| Author | Message | | Von Curtis | | Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:00 am Post subject: I HOPE WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT THAT LONG |
| 'it'll be what our children inherit unless we can do something to stop it.'
Yes I have had that very sad idea in my mind lately - I hope that is not right and we can do something sooner. I do what I can but my very nice but blind corporate sisters in the city don't want to hear what I have to say about the bad direction we are going in. They cling to the system and believe what the media tell them.
I listen to the BBC most nights to hear what propaganda they are pushing - they are often on about the sea level rising and all the creatures are going to disappear. MAD | |  | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:20 am Post subject: |
| PA
Brown on brink after Labour routed
8.6.09
Gordon Brown's political survival is hanging in the balance as Labour suffered a devastating rout in the European elections.
The party was beaten into third place by the UK Independence Party (Ukip) in the popular vote while the far right British National Party achieved a major breakthrough gaining their first Euro seats.
The scale of the defeat could be the catalyst for rebel Labour backbenchers manoeuvring to oust Mr Brown to come out into the open and launch a direct leadership challenge.
With the all the results in for England and Wales, Labour were on course to gain just 16% of the vote - a point behind Ukip on 17% and 11 points behind the Tories on 27%, according to a BBC projection.
Labour lost five seats to leave them with just 11, two fewer than Ukip with 13 and 13 behind the Conservative tally of 24.
Deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted that they had been a "very dismal" set of results for the party.
She sought to deflect attention from the Prime Minister, putting the blame for Labour's poor performance on the row over MPs' expenses which, she said, had hit the party particularly hard. "Our supporters are absolutely furious with us about expenses," she said. "They expect us to have higher standards than the Tories."
However, Labour MPs returning to Westminster will be weighing up whether they now need to ditch Mr Brown if they are going to stand any chance at the next general election.
The results will set the scene for a tense meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party where the Prime Minister is expected to address his shell-shocked backbenchers.
The former Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer - the most senior figure so far to break cover - repeated his call for a new leader to re-unify the party. "I think unity will only come with a leader that the mainstream votes for," he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
Source.... | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:29 am Post subject: |
| UKIP 'second in the great Euro race'
Last updated at 2:09 AM on 08th June 2009
The UK Independence Party emerged as the big winner on a night when Labour support collapsed and the other main parties struggled to cash in.
UKIP was on course to finish second overall behind the Tories with 17 per cent of the vote, pushing the Government into a humiliating third place on a desperate 16 points.
The party, which wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union, picked up votes nationwide, improving on an already strong performance five years ago.
In region after region UKIP was the main beneficiary of protest votes against the main parties, tarnished by the Westminster expenses scandal.
It seemed on course to at least match its haul from the 2004 elections, when it picked up 12 MEPs. Projected results suggested as many as 13.
In the Eastern region, where the party held on to its two MEPs, UKIP polled well over 300,000 votes, almost double the figure for Labour.
In Yorkshire and Humberside, UKIP earned more than 213,000 votes, holding on to one MEP and improving its vote share by around 3 per cent, above its previous high in 2004.
In the North East it also gained ground, with 90,000 votes, falling just 13,000 votes short of grabbing a seat from the LibDems.
In Wales the party gained 2 per cent over its performance five years ago. Party leader Nigel Farage denied his party was simply the beneficiary of a protest vote. He said: 'People have been going out and voting for us because they agree with our policies.
'Most people want us to trade with Europe and be friendly with our neighbours but not to be part of this political union.'
But he also acknowledged that UKIP won over disgruntled voters.
'The anger over the expenses scandal is a symptom of a deeper problem,' he said.
'They've lost faith in the political class.' Mr Farage also found time to berate Gordon Brown, whose misfortune last night was UKIP's gain.
'It couldn't happen to nicer chap,' he said. 'This was the Prime Minister and the Government that ratified the Lisbon Treaty within days of the Irish voting No.' UKIP was founded in 1993 and attracted some members from the Europhobic wing of the Tory party.
