DANIEL HANNAN MEP
Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Read Daniel in the Telegraph every day at www.hannan.co.uk
NIRJ DEVA'S LATEST MEP COMMENTS FROM THE EU PARLIAMENT
As you may be aware on January 17th I stood on behalf of the Conservative Party and of our group in the Parliament (the European Conservative and Reformists or ‘ECR’) for the post – roughly analogous with the Speaker of the House of Commons - of President of the European Parliament.
I stood; firstly, to break up the ‘deal’ by which a small parliamentary elite allocate all posts in the parliament without reference to any meaningful democratic process. Secondly, I sought to bring our reformist agenda, long derided by some members here, into greater prominence. The European Parliament, in spite of its name, does not often act like a properly democratic legislative chamber. Positions are allocated in advance of a vote by a small number of largely self selecting MEP’s with the single and stated aim of avoiding a real campaign. Smaller groups and minority opinions are excluded and debate is reduced to what the Brussels insiders, sadly including a number of British – Labour and Liberal Democrat - MEP’s, will allow past their censors.
Standing on our parties reform agenda I came second, totally confounding the pundits expectations and demonstrating certifiably that – despite what much of the ‘mainstream’ media may think – that there is a large and increasingly vocal constituency which feels as we do; that the EU is in dire need of radical reform. In the final tally I got triple the votes of our group size (142), beating Diana Wallis (Liberal Democrat) into third place, ultimately losing to the stitch up candidate Martin Shultz. I take great satisfaction, as I hope you do as well, that together we denied Shultz’s his Russian style electoral coronation.
The world is undeniably changing. Whatever Europe’s federalists may say their appeal is increasingly limited. The voice of reasonable, pragmatic and engaged reformists is growing and that of those relentlessly (irrespective of events) advocating ‘ever closer union’ is increasingly unheard outside the Brussels bubble. David Cameron’s veto, the British government’s economic policy and the actions of British service personal over Libya; in every area the influence of Conservative ideas is growing.
I thought I should let you know the results and I have attached my manifesto for your reference. Thank you so much for your support in my campaign and your continuing assistance moving forward towards European elections in 2014 and ultimately towards the general election in 2015. If there is any way I can be of use to you or your association, be it through attending an event, fundraising or canvassing, please do not hesitate to ask; I will be delighted to help.
Best Regards,
Nirj Deva MEP
Eurocrats no longer trouble to disguise their loathing for Britain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdqw8aKm_4s
I wish I could adequately convey the intensity of the anti-British feeling in the European Parliament. In today's debate on last week's Brussels summit, speaker after speaker rose to denounce our entire nation as selfish, narrow-minded and arrogant. These were not speeches from backbenchers: they came from the spokesmen of the big three parties which, among them, account for three quarters of all MEPs.
Some spoke vaguely but menacingly of retribution, of making us feel the consequences of our isolation. Others were more specific. Joseph Daul, the Alsatian leader of the EPP, gave us a timely reminder of why David Cameron was right to pull out of that bloc with his demand that, simply as a first step, the UK rebate be removed. (To remind you, our net contribution rose by 74 per cent last year; and, since we joined in 1973, we have been the second-largest net donor – a contribution which, far from eliciting gratitude, invariably prompts hectoring demands for more.)
The Liberal leader, Guy Verhofstadt – who, as this clip reminds us, has a long history of making anti-British speeches – made a point of not speaking in English as he normally does, declaring that it would be inappropriate to the occasion. Since Britain wasn't at the table, he said, it would instead be on the menu.
I could quote dozens of similar comments, but, written down, they fail to conjure the ambience. You needed to be present, to hear the yowling and shrieking and desk-banging that accompanied every Anglophobic utterance. To get a sense of what it was like, I should perhaps do better to cite a famous passage from the beginning of Nineteen Eighty-Four:
The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but, on the contrary, that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretence was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one’s will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.
What do I conclude from the new mood? First, and most obviously, that Britain cannot back down without a national humiliation unprecedented since Suez – possibly since the fall of Singapore. Lib Dems keep talking hopefully about letting the eurozone 26 use the EU Treaties, but that would be the worst of all worlds: we would have attracted all the opprobrium and then given way on the thing we had vetoed.
Second, as I argued yesterday, the EU will now willfully and deliberately set out to maim the City. This was, of course, going to happen anyway. Friday's veto has simply removed any pretence that the damage to our financial services would be incidental or unintended. Now we know that it will be malicious.
Third, the British Government will need to take unilateral action to defend its interests. This will mean amending the 1972 European Communities Act to provide that EU Directives and Regulations should be treated as advisory pending a specific implementing decision by Parliament. Which will, in turn, mean a renegotiation of our status within the EU – something that is in any case now unavoidable unless we intend to climb down entirely.
Fourth, since Eurocrats no longer bother to disguise their contempt for Britain, let's ask the question that has been hovering at the edge of our consciousness all along. Why do we submit to government from people who plainly detest us?
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EURO-BULLETIN - 9 November 2011
I think I have the answer. Here's a way for David Cameron to keep all sides happy on Europe, make UKIP redundant and guarantee himself victory at the next election. Seriously. http://tgr.ph/skuQF2
Heaven knows we need a bit of good news. The eurozone is collapsing on our doorstep: http://tgr.ph/tpv7KB
Britain's Europhiles refuse to learn any lessons from that collapse: http://tgr.ph/vYMuVS
The Bank of England is printing its way to calamity: http://tgr.ph/na361q
And the Archbishop of Canterbury's solution is even more taxation: http://tgr.ph/tmcNJD
