European Elections
You will probably remember that we have been denied a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, which is the replacement for the failed Constitution. Although it is still going through parliament, it looks increasingly likely that the House of Lords will allow it to go through. (By the way, did you know that members who are in receipt of a European Union pension are obliged to support EU policies or risk losing it? This applies to people like Neil Kinnock, Chris Patten and Leon Brittan!)
Whilst we are still fighting the cause for a referendum, we must also consider what will happen if it goes through. Well, here is where you can help. Next June, we will be voting in the European elections again. We need to treat this as the referendum on the reform treaty we were not allowed to have. UKIP will be putting up candidates and this election will have no bearing on which party has control of the House of Commons so it is an ideal opportunity to ask a large number of people to lend us their vote, even if they don’t vote for us normally. Here in the south west, UKIP had the largest share of the vote in 2005, shocking the other parties at the obvious strength of feeling.
Don’t forget that all the three main parties will keep us in the EU and, since the Lisbon Treaty is self-amending, we have no idea what other initiatives they have in store for us. It makes no difference which party is in power in Westminster if our government is in Brussels. So please start talking to everyone who is angry at being denied a referendum. (At least 80% according to opinion polls.) Ask them to consider whether our first priority is to ensure that it matters whether it is Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem in power. The more we talk about this now, the more people we will reach to think about how they use their vote next June.
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