by the union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland the now UK, as a member state in the EU, is effectively a union of a union in a union. The mind boggles.

UK’s devolved governments are wedded to the EU and promote their own so-called national interests therein whilst an isolated England has been rendered anonymous by the UK and EU status quo. England’s taxpayers, via borrowing, fund the whole of the UK’s annual £20 billion contribution to the EU yet near all £8 billion returned to the UK (2006 – 2013) went to devolved governments.

EU directives are directed at member state government, that is, Westminster, so they all affect England whilst devolved governments are left relatively immune to EU’s destruction.

There are 23 national member states who have far lower populations than England, even minnow Cyprus, but each has more influence in EU than England which, effectively, has none. So though being UK’s major country, paying the bills and electing over 80 per cent of so-called UK MEPs, it is England’s people who suffer financial and political subjugation under the UK member state.

For England’s 64 MEPs, affiliated to the so-called three main UK parties or Ukip, put UK interests first before that of their country and its people who elect and pay them.

By contrast Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, being national EU regions, are championed in EU by 14 MEPs affiliated to their own national Labour, Tory, Lib-Dem or nationalist parties. England is the only country devoid of national political party representation in the EU as well as in Westminster yet these parasitic UK parties owe England’s electorate big time.

England, by population (53 million) and funding, should be a significant member state in its own right, not just the paying appendage of member state UK .

If Ukip wants out it should do a Scotland and campaign for England’s independence from the UK which, if achieved, brings expulsion from the EU. Job done.

R A Hopkins

Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

ENGLISH DEMOCRATS’ EU ELECTION RESULT – 126,024 VOTES

ENGLISH DEMOCRATS’ EU ELECTION RESULT 126,024 VOTES


UKIP got what must have been a thousand times more media coverage than the English Democrats. This was not only from the BBC, which did at least give us some brief mentions, but also in the other national media outlets whether it be ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 or the British national printed media, all of which refused to mention us at all. It is interesting that this onslaught of media coverage, which painted UKIP as being anti-immigration and racist and homophobic encouraged people to vote for them. Despite this the English Democrats still had over 1% in England and retained the votes of 126,024.

In the East of England, the South East and the South West we also beat the historically much higher profile BNP with a far smaller ward chest even than the BNP and having spent less than 1% of the campaign spend of UKIP (i.e. less than £30,000).

In contrast it appears that Mike Nattrass with his An Independence from Europe – UK Independence Now Party, has spent £300,000 of his own money.

Yet again the English Democrats results show that we, despite a very difficult election and the lack of resources on our part, were able to get more votes per pound than any other serious contender for the election.

So I would like to thank all those who stood in the elections, helped us, supported us, helped fund us and also all those who voted for us.

In the last batch of UKIP MEPs half of them defected. We now may have an interesting time to come with the possibility, on past form, of perhaps 13 MEPs looking for a new home within the next five years!

Given that on the 18th September if Scotland votes YES, the process of dissolution of the United Kingdom will be underway and it will be interesting to see then what happens to UKIP’s anti-English, pro-British stance.

I was recently at a meeting with one of the Scottish National Party’s MPs and we were discussing what UKIP’s name would be after the dissolution of the United Kingdom. I rather prosaically said would it be WHATKIP and was given the much snappier answer that as the United Kingdom would then be the former United Kingdom, the answer might be FUKIP. What do you think?

ALL EU NOMINATIONS IN FOR THE ENGLISH DEMOCRATS!

ALL EU NOMINATIONS IN FOR THE ENGLISH DEMOCRATS!
This is the text of our Press Release:-
The English Democrats are pleased to announce that all 60 of our candidates for the EU Parliamentary Elections, which will be taking place on the 22nd May, have now been accepted as valid nominations by the Regional Returning Officers.  The English Democrats are standing in all 9 of the English EU Parliamentary Constituencies which means that the English Democrats have put up a “full slate” of candidates for the second time running. 
In the last EU elections in 2009 we gained 279,801 votes after a total EU campaign spend of less than £25,000 (giving the English Democrats by far the most cost efficient electoral result of any serious Party in the UK). 
Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats and the Party’s National Election Agent said:-  “I am delighted that yet again the English Democrats have managed to stand a full slate of candidates across England.  That means that every English voter will have a chance to vote for the English Democrats and for the only genuine English nationalist party.  England has been very poorly served for many years by our increasingly ineffectual, self-interested and careerist British Establishment political class. It is time that England was properly represented politically by our own political party now that Scotland has the SNP and Wales has Plaid Cymru, it is time that English nationalism was properly represented too!”
Robin added:-  “If just 4% of the electorate vote for the English Democrats then we will get some MEP’s elected.  In recent elections our percentages have been increasing in line with peoples increasing awareness of their English national identity.  The 2011 Census results showed that over 60%, that is over 32 million people consider themselves to be “English Only” and not “British”.  England needs independence from the tired old Union, just as much as Scotland and Wales do!”

