UK Independence Party
Enfield & Haringey Branch
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FROM THE SECRETARY:
In this European election on 4th June, we have to vote for a Party, not an individual (except for the independents). There are 14 Parties for us to choose from (in alphabetical order) and UKIP is last but one. Although we vote on a Thursday, the votes will not be counted until Sunday, 7th June because on the Continent people always vote on a Sunday.
The radio and television broadcasts in which UKIP has appeared have generated a great deal of interest in the Party and Fred from our Branch, and other Party volunteers, have been busy at our London Region Office sending out information packs to enquirers.
The taxicab done out in UKIP colours is eyecatching.
DON’T FORGET TO VOTE
For your diary:
We have booked the site for our stall at Enfield Town Show on Saturday, 5th and Sunday, 6th September.
Evelyn Rolph - Branch Secretary
DNA database
Although the European Court of Human Rights condemns Britain for keeping the DNA of innocent people, the Government intends to keep DNA records for 12 years of people arrested, but later cleared, of serious crimes; and for 6 years for those arrested, but not convicted, of lesser crimes. Youngsters convicted of only one minor crime will be deleted from the database when they turn 18. Campaigners had hoped that the samples of all 850,000 innocents would be destroyed in the wake of last December’s judgment.
Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, intends to rush this plan through Parliament as a statutory instrument which will not give MPs a chance to debate it.
ID cards
Manchester has been targeted for a pilot ID card scheme, probably because of its large student population. The cards are being promoted to students who may wish to prove their age in bars, open a bank account or take out a student loan. They will also be needed if you make an expensive purchase.
The cost of ID cards has soared by £160 million to more than £5 billion [That’s a lot of money when the country is suffering a recession - Ed]. Talks on awarding contracts to take fingerprints and facial scans are already under way with the Post Office and the National Pharmacy Association.
Personal data gathered for ID cards will be made available to HM Revenue and Customs so the taxman will be able to check for hints of any undeclared earnings or bank accounts. The EU’s new five-year plan for justice and home affairs - the Hague Programme - will export the UK’s database state to the rest of the EU. Tony Bunyan of Statewatch says: "The idea that the surveillance society and database state is just a UK issue is naive: it is a European one in which our government plays a very active role."
Day-to-day news from May
1st - The EU is proposing tougher regulation of hedge and private equity funds. Only Britain has a private equity and hedge fund industry of any size to defend so it will hit us hardest. The EU also wants to take over the regulation of banking.
5th - Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked the Government how much of our legislation originates in the EU. The reply was: “It would entail disproportionate cost to research and compile the percentage of UK legislation originating in the European Union.” However, the Germans have done research and come up with the figure of 84%.
5th - The Taxpayers Alliance has raised concerns about EU cash being given to the BBC World Service Trust, an international charity run by the BBC.
7th - The Czech Senate has approved the Lisbon Treaty but it still needs the signature of the President Vaclav Klaus who said he will not sign until after the second Irish vote in the autumn.
7th - The EU channels £891 million a year into Kosovo but £60 million has gone missing and there are no plans to investigate where it has gone.
8th - A list has been published disclosing that the largest beneficiaries of EU farm subsidies include an Italian bank in Milan, a French chicken farming giant and an Irish producer of Weight Watcher meals and Yorkshire puddings.
9th - Incandescent light bulbs are being phased out to comply with an EU directive. Originally the deadline was 2016 but you will no longer be able to buy pearl light bulbs or 100 watt clear bulbs from September this year and from September 2010 the rest of the clear bulbs will be phased out.
Under new EU rules bulbs in future will be measured in “lumens”, showing how much light they emit, rather than in “watts” which measure how much energy is consumed.
11th - Marta Andreasen, the EU’s former Chief Accountant who was sacked by Neil Kinnock for raising concerns about lax accounting procedures, has published a book entitled Brussels Laid Bare. She has challenged Neil Kinnock to try and ban her book.
