European Parliament gets heavy with your candidate

So long, farewell, auf weidersein, goodbyeee. Ladies and gentlemen, I am sad to announce that from henceforth England Expects shall be consigned to the dustbins of history. I say this with a heavy heart, but it is the case. And this is why.

Yesterday I was summoned by my Secretary General and informed that a formal complaint had been made about my posting on this blog. My activities were found to be in contravention of the Staff Code of Conduct

In particular I was in breech of Article 12 and 17. That is

"Article 12
An official shall refrain from any action or behaviour which might reflect adversely upon his position.

1. Subject to Article 15, an official wishing to engage in an outside activity, whether paid or unpaid, or to carry out any assignment outside the Communities, shall first obtain the permission of the Appointing Authority. Permission shall be refused only if the activity or assignment in question is such as to interfere with the performance
of the official's duties or is incompatible with the interests of the institution.

Article 17
1. An official shall refrain from any unauthorised disclosure of information received in the line of duty, unless that information has already been made public or is accessible to the public.
2. An official shall continue to be bound by this obligation after leaving the
service.

The problem was at the beginning of the month I had posted a piece about some gender language absurdity (please note that the staff regulations talk about his. I had included the name of the author and she had requested that I remove the name. This I did, as she pointed out that she had been phoned by a couple of journalists and was, as an official unable to talk to them.

Notwithstanding me removing her name, somebody made an official complaint about this blog to the powers that be. The Secretary General of the Parliament, Harald Rømer then wrote to my group pointing out my clear breech of the staff rules. I had, it said posted article upon England expects, a website that is ""ironique et eurosceptique". (One wonders which was the worse transgression, the scepticism or the fact that I laugh at them?).

The upshot is that I have a formal warning and, if I continue to blog then 'sanctions' may be applied. Given that the sanctions amount to upwards of a four month docking of wages, I really cannot afford to continue.

Now I do not say that I am not in breech of the staff regulations, I am. But it is odd when one considers that I employed to be the Press officer of the UK delegation to the Ind/Dem Group, which is the UK Independence Party. My job is to bring the institutions into disrepute, which I am doing, well if I am any good I should be doing.

The rules come with guidelines

The above provision establishes the general obligation as regards circumspection
whereby officials and other servants, while remaining free to express their opinions as the fundamental principles of human rights and citizens' rights allow them to do, must observe a degree of moderation and conduct themselves at all times with a due sense of proportion and propriety.

3. Any failure to observe the obligation as regards circumspection is assessed according to the nature and level of the duties performed and the circumstances, for it is more incumbent on the most senior officials and other servants to show self-control in what they say and write, as well as in their attitudes.

The point being that there interpretation as to my lack of circumspection is key.

Now think about the report that is going through the Parliament and is discussed by Bruno Waterfield here and you will see a very scary picture emerging.

Tories have an Affinity with Ecotricity

Gawain Towler, the UKIP PPC for North Dorset today lambasted Robert Walters, the sitting Conservative MP for hypocrisy.

"Bob Walters has to answer some pretty searching questions now that it has been revealed that the Tory Party is doing deals with Ecotricity".

Ecotricity is the firm that is planning to build a wind farm at Silton near Gillingham which is opposed by the vast majority of local inhabitants. Robert Walters has been prominent in opposing the farm. However the Conservative Party has set up a sponsorship program with the firm, part of its Afinity scheme that can be found on its website,
http://www.conservatives.com/Get_involved/Affinity.aspx

According to the firms's website Conservatives can,
"WIN a year's supply of electricity from Ecotricity - worth £400 - simply by watching our stunning new time-lapse video of the construction of 3 wind turbines at Bristol Port and then answering the question below".
http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/competition/conservatives/

"So backing this firm is fine for fundraising for their elections, but local people will feel let down and abused by such naked double dealing", said Towler.

