Saturday 18th May in Tonbridge
No sooner had we set up our stall at Botany in Tonbridge (see attached photo) than along came the Brexit Party with balloons for youngsters in buggies.
Continue reading “Joint SSTIE and T&M4EU campaign finds great interest in the European Parliament elections in Tonbridge”Despite heavy rain at the start of our three hour slot, when the weather brightened up people were generally receptive to taking one of SSTIE’s leaflets about the European elections. A small number of people expressed a view that they wouldn’t be voting and one or two said they would vote for the Brexit Party. There was a greater number at the other end of the spectrum who were very keen to vote for a Remain-supporting party, and some who wanted to sign up to our group to help us campaign to Remain in the EU. The atmosphere was civilised and friendly, even with some of the committed Leavers who were happy to shake hands after an impassioned exchange of views.
In general there was a positive attitude about voting in the European Parliament elections and a number of people indicated that they would be voting Change/Lib Dem/Green. There was a positive comment about the Lib Dems’ new slogan; and of course there was the usual mixture of bizarre comments.
Peter
Dear George,
Thank you for your email about the possibility of an electoral alliance of Remain parties in the forthcoming European Parliament election.
As someone who strongly believes that the UK’s future would be brighter, fairer and greener if we remained in the EU, and having been a co-founder of the cross-party campaign for a People’s Vote with the option to remain, I very much understand your desire to see the pro-Remain parties working together to maximise the pro-Remain vote in the European Parliament (EP) election. Unfortunately, however, the particular form of proportional representation that the UK uses for EP elections (known as the d’Hondt system) presents very significant practical barriers to the formation of a formal or even an informal electoral alliance.
Continue reading “Caroline Lucas answers the question: Why can’t the Remain Parties work together?”We need to talk about the European Parliament elections…
Amidst the storms of Brexit, there has not been enough discussion of the European Parliament elections. The EU has made it clear that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is signed by 12 April, any extension will require the UK to participate in the European Parliament elections.
Continue reading “SSTIE member, Mark Goodrich, calls for Remain parties to come together to fight EP elections.”The Dutch Elections for the Second Chamber (House of Commons) on 15th March 2017 will be an important indicator of the political mood in mainland Europe.
The current leader, Mark Rutte, VVD is under siege because Dutch Democracy is not working and because his party is haemorrhaging members: A referendum in 2005 (the first in 200 years) rejected the EU constitution with a clear majority, but the government ratified it anyway. A public petition leading to another referendum in 2015 overwhelmingly rejected the EU association agreement with Ukraine. It was ignored because it had already been signed. The Dutch Legal System is also not working: In 2010 the authorities tried to prosecuted Gert Wilders PVV for Islamophobia but the case was thrown out when the judges tried tampering with witnesses. More recently they tried prosecuting him for anti-Moroccan Immigration; the prosecution was successful, but no sentence was ever handed down. Instead, the country was left with a case law forbidding the promotion of anti-immigration policies.
The Netherlands has 20 electoral districts with 31 parties fielding candidates for 150 seats. Voters have one vote, and the most popular candidates win; almost certainly leading to a coalition government. As there are several seats per constituency, there is little sense of being represented in the Second Chamber – the real sense of representation is with Local Counsellors (or Ministers) who do an exceeding good job with Local Governance. The main parties in 2012 order are as follows:-
VVD (Liberal Democrat, a self-styled Liberal Party) fielding 80 candidates, bookie’s odds 3/1. The issues:-
PvdA (Labour, a self-styled Social Democrat Party) fielding 75 candidates, bookie’s odds 50/1. The issues:-
PVV (Liberal Party) fielding 50 candidates, bookie’s odds 2/9. The issues:-
SP (Socialist Party, former Communist Party) fielding 25 candidates. The issues:-
CDA (Christian Democrats, formed from merging the anti-Revolutionaries, Historic Christian Democrats and the Catholic Peoples Parties) fielding 50 candidates, bookie’s odds 25/1. The issues:-
D66 (1966 Democrats, a Social Liberal Party) fielding 50 candidates. “Opportunites for everyone” The Issues:-
CU (Christian Union, a Christian Party formed from merging the Reformed Political League and the Reformed Political Federation) fielding 50 candidates. The issues:-
Driven by God’s love and Christ’s kingship, the Christian Union is committed to society and the governance of our country. It recognizes that government is given by God and in His service able to do justice and freedom and protect peace worldwide. The Christian Union bases its political principles in the Bible, God’s inspired and authoritative Word. Its members unite from the Christian faith, as concisely expressed in the Nicene Creed. – The CU is generally supportive of the EU
GL (Green Left, formed from a fusion of Catholic Radicals, Pacifists, Communists & Evangelists) fielding 40 candidates. The issues:-
SGP (Politically Reformed Party, of orthodox Protestant Calvinists) fielding 30 candidates. The issues:-
PvdD (Animal Rights) fielding 50 candidates. They have a statement on nearly every possible issues; the main headings being:-
50PLUS (a Party for the over 50’s) fielding 40 candidates. No ideological views; but:-
As in all Politics, the issues are mainly local (but sometimes with a global outreach or impact). No one has so far mentioned reducing bureaucracy or red-tape; in the Netherlands, bureaucracy is an industry in itself. A coalition of smaller parties (CU, D66, 50PLUS) have spoken out in favour of the EU and the Euro; but a greater number have shown a concern for border control, immigration and integration. Only Gert Wilders’ PVV has been stridently anti-EU. He will however have difficulty convincing the voters; firstly because the Netherlands has a substantial and well integrated Muslim population who are not going to take kindly to his anti-Islam rhetoric; and secondly because when the more sensible Dutch voter asks how he is going to pay for his policies, I don’t think he will have adequate answers. Even if he does end up the largest party in government, he will not be able to govern because he will have to form a coalition; and none of the other parties are prepared to work with him. A more likely outcome is a much reduced majority for the VVD and a much more complicated and unsustainable coalition.
However, the Nigger in the Woodpile is the FVD (Forum for Democracy), this is a party born out of a plebiscite and fielding 30 candidates. It has never held office before, but it has some of the biggest names in the Military, Business and Academia representing it. This is the only party that is prepared to work with Gert Wilders’ PVV. It’s main issues are:-
Whatever the outcome, the conversation is definitely shifting to the same concerns that we have: finance, sovereignty, security, immigration & integration. Two parties (PVV & FVD) believe these can only be solved by leaving the EU; but the rest, I think, realize there is a better chance of solving these problems by working within the EU – this will make the next EU elections very interesting indeed. The PVV & FVD may well be able to force a referendum, in exchange for getting some other policies through. (But, leaving the EU is not top of either of their agendas.) And the government could again ignore any referendum results – so once again, leading to instability. – To see the latest comments on Twitter, use the #nexit hash-tag.