It was overshadowed at the 1997 General Election by Sir James Goldsmith's Referendum Party but in 1999, it won three seats in Brussels.
In 2004 it increased that to 12, including television presenter Robert Kilroy Silk.
He became Britain's best-known MEP before leaving the party because of a power struggle.
The party faced further embarrassment when one of its MEPs, Ashley Mote, was convicted of benefit fraud.
Another - Tom Wise - has been charged with false accounting and money laundering. He has denied the charges.
Source.... | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:32 am Post subject: |
|
BBC
UKIP: A hell of an achievement
Nigel Farage reaction.....
With four results in, Labour looked set to trail the UK Independence Party (UKIP) in third place in the share of the popular vote.
It put the Tories first with 27%, followed by UKIP on 17%, Labour on 16%, the Liberal Democrats on 14%, the Greens on 9%, and the BNP on 6%.
UKIP's leader Nigel Farage said that the result showed that his party's unexpected third place in the last European elections was no fluke.
Source.... | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:45 am Post subject: |
| SKY NEWS
BNP Victories Shock Main Political Parties
The BNP has sent shockwaves through the mainstream political parties after winning two seats in the European Parliament for the first time in its history.
The far right party's leader Nick Griffin won a seat in the North West region, describing it as a "great victory".
Other party members, who had deplored Mr Griffin's election from the stage, left when he came to give his victory speech.
Meanwhile, Andrew Brons, the BNP's candidate in the Yorkshire and Humber region, took the seat from Labour with 120,139 votes.
Speaking after his victory, he said: "I regard this as the first step to the UK getting freedom from the EU dictatorship.
"Despite the headlines, despite the money, despite the misrepresentation we have managed to win through."
Cabinet minister Andy Burnham said the result was a "sad moment for British politics" and it was "deeply uncomfortable" seeing the BNP polling in such large numbers.
He said that they had been the beneficiaries of an "anti-politics mood" which had hit all the main parties in the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal.
Mr Griffin said the party's presence in the European Parliament would "transform" British politics.
He told Sky News: "The party is going to go on and grow very rapidly.
"We're going to be major contenders in a number of places in the next general election and the next wave of council elections - we're going to do very well indeed."
He said it was a "bad moment" for mainstream parties and a "great moment for democracy".
He added: "Let's face it - they've all ruined this country, they've transformed it into a crime-ridden slum without any industry left."
Mr Griffin said people who were not welcome in the UK included illegal immigrants, failed asylum seekers and settlers who were "not loyal to Britain".
Earlier, he was briefly prevented from attending the European election count in Manchester by anti-fascist protesters.
Placard waving anti-BNP activists surrounded a number of cars, one of which was thought to be carrying Mr Griffin, when they arrived at Manchester Town Hall.
The cars drove away without anyone getting out. But Mr Griffin later entered the town hall via a rear entrance having arrived in a police van.
The BNP took almost 10% of the vote in the Yorkshire and Humber region, up by 2% on the last election.
It achieved 16% of the vote in Barnsley, nearly 12% in Doncaster and 15% in Rotherham - all Labour strongholds.
Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "On D-Day, Britain sent an army to Europe to stop the Nazis getting to Britain.
"It is an absolute insult to the memories to those who fought that 65 years later Britain is now sending Nazis to Europe to represent us."
Source.... | | | | Von Curtis | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:27 am Post subject: |
| 'Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB union, said: "On D-Day, Britain sent an army to Europe to stop the Nazis getting to Britain.
"It is an absolute insult to the memories to those who fought that 65 years later Britain is now sending Nazis to Europe to represent us."
That is very interesting because at present we have unions here supporting the privatisation of our public assests like the railways and ports. | | | | Diceros | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:49 pm Post subject: |
| The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid. (Art Spander)
UKIP beats Labour to second place ? Ho-ho-ho!
This election will no doubt prove to be a wake -up call to all mainstream parties.
cheers. | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject: |
| European elections 2009: Gordon Brown 'terrorising MPs' claims Frank Field
Frank Field, the respected backbencher, has warned that Labour cannot win with the "inept" Gordon Brown as leader and accused him of terrorising MPs to stay in power.
