Newsletter April/May 2009

FROM THE SECRETARY:

John Peter Lyon 1928 - 2009

I am very sad to report the death of our former chairman, John Lyon, on 18th April. He had not enjoyed good health for some considerable time and developed pneumonia.

John was an enthusiastic member of UKIP and encouraged all of us during his 3 years as branch chairman. The Church was full for the funeral on 1st May and attendees included our London UKIP MEP, Gerard Batten, together with 8 branch members and 6 supporters.

He will be missed by us all.

Evelyn Rolph - Branch Secretary

European Election 4th June
I have been appointed sub-agent in Enfield for this election whilst Roy is the one for Haringey. Lawrence Webb at London Region Office is the UKIP election agent for London overall.

The London team is coming to Enfield to give out leaflets on Thursday, 21st May at approx. 1pm with the taxicab in UKIP colours.

UKIP is getting coverage on the radio and television. Look out for:-
15 May
Nigel Farage on Any Questions from Chichester
21 May
Marta Andreason on Question Time from Salisbury
28 May
Nigel Farage on Question Time from London
29 May
UKIP Election Broadcast BBC1 6.55pm; BBC2 5.55pm; ITV 6.25pm.
30 May
David Campbell-Bannerman on BBC East.

UKIP Spring Rally, Exeter - 18th April
Fred attended this. The speakers included Nigel Farage, Lord Willoughby de Broke, Marta Andreasen, Stuart Wheeler, Trevor Colman and Deva Kumarasiri.

The McBrides
Charlie McBride, a fisherman from Northern Ireland, and his son Charles appeared in Liverpool Crown Court in December 2007 on a charge of misidentifying catches of fish for which they had no quota under EU rules. The Marine Fisheries Agency could have asked for them to be fined but instead called in the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) whose primary purpose is to combat transnational crime, drug trafficking and money laundering. SOCA invoked the Proceeds of Crime Act against the fishermen, even though their homes and boat had been bought prior to the incident, and froze all their assets. The court imposed fines totalling £385,000 under the PCA which vastly exceeded the value of the fish they had wrongly declared. The two men were told that if the fines were not paid within 6 months they would go to prison for up to 3 years. In order to pay, Charlie raised a second mortgage on his home and presented the court with a cheque for £120,000 in part payment. Because the money came from the remortgage of his home, which was a “frozen asset”, they were both sent to prison.

This is a prime example of EU laws being gold-plated by our British Government. French fishermen made vigorous protests about the plight of the two men but the news item did not appear in any of the newspapers I read. I got my information from eurofacts.

Andrew Symeou
Gerard Batten has been supporting the 20-year-old Enfield student who is accused of murdering another young man in Zante, Greece and who has been ordered to be extradited under the European Arrest Warrant and face trial in Greece. In the latest hearing at the High Court on 1st May, Andrew’s latest appeal was rejected but he can still appeal to the House of Lords.

Day-to-day news from April

1st - An EU report has suggested UK military bases such as Gibraltar, Cyprus and the Falklands should operate under EU flags as part of the controversial European Security and Defence Policy which is part of the (as yet) unratified Lisbon Treaty.

1st - Caroline Flint, the Minister for Europe, has admitted that she has not fully read the Lisbon Treaty. Her admission came after she criticised Ireland’s robust No vote last year by claiming the people did not understand the Treaty’s wording.

1st - The Government is introducing a system which will force everyone leaving the British mainland to register their movements online. In future you’ll even need a pass for a day trip to the Isle of Wight. It’s not the people heading out we need to control, it’s the ones coming in.

1st - Deva Kumarasiri, the Sri Lankan-born postmaster who insisted his customers spoke English, has been recruited by UKIP and will stand as an MEP for East Midlands.[Fred says he’s a very good speaker - Ed].

4th - An airline has had to stop carrying cancer patients’ blood samples between islands in Scotland as they have been labelled dangerous/hazardous and it does not have a dangerous goods licence now required because of a change in EU rules on carrying freight.

4th - The European Central Bank has cut interest rates in the eurozone from 1.5% to 1.25%, an all time low. [This has since been reduced to 1% - Ed].

6th - The EU is drafting a new directive which will regulate hedge funds and private equity funds. This mainly affects the UK and would drive investment away from Britain.

8th - Lithuania wants to join the euro.