FARAGE – V – CLEGG – THE LBC EU DEBATE

FARAGE – V – CLEGG – THE LBC EU DEBATE


I watched the LBC/SKY debate between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage over “Britain’s” membership of the EU.  I thought Nigel Farage did very well.  Although he is not as polished a debater as Nick Clegg, he was certainly able to more than hold his own.  From an English nationalist point of view, it was also interesting to hear him confirm repeatedly that he was “British” and to emphasise that what he is concerned about is “Britain’s” place in the world.  His comments will have firmly and finally nailed UKIP’s colours to the mast of Britishness!

So far as Nick Clegg was concerned, there was again talk of “Britain” and “British” interests, although Clegg is not as enthusiastically patriotic about Britain as Nigel Farage, he did take the crown by saying that:- “I want us to be Great Britain, not Little England.  And if you feel the same, then now is the time to make your voice heard”.  My response to Nick Clegg is: Now is the time for a voice standing up for England to be heard!

After Nick Clegg’s performance over student “top-up” fees, we all know that nothing he says should be taken as anything more than a useful line spun for the moment, but it was entertaining to see that even applies to his rhetoric about “our country”.  After the 18th September, we may be moving to the end of “Great Britain” whatever the Westminster and Whitehall Establishment may want (memo to Nick Clegg :- E + S = GB therefore GB – S = E).

One very interesting aspect of the discussions that Sky TV showed afterwards, was interviews with the various political commentators like Sky’s own Adam Bolton and many other media lovies. They all seemed to think that Nick Clegg had won the debate.  This is an interesting illustration of the point made by Drew Weston in his book, ‘The Political Brain’, that people tend to be completely blinded to what other people think during political debates because of their own political identity.

The opinion polls show that by far the majority of people thought that Nigel Farage had won.  This is, of course, for the same reason, in that those people are seeing only what appeals to their political identity.

Putting these reactions together shows that the leading commentators in the British media are so politically divorced from the views of most normal people that they have no instinctive understanding of how most normal people will react to a political point.

It seems that “liberals” think that political debates are won by making precise nit-picking points rather than statements with emotional punch.

The other thing about the debate was that it was very nice to see a studio audience in a TV debate not as carefully selected for Leftist bias as we always seem to find with BBC selected audiences!  I wonder if we will see usual BBC audience bias in the BBC hosted debate in a few days?
 

INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND OUT OF EU = ENGLAND OUT OF EU

The EU Commission President, Senor Barosso, has unwittingly confirmed that if either Scotland or England get independence from the UK then they are out of the EU!

On the Andrew Marr show on Sunday, 16th February, Mr Barosso made clear that an independent Scotland was a “new State” and so would be automatically out of the EU.

He was clearly unaware of the UK’s unique constitution structure because he was apparently unaware that in the event of the dissolution of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain” all the constituent nations of the UK would also be “new States”.  Therefore by Barosso’s logic, we would all be out of the EU!  Not a result that I imagine he would relish!

So England can either get out of the EU through a dissolution of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain” either by Scottish secession or by our own English independence!

So thank you Mr Barosso.  Now we have a road map of two easy ways out of the EU maze!

This is what Senor Barosso said:-
“When asked about the Scottish referendum on independence later this year, Mr Barroso said he respected the ongoing democratic processes surrounding the  debate and said it was for the Scottish people to decide on the country’s future.

But he added: “In case there is a new country, a new state, coming out of a current member state, it will have to apply and… the application and the accession to the European Union will have to be approved by all the other member states of the European Union.”

He went on: “I don’t want to interfere on your referendum here, your democratic discussion here, but of course it will be extremely difficult to get the approval of all the other member states to have a new member coming from one member state.

“We have seen Spain has been opposing even the recognition of Kosovo, for instance. So it is to some extent a similar case because it’s a new country and so I believe it’s going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible, a new member state coming out of one of our countries getting the agreement of the others.”

(Here is a link to the Daily Express Article about this >>> NO negotiation of freedom of movement says defiant EU President Jose Manuel Barroso | UK | News | Daily Express )