The Importance Of A Strong Voice In The EU – Part II

What has happened in Greece is massively complex and and it has divided many folk in opinion, and we felt as though we should make our position clear.

Some time ago we published this which outlined how we felt about the case for a strong voice in the EU. We still take the same approach that to change something you need to play a part and get involved. The unity of the EU is something which can benefit us all, and being in the EU give us, the everyday working folk, many benefits and can help protect us from corrupt governments.

While some may argue that there is the same corruption in the EU, and factions and organisations that do not serve the interests of the people, and we say to them, ‘Yes, so lets do something about that!’.

You can’t change anything from the outside and if the people of the UK opted to leave the EU it could have a devastating economical impact on UK business and economy. It is believed that staying in the EU is a key advantage for companies looking to access Europe’s single market.

We would also like to point out the importance of this weekend’s Eurogroup negotiations and underline the fact that the UK was not there. This was a prime example of what it would be like should we opt out of the EU. The EU will make decisions that will affect us all, but we will have no say on them whatsoever. This should also be a wake up call to all the people who did not vote in the EU elections.

If you want the EU to work for you, and to be the kind of EU you want, then you need to consider this carefully when you vote. This is an important forum, and it is not the time for a protest vote, and furthermore, why would you put something this serious into the hands of people who don’t even show up?

You also need to show whichever government that is in power in the UK, that you want your opinion heard and your needs considered at EU level.

The UK is a member state that can punch at equal weight to and act as a counterbalance to Germany at EU level.

This is essential to the democracy of the Union – as a nation we need to take up that challenge and not run away from it.

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Guest Post – ‘What Next After The Election?’ – John Golding

John Golding – ‘What Next After The Election?’

UKIP attracted a respectable number of votes at the General Election and even managed to attain total control over Thanet district council, (Update October 2015 - Ukip lost control of Thanet after a series of resignations and defections) but it still wasn’t the groundbreaking result they had been so confident of.

Farage’s resignation and subsequent decision to salvage what remained of his tarnished career by compelling the party’s NEC to keep him on regardless has triggered a rather messy ongoing internal civil war, and no amount of secretly whipping his underlings to declare undying loyalty is going to rescue his flagging career.

That’s not to say anti-racists can simply pack up and move on though. It should be noted that UKIP was only a couple of percentage points behind hoovering up numerous seats, coming second in 120 constituencies and third in many more.

In Thurrock, it was only one percentage point between Labour and the Tories – a 24% surge on its result back in 2010. It was also a close runner-up in a number of working-class regions, receiving 30% of votes in Rotherham where it hijacked a child abuse scandal to promulgate its polarising message.

Despite positioning itself to the Right of the Conservative Party (and eating into the Tory vote) UKIP was unsuccessful in its ultimate objective to seize a number of Tory-held seats.

Nor did it manage to make any considerable gains in Labour-held seats as some commentators were predicting, although its valiant attempt to exploit a widespread feeling that the Labour Party no longer represents working class people increased support in a remarkable number of Labour-held seats.

New Labour’s much-criticised embrace of corporatist dogma has opened the door for UKIP – which of course is predominantly propped up by shady hedge fund billionaires using tax havens to hide their ill-gotten gains – to criticise it for being too friendly towards big business!

Labour’s depressingly predictable reply to the self-ascribed ‘People’s Army’ was to legitimise UKIP’s vindictive campaign of racist, anti-migrant rhetoric by trying to out-Kipper them with talk of ‘tougher migration controls’.

Its stubborn refusal to learn any lessons from the SNP (who were offering an anti-austerity and anti-racist alternative) proved its undoing in Scotland but frustratingly, many within the party ranks appear to be under the irresponsible illusion that voters want it to ape UKIP’s racism instead of working to expose the ridiculous falsehood of its ‘anti-establishment’ radicalism.

There is no alternative under the false “choice” of Labour, the Tories or UKIP; we need a new party to put workers from all walks of life first rather than seeking to divide and rule us.

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Do Not Believe What Nigel #Farage Tells You About ‘Health Tourists’ And #HIV Services In The UK

Farage was on TV again last night quoting from a letter he claims to have in his possession from a 30 year old HIV patient who who states NHS treatment is slipping because of ‘health tourism’.

So a friend of ours wrote to a local HIV/AIDS charity and asked for some information. (Their funding was cut to zero a year or two back.

This was the reply.

"Here is a link to the info from BHIVA (copy attached) about the changes to public health commissioning and the requirement for LA’s to retender services such as sexual health and HIV care. These changes have resulted in much confusion and consequently disruption to service delivery as new providers take over contracts for services.

"Some tendering situations have resulted in real problems with HIV care being left behind as providers cherry pick the services they wish to take on or commissioners not including aspects of care in their tender documents resulting in some parts of HIV care being left in limbo.

"Level 3 HIV care in one county was a prime example of this, the trust taking over sexual health services apparently not wishing to take on this aspect, or it not being part of the original tender, resulting in a hiatus whilst the error is corrected with another tender to take place next year and, as a result, the current provider who took over this year is not likely to invest significantly in the service as they are awaiting the outcome of the next tender!

