The European Superstate - And so it starts...

The following was left in the comments by a reader:

Call for Proposals - Town Twinning Citizens Meetings

The European Commission has announced the first call for proposals under its Town Twinning Initiative, which is part of the new Active Citizens for Europe Programme (2007 -2013). This call for proposals is under Action 1 - Measure 1.1 Town Twinning citizens meetings. Under this Measure grants of between €2,000 and €20,000 are available to support Town Twinning citizens meetings.

Town twinning citizens' meetings consist in bringing together a wide range of citizens and citizens' groups from towns already twinned to; further develop strong, informal and personal relations between their citizens, to reinforce the participants' commitment to European integration; and to contribute to the development of an active European citizenship.

To be eligible the applicant needs to be the municipality or its twinning association in which the meeting will take place. The deadline for applications is the 1st February 2010.

Link

Nice!

Tony Blair - Favourite to be first Emperor of Europe.

From William Hill:

TONY BLAIR FAVOURITE TO BE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL

BOOKMAKERS William Hill have installed Tony Blair as clear 6/4 favourite to become the next President of the European Council. 'Mr Blair is the clear front-runner to land the post of President of the European Council, and he has been by far the best backed contender so far' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

William Hill:
PRESIDENT OF EURO COUNCIL ODDS
Tony Blair 6/4
Felipe Gonzalez 7/2
Jean-Claude Juncker 5/1
Paavo Lipponen 8/1
Guy Verhofstadt 9/1
Wolfgang Schlussel 12/1
Anders Fogh Rasmussen 12/1
Giuliano Amato 16/1
Bertie Ahern 16/1
Aleksander Kwasniewski 20/1
Wolfgang Schüssel 20/1
Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 20/1
Carl Bildt 20/1
José María Aznar 20/1

If the Irish vote YES today - then Lord forgive them - for they know not what they do.

Ireland's Lisbon Treaty Referendum - What a joke!

This is an excellent cartoon from the great Matt. However, I wish this one wasn't so accurate.

Irish Lisbon Treaty Referendum - Tell the EU to poke it.

For God's sake Ireland please say NO! Do you want Tony Blair to be YOUR President?

Could the Czechs save us from the Lisbon Treaty?

The possibility of the Czechs delaying their ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is the best news I've heard for quite some time. If the Czechs can hold out long enough, there is a good chance that we will get the referendum we were promised. The only problem is - can they hold out long enough for us to get rid of Gordon Brown?

There is no doubt that Brown will now try his utmost to set the Election date for after the Czech ratification - the last thing he wants is for the people of this country to have a vote on the Treaty - he knows the NO vote will win.

With a bit of luck the Irish will tell the EU that "NO means NO" and the Treaty will be killed off for good. However, I don't trust the EU to respect the Irish vote unless the YES vote wins. They are hell-bent on their Super-state and will not contemplate failure. I'm not even confident that a UK NO vote will stop them.

Apparently French President Nicolas Sarkozy is furious at the news of the Czech delay - oh dear - how sad - never mind.




Hat tip for the video to Daniel1979 Blog

Ireland - Tell the EU that "NO means NO".

Irish Lisbon Treaty Referendum - NO MEANS NO!

The French said NO, the Dutch said NO, the Irish said NO. When asked to respect those democratic decisions.... the EU said NO. They will have their Empire. This video demonstrates the danger we all face.... the death of the voice of the people:




I ask any Irish readers to do what I have not been allowed.... tell our EU masters that NO means NO!

24 hours of Labour AND Conservative lies.

I've spent most of the last 24 hours feeling both sick (I have some bloody bug that's doing the rounds) and angry.

I've been angry at the amount of lies that politicians have been spewing out on our TV screens. Unfortunately it's not just Labour, my party has also been at it. "What's new?" you may ask - "don't they always lie?". Well what has got me so miffed is the scale of the lies.

The Labour party are willing to put heir pathetic results down to being greedy pigs rather than the truth which is that people are fed up of Gordon Brown, their policies, the failure to give us a referendum, incompetence, poor leadership..... the list goes on. No - it's much better to blame it all on expenses. At first the story was that "the people were angry with politicians for the expenses fiasco". When it became clear that the Tories were holding their share of the vote, the story changed to "we are getting more than our fair share of the blame".