By Matthew Moore
Published: 4:24PM BST 08 Jun 2009
The former welfare minister said that the Prime Minister must take responsibility for the party's "pitiful" European election results, and blamed the BNP breakthroughs on the Government's failure to address genuine concerns about immigration and the EU.
Mr Field, a known critic of Mr Brown who has been mentioned as a possible successor to Michael Martin as Speaker, urged fellow Labour MPs to have the courage to topple their leader.
"Labour supporters claiming that the European results were not a catastrophe for the party can only do so by inventing a new meaning for the word catastrophe," he wrote on his blog.
"Labour cannot win with the present Prime Minister. I was one of the seven who would not support his coronation after Tony Blair was shoehorned out of Number 10. But even I didn't think a Brown administration would be as inept as this one."
He added: "The Brownites are attempting to terrorise Labour MPs into inaction. If they succeed then we deserve our fate."
The claim by No 10 that any successor to Gordon Brown would have to call an immediate general election – which would see dozens of Labour MPs facing unemployment – was an "absurd" attempt at intimidation, the MP for Birkenhead added.
"A new leader, when being invited by the Queen to form a government, should inform the Monarch that he or she intends to return in April of next year to call for a general election on May 6," he said.
Mr Field, who chairs the parliamentary all-party group on balanced migration, also warned against explaining away the local and European election results as protest voting, saying that they "ring a clear verdict" on the EU. "The failure to deal with immigration and Europe is poisoning our political system," he said.
Source..... | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:12 pm Post subject: |
| 2009 European elections: ten conclusions
Posted By: Daniel Hannan
Jun 8, 2009 at 12:25:22
1. This is strongly Euro-sceptic result. The three anti-Lisbon parties (Conservatives, UKIP, Greens) increased their share of the vote. The two pro-Lisbon parties (Labour, LibDems) lost ground. When you factor all the little anti-Brussels parties - English Democrats, No2EU, BNP, DUP, Christians, United Kingdom First - the differential is still more pronounced. Seven out of every ten ballots went to souverainiste parties.
2. Turnout is down again: it reached 43 per cent across the EU, 35 per cent in Britain. Six times in a row, participation has fallen. (Not in the UK, where former abstainers are now voting UKIP, but in the EU as a whole). The more powerful the European Parliament becomes, the less people like it (see here for an explanation).
3. Stop talking up the BNP. The party has won two out of 72 seats, for Heaven's sake - and the only reason it won these was because of disproportionate media coverage. Tim Montgomerie argues that Labour is to blame for the rise of the fascist party, and he has a point. In the final week of the campaign, Labour had fallen back on just one argument: "Vote for us to stop the BNP". Sadly, Labour politicians are now so detested that this argument had precisely the opposite effect of the one intended.
4. Incidentally, any BBC presenters reading this, why do you keep calling the party "far Right"? Weren't you listening to Nick Griffin's acceptance speech? He wasn't going to talk about immigration policy he said, since everyone knew where he stood on the subject. No, his priority was to expose the way in which public assets had been privatised. Look at the BNP's manifesto: it wants nationalisation, subsidy, higher taxes, protectionism and (sotto voce) the abolition of the monarchy. And look at where its votes came from. The BNP is a symptom of Labour's collapse.
5. The survival of Labour as a major national party is now in the balance. I've made the arguments here and here, and won't repeat them. So far, Labour MPs have justified their pusillanimity by telling themselves that Gordon Brown is on probation, that this really is his last chance, that if he does badly at the next election, he's gone, blah blah.Well, the Broon has now taken Labour back to a level of support not seen since it became a mainstream party after the First World War. How much worse can it get, brothers?
