Hallelujah, Euro Elections Over!

My Choosiest Choice of all

Jim Allister is a strong minded, articulate and able politician, a good MEP for Northern Ireland. On domestic (Northern Irish) issues he stuck in a "NO"-unionist time warp, which may be a principled stand on his part, but for the stability and security of Northern Ireland his principles lead to a dead end. If it was his European record alone he'd get my number 1.

Jim Nicholson seems unable to articulate his Ulster Unionist/Conservative agenda, perhaps because of certain media distractions; Lady Hermon, party defections, David Cameron and unionist in-fighting. However he does have a good record as an MEP, his party has put more emphasis on European issues and an alliance with the Tories opens up the possibility of putting Northern Ireland at the centre of mainstream UK politics. It’s the wider European and UK issues, not Jim Nicholson’s charismatic personality that gets the UCUNF my first preference.

Diane Dodd’s is clearly out of her depth, without the aid of her handlers Nigel and Peter, Diane clearly cannot cope especially when surrounded by opponents or sat next to Jim Allister. Her attack dog style of debating and her fantasist anti-Sinn Fein rhetoric are off putting, she's third on my list behind Jim Allister as usual. Peter & Iris certainly don't help the DUP cause (whatever that is). Diane Dodd’s gets my number 3 simply because she's a "unionist".

Sinn Fein won't get any votes from me, much to their disappointment I’m sure, but they're a not trying to build an "Ireland of equals" not with their sectarian reactionary anti-Britishness, or while Bairbre de Brún stands up in the European Parliament to rail against "Unionist death squads". Not to mention the shinners have the worst attendance records in Brussels compared to their opponents. Also de Brun seems to lose all knowledge of English when asking even basic questions, nothing wrong with Gaelic, but using it as a cultural weapon is clearly objectionable.

Anti-Europeanism

Many people who hold euro sceptic beliefs are often considered anti-European or xenophobic, indeed perhaps some are, for me personally I don’t consider myself as anti-European nor do I like the term "Eurosceptic". I call myself a Pan-European anti-federalist, in that I believe in European co-operation and free trade, but am opposed to the centralisation of the anti-democratic EU.

Unlike UKIP or the BNP I'm not suggesting we pull out of Europe full stop. I don't believe in isolationism or narrow ethnic nationalism, I believe that the EU is an unrepresentative pro-federalist neo-soviet style experiment, a Frankenstein monster in need of total remodelling.

I'm not in favour of the Veritas idea of reformism from within, the EU has grown to powerful for that to work, in my opinion mass secession from the EU is the only way to topple the top down European parliament. A co-operative European council, with bottom up democratic structures, a truly representative parliament and a scrapping of the European commission; such a remodelling is possible, but probably unlikely.

Question Time Performance

Last night’s Question Time performance by housing minister Margaret Beckett and ex-LibDem leader Sir Ming Campbell was nothing less than disgraceful. Mrs Beckett was clearly in over her head when the just anger of the audience greeted her pathetic excuses and attempts to squirm away from her own and her colleagues lack of moral judgement. It was clear she held the electorate in complete contempt for daring to question MP’s morals.

She tried everything she could to deflect the annoying questions; denial, feigning anger, attacking the Daily Telegraph by vaguely threatening fellow panellist Benedict Brogan. She tried every political trick in the book to try and deflect the awkward truth that she and her fellow MPs had disgraced themselves and the country. But it didn’t work; her face was red with embarrassment and underlying anger, not directed towards the trougher's in parliament, but at us the people.

Ming Campbell’s performance wasn’t much better than Mrs Beckett’s, his attempts at deflection were just as hard and as futile as Beckett, his worst excuse was simply “they were guidelines”. But Ming the Merciless went even lower in attempting to insinuate that the expenses row was deflecting attention from the plight of our troops in Afghanistan, i.e. if you’re angry about the MPs thievery you’re not remembering the soldiers; don’t our armed forces personnel pay taxes? Should they not be upset that their MPs were stealing their money while they are fighting for their country? Mr Campbell is a disgrace.

But at least they’re sorry, eh? Sorry they were caught! These people don’t deserve our trust and respect until they have taken radical actions that completely alter the system and rules they created.

Until then the facts are clear

Naked Aggression: Swiss Ban German Invasion

Voters in the heart of the Swiss Alps have banned naked hiking after dozens of mostly German nudists started rambling through their picturesque region.

By a show of hands citizens of the tiny state of Appenzell Inner Rhodes voted overwhelmingly at their traditional open-air annual assembly to impose a 200 Swiss franc (£119) fine on violators.
Only a scattering of people today opposed the ban on the back-to-nature activity that took off last autumn.

The cantonal government recommended the ban after determining that citizens had found nude hiking to be "thoroughly disturbing and irritating".

A similar legal move is expected in neighbouring Appenzell Outer Rhodes with legislation being prepared against "this shameless behaviour".

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/nude-hiking-banned-by-swiss-14282186.html