"As they didn’t want this aspect of the service anyway it is probably likely that they will not wish to take it on next year.

"All of these changes have had an impact on the service provision and thus the perception of the end user is that the service has changed and probably not for the best.

"Of course change brings some disruption and this is to be expected, but anecdotal reports of other situations like the ones we are experiencing have been received from other parts of the country, with some private providers handing back services or otherwise being terminated as a result of the inability to provide an adequate service level or other tender or capability related issues."

Also a link to the BHIVA consultation about the proposed changes where many highlight service fragmentation and potential perils to service delivery here;

• http://www.bhiva.org/documents/Publications/consultations/140212Reports140116.pdf

and more here;

• http://www.bhiva.org/documents/Conferences/2013Manchester/Presentations/Posters/Access-and-Service-Delivery/P2.pdf

And this review by the President of BASHH about the good, bad and ugly parts of the changes here;

• http://www.medfash.org.uk/efeature

Rather a mess you will agree - but the issues illustrated by the UKIP email being circulated at present would seem to be more to do with the disruption caused by the changes in health and social care than a dramatic influx of health tourists.

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Do Not Be Fooled By #UKIP

Do not be fooled by UKIP.

Remember their old manifesto which Farage had to eventually dismiss as ‘drivel’ just because they got caught out? Imagine if no one had ever questioned it!

And all those things PPCs/Councillors actually said, when they claimed they were hacked, or it was a ‘smear’? Imagine if no-one ever exposed them and they had gone on to gain positions of power?

UKIP are the only party not to address the rights of the LGBT community in their manifesto. Why?

You cannot trust UKIP with the NHS. Everything they said about the NHS is recorded and documented.

It is the party that thrives on xenophobia and creates fear and division amongst the people of the United Kingdom.

UKIP would cut billions from Scottish budget to fund English tax cuts.

They’re the party of anti-environmentalism and disregard for scientific evidence. They want to BAN the education of climate change in schools.

They are not the party for the working man & woman. They are the party who oppose raising minimum wage and want to allow small businesses to discriminate against sections of society at will.

UKIP want to get rid of equality laws in the UK, and they oppose multiculturalism. Farage called multiculturalism ‘the biggest mistake governments have made’. They believe in the right to discriminate and claim laws barring discrimination on grounds of nationality or race are not required.

If you oppose UKIP, you can expect far right thugs to target you online, and on the streets. Ukip activists will target you at work, at home, and call you ‘cultural marxists’ (whatever that is) or ‘leftards’.

They are the party who believe in massive tax cuts for the rich and very rich.

Farage claimed laws brought in after 16 ­children and a teacher were gunned down in Dunblane in 1996 were “ludicrous” and “crackers”.

Ukip claim they want to leave the EU but happy for their MEPs to claim a salary every year on the gravy train they claim to oppose.

And please do not be fooled by Farage’s beer and cigs and claims he is a ‘man of the people’. He is extremely rich, and always was.

UKIP are funded and supported by big business and the Tea Party in the US, and backed and supported by extreme far right organisations in the UK, who will use UKIP as a truck for their movements.

UKIP attract all sorts of extreme organisations, like the EDL and the National Front, and White Supremacists in the UK, and the US. Why?

Remember, Farage is a former City Trader, a feather-nested MEP and a product of a very expensive and privileged education. He is as much part of the establishment as Boris Johnson or David Cameron, who fear his populist pronouncements.

Their whole manifesto is costed on leaving the EU, and reducing foreign aid. Many leading economists believe leaving the EU would be catastrophic to the UK, and even if we had a referendum recent polls show most people of the UK would wish to remain in the EU, so where will all the money come from for this manifesto they have produced? How much foreign aid will they need to cut?

Do not be fooled by UKIP.

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Elections For European Parliament Will Be Held On 22 May 2014

Voters will choose 73 MEPs in 11 multi-member regional constituencies.

Full details here :
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-27142516

And full list of candidates here :
http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/2014/

You need to be on the electoral register to vote! But don't worry if you're not! It is quick and easy ... You have until May 6th to register. Download a simple form and post it back.

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What Are EU's Legal Competences? The Facts About The Impact Of The EU On The UK

Many people in the EU seem to be concerned about the impact of the EU on their national legislation. Here in a nutshell, are the rules as laid down in the Lisbon Treaty.

These rules define the areas where the EU can legislate, where it can't, and where it shares competences with the Member States.

European Union law is a body of treaties, law and court judgements which operates alongside the legal systems of the European Union's member states.

The Treaty of Lisbon (The Treaty on the Function of the European Union TFEU) clarifies the division of competences between the European Union (EU) and Member States.

THE THREE MAIN TYPES OF COMPETENCE

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Why Do Ukip Feel The Need To Lie? The 75% EU Law Myth Exposed

This is a poster just released by the UK Independence Party (UKIP) for the 2014 European Election campaign.

Truth, lie or a genuine mistake?

The issue of how many of UK laws are generated in Brussels has always been a contentious one.  Just after the second Clegg-Farage debate in early April, UKIP's official Youtube channel uploaded a video titled 'Facts':

Screenshot of Youtube video, now removed.

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