East Midlands Conservatives Launch European Parliamentary Campaign in Lincoln

The Conservatives' launched their East Midlands European Parliamentary Campaign today in Lincoln. 

Grant Shapps MP, the Chairman of the Conservative Party, joined the party's has five candidates, Emma McClarkin MEP, Andrew Lewer, Rupert Matthews, Stephen Castens and Brendan Clarke-Smith who are looking for victory in the election on Thurdsay, 22nd May 2014.  Also in attendance were several of the county's Members of Parliament - Sir Edward Leigh MP (Gainsborough), Karl McCartney MP (Lincoln) as well as Mark Simmonds MP (Boston & Skegness); together with local councillors and activists.

Mr. Shapps said that only by voting Conservative can people take part in a referendum on Britain’s place in Europe.

“Most people did not get a say in the last referendum on Europe in the 70s, which people thought was about joining the Common Market. It is time to give people a proper say. 

“A referendum means voting Conservative.”

Emma McClarkin MEP, commenting on the rise of UK Independence Party, said:

“We are fighting this election every step of the way. The reality is UKIP has no MPs, no power and no plans for the future.”

The press launch was well attended by numerous local media outlets. Despite the damp weather a large body of candidates and activists headed from the Lincoln Hotel on Eastgate, to Castle Square and then down Steep Hill, on to the High Street, in what was described by one organiser as a 'Mob-Canvass'.

Through the Eurovision Looking Glass: Would AV make a difference?

The international Eurovision Song Contest final took place this weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany and whilst for fans (125million were expected to tune in) it was a triumphant display of unity and talent bringing together divergent cultures through the medium of music. For others the contest will have passed by virtually unnoticed.



Azerbaijan's 'Running Scared', performed by Ell and Nicki, chalked up two hundred and twenty-one points to claim victory in the contest.

Let us look at the current system used. The forty-three participating countries each get to score the twenty five entries that have successfully made it through to the final. During the performance, viewers (known as "Televoters") in all participating countries can vote by making a telephone call for their favorite song or songs.  In order of preference the televoters choices are awarded twelve points to the most popular entry, ten points to the second most popular, then eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one points.

Professional juries in all participant countries vote as well. Just like the televoters, each jury in each country then gave twelve points to the most popular entry, ten points to the second most popular, then eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one points.

The televoting results and the jury results are then merged per country with each result counting for half the final preference listing and a spokesperson in country reads out the merged results, giving twelve points to the most popular entry, ten points to the second most popular, then eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one points.

East Midlands MEP Does Not Support Creation of European Diplomatic Service, Whilst Colleagues Vote For It.

Mr. Roger Helmer MEP, Conservative (East Midlands), today commented on recent activites of the European Parliament saying:

"Not me, Guv. I voted 'NO'."

Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, Foreign Secretary gave instructions to the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, in which the Conservatives' MEPs sit, were decisive in securing a crucial positive vote on the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Without a decisive call by United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary, Rt. Hon. William Hague MP, to his fellow party members in the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR), whose members were elected on an anti-federalist ticket, the EEAS would probably not have got off the ground.

The Parliament voted on Thursday, 8th July on a decision to establish the European External Action Service, a new European Union's diplomatic corps that will be led by EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton.

To the surprise of many observers – including some ECR group members – the EEAS proposal was approved, in part thanks to the support of MEPs from the European Conservatives and Reformists group.

Mr. Charles Tannock MEP, foreign affairs spokesman for the ECR group, said:

"We were opposed to the creation of the EEAS but we are now reconciled to engaging constructively within the new architecture in the best interests of our countries."

He argued that some changes introduced to the proposal had made it acceptable to the Conservatives.

"I welcome that Mr [Elmar] Brok, [a German centre-right MEP] as rapporteur, has included my amendment in his text, which supports national parliamentary involvement. This is crucial to ensuring that the new service is subject to proper democratic scrutiny."

Ms Ulrike Lunacek MEP, an Austrian Green, said that without the ECR group's support, the decision would have been postponed until the autumn, allowing EU member states more time to bargain for amendments to dilute the text, or fight for positions of influence in the future EU organisation.

"Without the ECR we wouldn't have achieved it."

Lunacek explained how some MEPs from the ECR group had seemed confused following the vote after being told to vote in favour of a text which they had previously attacked.