Gawain Towler first got involved in the campaign against the windfarm in early February
http://ukipnorthdorset.blogspot.com/2008/02/bourton-wind-farm-meeting.html

Dorset is not part of France

The news reported in today's Telegraph that the EU has continued with its desire to scrub England off the map must be met with some weariness. The story is not news, whatever the Tories say (just in time for St George's of course). For the last few years the Transmanche Region or Arc Manche has been in existence. This does of course not make it any better.

The whole silly thing is just redolent of how the EU works against, rather than with the grain of history.

Back in AD 43 the Roman General Vespasian, later to become Emperor took both Hod and Hambledon Hills before moving on to Maiden Castle and beyond. This quashing of the last serious opposition to the Roman Imperium resulted in England becoming part of the Roman Empire. But even the Romans were not stupid enough to try and administer different sides of the channel as a single entity.

All this is is a bureaucratic attempt to rub out national boundaries. Why? Because the powers that be in Brussels and Whitehall know that the only institution that retains sufficient emotional loyalty against there centralising plans is the Nation State. And thus they hate it.

UKIP Defence Policy launched tonight

The press launch of UKIP's Defence Policy, "In the National Interest" is taking place tonight at the East India Club. Here is a brief summary of the paper,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

UKIP's Defence Vision - Executive Summary

Our recommendations:

1. To defend our national interests, maintain the NATO alliance, support our traditional partners. To disentangle our forces from the EU To keep our independence by retaining – always – ultimate command and control over our national forces.

2. To stop trying to buy defence on the cheap. UKIP will spend an extra 1% GDP year on defence – an increase of 40% on current budgets. UKIP believes in establishing a defence budget which will properly sustain Britain's defence commitments. To keep defence costs down by smarter defence procurement, and with more involvement of British industry wherever possible.

3. To increase the Army to at least 125,000 personnel (trained requirement) in order to enable it to cope with its existing deployment and roles. To double the Territorial Army in size from 37,000 to 75,000 soldiers.

4. To restore the Navy to its 2001 strength, with 3 new aircraft carriers (one extra), 4 assault ships, 30 destroyers and frigates, 12 Fleet Submarines, 25 coastal vessels and 50 Merlin helicopters, with around 7,000 extra personnel to 42,000 (2003–41,550). UKIP would guarantee the futures of Plymouth, Portsmouth and Rosyth and not close any of these ports.

5. To increase the Air Force's capabilities by enlarging the tanker fleet, modernising the transport fleet, buying more helicopters and 50 extra JSF aircraft, and increasing RAF personnel to 50,000.

6. To restore many traditional regiments, such as the Black Watch and Staffords, subsumed as battalions of EU-inspired 'super-regional' regiments such as the Royal Welsh, Royal Mercian and Royal Regiment of Scotland, in order to serve in EU battle groups.

7. To renew the Covenant between the Country and those who are asked to risk their lives on its behalf: through better pay, generous compensation for injury, restoration of Crown immunity, private medical and dental care, reinstatement of military hospitals, decent accommodation, an offence of treason for those UK citizens who seriously attack serving personnel, and above all, respect and support.

8. To withdraw our forces from Iraq, in good order, at an early date. To reappraise our operations in Afghanistan to a single mission.

9. To maintain Britain's independent nuclear deterrent with existing Trident submarines, and to replace them with four British built US missile armed
submarines.

10. To retain and increase Army and Territorial Army personnel by pay, free medical and dental care for them and their families, retention 'warrants', school recruitment and other incentives.

I will write a review of it when I have seen the whole thing.

Support the ban

Every publican in Dorset should support the ban on Alistair Darling.



He and his boss, Gordon Brown are doing so much damage to the licenced trade that only by making it clear to them that we are unhappy can anything be done.

Of course, it is unlikely that someone like Mr Darling would every sully himself by ever entering a pub, but that is not the point. A message needs to go out loud and clear. By increasing taxes, by supporting the smoking ban, by increasing rules and regulations, whether dreamt up in Whitehall or Brussels is not the point. They and their like (and I include you Mr Cameron in this, despite you mentioning this campaign in PMQs this week) are crushing the life out of an industry and a way of being that is close to all our hearts.

