Please forward this message to all progressive non-British EU-citizens you know who live in the UK.

Non-British EU-citizens living in the UK can not vote in General Elections yet their outcome will have an impact on their lives. Take a long hard look at the Tories and be afraid, be very afraid , or do something about it. Support Labour in any way you can – it matters!

If you live in London you can register to vote in the upcoming Council Elections. The registration deadline is April 20. http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/

Lord Ashcroft, who until recently kept his tax status secret, has put millions of pounds (some of the money he avoided paying in tax in the UK) into key marginal seats to support Conservative Candidates. This new group of Tories is particularly euro-sceptic (according to polling by Conservative Home, the conservative’s own online community website).

Help Labour level the playing field in some of the key marginals – we need your support!

And please continue reading to see why this matters so much.

In the European Parliament the Tories have left the mainstream centre-right parties which form the EPP (European People’s Party). After the 2009 European elections they formed a new group, called the European Conservatives and Reformists ECR. Their new allies are now parties on the extreme right. As Leader of this ECR group, the Tories helped to elect Michael Kaminski, who has ben accused of homophobia and anti-semitism and of having been a member of a neo-Nazi skinhead group in Poland in the past. Their Latvian partner party supports annual marches for SS veterans. The kind of partners they have chosen to ally themselves with in Europe, tells us what kind of party the Conservatives still are.

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

Tory MEPs consistently vote against equality and anti-discrimination legislation and motions :

• On 10 February 2010 most Tory MEPs voted against or abstained on 7 measures in an report on equality for women, including measures for equal pay for women.
• On the same day not a single Tory MEP voted to support a motion calling on Croatia to crack down on homophobic attacks in the country. 16 abstained and one even voted against.
• On 25 February 2010 the European Parliament debated a resolution about signing the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. 22 Tory MEPs voted against, and the other 3 abstained.
• In 2006 Tory MEPs voted against a report on combating violence against women, including provisions criminalising rape in marriage and female genital mutilation. Even last year they abstained on a call for EU member states to increase protection for women against violence

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

The Tories haven’t supported family friendly policies either. Tory MEPs did not back EU employment guidelines that included targets for flexible working and access to childcare. They opposed calls for EU-wide rights to paternity leave and have twice opposed proposals to link maternity and paternity leave so that fathers can also take time off.

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

And we all know about the mad comments of Daniel Hannan, although he is not alone in his outrageous views:

• Daniel Hannan on the NHS – “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.” “We have lived through this mistake for 60 years.” “It’s made people iller.”
• Roger Helmer, Tory MEP, on the NHS – “If the Americans came to me and said, ‘Would you recommend us taking up a system just like the British NHS?’, I think I would have to say ‘No’.”

• Roger Helmer MEP on climate change – “This whole issue has got completely out of hand. It has become a new religion. You have to believe it. If you do not believe it, you are a heretic. They would like to burn us at the stake – using recycled faggots!” “It is not the planet that is in danger. It is freedom… Don’t worry about global warming – it’s a myth.”

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

George Osborne called for a crackdown on tax-dodging, but Tory MEPs voted this year against proposals supporting the automatic exchange of information to crack down on those seeking to dodge taxes by hiding their money across borders.

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

What’s really worrying is that the Conservatives are so blinkered by their ideological euro-scepticism that they would veto, vote against and opt out of measures that would actually be of benefit to British people. One example: There is a whole host of Justice and Home Affairs measures designed to combat organised cross border crime and to make everybody in Europe safer. These measures will require the opt-in of the next UK Government. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the party of law and order would refuse to opt in because their euro-sceptic ideology dictates that Justice and Home Affairs are matters for member-states only?

Don’t let the Tories get away with it.

Given the recent Chris Grayling faux-pas one must wonder how gay friendly the Tories have become and how far they still have to go on this. Be that as it may, let’s take Cameron by his own word. Challenged in a recent interview by the Gay Times why no Tory MEP supported a motion in the European Parliament criticising Lithuania’s ‘Section 28′, Cameron let the cat out of the bag. As long as parties agree with the Tories on their Euro-scepticism all other considerations seem to become secondary.

Don’t let Cameron get away with it. Help level the playing field in some of the key marginals.

This is a transcript of part of Cameron’s answer. “…Uh, and generally, just looking at the the whole issue of European alliances which all this is, is getting to, you know the reason for having alliances, and of leaving the EEP and joining and forming this new party, is not because we, ah, approve of every dot and comma of the social policies of these parties. It’s about Europe, this alliance, not about social policy. It’s an alliance about parties that want a more flexible, more open Europe uh rather than Europe as a super state. And of course we would never ally, um, with parties who we thought, you know, who, who’s views stepped, um, beyond the pale. …”

And you can find a full transcript as well as a link to the video on

http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2010/03/david_cameron_o

Please forward this message to all progressive non-British EU-citizens you know who live in the UK.

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The Labour Movement for Europe, Labour Friends of Italy and PES Sister Party UK branches invite you for a European day of campaigning in Tooting, for the re-election of the local MP Sadiq Khan, on Saturday the 10th of April.

In his invitation letter, Sadiq writes:
“I have always been a firm believer in an open, more progressive Europe.
Only through working together can we advance to a more fair and just Europe for all.