Until days ago, leading MEPs were saying that more time would be needed for the political groups to digest a compromise deal on the proposal reached in Madrid. They were categorical in saying that the vote on approving Ashton's proposals would take place after the summer recess.

However, on Thursday, 8th July, European parliamentarians overwhelmingly voted to set up the EEAS, by 549 votes to 78. Only MEPs from the left-wing Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) and the right-wing, Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group (EFD) voted against the proposal.

Asked to comment on the political importance of William Hague's move, Lunacek said:

"This is something I wouldn't have expected from Mr. Hague, so I really appreciate that. I hope this augurs for a more pro-European stance, in the Council especially. Being in government together with the Lib Dems hopefully helps somewhat. That's a positive sign."

Mr. Guillaume McLaughlin, a policy adviser from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group, said a few more obstacles had to be overcome before the vote could be held. The first was an internal division within the centre-right European People's Party group, with Polish Conservative MEP Jacek Sariusz-Wolski pushing for more 'geographical balance,' meaning fairer representation of Eastern Europeans in the future diplomatic service.

This view was opposed by leading European People's Party (EPP) member Mr. Elmar Brok MEP, who stood against the concept.

As discussions developed, Sariusz-Wolski apparently backed down after it had been agreed internally that Polish European Affairs Minister Mikołaj Dowgielewicz would get the job of deputy secretary-general of the EEAS. Instead of a tougher text on geographical balance, an agreement was reached that possible 'imbalances' would be taken into account during the 2013 review of the service.

Another aspect, Mr. McLaughlin explained, was the position of the Partido Popular, the Spanish centre-right opposition party, which was 'playing Spanish politics' and 'didn't want the Spanish Socialists to achieve anything during their presidency'.

During the conference of political group presidents, held before the Strasbourg plenary, all group leaders were in favour of holding the vote during the July session, except the EPP, which insisted on postponing the vote until autumn.

In this context, the votes by the ECR group proved decisive.

"The Tories, for God's sake, saved this,"

 McLaughlin fretted, adding that the coalition with the Liberal democrats had

"delivered some positive things already at European level".

He also said that a major factor in the vote's success was the absence of Mr. Brok from the conference of presidents, held on Thursday, 1st July. On that day, Mr. Brok was in Berlin on the occasion of the vote to appoint the new German President, Christian Wulff.

"There was in fact nobody from the EPP to defend Brok's position,"

The fact that the EPP was opposed to holding the vote at the July session, however, did not prevent the Parliament's biggest group from massively voting in favour of the EEAS blueprint, he added.

Conservatives New Policy Towards European Union

The Lisbon Treaty has now been signed by President Klaus and will become part of European Union law Tuesday, 1st December. Given this situation, the Conservatives have announced a series of measures for which they will seek a mandate at the next general election. The measures are:

Unilateral measures which can be taken without reference to European Partners

• An Irish style ‘referendum lock’ on any treaty handing over further powers from Britain to the EU. Achieved through amending the 1972 European Communities Act so that any future treaty which transfers competences (powers) from Britain to the EU would have to be subject to a referendum, as is already effectively the case in Ireland.

• A legal lock ensuring a referendum if any British government tries to take Britain into the Euro. The party are pledged never to take Britain into the Euro. But to prevent any future British Government from trying to do so without a referendum, an amendment to the 1972 Act will be made.

• A United Kingdom Sovereignty Bill, to ensure the ultimate sovereignty of the UK Parliament. Unlike many other European countries, Britain does not have a written constitution. Given the increasing amount of EU law with which we have to deal, Conservatives would amend the law to insert a sovereignty clause to make it explicit that, ultimately, Britain’s Parliament is sovereign and cannot be overruled by the European Union against its will. This is similar in principle to the situation in Germany whereby the German Constitution ‘the Basic Law’ is ultimately supreme.

• Full Parliamentary control over the self-amending clauses in the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty contains a number of ratchet clauses (known also as ‘passerelles’) whereby the powers of the EU could be expanded in the future without a new treaty. Conservatives would change the law so that using any passerelle would require a British government to pass an Act of Parliament (rather than a simple motion and a 90 minute debate, as currently proposed under Labour).

These measures can be brought in unilaterally by an incoming Conservative government without the need to seek approval from our European partners.