Labour MPs also tried to blame the recession for their poor performance - until it became clear that the leading parties in other European countries were doing well - that line was soon dropped.

Now to the Tories: We did well in the European elections, but the media were able to say that we did not do as well as expected. Why was this? Not one Conservative or UKIP MP/MEP would speak the truth last night. The truth is that the Conservatives lost a massive amount of votes to UKIP. The Conservative MPs did not want to explain why so many Tories voted UKIP and UKIP did not want to admit that their results were being artificially pumped up by unhappy Tories.

It's all down to David Cameron being unable to promise a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty after it gets ratified. I guarantee that had David promised that referendum then the Conservative vote would have shot up and UKIP's would have collapsed.

And that is the inconvenient truth for the Conservative party.

Conservative voters about to save Gordon Brown's neck?

Gordon Brown has hung on to power with what can only be described as pathetic desperation. The flood of people deserting the sinking ship has been incredible to see. The Local election results have been disastrous, totally wiping out Labour across the entire country. And yet Gordon Brown hangs on - shamelessly leading his party to a crushing defeat that could be avoided if he could put his party before himself.

It's quite obvious that those Cabinet ministers that haven't resigned have been bought off by Brown. It's sickening to think that our country is being governed by such shallow men and women. We now have a Chancellor that the Prime Minister doesn't want, but is too weak to remove.

However, there is another chance for the Labour party to get rid of Brown. Sunday's European Election results are likely to be very bad for Brown and Labour. If the results are as bad as expected, then Labour backbenchers may be spurred to send around their email asking MPs to back a leadership election. It could be the only chance for some of those backbench MPs to save their seats.

But there is a problem - Conservative voters could be about to throw Brown a lifeline. It looks likely that many of those who would normally vote Conservative, have in fact voted UKIP to protest against David Cameron's reluctance to promise a Referendum on the Lisbon Treaty after ratification. So while Labour are very likely to get hammered in the European Elections, Brown may be in the position to use the Conservative's poor results as a get out of jail free card. Brown will be able to claim that the expenses fiasco has damaged all the major parties and that the poor result cannot be pinned on him.

Could the Conservatives be about to save Gordon?

Euro Elections - Which Party should I vote for?

Being a Conservative party member I shouldn't have to ask myself that question. There should be no doubt in my mind that voting Tory is the right thing to do. But there is doubt.

There's a big problem facing the Tory party in the run up to the Euro Elections, and that problem's name is....... Referendum (dun dun dunnnnnn...). It's a problem that David Cameron can do little about without making life very difficult for himself if he is to lead the next government.

It's like this: If Gordon Brown was to do the entire country a favour and call an early election, then Cameron's first year in office becomes a whole lot easier. He can give the go ahead to his promised referendum before the Lisbon Treaty is ratified, the country will vote NO, and the Treaty dies on it's arse. Everybody is happy. But if Gordon decides to desperately cling on to power like we all expect him to, then Cameron has some very difficult times ahead.

If the Lisbon Treaty is already ratified when Dave strides through the big black door then he is left with two options. The first is to say "I'm sorry, but Gordon has put the country into a position that would be too difficult to remove ourselves from". The second option would be to put the UK at odds with the rest of Europe by backing out of a Treaty that we are already signed up to. Unfortunately for David Cameron, neither of the two options are great (understatement). The first will alienate a vast chunk of the party, and the second will be very damaging to European relations.

Of course if Gordon Brown had not broken yet another manifesto promise then this would be all academic.

So where does that leave me?

UKIP? The problem I have with UKIP is a simple one. Though I hate the EU, I cannot see how we can extricate ourselves from it without causing damage. But not only that, I do believe that there are some benefits to being in the EU (though I can't think of any off hand).

Labour and the LibDems? I've lumped these together because they both want further integration into the EU, and hell will freeze over before I vote for that (or them).

Libertas? Now I do like what Libertas have to say but I just can't see how they are going to achieve it, so they are a no no for now.

