MEP Elections

[Tangled up in Blue]

Interesting and wrong IMO but still a statement like that does require backing up. Would you mind listing the similar policies and lists of cranks please? Or was this a quote from wiki as well.

I would suggest that while the BNP was (and still is) an openly racist political party, UKIP is basically a covertly and tacitly racist one.

It uses its anti-European position as a cover for demanding greater control of immigration and an end to open EU borders.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

Interesting and wrong IMO but still a statement like that does require backing up. Would you mind listing the similar policies and lists of cranks please? Or was this a quote from wiki as well.

Off the top of my head they have similar policies in regards to the EU and immigration and gay marriage. UKIP would bring back smoking in public places and bring back fox hunting, I'm not sure if BNP ever explicitly stated a party policy on these but it is more than likely that they would take the same line. I suspect that they both have the same opinion on capital punishment.
in practical terms they both have a blasé attitude to nepotism as both party leaders have claimed EU funds in order to employ members of their own families and they have both wasted the votes of their supporters by failing to keep their European Parliamentary places - Brons for BNP and Bloom for UKIP have started as MEPs for their parties and whilst in the term of office each has left the party and declared as independent. That must be particularly galling for the voters as with proportional representation you are voting for the party not the individual. It doesn't bode well when these parties can not retain the tiny amount of MEPs that they have claimed to be such a breakthrough on election night.

 

[callan]

Membership of the EU is not an issue for most British people.

Is this based on your opinion ?

 

[steveo]

Is this based on your opinion ?

To be fair his opinion is probably quite valid considering where he lives.

 

[callan]

To be fair his opinion is probably quite valid considering where he lives.

Most British people don't live in Spain, so no validity there.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Is this based on your opinion ?

It's my opinion, based on pratically every recent poll, which clearly show that most British people do not consider British membership of the EU to be one of the key issues in British politics today.

More British people are now in favour of UK membership of the EU than are against.This number would be likely to increase if were there to be an in/out referendum in the future.


"When asked how they would vote if Cameron renegotiated Britain's relationship with the EU and said the country's interests were now protected, 52 percent of voters said they would opt to stay, with 27 percent still choosing to leave."


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/uk-britain-politics-europe-idUKBREA2A0TQ20140311

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

It's my opinion, based on pratically every recent poll, which clearly show that most British people do not consider British membership of the EU to be one of the key issues in British politics today.

More British people are now in favour of UK membership of the EU than are against.This number would be likely to increase if were there to be an in/out referendum in the future.


"When asked how they would vote if Cameron renegotiated Britain's relationship with the EU and said the country's interests were now protected, 52 percent of voters said they would opt to stay, with 27 percent still choosing to leave."


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/uk-britain-politics-europe-idUKBREA2A0TQ20140311

and yet they intend to **** however many millions of pounds and lots of time and effort on a referendum - all the while the stock markets will dip because they hate instability.

 

[OldBlueLady]

It's my opinion, based on pratically every recent poll, which clearly show that most British people do not consider British membership of the EU to be one of the key issues in British politics today.

More British people are now in favour of UK membership of the EU than are against.This number would be likely to increase if were there to be an in/out referendum in the future.

I don't know where they asked the people in their poll then, because EVERYONE I ever talk to about this is firmly behind us getting out of it as it stands.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

I don't know where they asked the people in their poll then, because EVERYONE I ever talk to about this is firmly behind us getting out of it as it stands.

I agree with your comment on Barney's poll result and can only assume they took the poll under Marble Arch off of Rpmanian/ Bulgarian/Polish folk.
However most people I discuss this EU stuff with favour a radical overhaul of our partnership back towards the original trading community that we joined AND only withdrawal if effective renegotiation is blocked; not quite a simple in/out.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I agree with your comment on Barney's poll result and can only assume they took the poll under Marble Arch off of Rpmanian/ Bulgarian/Polish folk.
However most people I discuss this EU stuff with favour a radical overhaul of our partnership back towards the original trading community that we joined AND only withdrawal if effective renegotiation is blocked; not quite a simple in/out.

That's why I qualified my statement with "as it stands"......most accept it is in the country's best interests to have some kind of link with Europe, but not one where "they" can dictate so much of what goes on.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

That's why I qualified my statement with "as it stands"......most accept it is in the country's best interests to have some kind of link with Europe, but not one where "they" can dictate so much of what goes on.

If UKIP doesn't top the polls in the Euro election, (and there's still a fair chance Labour might finish first), then UKIP's stated campaign to target 20 or so key marginals at the G/E would be seriously undermined,especially after all the current anti-EU hype.

 

[GrumpyBlue]

I don't know where they asked the people in their poll then, because EVERYONE I ever talk to about this is firmly behind us getting out of it as it stands.