People like him bang on about communities and how important they are, but when they see something that cannot control, when the see men and women enjoying t hemselves out of free choice, they move heaven and earth to undermine, tax and regulate it.

A pox on them and all their (non public) houses.

Fitna

Having been refused by the MSM, and having had his own website taken down by the hosting company, Geert Wilders last night published 'Fitna: The Movie' on LiveLeak.

I would encourage you to watch it, but I cannot pretend that it is nice, or easy viewing. At the very least it should make you think.

The BBC report about it is interesting in what it says and what it does not say. It majors on his paranoia,

"the most stubborn man I've ever met"...
"The presenter remembers walking with Mr Wilders surrounded by six bodyguards to the MP's room, which he likened to a furnished cell at a suburban bank.

Opponents say he is fuelling hate against Muslims From that perspective, he could understand that the politician's mind was focused on the death threats against him".

"He's a little bit crazy because he's giving the impression to some people that he's going to combat Islam," says Mr Rabbae.

"He's a kind of Don Quixote, fighting against things and presenting goals which will never happen."

Like Mr Spruyt, Mohamed Rabbae believes Mr Wilders may have become isolated by the limitations imposed by living with bodyguards".

But it fails to point out that his name was on the piece of paper, stuck on the knife that pierced Theo Van Gough's heart.

it was in November 2004 that Mr Wilders' career dramatically changed with the murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh by a radical Islamist, Mohammed Bouyeri.

Together with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Van Gogh had produced the short film Submission, which featured an actress in see-through clothing with Koranic script on her body.

Although he had no involvement in the film, Mr Wilders was now to have a permanent bodyguard, in common with Ms Hirsi Ali, because of their outspoken views on Islam.

An odd omission, as is the failure of the BBC to link to the film, despite writing an article about it.

No Remote Control

A new film from UKIP

Part 2

Local UKIP PPC forces reform in Bulgarian Care Homes

The situation in for children in Bulgarian children's homes for the disabled was brought harrowingly to life in the BBC documentary Bulgaria's Abandoned Children.

When I saw the film I was horrified, I immediately contacted the film's maker, Kate Blewett and invited her to show the film in the Brussels Parliament.

The Bulgarian authorities and Euro-MPs tried everything they could to block the showing, but we persevered and last week the Bulgarian authorities were forced to announce the closure of the Mogilino home. It is British taxpayers money siphoned through the European Commission that is funding the appalling regime in these homes and we have every right to demand that the money is spent well.

Of course the situation was known in Brussels, but rather than deal with it they hushed it up in order that Bulgaria could join the EU. The Tory MEP Geoffrey Van Orden who was responsible for Bulgaria in the Parliament would prefer to add another 8 million to the EU superstate than demand decent living conditions for these children. He should be ashamed.
Kate Blewett's own campaign can be found here

The film screening was co-hosted by Kathy Sinnott MEP, an Irish Independent who is one of the leaders of the Irish No campaign.

Looking forward to next weekend

First up will be the regular Charlton Marshall First Thursday meetuing of the association. Updates on activities of the party and what we have been doing over in Brussels and at home.

Then on Saturday 8th there is the South Western Counties Conference for UKIP which will be taking place at Exeter University and promises to be a lot of fun.

All who can come along should try.

Black is White.

Yesterday I published, through the think tank the Bruges Group, a study into the way in which the British Government is dissembling about the costs and purposes of the EU's Galileo satellite system.

If youi are interested you can read the whole paper by clicking on the link above (pdf) or by going here.

Wind Farm update

Take a look at this, and if you live north of Gillingham just think about it. According to Danish news this is an old model, but gales happen in England too and even the faint possibility of this happening at the Bouton site must give pause for thought.

Hat tip Eursoc

The 'Chicken Run' video

This YouTube film is of the Chicken protest last week in Strasbourg. It contains impassioned oratory, and high farce - and your correspondent getting rather hot under his suit whilst remonstrating with the Parliament's Head of Security. The point is of course that while those who are pushing through the Constitution use the language of democracy, what they are doing is using the tools of technocratic totalitarianism.

