Parlez~me~'n~Tory
Rightly Wry, Satirically RIGHT

Archive for the ‘European Parliament’ Category

£100k? UKIP leader Lord Pearson is perfectly qualified

Mon ,30/11/2009

In this day and age of mistrust, dishonesty and general incompetence it was refreshing to see that UKIP had very clear ideas about who should lead them into the General Election.

Back in 2007 Lord Pearson left the Conservative Party for a new life in relative obscurity amongst fellow UKIPers.

The result seems a little, how shall we say ‘stage managed‘ considering Nigel Farage (the outgoing leader) virtually shoehorned Lord Pearson into the slot by stating

[Lord Pearson was] head and shoulders above his rivals [whilst explaining] any other winner could prove tricky for the party

…I like a level playing field Mr Farage, clearly you do not! Rather obviously UKIP were desirous to have their man already on the inside, albeit in the House of Lords not Commons.

Here’s the breakdown of the 9,900+ votes cast by UKIP members

    Lord Pearson: 4,743
    Gerard Batten: 2,571
    Nikki Sinclaire: 1,214
    Mike Nattrass: 1,092
    Alan Wood: 315

Right then, that’s who he is and how he got there but what’s he done?

Between April 2001 and June 2007 Lord Pearson claimed £100,000 from the taxpayer for staying in his own house in Victoria, just one mile away from Parliament; he had no mortgage on this property.

Since at least April 2001 Lord Pearson has told Parliamentary authorities that his estate (with several staff) beside Loch Rannoch, Perthshire, is his main home.

Lords rules state: “Members whose main residence is within Greater London cannot claim night subsistence.”

That’ll be the reason for that then.

After selling the flat for £3.7 million In June 2007, Lord Pearson moved into another flat approximately two miles away.

With no mortgage required this time he paid £1.2 million for the flat, this then allowed him to claim another £15,000 in allowances on the basis of his overnight stays.

Claims recorded for the UKIP leader include

    £115,683 for overnight subsistence
    £56,685 in “day subsistence” allowances
    £48,471 in travel expenses – including £10,064 for the cost of flying between Scotland and London in the last two recorded years alone

Bizarrely, he has claimed to have been impoverished as a result of his Political career!

If that’s the case then get out now and save yourself whilst you still can. I’ll pay your train fare. British Politics can do without your sort.

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

David Heath MP, here’s what the Telegraph didn’t print – please answer

Wed ,18/11/2009

Living in Frome, Somerset it upsets me that not only do we have a Liberal Democrat as our MP (David Heath) but the so called ‘FREE Press’, isn’t.

Several times I have had letters rebuffed by the local press and the latest was just a few days ago. I also sent the letter to the Daily Telegraph hoping that they would have the decency to print it, alas, they did not.

[...it has been suggested by Phil Woodford [a fellow Twitterer and an all round good egg] that perhaps I should have signed it Lt Col (rtd) to secure publication…considering putting it on my next one!]

As a consequence I have decided to print it below:

    Dear Sir,

    Last week the final barrier to the full ratification of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty was overcome and on the First day of December it will be entered into law in all 27 member countries.

    Despite all three main political parties promising the nation a referendum at the 2005 election we have not been given the opportunity to vote on this renamed constitution.

    In 2007, following a local referendum in this highly marginal seat of Somerton and Frome over 90% of people who exercised the right to vote gave a clear ‘NO’ to the constitution. In essence, more people voted in favour of a referendum than for David Heath to be our representative, which in turn forced our MP to vote with the Conservatives in Parliament in support of a plebiscite.

    Now that the Treaty has been ratified (albeit by consequential means), I wonder if he still believes we should have a referendum on it, or whether his vote was simply gesture politics and he has since retreated to the default Liberal Democrat position of just having an “in or out” referendum – which they hope will result in a win for the euro-fanatics?

    If we are to see a repatriation of powers to our democratically elected Parliament rather than being dictated to from Brussels, we must have a strong government that is willing to fight for our country, as David Cameron made clear last week he would do should he win the General Election.

    Ultimately, the question begs, will David Heath resign again in order to support our country?

    Yours faithfully

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

…and another thing Gordon, let’s drop this Presidency lark

Tue ,17/11/2009

Message to Gordon Brown: You’re down, you’re out and I am pretty sure that you’re replacement (whichever fool that turns out to be) is very grateful that you are keeping their seat warm for now.