Depends where you are - most people I know are either not interested or happy being in the EU

 

[Napster]

Depends where you are - most people I know are either not interested or happy being in the EU

I live in Kent, suposedly Farage's backwater. But I am ambivalent about the whole thing.

 

[MK Shrimper]

As UKIP's MEP's voted against or abstained against an equal pay act for women, they can kiss my stinky butt if they think they're getting my vote.

Maybe any female ShrimperZoner might want to take that into account before a vote for Farage and his bunch of dinosaurs. Or even us men with mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, and female friends.

 

[callan]

It's my opinion, based on pratically every recent poll, which clearly show that most British people do not consider British membership of the EU to be one of the key issues in British politics today.

More British people are now in favour of UK membership of the EU than are against.This number would be likely to increase if were there to be an in/out referendum in the future.


"When asked how they would vote if Cameron renegotiated Britain's relationship with the EU and said the country's interests were now protected, 52 percent of voters said they would opt to stay, with 27 percent still choosing to leave."


http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/11/uk-britain-politics-europe-idUKBREA2A0TQ20140311

Thanks.
Taken from the same link.

This was the first time the "in" vote had overtaken the "out" since Cameron made his referendum pledge in January 2013.


in 2012, the number of people who said they would vote to leave was as much as 23 percentage points higher than the number who wanted to stay, YouGov figures show.

I wonder if the Conservatives plans to combat freedom of movement and cut out the benefits of welfare tourists have actually had an impact.

Additionally had these polls been conducted post Farage / Clegg debates would they revert back to how things were?

Ultimately I would say that to dismiss the UK voters interest in membership of EU would be folly on anyone's part regardless
of what the opinion polls show.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

I live in Kent, suposedly Farage's backwater. But I am ambivalent about the whole thing.

It's a commonplace to suggest that the vast majority of UKIP's support is in the home counties.

However UKIP are unlikely to poll well in multi-racial London (where as Nigel Farage has recently admitted,he doesn't feel comfortable).

I'll be interested to see if they gain support elsewhere in the country after the European/local elections.

I suspect they might in some solid Labour constituencies in the Midlands and North.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Ultimately I would say that to dismiss the UK voters interest in membership of EU would be folly on anyone's part regardless
of what the opinion polls show.

Personally, I certainly don't dismiss UK voters interest in membership of the EU.

All I suggested was, that according to poll after poll, it comes pretty low down on most voters list of priorities, compared to topics like the economy,cost of living,rising prices,house prices,rents,crime etc

What does ,however, figure quite high on most polls is the immigration issue, which UKIP have cleverly linked to their anti-EU stance.

It remains to be seen whether their opinion poll lead in the European elections will translate itself into parliamentary seats in the 2015 G/E.

Personally I doubt it.Now if there was a PR system in place for G/E's too, then that would be a different story.

 

[callan]

Personally, I certainly don't dismiss UK voters interest in membership of the EU.

All I suggested was, that according to poll after poll, it comes pretty low down on most voters list of priorities, compared to topics like the economy,cost of living,rising prices,house prices,rents,crime etc

What does ,however, figure quite high on most polls is the immigration issue, which UKIP have cleverly linked to their anti-EU stance.

It remains to be seen whether their opinion poll lead in the European elections will translate itself into parliamentary seats in the 2015 G/E.

Personally I doubt it.Now if there was a PR system in place for G/E's too, then that would be a different story.

As most immigration comes from in the EU, if you are having a policy then it needs to consider where migration comes from.
And in fairness even the conservatives are starting to see that mass immigration can have a negative impact.

Also it isn't poll after poll, just the last years, if you back track then it was the other way round.

What is clear is that something has changed, and to know what would only be speculation at this point, personally I believe that the polls will revert back to where they were, post the tv debate between Clegg and Farage.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

As most immigration comes from in the EU, if you are having a policy then it needs to consider where migration comes from.
And in fairness even the conservatives are starting to see that mass immigration can have a negative impact.

Recent research has shown that immigration (especially from the EU) has been shown to have a positive effect on the UK economy.

"Those from the European Economic Area (EEA - the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) had made a particularly positive contribution in the decade up to 2011, the authors noted, contributing 34% more in taxes than they received in benefits and services."


..."between 1995-2011, on average each EEA immigrant put about £6,000 more into the public purse than they took out."

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25880373

 

[Benfleet A1]

As UKIP's MEP's voted against or abstained against an equal pay act for women, they can kiss my stinky butt if they think they're getting my vote.

Maybe any female ShrimperZoner might want to take that into account before a vote for Farage and his bunch of dinosaurs. Or even us men with mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, and female friends.

But you don't vote, remember?