English Democrats gather sufficient signatures for Mayoral election in Salford.

The following press release has been recieved from the English Democrat Party, now this is truly localism at work, not the EU plan for fines and centralised Brussels regional control of ex-national states with purely decorative parliaments:

Referendum triggered by English Democrats - Press Release

The English Democrats are delighted to announce that amply sufficient signatures have now been collected to force Salford City Council to have a referendum on directly electing their Council Leader (aka “Executive Mayor”).

The English Democrats’ Campaign for Elected Mayors passes its first landmark tomorrow at 10.30 at the Salford City Council when 10,500 signatures on our petition for a referendum on the issue will be handed in to Salford’s Returning Officer.

Stephen Morris, the English Democrats’ North West Area Chairman said:- “I am delighted that here in Salford we are leading the way to a better and more open local democracy for the people of Salford City.  Salford has long needed a leader who will fight for Salford and have the democratic clout to do so.  If Salford voters choose to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum then we will have a democratically elected leader with a mandate to equal the Government’s proposed mayor for Manchester!”

Stephen continued:- “We only needed 8,505 to force a referendum but to ensure that Salford’s Council Labour leadership can’t pull any tricks we collected over 10,500.”

Robin Tilbrook, the English Democrats’ Party Chairman said:-  “Last September we launched our campaign for directly elected council leaders for every local authority in England and I am delighted that the fantastic work of our local volunteer, Geoffey Berg, means that Salford City Council will be the first to achieve the necessary 5% of voters signatures to trigger a referendum under the Local Government Act 2000.”

Robin continued “All the British Establishment Parties nationally have pushed for elected mayors to sort out the abysmal standards of both local government decision making and of democratic accountability but at the local level their councillors have usually been too buy looking after their own interests.  This referendum will give the people of Salford the opportunity to have a Mayor to rival London’s Boris Johnson!”

EU Questions for response by 20th July 2011

Read this link and then this Questionaire, CCRE Link to Questionaire. If you do not have time to prepare a reply yourself, please feel free to use or adapt my suggested responses! The replies should be returned to the following email address before 20th July 2011:

manuella.portier@ccre-cemr.org
Questions: Box 1
a) What are the main elements of modern citizenship in Europe? What are the reasons which lead you to feel that you are a European citizen?
b) What are the main obstacles to having a feeling of European citizenship? Why do you not feel that you are a European citizen?
c) As the level of government closest to citizens, what kind of contribution can local and regional authorities make towards exercising active European citizenship? What role can partnerships and twinning play in this?
d) Is the “Europe for Citizens” programme suitably adapted to this conception? If not, what would you propose?
e) How can exchange networks, city networks and European associations best respond to the expectations of today’s European citizens and youth in particular?

Suggested Responses: Box 1
a) EU Citizenship is alien but imposed by the Lisbon Treaty, which should be de-ratified. It has resulted in a stolen national identity, with a neutered and no longer representative national Parliament, the elections to which are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
b) Years of unaudited accounts, an EU Parliament whose legislative powers can be overridden or withdrawn by an unelected executive, three pointless Presidents and widespread waste and corruption.
c) None! Regional powers devolved from the Brussels centre are merely a feint to further neuter our national assemblies, once the protectors of our democracies.
d) Starting from scratch.
e) By a return to individual sovereign statehood and a scrapping of the three institutions of the EU - the Commission, Parliament and the Court of Justice.

Questions: Box 2:
f) Faced with the challenges of opening up or withdrawing internally, globalisation and protectionism, the emergence of a European identity and the fear of losing one’s national identity, how is the Europe of today coping? What does a “Europe without borders” mean to its citizens?
g) Which European policies could endanger your national identity? What would you propose to make them less threatening? What kind of political decision would help to strengthen your feeling of belonging to Europe?

Suggested Responses: Box 2

f) The economic crisis proves the EU is without competent leadership. A return to democratically accountable national leaders is the one sane way ahead.
g) All EU policies, by definition threaten national identity! A firing of all employees and overpaid MEPs, a reduction of any accrued EU pension rights by about 95% and a convention charged with a "trade only pan-EU entity being formed, with no Parliament nor Executive, but with decisions taken along the lines of Switzerland's direct democracy, with electronic voting in referenda and two third majorities of member states and votes cast being a pre-requisite.

 Questions: Box 3
h) The dramatic events of the past (Nazism and communism) resulted in the construction of Europe as it exists today. What kind of echo does this past leave today?
i) How can local and regional authorities and civil society work together to raise the interest of young people and transmit to them the history of modern Europe as well as the fundamental values encompassed in the European project?