So that brings me back to the Conservatives. I can't blame Dave for not promising a referendum after ratification. It would be a bloody political nightmare to pull us out of the EU - because that is what it will mean. Once in place, the rest of Europe will not scrap the Treaty because the Brits don't like it.

So I've made my decision. I'm going to vote Tory. I'm voting Tory in the hope that Gordon steps down (or is pushed) before the Treaty is ratified. If that fails then I'm putting my trust in David Cameron's Tories to fight for UK interests from within the Treaty. They are the only party that are likely to do that (apart from Libertas but I can't see them getting the numbers).

So here's a message for Dave: Tell us the truth i.e. If we have a Tory government before ratification then we will have a referendum. If not, then you will do your utmost to get the best deal for the UK post treaty.

Redwood - To referendum or not to referendum?

John Redwood could be using his normally independent blog as a sounding board for a very important Tory policy today. It's all to do with one of David Cameron's leading problems - the Lisbon Treaty. I've posted on why this is so difficult for David before, so I won't go over it all again.

John Redwood is putting forward an idea which is an attempt to mollify those who are demanding a referendum, whether the Lisbon Treaty is ratified or not. Obviously if it has not been ratified by the time we have a Tory government, then there is no problem. But if it has, then it will be extremely awkward for Cameron. It will be a foreign policy nightmare to remove ourselves from a Treaty we are already signed up to.

So what John Redwood is suggesting is a clarification of what Cameron has said all along. John suggests that if the Treaty has been ratified by the time Cameron is PM, then the government will renegotiate some powers back to the UK from Brussels. This has always been Cameron's position ("I won't let it lie there"), but what is new, is that once the powers to be grabbed back have been outlined, they should be put to a referendum.

John says:

I think it best to have a renegotiation, and then to put the results to the people. It is high time the people could express a view on the value of our relationship with the EU. We might get that on Lisbon, if it remains unratified and there is a change of government. If not, let’s have a referendum on any renegotiation. That will concentrate Brussels minds on the need to give us real power back, if the people are going to judge the outcome. As a minimum we need full control of our social and employment policies, taxation, foreign and defence policy, and of Home affairs.

I agree with what John has to say. It's the only realistic option available to Cameron. I want a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but I also understand how difficult that will be after ratification. So if John is sounding out the grass roots on behalf of the party, then his suggestion has my approval for a start. It's not exactly what I want, but I think it is the most I can sensibly expect.

Of course, we could avoid any future clash with the EU, if only Gordon Brown was a man who kept manifesto promises.

Libertas press conference - with Declan Ganley (Paris).

Now I'm a bit stuck here. I like what Libertas are saying and I like their objectives. However, can they gain the support needed to give them a chance? It's the old catch twenty two - if everyone who agreed with Libertas were to vote for them, then they would do very well indeed in the Euro elections. But, because they are new on the scene, people like me will wonder if voting Libertas will be a wasted vote. I think a massive campaign is needed.

I have no doubt that Libertas will take votes away from the Conservatives in the Euros, after all they have very similar policies where the EU is concerned. The Conservatives are going to have to up their game.

Here is Declan Ganley giving a Libertas press conference in Paris. It's an excellent speech that will appeal to many right of centre voters. The Shadow Cabinet need to be worried.

Nick Coke of Libertas UK replies to my email.

This is an email I sent to Libertas UK.

I like what you are saying:

"This is Libertas' promise and its demand. Join us, give us your support and Libertas will give you the referendum on the anti-democratic Lisbon Treaty that the Brussels elites have conspired to deny you. In so doing we will give you the opportunity to say yes or no to the current status quo. This will provide you with an altogether more ambitious and enterprising choice."

I'm an anti Lisbon Treaty blogger. I would love to have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but can you explain how giving you my support will give me one?

P.s I know that I'm a Tory blogger, but I'm not taking the p*ss. If you can deliver a referendum, you will get both my support and my vote.

Best Regards

Steve Green

Daily Referendum Blog.