New Facebook Group

A new Facebook Group has been set up.
Gawain Towler for North Dorset

Pop along there, take part and tell your friends. The UK Independence Party is here in North Dorset and has every intention of building our prescence and effectiveness. The people of the Constituency deserve nothing less.

Busy week

This week has been spent chasing around the Strasbourg Parliament, doing everything in my power to undermine the institution. To that end I was able to start the entire story of the misuse of funds by Euro-MPs,

Robert Galvin, who is head of unit, internal audit and is based in Luxembourg.

Well informed rumours are suggesting that the silence surrounding this report is well warranted. One comment from a senior official has been passed on to me, "the reason that we cannot make this report open to the public is that we want people to vote in the 2009 (european) elections".

That of course could be Chinese whispers but my scource is normally pretty accurate.

From what I can guess the activities of some Members of the European Parliament will make the Conway affair look like pretty small beer.

This story was picked in almost every media organisation in the following few days, as can be seen here and here.

Elsewhere I demonstrated in the Parliament against the Parliament's vote in favour as reported in today's Sunday Telegraph,

EU Parliament votes not to take any notice of the people's wishes

There were surreal scenes in Strasbourg last Wednesday as the European Parliament prepared to ratify the Lisbon Treaty by a huge majority. (It says something for the reverence in which we hold that parliament that not a single British national newspaper bothered to report the fact.)

Dressed in yellow chicken suits, three protestors against the refusal of EU governments to allow referendums on the treaty were chased round the corridors and up and down the staircases of the futuristic building by 15 burly security men trying to arrest them.

When Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party and one of the 50 MEPs of different parties who have been leading the pro-referendum campaign, was summoned to this fracas, he was interviewed by a television crew.

Pointing out that no officials had intervened last month when the parliament was invaded by anti-GM Greens dressed as bananas, he asked why it was only pro-democracy protestors who had to be silenced?

At the end of the interview, Anne-Margrete Wachmeister, head of the parliament's audio-visual unit, gave orders that Mr Farage' s comments must not be broadcast.

Overhearing this, Shirin Wheeler, presenter of the World Service's Record programme (and daughter of the distinguished BBC correspondent Charles Wheeler) intervened to say that, unless this order was withdrawn, the BBC would withdraw its parliamentary coverage from both Strasbourg and Brussels. The official backed down.

Meanwhile in the chamber itself the battle continued. When it was proposed that the parliament "would respect the result of the Irish referendum", the only one to be allowed on the treaty, only 129 MEPs (including one Tory, Nirj Deva) supported it, while 499 (including four Tories) voted that the wishes of the Irish people should not be respected. But what if they vote in favour of the treaty? It is good to know that our democracy is in such reliable hands.

In the picture I am the chicken on the right.

I also revealed that Tories had failed to vote in favour of a referendum, and some had even refused to support an amendment that caled for respecting the result of the Irish referendum.

Dorset lags behind in wealth

Figures released yesterday put Dorset just three percent above the EU average for income. This is a pretty poor show when you consider that countries such as Poland and Bulgaria are included in the figures.

Virtually the only other parts of the UK with worse figures are Devon and Cornwall who are below the average. We discover this at a time when Dorset's services are being cut because the Labour government believe that just because it is beautiful it must therefore be rich.

It is a disgrace that the fire service and policing are being cut in Dorset in order that resources can be transferred to other areas in the country that are significantly better off. The cuts are just prejudice from the government that wants to shore up its own support base while treating rural England and Dorset in particular with contempt.

Of course if we were not subsidising the EU to the tune of £138.6 million per day net then the county and the country would be far wealthier.

February Meeting: Charlton Marshall

The North Dorset UKIP Association met as it always does on the first Thursday of the month at the Charlton Arms in Charlton Marshall.