Suggested Responses: Box 3
h) Totalitarianism is being rebuilt as is perfectly obvious from the endless regulations from the EU Parliament and the very secretive existence of CCRE/CEMR who prepared this absurd consultation;
i) Let each nation teach its own history to its own youth as each country so perceives it to be. The fundamental values encompassed in the European Project,as displayed by its various organisations and institutions are principally based on deceit, lies, secret cabals and hidden agendas. Hence the required pension reductions of 95% proposed in response to 2)g above.


Questions: Box 4
m) How is equality between women and men viewed and experienced in 21st century Europe? What role can the European Union play to promote a balance between women and men in local life? n) What kind of actions can be carried out by twinned towns in order to strengthen the equality between women and men in their municipality? What type of best practice can you share with us? 

Suggested Responses: Box 4
m) Relationships between the sexes are not the concern of the centralised EU, national government, nor indeed local government. End of!
n) Electors in twinned towns should ensure the obscene waste of sponsored travel for local officials is banned.

 Questions: Box 5
o) How can interaction among different generations be promoted, associating youth with senior citizens, pooling together their skills and areas of interest?
p) Should the next “Europe for Citizens” programme address these issues more? 

Suggested Responses: Box 5 
o) Relationships between the generations are not the concern of the centralised EU, national government, nor indeed local government. End of!
p) There should never again be a "Europe for Citizens" programme.

Questions: Box 6
q) Moving beyond the fight against discrimination, how can the full citizenship of all be promoted?
r) What role can citizens of immigrant origin play at local level to promote intercultural dialogue and tolerance?s) How can a message of tolerance and dialogue be conveyed in the case where some citizens fear immigrants coming?


Suggested responses: Box6
q) This question has no meaning! Full citizenship in what? How can all have it, if they do they are just human beings like all others so the term full citizenship is meaningless.
r) Return home and try to bring (or restore) democracy to their own country of birth.
s) We managed well enough in Britain before being forced, without consultation, into the EU.

§§§§§ Detailed questions on twinning have been ignored as already answered§§§§§

Questions : Last Box
aa) What place should Europe have and what place can it have in the world of the 21st century? What kind of added value do European local and regional authorities contribute towards promoting democratic local governance in Europe’s partner countries?
bb) Given that the European Union allocates a large budget towards co-operation with neighbouring and developing countries, do you think that part of these funds should be systematically earmarked for projects of decentralised co-operation?
cc) How can European cities and regions become more associated in the European Union’s external policy?

Suggested responses
aaa) Europe will have no place in the world of the 21st century while its former nations allow the present EU structures to remain in place. It is clearly already an irrelevance! The regions and local authorities have been empowered by the EU to meddle in areas where they have no business, as may be seen from this ridiculous series of questions.
bbb) No. These funds should be returned to the countries from which they have been extorted, and no foreign aid programmes ever again considered at a European level.
ccc) They should not be involved at all!


Please feel free to delete or add, change or re-emphasise as you see fit, but let our voices at least be heard!
 

Papandreou faces a revolt! Trichet and "Localism".

GREEK PREMIER George Papandreou, on the day that the 'Troika' are set to deliver the terms for the full surrender of Greek sovereignty to the Euro Group of 'once-upon-a-time' nations, faces a revolt by 16 MPs in his own party, in a Parliament where he only commands a 6 vote majority.

A report from the Irish Times, the leading newspaper of the next country in line for complete dismemberment by the Euro Group, carries a detailed report linked here, but does not mention the issue of the Credit Default Swaps discussed on my blog earlier this week, linked here, which has also received scant attention elsewhere.

The worrying aspect of a possible collapse of the Greek Government, is that this seems to be the new modus operandi of the expansionist EU Empire. Belgium is the longest continuing example, but events in Ireland, Portugal and now Finland all lead to the conclusion that the EU can handle countries much more easily and effectively with a weakened , nonexistent or finely balanced, coalition national governing arrangement.

Even in the UK, where such became necessary after the last election, giant strides have rapidly been made in the EU's power grab, made possible by the complete dependence of the Liberal Democrats on EU funding, quickly becoming equally essential for the ever more treacherous Conservatives.

The EU plans to rule via the Regions and so-called "Localism" which will all be centrally controlled from Brussels, where autocrats will hold all the purse strings. Those of us awake early enough in the UK to hear the farming programme on BBC Radio FourEU, were treated to some stunningly outrageous lies and propaganda supporting this "Localism" project.Read more on the steady advance on the secretive and non-democratic horror that is EU regional policy, from EurActiv, linked here.

We must all fervently hope that Trichet's coming departure from the ECB will have a similar impact as that on an earlier, mostly imaginery Empire, after the death of its Emperor in 814 AD, in whose name Trichet was  hilariously awarded a prize for "European Unity" in Aachen last evening, see my posting below!