6. For the first time in more than 50 years, the European Parliament will have an Official Opposition. The parties of the Czech Prime Minister and the Polish President both did well, increasing their proportions of seats (if not the absolute numbers in a diminished total). Other free market parties have been elected in Eastern and Western Europe, and we will soon have a strong conservative bloc in Strasbourg. Needless to say, this horrifies the Euro-federalists: stand by for more false, fleeting, perjur'd articles in The Guardian about "sitting with fringe parties". The truth is that David Cameron will now be the spokesman and champion for millions of anti-federalist Europeans who have no representatives among their own politicians.
7. Congratulations to UKIP. To come second in a national poll is an extraordinary achievement. And yet today's coverage is dominated by the relatively paltry result of the BNP (see point three).
8. Congratulations to the Greens. On the basis of last night's result, they would have won Westminster seats in Oxford and Brighton: an endorsement of their South East MEP, the charming and clever Caroline Lucas.
9. Congratulations to ConservativeHome. As always ConHome was quicker in calling results than the BBC. Blogs come into their own on election nights. A broadcaster with paid journalists around the country can't compete with an army of volunteers texting in results from thousands of counts.
10. A sad note. My worst moment of the campaign came when, by a quirk of the d'Hondt rules, my dear friend Therese Coffey failed to take the fifth seat in my region from the LibDems. No one could have worked harder than Therese, who quit her job six months ago to canvass full-time. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like her. I hope that Strasbourg's loss will be Westminster's gain, and that a lucky constituency will snap up one of the most dedicated, generous and patriotic candidates in Britain.
Source... | | | | ktholcombe | | Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:48 pm Post subject: |
| David Cameron on track to form alliance of Eurosceptics
Ian Traynor in Brussels
guardian.co.uk,
Monday 8 June 2009
David Cameron is expected to move swiftly this week to break with the centre-right winners of the European election and seal a new alliance of Eurosceptics with at least six other parties, mainly in eastern Europe.
Timothy Kirkhope, the newly elected MEP for Yorkshire and Tory leader in the European parliament, is to hold talks in Brussels this week with prospective partners, Conservative sources said, with a view to an announcement soon.
The move to cut 20 years of cooperation with the European People's party of continental Christian Democrats is being criticised as perverse, since the EPP's collective resounding victory across Europe will strengthen its domination of the assembly and includes the government leaders of Germany, France, Italy, and Poland.
"There will be some movement in the next few days in Brussels," said a Tory source. "We're pretty confident we'll get them all there. It's just a question of finalising things. This will be a sizeable group, one of the largest in the parliament."
The Conservatives need 25 MEPs from at least seven countries to form an official caucus in the parliament. Their Czech partner, the Civic Democratic party or ODS, won the election with nine seats. Their Polish partner, the Law and Justice party or PiS, came second with 15 of Poland's 50 seats. The Tories have 25, plus possibly one from Northern Ireland.
The seat numbers are comfortably there but the Conservatives are being coy about the other four partners, and want to have eight or nine countries in the group to prevent it being held hostage by one party which could threaten to leave and have the group collapse if there were only seven.
It looks as though the Tories will muster the countries, although their proposed partner in Bulgaria failed to win a seat.
Two Latvian parties which won three seats between them are candidates. The ethnic Polish MEP in Lithuania will probably join. The big winner in Estonia, Indrek Tarand, an independent and TV talkshow host viewed as a libertarian, could also sign up.
The fiercely anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic Danish People's party, which won two seats, is a further contender. And in Flanders in Belgium, the rightwing libertarian List Dedecker (one seat) would bring the number of participating countries to eight.
In public, the Tories speak only of their alliance with the ODS in Prague, failing even to mention the Polish party despite the fact that Cameron appeared at a Warsaw rally last weekend with the PiS leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, to proclaim the coalition of "modern conservatives".
Konrad Szymanski, a newly re-elected PiS MEP, said the Tories had more than enough offers for forming the caucus.
The Tories are also hoping that the Independence/Democracy group, a small caucus of Eurosceptics and anti-Europeans including Ukip, could fall apart, leaving others clamouring to come into the Cameron camp.
Source.... | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
