The Tories will save us. Or not.

There must be an election coming soon or something because William Hague has been wheeled out for yet another lengthy puff piece. Once again he is making vague promises that a future Tory government would do blah blah blah:

He promised immediate legislation for a referendum to reject the treaty if it had not been ratified by the whole of the EU by the time that the Conservatives took power.

He left open the door to the possibility of the Tories promising a referendum in their election manifesto even if the treaty had been ratified by then.

Well, that's me convinced. We might as well pack up and go home; William Hague will nip into government, fix the EU and be back in time for tea and medals.

There are one or two niggling doubts about the Tory promises that are barely worth mentioning however. Firstly, as Hague admits, there is only a 50-50 chance that the Constitution/Lisbon Treaty won't have been ratified by the time the Tories get into government; at which point they can't legally do anything. The chances of the treaty being ratified will be significantly less if Libertas can produce a good result in the June elections, and we can send a strong message from right across Europe that the Constitution is not what the people want.

Secondly, one doesn't hold a referendum to 'reject' a treaty. This fundamental misunderstanding of a basic principle of democracy is deeply worrying. A referendum is held to find out what the public want. If the Tories thought that they could lose such a referendum, would they still be (vaguely) promising it? 

More importantly, the Lisbon Treaty is just the tip of the iceberg. The EU is in a disastrous anti-democratic mess and there's zero evidence that the Conservatives have even considered a plan for fixing it. They seem happy with the EU as it is and never mutter a word about reform. 

The final point about all of this is that the Tories are transparently trying to link a referendum in Britain with voting for the Conservatives in the EU elections... although the two issues are completely separate. No amount of Tory MEPs are going to make any difference to whether we get a referendum in Britain. They haven't made a difference for the last ten years, and they won't make any difference for the next five either.

If you want something to change, then you need to change your vote.

Libertas.eu is the most visited political website in Europe

This was an interesting snippet that came out of one of the daily briefings:

As the Libertas movement gears up for the European elections in June, the Libertas.eu website is more visited than any other party's website in Europe.

Libertas chairman Declan Ganley said "With just over a month to go, this is great news for us. This is a tremendous start and shows how quickly a grassroots movement in one country can turn into a serious political force across the whole of the EU27"

A full break-down of Libertas.eu can be found here:  

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/libertas.eu

Obviously we are at something of an advantage by virtue of being the only party standing right across the European Union, but this is still encouraging news, especially given that the EU campaigning frenzy hasn't started yet.

Libertas declares war

Libertas today declared war on corruption in the European Parliament with a threat to name and shame all MEPs who vote to approve the latest accounts in tomorrow's vote.

The latest auditors' report continues the now annual tradition of telling us what a poor state the EU's accounting systems are in, and that billions of euros (and pounds) of our money is being wasted.

MEPs don't appear to regard this as their responsibility. That has to change, and if they won't do it willingly, then we will have to embarrass them into doing it, until we have Libertas MEPs who will actually tackle it head on.

This is the front line in the battle against EU corruption and waste. I look forward to the release of the names in the next day or two.

Robin Matthews interviewed by Spiked

Robin Matthews was interviewed by Spiked:

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6558/

Not a bad bit of coverage at all!

EU bans 'dangerous' anoraks

When I read the headline, I thought that my time was up, but apparently this is a genuine EU decision to tackle the severe risk to children from drawstrings in their anorak hoods. 

It's hard to know what to say. This is the front line of the battle against the bureaucrats, where common sense has no place, and risk is no longer seen as character developing, but something to be avoided at all costs.

Let's hope that the Libertas ideology of promotion of small businesses and risk taking to rebuild the damaged economies of Europe will directly challenge the gutless nanny-state being built in Brussels.

Lobbyists stick two fingers up to transparency

Registration for lobbyists in Brussels is going to remain voluntary despite just a 9% sign up rate, according to a Libertas statement released today.

Although it may not sound like a big deal, the secret meetings with lobbyists are one of the biggest problems in Brussels. Not only are the most important people in the EU unelected, they are also heavily influenced by the 15,000 lobbyists based in Brussels. The attempt to encourage them to sign a voluntary register has failed, but in true EU style, they are ignoring the problem.

Unsurprisingly 91% of these lobbyists have decided that they would rather not announce themselves and instead will carry on meeting with Commissioners, bureaucrats and MEPs in secret. We don't even know who these lobbyists represent.

