Holding the European Parliamentary elections on same day as the local council elections this coming May, is likely to see more than a few councillors loose their seats for all the wrong reasons.
We’ve already seen the UKIP effective have an impact on the local government elections that took place in 2013. This can surely only be seen as an indication of what is likely to happen this May, when UKIP have both European and council election candidates on offer.
Despite repeatedly telling people that a vote for UKIP is a wasted vote at the local level – your local council can’t stop immigration, it can’t take us out of Europe, it can’t even stop the EU from grabbing more and more power. So what exactly is the point of voting for the UKIP candidate, if all you want to do is send a message to Westminster,manner that candidate is only interested in national issues?
Overarching all of this, is the stark fact, that holding both the European and local council elections on the same day, knowing how strong the UKIP protest vote can be, shows how little regard the government has for its so called grass roots Conservative councillors.
The government will of course sight cost as the reason for holding them on the same day and were it not for the proven negative and distorting effect of UKIP on local government election outcomes, I might agree. However, in this case, consideration should have been given to the potential impact and an alternative arrangement sort.
Of course, given this government’s completely negative attitude to local government, I’ve no doubt that this issue was never even given a thought.
Tag Archives: europe
Simon Heffer encouraging Eurozone riot?
Simon Heffer certainly doesn’t pull any punches writing in The Daily Mail, when it comes to voicing his opinions on European financial integration. Some very stupid young men have just been sent to goal for 4 years each for trying to incite trouble amongst the population – have a care Simon!
Rise of the Fourth Reich, how Germany is using the financial crisis to conquer Europe
“Frau Merkel called for a ‘stronger coordination of policy’ and ‘a new quality of cooperation’ within the Eurozone. Although she will not yet admit it, this all suggests the first step has been taken towards a fiscal union that will leave Germany dictating the financial terms for the rest of Europe. … Where Hitler failed by military means to conquer Europe, modern Germans are succeeding through trade and financial discipline. Welcome to the Fourth Reich.”
Whilst it is difficult to argue with the logic of what Heffer is saying, I find it less than helpful and more than a little worrying that he should take the time to refer directly to Adolf Hitler. Why not choose instead Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last Kaiser of Germany, who was the Commander in Chief of the German armed forces throughout WW1? – if only because the name is less emotive.
I wonder if this level of paranoia extends to all European leaders and this means that Simon Heffer’s fears will inevitably lead to some form of economic war? As they say, just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me!
“Get-out clause” built into Huhne’s emissions targets
The smallest glimmer of common sense has finally emerged in what is otherwise a ridiculous piece of ‘green’ posturing by the coalition government. To quote:
“The Government has inserted a get-out clause in its climate change plan which will allow it to scrap a new emissions target within three years if other European countries fail to take similar action. Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, said he was adopting the recommendation by the Committee on Climate Change for emissions to be halved by 2025 compared with 1990 levels. However, he said that the Government would hold a review in early 2014 and would adjust the target in line with “the actual EU trajectory”.”
However, I have a suspicion that if we (the public) take our eye of this particular ball, the review will be no more than a publicity stunt and we will continue to pursue these damaging targets, whilst the rest of Europe and the world laughs at us behind their collective hands.
I fully support policies that seek to reverse the damage being done to the environment by the way man and womankind mis-use and often abuses planet Earth, even to the point where I am about to take on the portfolio for carbon reduction. However, our goverment’s massively expensive pursuit of unrealistic carbon reduction figures, whilst just about every other major industrial country continues to pay lip service to the issue, is not just globally insignificant, it is potentially highly damaging to this country’s economy.
What we needas a start point, is a ministerial letter, like the one Liam Fox wrote to the Prime Minister regarding the Overseas Aid budget commitment, demanding that he GETS REAL!
Speaking of which, I see in today’s press that an un-named government minister has criticised Liam Fox for going public on the issue of the Overseas Aid budget. I share Liam Foxe’s frustration on this subject and I wouldn’t mind betting that he has already tried to make his point behind closed doors, but that until now, just like the rest of us, has been completely ignored. Is it really the case that our politicians only care about public opinion when the ballot boxes are being dusted off and the rest of the time they treat us like children who need to be told by the adults inWestminsterwhat is best for us?
I wonder if David Cameron will now do the British public the honour of explaining his policy of pouring money in to the coffers of foreign governments, whilst his own people face many years of austerity, rising prices and zero wage increases.
Firm talk is not enough on EU budget proposals
Whilst I agree completely with David Cameron in his opposition to the EU budget increase, I find the wording used, ‘completely unacceptable’, feeble in the extreme. He might as well of said, ‘I say old bean, that’s not cricket!’, for all the good it will do. Read more on this here
Far stronger words and possibly even actions are required to make these people listen. The tail wagging the dog is becoming the standard in the EU, with those member countries who make the largest net contributions, being completely ignored, by their money grabbing smaller and poorer partners in this corrupt and inefficient gravy train called the EU.
I supposed it should come as no surprise that Janusz Lewandowski, the EU budget commissioner who is Polish and therefore from a country that is literally raking it in along with many of his eastern european neighbours, is staunchly defending the proposed rise.
Come on Dave time for firm action not wet words.
Roger Gambba-Jones 