It was good to see so many from outside the Constituency there. Discussion centred on the days extraordinary news that the Government's own lawyer had informed a court that "manifesto pledges are not subject to legitimate expectation".

The court case was one taken by a Brighton member of UKIP, Stuart Bower who was attempting to claim breach of contract against the Government for failing to uphold its manifesto commitment to hold a referendum into the European Constitution/Treaty.

Whilst everybody has known for many years that you cannot trust the paper these promises are printed upon it takes things to a new level of arrogance when the Government announce it in a court of law.

Other things discussed include the latest leafleting campaign and the North Dorset pub Survey... more of which later.

Bourton Wind Farm meeting

UKIP North Dorset Constituency Chairman John Baxter and I turned up on Friday to the public meeting about the Silton wind farm proposals at Bourton School.

A very impressive turn out, and not the first. There must have been between 250-300 at Bourton and on Wednesday evening a similar number turned up in Milton on Stour.

Given that the first anybody knew about the proposal was a couple of weeks ago when some people were approached to affix noise monitors on their buildings. Of course nobody was told why, but after asking the question it had become clear. Ecotricity (or Eco trickery as it was dubbed at the meeting to load applause were back).

In 2003 the firm, wholly owned by the former traveller Dale Vince, had lost its attempt to put two turbines up in Cucklington a mere couple of miles away. Now they were back with a vengeance.
They want 6 and they are to be as tall as Salisbury cathedral. And they have been clever, by moving to Silton from Cucklington they cross the county border from Somerset to Dorset and therefore opponents will have to start all over again. Of course the fact he is trying to build 6 goes against his own beliefs. Here he is interviewed in the Guardian,

"We only deal in small projects of two to three turbines and ensure the local community are comfortable with the scheme".

But his attitude to local people is better explained when he says,

"You can't be in wind without having problems with planning. On-shore schemes are in the hands of local councillors, who don't read the details of applications, don't understand government policies and cave in to local pressure groups,"

What does he mean by this, who are these disreputable local pressure groups that he dismisses? The local people of course.

The meeting was addressed by Campbell Dunford, Chairman of the Renewable Energy Foundation, who was involved in the successful Save the Vale campaign. Mr Dunford gave a very good overview of the utter inappropriateness of wind energy and the way in which it is the most inefficient and highly subsidised form of energy yet online.
As he put it wind farms are a form of "Socialist post-imperial grandeur... There is little point making a sacrifice which is absolutely futile".

Building wind farms in the light of all the meteorological and economic evidence is as much use as putting, "go-faster stripes on the side of my car".

Quite.

Gillingham Town Council will be discussing the 'scoping' document for this proposal tonight. UKIP North Dorset will report on further developments.

Local UKIP oppose new wind farm

Gawain Towler, the UK Independence Party PPC for North Dorset today gave his full support to the Save the Vale campaign against the planned new wind farm between Milton on Stour and Bourton.

"Ecotricity just don't know when to give up. Wind farms are inefficient, massively subsidised and devastating to the local landscape", he said. "To have six massive turbines marching over the Vale would create enormous disturbance and for what? Turbines in general produce less than a third of the energy they claim due to the simple fact that the wind does not blow in the right way the right speed or at all for a majority of the time. Traditional electricity generation has to be maintained in order to cover for it".

"Worse still are the contemptuous comments from Ecotricity Director Dale Vince" said Mr Towler."He obviously doesn't give a damn about local people. The way he dismisses their concerns is disgraceful. He demands that they be less selfish. Maybe he shouldn't be so greedy to pick up public subsidy".

Mr Vince said "This is about climate change. We have to accept that we need to make some kind of change and we have to accept that we can either make a positive change or we’ll get a negative one by default.

"People have to be less selfish. It is the nature of the beast that we have to make wind energy in the countryside – where some people are lucky enough to live."

Commenting on the potential impact to local tourism, Mr Vince added: "Evidence actually shows that wind turbines don’t degrade tourism, they enhance it because people like the way they look.