‘British guarantees’ on the operation of Lisbon and social and employment legislation, which will require negotiation with our EU partners

It is the Conservative Party’s intention to use the forthcoming general election deliberately to seek a mandate to negotiate ‘British guarantees’ on the application of the Lisbon Treaty and on seeking to restore key powers to Britain.

These would include:

• A full opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR. Tony Blair stated that he had obtained an opt-out from the CFR. He had not. As Ministers have subsequently admitted, he only obtained a ‘clarification’ as to how it would apply. The Conservatives want to upgrade this to a full opt-out so that the CFR, which for instance would interfere with our trade union legislation, cannot be made to apply in Britain.

• Greater protection against EU encroachment into the UK’s Criminal Justice System. Lisbon provides Britain with an ‘opt-in’ over criminal justice matters but Conservatives want broader protection provided by an additional protocol. This would protect against EU judges extending their control over our Criminal Justice System, and we also want to ensure that only British authorities can initiate criminal investigations in Britain.

• Restoration of national control over social and employment legislation. Lastly, Conservatives want to restore national control over those parts of social and employment legislation which have proved most damaging to the British economy.

The party intends to establish a European Policy Committee of the Shadow Cabinet, chaired by William Hague (currently Shadow Foreign Secretary), to work on the detail of these proposals.

We will seek to give these measures legal effect by adding them to a future accession treaty. This is the same mechanism that will give effect to the ‘Irish guarantees’ and also the more recent ‘Czech guarantees’ and we would seek to mirror it for the above British guarantees too.

The longer term

The Conservative Party will aim to implement these measures over the course of the next Parliament, if they form the government. Further if, over the lifetime of the next Parliament, they do not succeed in negotiating the return of these powers; or if, in fact, the EU does move in the wrong direction, if those circumstances were to occur, the policy announced yesterday states that Conservatives would not rule out a referendum on a wider package of guarantees to protect our democratic decision-making, while remaining a member of the European Union. However, that would be a judgement for the future, not for this election or for the next Parliament.

Perhaps the Conservative Party’s new policy is best summarised as:

"A Conservative government will never allow us to become part of a federal Europe and we have devised a series of specific measures which will protect Britain from this. We will seek a mandate from the British people to implement these measures at the forthcoming general election."

Conference Overture on Europe from David Cameron

As an overture to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester this week David Cameron has sent an email to activists and supporter on the tricky issue of Europe. He writes:

"Our Conference starts in Manchester this weekend. It's going to be the most vibrant and exciting for years.

"Next week, we won't be playing it safe - instead we will be offering bold plans to deal with the big problems the country faces.

"Labour spent their conference talking only to themselves - not the country.

"In contrast you will see a Conservative Party united, determined and ready to deliver the bold, tough and radical change Britain needs.

"Labour are now the party of unemployment - at this conference we will show that we are the party of new jobs and new opportunities.

"To deal with Labour's Debt Crisis we will be setting out some of the tough decisions that need to be taken and unlike Gordon Brown we won't duck them.

"To give people hope for the future the country needs to change direction, and our Conference will show how we're ready to make that change.

"But there is absolutely no complacency.

"Every member of the Conservative Party needs to remember the following: the Conservatives have never won a General Election from a starting point as difficult as we face now.

"To win a majority, we must hold every seat we won in 2005 plus an additional 117 constituencies. This would be the biggest number of Conservative gains at a General Election since 1931.

"We can do it: but we are going to have to work incredibly hard for every vote, every day between now and polling day. In this election, every vote will count.

"This weekend we will hear the results of the referendum in Ireland on the re-named EU Constitution.

"I want to make one thing clear: there will be no change in our policy on Europe and no new announcements at the Conference. There will be no change in Conservative policy as long as the Lisbon Treaty is still not in force. The Treaty has still not been ratified by the Czechs and the Poles. The Czech Prime Minister has said that the constitutional challenge before the Czech Constitutional Court could take 3-6 months to resolve.

"I have said repeatedly that I want us to have a referendum. If the Treaty is not ratified in all Member States and not in force when the election is held, and if we are elected, then we will hold a referendum on it, we will name the date of the referendum in the election campaign, we will lead the campaign for a 'No' vote.

"If the Treaty is ratified and in force in all Member States, we have repeatedly said we would not let matters rest there. But we have one policy at a time, and we will set out how we would proceed in those circumstances if, and only if, they happen.

"This is going to be a great Conference. I look forward to seeing many of you in Manchester."