Should Liberal Democrats really support further integration into the EU?

This topic has always to me seemed like a bit of a vague issue. I wanted to write my own opinions on the matter.

The European question has always been a sticky issue in British politics since Britain’s involvement in the European community. To many Tories and to many in the Labour ranks it would seem that Britain as a nation should clearly leave the EU without any sort of referendum and that should be the end of it. However, it has always been seen that Liberal Democrats are pro-EU, promoting further integration into the political and economic sector of the EU. Traditionally though, should the Lib Dems favor their view of further integration into the EU?

Ideologically, Liberals fear the concentration of power without any sort of restriction on power. The best quote to note from this is notably from Lord Acton “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is certainly no question that power has certainly been centralized within the EU with the introduction of the President of the EU; Mr Herman Van Rompuy, who handles all economic issues and has the final say on foreign affairs under the advice of Baroness Ashton. ”Why then do Liberal Democrats view the EU as a “perfect political and economic institution” needing no sort of reform as Vince Cable said in 2006, before this whole Eurozone catastrophe?

Secondly, Lib Dems are without doubt the champions and main defenders of democracy. Why is it then that under the EU we have an unelected President, an unelected High representative for foreign affairs and an unelected President of the European Commission? Surely that in itself is a spit in the face to democracy. What I cannot understand is why the Lib Dems see no problem in this? The fact that we are paying these bureaucrats IN WHICH NO ELECTORATE VOTED FOR seems almost disgraceful. Surely the Lib Dems should call for elections between Presidents of the EU, at least to make it more respectable and democratic.

Liberals favor the notion of self-determination and respect the concept of national sovereignty, however how can Lib Dems defend the EU when our national sovereignty is being diminished by a supranational institution? The existence of our national identity is not being overpowered buy a European culture that would be stupid and ignorant to assume or claim, but it doesn’t sound so stupid when we can see the diminishing culture being employed and what would have made matters worse would have been if the UK were to join the Euro Currency. Our national currency with the monarch’s head on one side of the coin and a national figure/institution on the other would have been abolished with some sort of tacky modern art coin replacing it.

Therefore, in my estimation it makes little sense to see why Lib Dems support the EU, it seems that they have to give up their main ideological beliefs just to support it in earnest. If a Pro-Europe Lib Dem can explain to me why they favour it in general I would very much be grateful. Until I can be better persuaded its a clear NO2EU from me.

Why The Conservative Party must Sack Roger Helmer

Not happy with his comments made earlier in the year about trying to convert Homosexuals into “normal people”, Roger Helmer MEP is back in the news with his latest disgusting, disgraceful and prejudiced remarks on Rape cases.

Let me first be clear, for me rape does not come into categories. If someone is accused committing an action of rape it clearly means they have violated someone against their wishes sexually. For me their is no such action as (Helmer puts it) “Classic Stranger Rape.” The whole notion of Helmer’s  shortening of the description of rape is in itself sickening and disrespectful.

Helmer continued his personal opinion on date rape which disgusted myself even more. Here is a quote from his blog which staggered me beyond belief (to the extent that I am after this blog, I intend to write to my MP and make sure this case is bought before the House and before the PM). The second is “date rape”.  Imagine that a woman voluntarily goes to her boyfriend’s apartment, voluntarily goes into the bedroom, voluntarily undresses and gets into bed, perhaps anticipating sex, or naïvely expecting merely a cuddle.  But at the last minute she gets cold feet and says “Stop!”.  The young man, in the heat of the moment, is unable to restrain himself and carries on.

How on earth can this man abuse the trust he has been given by voters in his constituency and write such garbage that offends victims of rape. His arrogance and his lack of understanding on the knowledge is apparent. Punishment for Helmer should be dealt with by the appropriate power.

Let me be clear, this sort of backward, contemptible, degrading and scandalous view is not reflected in the modern Conservative party, I am happy to say as a (proud) Tory I have not seen a single defense of Mr Helmer, in either of his two main controversial issues raised on his Twitter page and in his Blogs. What staggers me to the end degree, is how can the Conservative Party let this man represent the views of his constituents?! It is an atrocious crime, this man needs to be sectioned, certainly not representing people’s views!