Following yesterday’s odd decision regarding the recent #againsttheodds campaign and the massive onslaught of derision it brought from anyone else other than Labourites and Socialists it is not surprising that once again Gordon has attempted to turn the attention away from another bad judgement that he has presided over.

It seems that the PM has nothing better to do for the next 48hrs than to sit around No10 Nokia in hand and call EU leaders in a final attempt to get old chummy Blair in the peach of a #1 slot.

There is some consternation that Tony Blair may get in by default as the ‘best of a bad bunch’ [doesn't say much, does it?] Currently Herman Van Rompuy the Belgian Prime Minister is the lead 2nd/3rd place by the majority of voters

The process is being co-ordinated by Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and it is heavily rumoured that the new president, and a new EU ‘Foreign Secretary’ must be nominated and selected prior to a summit in Brussels on Thursday.

I’ve spent some pretty ropey times in Belgium at the behest of our nation and in truth I cannot think of a more mundane place outside of Labour Party HQ but despite his ridiculous calls for Euoropean symbolism over National symbolism even Parlez~me~’n~Tory would willingly support old Herman if it meant that Blair was sidelined.

Yes, Parlez~me~’n~Tory would compromise his own views for the good of our country; something our current Prime Minister seems incapable of.

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Dear PLP, this is how a leader acts!

Wed ,04/11/2009

David Cameron and William Hague have set out how the Conservative Party will deal with the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and any future transfer of powers to the EU.

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

We will put it to the British people in a referendum

Tue ,03/11/2009

I am sick and tired of listening to Labour Party supporters in their ivory towers complaining of how David Cameron cannot be trusted since removing his ‘cast iron‘ guarantee to hold a referendum.

The ring of fire

The ring of fire

I can’t pretend I am not disappointed because I am but we need to ask ourselves why it got to this point, why was the country holding its breath on the decision of a President in the Czech Republic?

My disappointment is heavy but that is nothing compared to the anger at the Government for reneging on its manifesto pledge [which was] to hold a referendum within this parliament (their 2005 manifesto states)

The EU now has 25 members and will continue to expand

The new Constitutional Treaty ensures the new Europe can work effectively, and that Britain keeps control of key national interests like foreign policy, taxation, social security and defence.

The Treaty sets out what the EU can do and what it cannot. It strengthens the voice of national parliaments and governments in EU affairs.

It is a good treaty for Britain and for the new Europe.

We will put it to the British people in a referendum and campaign whole-heartedly for a ‘Yes’ vote to keep Britain a leading nation in Europe.

The Labour Party claims that since the name has changed from Constitutional Treaty to Lisbon Treaty all bets are off; even the author of the Treaty claims it is essentially the same and offers no fundamental change.

My angst is also hugely directed at the supporters of the very same Government’s decision who now claim that the Official Opposition should have done something about this situation.

They forget that the opposition cannot make the rules. These people are complaining heavily in Twitter as with the following comments which are but a handful of quotes I received today:

Isn’t about parties – Lab didn’t hold a referendum, for same reasons DC committed to one he knew would never happen.

In short, it’s about realism: Britain could not afford a “no” vote. The rest is populist rhetoric.

Uh no, it was debated by parliament and the house of lords, and voted upon by both houses

Do you mean lie like offering ‘cast iron guarantees’ which conveniently get dropped?

But if treaty is different to constitution and there is no need for a vote. It’s really just Tory anti-Europeanism

Avoiding the real issue and pushing out smoke screens really gets my goat.

It puts me very much in mind of first thing this morning following an article on Gordon Brown in the Telegraph that had the following headline Gordon Brown says David Cameron is a ‘very good politician’ It was put to the Twitter world by a TwitterUser that

Gordon Brown stands up for fairness and Tories spin interview on one comment on Cameron http://bit.ly/3USsVp

I shan’t go into the whole conversation exchange at this point but suffice to say that I questioned the use of the word ‘spin’ I cited another example of the same article on the same blog with an alternative headline that was favourable to the PLP, I cited countless examples to counter the Tweets from this user in the end the user simply said the following

@Parlez_me_nTory Whether valid not your call, mate. Link came up, I clicked, I commented. Tough if you don’t like it.