We already know from experience in the UK that lobbyists buy access to ministers and MPs though conferences, free tickets, flights etc, but lobbying in Brussels is on a whole different scale, with nearly 20 lobbyists for every MEP.

I am hoping that Libertas will not only continue to fight for a mandatory register, but will lead by example and publish the details of all meetings between Libertas MEPs and lobbyists in Brussels.

Tory MEPs vote themselves a major pay rise

Continuing the theme of salaries, expenses and pensions in the EU, Libertas today revealed the following new details. MEPs - including Labour and the Conservatives - have voted themselves a lucrative pay deal that kicks in AFTER the European election in June.  

Here are the details:

• A base salary of €7,665 per month (that's £82,000 per year, taxed at a special rate of only 15%)
• Daily allowance of €298, just for turning up (which works out at £1,300 per week)
• Secretarial expenses of €4,202 per month extra (£45,000 annually), although no proof is needed to claim the cash, on top of the £125,000 they already get.
• All business-class travel expenses on top of this.
• A gold-plated pension scheme, guaranteed by YOU, the taxpayer, to the tune of over €200 million.
  

Now I don't have a problem with our representatives being well paid. I do have a problem with them awarding themselves substantial pay bonuses a) during a recession and b) when they are doing a poor job of sorting the EU out. 

I also don't see why MEPs need to travel in business class. This must add a vast amount to the travel expenses and only serves to fluff their egos; hardly something we need. Isn't it time that our MEPs were reminded that they are supposed to be servants of the people?

For the political geeks out there, here are how our esteemed Tory MEPs voted on the new pay scheme:

Voted For:

Richard Ashworth MEP

Rt Hon Sir Robert Atkins MEP

Christopher Beazley MEP

John Bowis OBE MEP

Philip Bradbourn OBE DMA MEP

Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP

Martin Callanan MEP

James Elles MEP

Malcolm Harbour MEP

Chris Heaton-Harris MEP

Roger Helmer MEP

Dr Caroline Jackson MEP

Mr Sajjad Karim MEP

Timothy Kirkhope MEP

Edward McMillan-Scott MEP

Neil Parish MEP

David Sumberg MEP

Against:

Giles Chichester MEP

John Purvis CBE MEP

Robert Sturdy MEP

Abstension

Nirj Deva DL FRSA MEP

Struan Stevenson MEP

Dr Charles Tannock MEP

Not Participating

Daniel Hannan MEP

Jonathan Evans MEP

Syed Kamall MEP

Geoffrey Van Orden MBE MEP

€230,000 basic salary for a Commissioner

The gorging in the bottomless trough known as Brussels has been properly exposed by Open Europe in their latest report. Firstly they have revealed that the basic salary of a Commissioner is €230,000 (£207,000), although most earn more.

On top of the ongoing salary, they also get substantial annual 'entertainment' allowances (minimum €7000) and a rather mean €35,000 "Residency Allowance" (i.e. second home).

However, it's not until they retire that Commissioners really reap the benefits. You may recall the fuss recently over Peter Mandelson's "retirement" package when he moved to the Labour front bench as a minister (on a new hefty salary). Mandy received (as a minimum) a €19,000 resettlement fund, even thought he had already been paid a large residency allowance during his term, and €286,000 per year for the next three years.

Are we really getting value for money from these unelected bureaucrats? Even our own Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, earns less, on £187,000 and gets a lot more public scrutiny and criticism into the bargain.

Isn't it time we had MEPs in Brussels fighting for less extravagance and better value for money?

Brussels isn't listening

The European Union has launched a campaign to bring out the yoof vote in June, using MTV ads and a new website. The aim is to get people to send in crazy clips of themselves talking about the European Union and, more unusually, to attend some organised public shouting.

Bruno Waterfield in the Telegraph pretty much covers how nauseating it is when politicians engage in this kind of nonsense:

This is all typically patronising and commitment-lite, an indication of the low expectations and true contempt in which "young people" and the rest of us are held. It is European politics for cretins... People, young or old, should not vote in the European elections unless they think they are being offered a manifesto that directly addresses politics - for the EU, to reform it or against it.It is better not to vote than to perpetuate a ghastly sham. If low turnout reflects a lack of political engagement with the EU project then so be it.

The idea that young people should attend a propaganda rally where they are encouraged to shout "Can you hear me Europe?" would be only slightly less stomach churning if the EU hadn't just ignored the French, Dutch and Irish voters shouting 'NO' to the Lisbon Treaty at the ballot box.