It is time for the Modern Conservative Party, to move away from these kinds of prejudiced people. Helmer’s recent ignorance on this sort of issue just proves that the Conservative party must work harder to eliminate this sort of view from our party not for the election purposes but for the people we represent! This kind of comment is damaging and generalizes our party to still being that “backward-looking” party. Now is the time to change that.

So for now Mr Helmer, its time for you to go. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

My Letter to Dominic Grieve regarding HS2

High Speed Rail Link (HS2)

Hello Mr Grieve,

As a resident of Beaconsfield for little over a year and a resident in the Buckinghamshire area for 20 years i have actively been reviewing plans to improve the community that affects the whole of South Buckinghamshire, it was one of the many reasons i decided to take politics at university and to become a Conservative member.

One issue that has recently attracted my attention is the prospect of a high speed railway being built through our tranquil environment. I am always looking forward to plans that will economically develop Beaconsfield and improve transport links, however it is not that i oppose any sort of increase in transport it is the plans that place HS2 through the idealist countryside of Buckinghamshire that i oppose. 

Not only will this High Speed rail link damage the environment around Beaconsfield, causing heavy construction around the area increasing congestion to travelers passing through to work and so forth, but it will also ruin the picturesque scenery of Buckinghamshire to visitors and holiday makers, in addition to this, with the current construction going on with the M25 i fear that Beaconsfield will become a passing town for congestion which is clearly going to impact local businesses. 

Although being at University currently, is it possible to arrange a meeting with yourself over the summer period to discuss proposals over HS2 and what alternatives can be taken to prevent South Buckinghamshire’s scenery becoming less idealistic.

Many thanks for your concern, and i look forward to hearing your response.

Yours sincerely,

Anthony Cooper. 

You may not like him, but he makes a great point.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage does know how to perfectly grill the Former PM (Gordon Brown) about economic issues, and for once in my life I wholeheartedly agree with him!

Why Labour’s recent success will be their downfall.

Labour’s recent success in the two By-Elections held in Oldham and Barnsley have prompted many to note upon the so-called “failures” of the Coalition. However, the party that has really failed here is not one of the coalition parties but Labour.

Labour have overplayed this success as a clear wake up call to the coalition Government . What the Labour Party clearly does not understand is that the two “historic” victories over the coalition were held in Labour safe-seats. It truly does not take an idiot to figure out that a coalition making tough economic decisions to rectify the problems inherited by the last Labour government (although I personally hate to use this term) are going to take a battering in a LABOUR safe-seat.

Many media sources have said this is a battering result for the Lib-Dems. This is just not the case. Yes, undoubtedly they have been sent a clear message that there U-turns on Higher Education have been unpopular but this is nothing to be worried about at this very moment. Once this economic deficit has been cleared to a significant extent, we will be able to see growth and economic prosperity. Of course it is hard for Lib Dems to continue in these tough times, but the roles will be reversed very soon.

Labour continues to march on under the guidance of Ed Miliband, not knowing that defeat is slowly creeping upon them. Ed’s ignorance towards the middle-classes and his rehearsed questions at Prime Minister’s Questions are winning no-one over to the Labour cause. In addition this, Ed’s choice of a shadow cabinet really shows the equivocal nature of the party. Having someone as your Shadow Chancellor who was previously second in charge of the Treasury under the last government which presided over the worst economic deficit since the post-war period shows Miliband’s clear naivety in his choices.

In addition to these points, if Ed Miliband ignores Southern England because he is focusing on the true-working class element of the Labour Party, he can never win an election for Labour, let us not forget why Tony Blair took the Labour party to victory in 1997, 2001 and 2005, it was because he made policies that didn’t discriminate against Southern England. as soon as Brown took over the reigns he clearly ignored Blair’s success and lost the election. Therefore there is much to learn for Miliband. (One hopes that Miliband will continue to make these mistakes for the good of the country)

Therefore, although Labour have claimed 2 victories over the coalition in recent months, the ultimate conclusion is that the loss will be greater than the victory. Labour’s clear abandonment of the Middle-Classes and Ed Miliband’s blank policy page alongside his feeble shadow cabinet means that the electorate will see them as unelectable. Their recent poll surge will count for nothing in a few years time under “Red Ed’s” leadership.