And here is their reply:

Dear Mr Green

Thank you for your email. The way we will effect change is by the fact that we will be the only genuinely pan-European party in the EP. This will mean that, given adequate support in June, we will become the biggest Party in the European Parliament and therefore have sufficient clout to force reform. Top of that list of reform will be to throw out the Lisbon Treaty and put in its place a shorter, more readable version which will be put to a referendum.

Regards

Nick Coke

Obviously the stumbling block here is the "given adequate support" bit.

Lisbon Treaty - Irish foreign minister set on ratification.

Press release from the European Parliament:

Lisbon Treaty: MEPs debate Irish rejection and way forward

Future of Europe/European integration - 06-10-2008 - 19:51

The EU must cooperate with the Irish government to address people's concerns and find a suitable way forward for institutional reform. So said MEPs in a lively Constitutional Affairs Committee debate with Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin on Monday, on the reasons for Ireland's referendum rejection of the draft Lisbon reform treaty.

"By December, we expect to be able to identify more precisely the issues that need to be addressed and to outline the necessary steps to achieve our objective of continued full engagement in the Union", said Mr Martin in his introduction.

That says it all really: "to achieve our objective". Does that sound like a man representing the people of Ireland, or does it sound like a man setting out to ensure that the grand EU master plan comes to fruition? It sounds to me that the referendum in Ireland was seen as a formality by EU leaders, and that nothing was, or is, going to stop the Lisbon Treaty being ratified.

Full European Parliament press release HERE.

Idiocy and Tyranny from the EU, blog round-up. 4/9/2008

There are so many blog posts criticising the EU nowadays that it is all too easy to miss an important story. With that in mind, I'm going to try and knock up a quick round-up of some of the more disturbing stories in the blogs relating to our masters in Brussels. If you know of any other EU stories from the last few days, drop me an email (or comment) and I'll add them to this reading list.

Waendel Journal: EU 'in absentia' trials undermine justice

Iain Dale: EU Mounts Another Attempt to Regulate Blogs.

Yours Truly: Another good reason to leave the EU - "artificial roles" for men and women.

EU Referendum: A confrontation shapes up and Blogs away!

Open Europe Blog: Total chaos

Now pour yourself a large drink and try to calm down.

Tory Press Release - Lisbon Treaty Ratification

William Hague: Brown has no authority to ratify the EU Constitution

Commenting on the news that the Government has now ratified the Lisbon Treaty, Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said:

"Gordon Brown has no democratic or moral authority to sign Britain up to the renamed EU Constitution. This move is a total breach of trust with the British people and a flagrant breach of his solemn election promise to the British people. It is a sign of how arrogant and out of touch this Labour Government has become that they are totally uninterested in what the British people want on Europe.

"It also means that the Government are joining in the ugly bullying of the Irish people, who have clearly rejected this Treaty. Trying to push ahead with the EU Treaty shows an utter lack of respect for the Irish voters' democratic decision."As long as the Irish decision is not reversed the EU Treaty will not be in force at the next general election.

A new Conservative Government would then take back the instruments of ratification and put the Treaty to a referendum, recommending a 'no' vote. That is the honourable and democratic thing to do."

Rt Hon William Hague MP

The Great British betrayal - Lisbon Treaty Ratified

Without giving the British people their promised referendum, and totally ignoring the result of the Irish referendum, Gordon Brown and his cronies have ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The timing of Europe minister Jim Murphy's announcement could not be more cynical. The government are obviously hoping to avoid the flak that is most certainly inbound by issuing the ratification notice the day before parliament goes into summer recess. No doubt they are hoping that public unrest will have died down by the time that parliament resumes later in the year.

It may have died down but this underhanded attack on our sovereignty will not be forgotten. We are being ruled by a law mad superstate that doesn't understand the meaning of the word NO. As the Bruges group point out: From 1st May 2008 to 15th July the EU has passed 282 laws which will impact on the UK. Since May 2007 the total is 1,798. This is where a great deal of our money is being wasted, money that we desperately need in the current financial climate. What's more, a great number of these Laws are driving many of the UK's small businesses into ruin thanks to the endless reams of red tape they have to unravel.