Unfortunately, the Conservative Party does not – they believe in isolating themselves from the rest of Europe, and, to add insult to injury, they have aligned themselves with the European Conservatives and Reformists in the European Parliament.

Mark Clarke, my Conservative opponent, is the Director of Outreach at the Young Britons’ Foundation – the right-wing training ground for Tory activists.

Read the rest of this entry »

LME has written to David Cameron with a series of questions about his baffling attitude to Europe. Here is a copy of the letter, which we have also released to the media.

Dear Mr Cameron,

We are writing to you today to try and clarify your position on the EU. We have been confused by your recent statements on Europe and so we have an number of questions we hope you can answer.

1. Opting out of the Charter of Rights

Why opt out of a Charter of Rights that simply ensures that the EU has to respect fundamental rights and that any EU legislation that fails to do so, can be struck down by the courts? It is a safeguard, not a threat!

2. Giving UK law primacy over EU law

What is the point of agreeing common rules at EU level if each country is then free to break its agreements and override them by new national laws? Britain won its court case against France when they continued to ban British beef after it was declared safe, precisely because countries must live up to what they have agreed to. If French law had primacy over EU law, they would still be banning our beef!

3. Opting out of the Social Chapter of the Treaty

Having common rules for the common market on some aspects of social legislation ensures a level playing field, a single set of rules for companies to follow instead of the costly confusion of 27 sets of rules in a single market, and gives all workers, including British workers, basic rights and protections. Why should British workers be denied the rights enjoyed by their counterparts across Europe? What is so wrong with this legislation, that is accepted by every other government, including conservative governments, in Europe? You have mentioned the Working Time Directive – legislation that was NOT adopted under the Social Chapter (it is health & safety legislation) and was approved by the Council of Ministers under the last Conservative government with Britain abstaining. Didn’t you know this?

4. Opting out of co-operation on Criminal Justice

Are you aware that Britain already has, under Lisbon, the right to opt-in or opt-out of legislation in this field? Not that we should – criminal gangs operate across borders and we need to co-operate with our neighbouring countries in fighting them – but we can already choose which measures to sign up to.

And how do you respond to the comments of Pierre Lellouche, the French Europe Minister, who describes your plans as “pathetic” and says that your plans to try and renegotiate long-standing agreements will not work, as EU members want to concentrate on tackling big issues such as climate change, trade and security, rather than reopen discussions on things agreed by all countries?

We hope that you can answer our questions because there is a lack of clarity in your supposed pledges that indicate they have not been thought through and are intended simply to placate, for the time being, the extreme eurosceptic element in your party.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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We’ll keep you posted here on any response we might receive.

It does not feel like it in the UK, but these European elections are actually about something. The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the EU. Whichever political group holds a relative majority within it matters in more then one way. Which potential cross party majorities are possible after the elections will have an impact on the next 5 years of policy making on the European level.

In the last 5 years the conservative EPP-ED was the largest group in the European Parliament. 21 out of 27 member-state governments are run/dominated by conservatives. A majority of Commissioners are Conservative as is the President of the European Commission.

Conservatives in Europe have been driving a neo-liberal agenda, liberalising markets and doing nothing to prevent the economic crisis or at least attempting to engineer a softer landing. The Party of European Socialists PES (of which the Labour Party is a member) has been calling for years for better regulation of financial markets, and decisive action against tax havens and tax fraud.

It is of particular irony – if latest opinion polls are to be trusted – that voters in the UK are flocking to the Tories who have been part of the European conservatives who have been responsible for those policies coming out of Brussels which voters do not like. 

UK voters are moving to the Conservatives and UKIP, if polls are right. Both parties are advocating less Social Europe – especially for workers in Britain- and some Tories are trying in Westminster to effectively do away with the minimum wage. UKIP and Tories alike have voted against the ending of the UK opt out on the Working Time Directive. They want a Europe of free trade only, with as little human rights, as little welfare state and as little protection of the environment as possible.

A land slide victory for the Tories/UKIP in these elections will do irreparable damage to Britain’s long term national interest and in particular the interest of a vast majority of her citizens. Low and middle income earners in the UK need more Social Europe not less, need more effective European and global regulation of financial markets.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage MEP holds the view that too much EU regulation is responsible for the economic crisis. I am sure Poul Nyrop Rasmussen MEP (PES president) did not know whether to laugh or cry standing next to Nigel on “Record Europe” (the BBC EU news show). Farage pointing to his expertise on the subject – “I have worked as an investment banker in the City of London” is therefore attempting too steal the mantle from the Tories for UKIP to be the new political wing of the banking sector.

Economic crisis, banker bonuses, tax havens, tax evasion and tax avoidance, that’s yesterday’s news.

The British electorate is going to make a momentous decision on the future of Britain and the future of Europe without realising it, being too distracted by MP expenses.

Keep fighting for Britain’s future! – Vote Labour on June 4!

Your help is needed!

We are running three phone banks ahead of the European elections on June 4.

We will be phoning EU expats who have registered to vote in the UK for the European elections. We will remind them that a higher EU expat turn-out might prevent the BNP from winning seats.

Sessions are scheduled from 6pm to 8.30pm at a location in Central London on the following days

Wednesday May 27, Monday June 1 and Tuesday June 2

to rsvp and for detailed joining instructions please write to lme.lse@hotmail.co.uk