"There won’t be a noise issue. Noise is an objective thing that can be measured and controlled."

Noise may be measurable, but that won't help the people who live and work underneath it.

There will be a public meeting about these plans at Bouton School this Friday 8th February at 7pm.
Photo taken by Don Brownlow

Why not send them to Runnymead?

News that the Government are going to send two pupils from every six form on a trip to Aushwitz just shows how skewed our education system has become.

Coming fast on the heels of calls to take pride in our own history out of the classroom this just shows the goverenment at it's shallow worst.

The best protection against the possibility of another holocaust must be and understanding of who we are. Sending children who do not understand the growth of Liberty in our country on horror tourism to the gas chambers of the Shoah gets us nowhere. I cannot believe that there is a single six-former studying history who has not studied the rise of the Nazis. The growth of National and International Socialism is littered by examples of the destruction of individual liberties.

What we in the UK can be proud of is that we stood out against the Nazis with the Empire, almost alone. It was our belief in freedom, a belief nutured by an understanding of our own history that gave us the confidence to oppose the great totalitarain regiemes of the 20th Century.

So I am calling for the Government to start concentrating on those landmarks of freedom; Runymead, Tamworth, St Peter's Fields, Tolpuddle and others, rather than chasing after some collective guilt of which we are not guilty.

Tory MEP's hypocrisy laid bare

If you read this,

Sir - Britain's patio heaters, which some MEPs want to ban, produce around 22,200 tonnes of CO? a year (report, January 31).This is only 2,000 tonnes more than the European parliament is estimated to emit unnecessarily travelling from Brussels to Strasbourg every month.

Perhaps if the European parliament wants to improve energy efficiency, we should begin by ending this pointless monthly waste.

Richard Ashworth MEP (Con), Brussels

You would no doubt come the conclusion that I did. That is that Mr Ashworth voted against this daft proposal.

However you would be wrong, becuse if you go to the Roll Call Vote results for the Hall report (pg 54) you would find that Mr Ashworth, along with most of his Conservative and all of his Labour and Liberal Democrat colleagues voted in favour of the report, and thus voted in favour of banning patio heaters.

Incidentally the Conservative Whip on this report was at sixes and sevens, Callanan, Deva and Sturdy voted against Syed Kemal abstained and a few failed to register to vote. Most peculiar.

My guess is that he wrote the letter to the Telegraph, failed to read his voting list, or at least failed to understand it, went down to the chamber and voted as he was told.

Update

Chris Booker has picked this up in today's Sunday Telegraph,

Tory MEP is hoist with his own canard
When smoking was banned in English pubs last July, many landlords realised that the only way to keep a good many of their customers was to install patio heaters.
As the Irish discovered when they introduced a smoking ban, the only pubs that didn't lose business were those that bought heaters, allowing smokers to continue their wicked habit in relative comfort outside. English publicans accordingly spent £85 million following suit.

But then up jumped Friends of the Earth to demand that, since these heaters give off carbon dioxide, they too should be banned. This naturally made a huge impression on the greenie Lib Dems, with the eventual result that last Thursday one of their MEPs moved a motion in the European Parliament calling on Brussels to ban patio heaters.
So imbued are MEPS with a priggish desire to save the planet that 526 voted for the ban, with only 26 against.

In a letter in next day's Daily Telegraph, a Tory MEP, Richard Ashworth, pointed out that the amount of carbon dioxide saved by banning patio heaters in the EU was only slightly less than the amount emitted every year by MEPs themselves, as they engage in the laborious farce of transferring the entire European Parliament every month from Brussels to Strasbourg. Apart from the car, train and plane journeys of the MEPs, this involves a convoy of some 60 trucks trundling 100 miles between the two cities and back again, loaded with trunks-full of parliamentary papers.

Mr Ashworth will doubtless have won plaudits from Telegraph readers reading his letter over the marmalade, for such a telling comment.

But any who then bothered to examine the list of those 526 MEPs who supported this absurd ban might have been surprised to see among them the name of Mr Ashworth.