11th - Switzerland is considering temporary limits on immigration for job seekers from the EU because it is faced with increasing unemployment. [This is what Britain should be doing - Ed].
11th - Because the EU has banned a number of chemicals sprayed on food, salad producers are going back to nature to keep harmful pests off their crops by bulk buying ladybirds and other creepy crawlies.
11th - Ministers have revived plans for pay-as-you-throw bin taxes that could cost families £100 a year. The charges could be introduced as early as next year when the Joint Waste Authorities quango begins to take over refuse collections from borough councils.
12th - Poland may postpone its plans to adopt the euro in 2012 by at least a year because of its budget deficit.
13th - Actor David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, has announced his support for UKIP in the 4th June election. So has David Sullivan, one of Britain’s wealthiest men and a shareholder in Birmingham City Football Club. Also former Labour peer Lord Stoddart of Swindon.
13th - Lord Tebbit told voters to boycott the three main parties in the EU election and vote for the smaller ones. He did not mention UKIP but it is assumed that is who he meant. David Cameron was warned him that he was “treading a very careful path. If he slips off that path, he’s sitting as an independent.”
13th - Plans to create the world’s biggest offshore wind farm off the coast of Britain have been given the green light. Work on the 341 giant wind turbines in the Thames Estuary is expected to start later this year. Alistair Darling announced a £525 million aid package, paid for by consumers, in the Budget.
13th - Makers of English wine were celebrating after winning a record 24 medals at the International Wine Challenge. The landscape and climate of southern England are considered ideal for growing champagne grapes and French champagne houses have bought up large areas. A record 41 countries entered the competition.
14th - Bookmakers William Hill have slashed their odds on UKIP ending up with more seats than Labour with a tie between the two at 3/1.
14th - Italy has passed a law which criminalises illegal immigration, sets up civilian anti-crime patrols and sentences landlords to up to 3 years in prison if they rent to undocumented migrants. The law would make entering or staying in Italy without permission a crime punishable by a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 euros.
14th - The EU has launched budget deficit procedures against Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Romania. Procedures have already been started against France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia and Spain.
15th - Between 1st May 2008 and 30th April 2009 Brussels introduced 2,754 pieces of legislation, just under 8 a day. In 2006 the cost of EU regulation on economies Europe-wide was around £581 billion.
15th - Comedian Frank Carson has joined UKIP. Here’s one of his gags. “What’s the difference between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted!” It’s the way you tell ‘em!
19th - The Nice Treaty stipulates that 736 MEPs can sit in the EU Parliament whilst the Lisbon Treaty increases this number to 754. In anticipation of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, 18 MEPs will be elected on 4th June and will receive normal MEPs’ salaries despite the fact that they will not be able to take up full political office for at least two years.
20th - Once again wildcat strikes have broken out in parts of the country over the British jobs for British workers issue. The number of British-born workers in employment fell by 451,000 (1.8%) in the first quarter of this year whilst the number of foreign-born workers with jobs rose by 129,000.
20th - Some EU member states are still selling arms to the Sri Lankan government despite the EU having condemned the recent violence against the Tamil Tigers and calling for an independent inquiry into violations of human rights.
21st - The Danish government has reported that as much cod was discarded as caught - roughly 24,000 tonnes - in the North Sea last year to comply with the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Since the UK joined the (then) Common Market in 1973 our fisheries fleet has reduced by over 80%.
21st - The EU has threatened to dismantle the Lloyds Bank merger with HBOS. As a result shares in Lloyds fell by almost a third.
22nd - Nigel Farage has promised, “From the moment that any UKIP members get elected on 7th June, all elected MEPs will provide a clear and traceable quarterly statement of their expense accounts. This will be online on the UKIP website.”
26th - Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström has spent 1.6 million euros in an attempt to sell Europe to the Irish before the second Lisbon Treaty referendum.
28th - The European arm of General Motors, which makes Opel and Vauxhall cars, has been sold to a Canadian company but underwritten by German banks in order to protect German car manufacturing jobs.