That’s the idiocy that really gets me, and this is from a PPC! Despite claiming half-way through our exchange that they prefer to debate ‘real issues’ that never materialised.

I still believe we will see something special from the Conservative Party tomorrow regarding the new Europe stance, that is my belief and I am entitled to it at least until 1st December when the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect.

Incidentally, the 2005 manifesto also states

On the euro,we maintain our common-sense policy.

The determining factor underpinning any government decision is the national economic interest and whether the case for joining is clear and unambiguous. The five economic tests must be met before any decision to join can be made.

If the Government were to recommend joining, it would be put to a vote in Parliament and a referendum of the British people.

…and do you really think they would’ve let you cast an X on that one? Think again!

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Hannan & Farage talk Politics (Show)

Mon ,02/11/2009

David Cameron, heed the warning.

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

Ireland, can we have your votes please

Mon ,31/08/2009

On 2nd October the good people of Ireland will once again have the chance to vote on the Lisbon Treaty.

This is the second time that the unpopular Government has attempted to force the treaty onto its people but following the resounding NO vote in the first referendum last June when Irish voters rejected the Treaty 53.4% to 46.6% the Government cannot afford to take any chances.

At least their Government is letting them have their say; take note #GoBro!

Finely balanced? Who are you kidding?

Finely balanced? Who are you kidding?


After 12 years of weakened coalition Governments Ireland is still suffering the worst recession of any European Union state and therefore the fate of the treaty is once again finely balanced.

The current tactics employed by Brian Cowen are almost that of a marionette craftilly controlling his puppets; in this case the puppets are high profile businessmen who are only too happy to state the party line and extole the virtues of the YES campaign.

The cynic in me see this as a major problem as the only businessmen who are rich enough to step aboard are those that wish to sit squarely in the pocket of the European Commission. For instance, Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair and Jim O’Hara, the chief executive of Intel in Ireland have both made timely reports and pledges to the cause.

Why does that matter? Well, Intel has lodged an appeal to the European Commission against the €1.06 billion (£935m) fine imposed for anti-competitive practices and are currently negotiating this fine downwards, therefore you can see why it would literally pay to be in the Commission’s pocket.

What of Ryanair with its 30% stake in Aer Lingus?

Aer Lingus are already struggling to get a decent court hearing regarding the grossly uncompetitive and damaging situation with Ryanair taking such a large stake that they are seeking to get them removed from the shareholder’s register.

Should that be allowed to occur then another airline could purchase the Ryanair stake and put their profits in jeapordy, another situation whereby it is plainly obvious that it would literally pay to be in the Commission’s pocket.

The problem we have here is that the Irish voters have already said NO so why does the Government think it should have the right to force them to vote again?

Maybe the Coalition should take another look at their constitution, specifically Article 6.1 which states

All power of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the state and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good

This clearly says it all, from the people and that is where it should have stayed.

There really is only one way to vote Ireland, please use your common sense and do not be fooled by snake oil salesmen.

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter

A puerile maturity towards the FNG!

Thu ,16/07/2009

Yesterday, Democratic Unionist Party MEP Diane Dodds showed an incredibly puerile maturity when she led the snubbing of both Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons on day 1 of the new school term.

Seat 782 remained empty whilst the BNP’s [finest] 780 & 781 grew more isolated as the ‘Belgian for beginner’s’ class got under away. The school bullies could only watch on in horror as the 13 strong UK Independence Party representatives gathered together with the Latin Vocab class to make a solid team of 30 ready to tackle the challenges of ‘FA Cup’ in the playground.

This was, however, not the first snub of the new term for master Griffin who was left agog at the lack of an invitation to a drinks ceremony headed up by Baroness Glenys Kinnock. When confronted by The Times, and asked to comment, master Griffin showed a level of maturity not expected of someone so infantile when he exclaimed ‘I would not share a drink with Glenys Kinnock. She is a political prostitute, simple as that.’

There will be those that will round on me for mentioning this incredibly important and bold gesture by Ms Dodds by stating that the school bully and his gang were democratically elected and yes, in truth they were; but so was the milk monitor in Class2c but that didn’t stop ANY of us taunting him for being an overweight, rascist oaf!

Care to share?
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Facebook
  • Fark
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Twitter