9th - The Government is planning to give the right to vote to 28,800 prisoners serving up to 4 years in jail, possibly in time for next year’s General Election, to comply with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.

9th - The EU is advising its staff on how to get round Freedom of Information rules. The transparency guide suggests writing two accounts of meetings, one for public release and one that need not be disclosed.

9th - E.On chief executive, Paul Golby, says no-one would be building wind power stations at all if it were not for the subsidies involved.

14th - The EU parliament additional pension fund currently has a shortfall of £100 million but there is a cast iron agreement that taxpayers will make up any shortfall. From June, MEPs will be able to claim up to £257 per journey for travel between their homes and EU Parliament buildings. In addition, they will pay income tax at the reduced EU rate of 15% rather than the rate in their home country.

14th - Although the Lisbon Treaty has yet to be ratified by all 27 countries, 530 EU Commission staff have already started training for the EU diplomatic corps.

14th - The EU discrimination directive currently being drafted could lead to churches being sued if they refuse to give communion, baptism or membership to non-Christians trying to get their children into a church school. MEPs have passed a series of amendments which have removed the exemptions for “organisations based on religion and belief”. A political party could be sued if they refused to take on staff who voted for another party.

15th - From 1st January 2010, 30 million sheep will be required to wear electronic ID tags so that their movements can be monitored, in an effort to limit and contain the spread of diseases. British farmers will be expected to fund 92% of the £65 million cost.

16th - French fishermen blockaded the Channel ports in protest at the cod quotas the CFP gives them. A report on the reform of CFP says that the EU has far too many fishing boats and major cuts are needed to make fishing sustainable.

16th - The EU’s directive on biofuels will raise the cost of motoring for drivers. EU rules state that 13% of petrol and diesel fuels need to be derived from biofuel by 2020. Oil companies have had to spend more than £100 million in the past year on adapting refineries and storage facilities.

17th - Romania plans to give citizenship to up to one million Moldovans who would then have the right to travel anywhere in the EU. Romania would effectively annex one quarter of its neighbour’s population.

17th - German pig farmers are protesting at the EU’s Patent Office decision to grant a patent for a genetic technique to breed meatier pigs to a US firm. Spanish dairy farmers protested against EU liberalisation of the dairy sector saying they could not compete with Eastern European countries.

20th - The EU plans to create a purpose built “asylum support office” in Calais to allow refugees to apply for sanctuary in the UK while they are in France.

EU Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot said that Britain must play its part in a “European plan for resettlement of refugees within the EU.” Member states would be compelled to accept a percentage of all refugees arriving in the EU in proportion with their population. This would mean the UK taking in 13%.

The EU Parliament approved a report on developing a common immigration policy which would allow immigrants to vote in local elections.

20th - The London School of Economics is predicting that UKIP will lose 8 seats in the June election.

22nd - Argentina has formally laid claim to a vast expanse of ocean including the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands saying they are on the same continental shelf as Argentina’s coast. If Argentina invaded the Falklands now, we do not have the fire power to defend them.

23rd - From July it will cost just 9p to send text messages home from the Continent instead of 41p - a cut of 60%.

24th - The EU has pledged at least £40 million in aid for Somalia.

25th - Unemployment in Britain has risen to 6.7% but is 6.9% in Italy, 8.1% in Germany, 8.6% in France, 11% in Ireland and a massive 17.4% in Spain.

27th - The EU is planning to spend 5 million euros on a swimming pool and aqua gym for MEPs in Brussels.

27th - An EU plan calls for family courts across Europe to hear cases using the laws of whichever country the couple involved have close links to. Sharia law could be applied in some divorce cases heard in Britain.

28th - Albania has formally submitted an application to join the EU.

28th - Drivers have finally been given the legal go-ahead to display the Union Flag on number plates. The Government promised they would amend the law to allow this as long ago as April 2001.

29th - Up to 5,000 Britons live on land in northern Cyprus that was once owned by displaced Greek Cypriots. A Greek Cypriot took his case to the European Court of Justice who ruled that thousands of Britons with property in Northern Cyprus could be forced to return their properties or pay compensation to the original Cypriot landholder even though northern Cyprus currently is not part of the EU.

29th - William Hague repeated his promise of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if it has not been ratified by the whole of the EU by the time the Tories take power.