So kids, you can shout all you like, but Brussels isn't listening.

190 parties in the European Parliament

Libertas sent out a newsletter yesterday that revealed that there are 190 domestic parties represented in the European Parliament. It's no wonder that the Parliament is a shambles. 

Most of those 190 domestic parties have joined one of the big 'groups' in the Parliament which function as the real parties of the EU.

This is the big lie of European politics; those 190 domestic parties are all elected on a national manifesto, not on the real manifesto of the EU group that they are part of. For example, the Labour party is part of the PES grouping, but you won't hear it mentioned in their campaign. In fact, you have no idea how your Labour MEPs will actually vote in the European Parliament, or what the PES group will force them to do. You don't get what you vote for.

This is where Libertas is different - we are the first proper pan-European party. Our MEPs have one set of goals and one manifesto right across the European Union. This means that our British MEPs will have the same ambitions as the our Libertas MEPs from France, Germany, Bulgaria and so on.

Anti-democrats strike again

In yet another desperate move to shift the media in their favour for the next referendum, the  joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution has urged the Irish Government to remove the requirement for broadcasters to provide equal air time for both sides during a referendum debate, the Irish Times has revealed:

Mr Regan said: “It is the view of the committee, and it would be my view, that the 50/50 rule as it is presently applied, and was applied in the Lisbon Treaty referendum, actually distorts the debate.

Ensuring that both sides get equal coverage 'distorts' the debate? But giving more air time to one side rather than the other will ensure that it is fairer? Is there a secret Peter Mandelson clone army being used for committees in Ireland that we don't know about?

“I think the view is it would be very difficult to get any referendum through on any subject under the rules where you have to find in all occasions a 50/50 split between the yes and no arguments."

Isn't that the whole point of the democratic process of a referendum? It's not supposed to be easy; the Government is supposed to have to convince the electorate to vote in favour. If your arguments aren't strong enough, you lose the debate. If you have to give more air time to one side to win, then your proposals simply aren't good enough!

Is democracy now so foreign to our politicians that they actually don't understand it?

What the article in the Times doesn't mention is that every single member of the Committee also campaigned for a Yes vote last time around and was embarrassed by the No result. One might suspect that they had a conflict of interests, but that's just detail.

Second Referendum will cost €25 million

The referendum that should never happen will cost Irish voters another €25 million according to the Irish Independent. Despite the fact that Ireland has already voted 'no', the EU is determined to make them to vote again, no matter the cost.

MEPs claim €820,000 for… nothing

A leaked note from European Parliament Vice-President Diana Wallis showed that more than 60 MEPs regularly sign in to be present for the monthly EP session in Strasbourg on Fridays, even though the EP does not convene on Fridays – allowing MEPs to make €200 each time. The so-called “Friday reimbursement” has come under fire previously and has cost the European Parliament €820,000 since 2004.

Taken from the Libertas Daily Update

If and when we get MEPs elected I am going to make it a personal mission to expose these crooks and ensure that they are hung out to dry. I don't mind them being well paid. I do mind them bleeding the system for work they aren't doing.

While we are on this topic - why are we bribing MEPs to turn up to do their jobs anyway? We don't bribe MPs to go to Westminster. It has to end.

Contempt and lies from Caroline Flint

In an astonishing admission on Monday, Caroline Flint told MPs that she has read only parts of the Lisbon Treaty.

The gasps of shock from MPs, media and commentators are all a little fake though; no one is really that surprised. It's an unreadable treaty that should be rejected on those grounds alone. Surely any MP of any calibre would realise that if a document is too complicated to read, it's too complicated to vote for (or against) and should simply be rejected until it can be simplified?

It does beg the question though - if she hasn't read it, who in Government actually has?

Presumably some civil servants in the dog house will have been forced to trawl through it to brief her and other ministers, but its the responsibility of MPs to know what they are voting for and promoting to the public. 

To top off the insult, Flint claimed the following day that since her admission she had finished reading the Lisbon Treaty. In less than 24 hours, on a working day, she managed to read and digest most of the Lisbon Treaty? Liar.

Oddly she is willing (in her fictional account) to read the Lisbon Treaty to avoid embarrassing questions, but she wasn't willing to read it before she voted in favour of it in the Commons and told the country how good it was for us.

Libertas issued a statement on this debacle here.