For this reason alone, Gordon Brown should not be allowed to work in politics ever again. He will be remembered as the Useless PM who gave away the UK's sovereignty to the EU - totally against the wishes of her people.

Lisbon Treaty Video - Watch it and weep for Democracy.

The following video will show you that we no longer have any say over our sovereignty. The EU will not accept NO from the people. Our political masters will have their Empire.



Hat tip The Devil.

Gordon Brown and EU cronies ignore the Irish vote.

I've received an email from those nice people at the "I want a referendum" website . You know what they say - it's good to share. Here is part of their message:

Despite claiming that they want to "respect" the Irish no vote, EU leaders across the whole of Europe have no intention of doing so. They are determined to press ahead with the Lisbon Treaty.

Here are just some of the extraordinary reactions to the Irish vote from Europe's leaders:

"They [the Irish] are bloody fools. They have been stuffing their faces at Europe's expense for years and now they dump us in the s***."
- Nicolas Sarkozy, French President (Times, 20 June)

"The Lisbon Treaty is not dead... It is imperative that they vote again."
- Valery Giscard d'Estaing, former French President and author of the EU Constitution (RTL, 19 June)

"I don't think you can say the treaty of Lisbon is dead even if the ratification process will be delayed."
- Jean-Pierre Jouyet, French Europe Minister (Reuters, 16 June)

"I am convinced that we need this Treaty. Therefore we are sticking with our goal for it to come into force. The ratification process must continue."
- Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister (Reuters, 14 June)

"Of course we have to take the Irish referendum seriously. But a few million Irish cannot decide on behalf of 495 million Europeans."
- Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Interior Minister (Deutsche Welle, 15 June)

"We think it is a real cheek that the country that has benefited most from the EU should do this. There is no other Europe than this treaty. With all respect for the Irish vote, we cannot allow the huge majority of Europe to be duped by a minority of a minority of a minority."
- Axel Schäfer, SPD leader in the German Bundestag (Irish Times, 14 June)

The Treaty "will be applied, albeit a few months late."
- Lopez Garrido, Spanish Europe Minister (Forbes, 15 June)

"The Treaty is not dead. The Treaty is alive, and we will try to work to find a solution."
- Jose Barroso, European Commission President (Press Conference, 14 June)

To see more, click here: http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/irelandbriefing.pdf

It looks to me that this Treaty will be forced through no matter what the people say.

Bertie Ahern will not be President of Europe.

From William Hill:

Bookies Push Out Bertie's Odds To Become European Council President

William Hill believe that Ireland’s NO vote in the Lisbon Treaty have effectively ended Bertie Ahern’s chances of becoming the first permanent president of the European Council. The bookmakers had previously made Ahern their 4-1 favourite for the coveted position, but after the Lisbon rejection they pushed his odds out to 25-1.

Hills now make the Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen their 2-1 favourite for the position. They also offer odds of the 4-1 on Luxembourg premier Jean Claude Juncker getting the job, while former British PM Tony Blair can e backed at 5-1 for the top job in the EU.

William Hill’s Irish spokesman Tony Kenny commented “Any possible chance of Bertie becoming the European Council President seem to have gone” He continued “Bertie had been well backed for the role before the Lisbon treaty referendum , but with the on-going Mahon tribunal and Ireland emphatic No to Lisbon, we believe that Bertie is now a rank outsider for the EU job”

First Permanent President Of The European Council: (William Hill Bet) 2-1 Anders Fogh Rasmussen, 4-1 Jean Claude Juncker, 5-1 Tony Blair, 9-1 Wolfgang Schussel, 10-1 Jose Manuel Barroso, 12-1 Guy Verhofstadt, Gerhard Schroder, 14-1 Aleksander Kwasniewski, 16-1 José María Aznar, Romano Prodi. 20-1 Silvio Berlesconi, 22-1 Angela Merkel, 25-1 Bertie Ahern, Nicolas Sarkozy, 33-1 Goran Persson, Mary Robinson, 40-1 Jacques Chirac, Jan Peter Balkenende, 66-1 Frederik Reinfeld, Kostas Karamanlis, 80-1 Matti Vanhanen, 100-1 Gordon Brown