Every picture tells a story

And this one tells the whole story - of why the Rabid Right (UKIP, Conservatives, and LibDems) hate Europe and why everybody who has or hopes for a job should vote LABOUR on May 22nd.

The Eurosceptic lie

The Eurosceptics claim the UK could be like Norway, which is not a member of the EU but has access to the single market.  What they don't tell you is (a) that Norway is a liberal social welfare state where people pay higher taxes in return for greater social benefits of all kinds, and (b) that in order to get its access, Norway has to obey EU rules and pay into the EU budget.

If the UK did the same we would have to implement the rules with no say of what they are, and continue to pay our dues without a say over how much.  I somehow don't think rabid anti-European Tory backbenchers would be keen on that arrangement!

Campaigning 4 Europe

The Labour Euro Team campaigning in the centre of Nottingham.

Why do Labour MEPs believe the UK is better off in the EU?

Labour MEPs believe Britain must grow its economy and earn its way to higher living standards.  To achieve this, British businesses need to export more.  The EU is vital.

As part of the EU, British businesses have access to the world's largest single market and can also benefit from EU trade deals with some of the world's largest economies.  With free access to the EU market, the UK is much more attractive to foreign investors too.

Already, 3.5 million UK jobs depend on our relationship with the EU.

With Britain deep in a cost of living crisis, we must not put at risk our access to the world's largest single market.
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The European Elections are on Thursday May 22 2014.  It is not too late to claim your right to a postal vote.  Harborough District Council doesn't make it easy - they haven't even put the election date up yet - but we can cut through that sort of thing.  If you want to claim your postal (or proxy) click here and scroll down the page.  Don't be put off by the bit about "are you unable to attend your polling station?"  It's rubbish.  Anybody can have a postal vote, for one election or forever.  No reason is required.  Any problems, email us at lutterworth4labour@outlook.com.

Freedom of Movement - Glenis Willmott

"The answer to making freedom of movement in the EU work for everybody isn’t to limit people’s working rights, but to strengthen them. With high standards of social protection across Europe we can stop undercutting and exploitation, and go back to being the Britain that welcomes migrants, and recognises the contribution they make to our country."

---Glenis Willmott MEP

Read the article in full here: http://www.gleniswillmott.eu/making-eu-migration-fair-for-all/

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

First, a statistic - this is the 100th post on this blog - congratulations! This is an excellent blog, and I wish you well for your next 100 and beyond.

This last weekend saw another row blow up about the misuse of statistics. The Daily Telegraph claimed

"More than 600,000 unemployed European Union migrants are living in Britain at a cost of £1.5 billion to the NHS alone, according to an EU report. The authoritative study, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, shows the number of jobless European migrants coming to Britain has risen dramatically in the past five years, intensifying demands for the Government to renegotiate EU membership."

Outrageous you might say - and that was the intended response. This was a story intended to promote the Tory agenda of scapegoating both the poor and the EU. All Britain's ills come from the feckless poor and the evil empire that is the EU. Nothing to do with this government's redistribution of wealth from the many to the few; the activities of it's friends like the bankers (who it is standing up for against attempts to limit their bonuses...) and the pay-day lenders; and the policies which mean most people are working more for less.

But if you misrepresent a report - you face a backlash from its authors - and so the writers of the report have pointed out that:

• The proportion of non-active UK citizens in Britain is higher than the equivalent proportion of non-active EU nationals in Britain. Just under half (43%) of UK citizens aged over 15 are classified as non-active. This compares with 30% of EU nationals in the UK. There are 2.3 million EU residents in Britain, of whom 611,779 are non-active.

• A relatively small number of EU citizens in Britain – 60,000 – are claiming jobseeker's allowance, which works out at around 10% of the total non-active EU group. This compares with a 28% figure for the EU as a whole. The 60,000 figure is from the latest Department for Work and Pensions figures.

But they have "form" - Duncan Smith wrongly claimed in 2011 that EU citizens are costing Britain more than £2bn in benefits. This was revised down to £150m. An analyst commented, "Even for the £150m they haven't produced any figures to back up that claim."

Jonathan Portes, (An Economist) of National Institute of Economic and Social Research has said -

 

"The big picture is that most migrants from the new member states of the EU come here to work; they are young and place relatively few demands on public services.

Migrants in general, in particular those from the new member states, are less likely to claim benefits than the general population.

Overall, our assessment is that the impacts on the UK economy and labour market (of EU migration) are likely to be small, but broadly positive, as you would expect given that most new migrants will be relatively young and their primary motivation is to find work."

But the sinister background to this story is that they knew their misuse of statistics would be speedily challenged. They knew that the claims were unsustainable - but their election gurus will have told them it doesn't matter. People don't remember statistics - but the impression stays. We will meet people on the doorstep as the European and General Elections come closer, who will be affected by the impression that we are being overrun by benefit scroungers from Europe. We can't let them get away with it!

Thinking about the Euro campaign

It appears the date for the Euro elections is Thursday May 22 2014.  Apparently there are some changes to electoral procedure, due to come into force for the Euros but applicable to all elections, one of which we need to build into our campaign planning.

The key change is that postal votes should now be issued a.s.a.p. after the close of nominations.  Thus people could potentially be casting their vote from the very beginning of the traditional campaigning period.  We have to start canvassing earlier and we need to put together some material, ready to drop through letterboxes, several weeks in advance.

The other changes mainly relate to the technicalities of postal voting and are of no real consequence for us.  One change I find reassuring after the 2010 fiasco is that people queuing at a polling station at 10pm should still be allowed to vote, even though by the time they do so the polls have officially closed.

Tory defection and why we should care

Roger Helmer's defection to UKIP over the weekend really got under my skin to a surprising degree.  It's not that a disaffected Tory has defected to the disaffected Tory party - for those who can stomach it, Mr Helmer's somewhat garbled explanation can be found here, on the Conservative Home blog - it's the democracy issue.

When a local councillor or a Westminster MP crosses the floor, he or she can claim to have been given a personal mandate by the electorate, who were told what s/he stood for in election material.  But Jack Straw's hideous List System for the Euros means we can only vote for the party.  Nobody voted for Roger Helmer personally in 2009, just as nobody voted for our own Glenis Wilmott.  The electorate voted Labour, Tory or Nutter.  The total L, T and N votes were then ascribed proportionally to the parties, tweaked up and down according to rules that were both unfathomable and inevitably unfair, and the highest names on the respective lists were handed their tickets to Brussels.  Ranking on the list was done not by activists in the East Mids but by apparatchiks in London.

As a result of this defection UKIP who came third in 2009 despite losing 10% of their vote, have 2 MEPs until 2014 (hands up who knew there was another one), Labour who came second have only one and the Tories who obviously won with a significant increase in their vote also only have one.  Even if you have the slightest hankering for proportional representation (which I notoriously don't) how is this fair, proportional or democratic?

My view has always been that the List System was another manifestation of the progressive erosion of democratic accountability by careerist politicians.  If the voting public aren't enthused by Euro elections, taking away direct representation was never going to increase the turnout.  The truth is, Roger Helmer's defection doesn't matter two hoots - but it ought to.  And Labour, as the only party of opposition, ought to be developing policies to fix the problem.

In the meantime, I can't help empathising with our soon-to-be MP Chris Heaton-Harris who Tweeted (@chhcalling): "I honestly thought he [Helmer] was an honourable man; alas I was mistaken."