Vote to leave the EU

Tory MPs block attempts to abolish hospital parking charges for carers

Three Tory MPs have talked out a bill to abolish hospital parking charges for carers in England.

Philip Davies, Christopher Chope and David Nuttall used the whole three hours allocated to Labour MP, Julie Cooper's bill, to talk nonsense so there was no time to debate and vote on it. This is referred to as filibustering and Philip Davies MP is an expert at it.

The average cost of a week's parking at a hospital in England is £39 and in London it can be as high as £130.

Cameron starts purging eurosceptics as EU leaders say they don't know what he wants

The eurosceptic purge has started in the Conservative Party as David Cameron's own MPs openly criticise him for being dishonest over his mythical renegotiation.

Cheryl Gillan, Sir Edward Leigh and Christopher Chope have been sacked from the EU Council for supporting proposals to apply Purdah regulations to the EU referendum to prevent the British government and other public bodies from abusing their position to influence the outcome of the referendum. Cameron was opposed to the restrictions as it will make it harder for ministers to disseminate pro-EU propaganda just before the election to try and swing the all-important undecided vote.

Meanwhile, his own MPs are starting to turn against him, calling on him to be "open and honest" about his supposed renegotiation after the Prime Ministers of Finland and Estonia said they haven't got a clue what Cameron wants because he's not told them.

Cameron has responded to the criticism by saying that the negotiations are "going well" and that they'll be accelerated when he writes a letter to the EU Council president next month telling other EU leaders what it is that they're supposed to have been negotiating all year.

Burnley Conservative councillor convicted of assault and drink driving

A Conservative councillor in Burnley has been convicted of assaulting his wife and daughter and drink driving.

Former mayor of Burnley, Cllr David Heginbotham, drove home drunk after a night out and got into an argument with his daugher over a new bike she had purchased which ended up with him assaulting both her and his wife and threatening to cut the bike in half with a chainsaw.

Cllr Heginbotham has been fined £2,460, given a 12 month restraining order and a 12 month driving ban. He is still listed as a Conservative councillor despite being a convicted wife beater and drink driver.

Sajid Javid to ask EU for permission to save steel plants

Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary, has asked Luxembourg's EU minister to arrange a meeting of the EU Council so he can ask permission to use taxpayers' money to try and prop up the tattered remains of the UK's steel industry.

Steel plants in Redcar, Scunthorpe, Motherwell and Cambuslang have been closed in recent weeks with thousands of job losses at the plants themselves and many more to come as the effects are felt down the supply chain. Reasons cited for the closures include cheap imports, high energy prices and green taxes which are all down to EU policy and regulations.

If we weren't in the EU the British government could offer incentives or reduce taxes to keep the plants viable. But because we're in the EU it would be classed as illegal state aid so the British government has to beg the EU for permission to try and save thousands of jobs.

EU demands farmers display their logo in exchange for agricultural subsidies

The EU is bringing in rules that will require any farmer receiving more than £7,200 in subsidies to erect signs advertising the fact in time for the EU referendum.

Currently, businesses and organisations that receive grant aid from the EU have to display the EU logo in a prominent place to let people know that the EU has graciously given us some of our money back to us. This has never applied to farmers receiving money under the Common Agricultural Policy until now and will result in the EU logo popping up all over the country.

The EU said that it would be establishing a propaganda unit to for the referendum and it looks like this might be one of their first ideas. It's got an air of Orwell's 1984 about it but instead of pictures of Big Brother, it's the EU logo with slogans to remind us of the wise benevolence of Big Brussels.

If farmers refuse to erect the signs prominently - at their own expense of course - or deface them or undermine the propaganda in any way then they risk being fined and having the few quid thrown their way clawed back.

Lords delay tax credit cuts, Osborne and Cameron want to use it as an excuse to remove opposition

The House of Lords have voted for amendments to George Osborne's proposed £4bn cuts to tax credits which will delay their implementation whilst the impact of the cuts is independently assessed.

David Cameron and George Osborne both say that the unelected House of Lords defying the elected House of Commons is a constitutional anomaly that needs addressing and are calling for a "rapid review" on the constitution of the House of Lords.

This so-called constitutional anomaly was addressed in 1911 with the passing of the Parliament Act which allows the House of Commons to overrule the House of Lords if they reject a Bill three times. It was introduced after Lloyd George's budget was blocked by the Lords despite there being a convention that money bills go through on the nod.

To say that this is the first time in a 100 years that the Lords have defied the government - as Osborne and co are saying - is incorrect. The Parliament Act has been used to overrule the Lords seven times since 1911, the most recent occasion being the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004.

Tax credit cuts weren't a manifesto pledge - something that the Lords don't oppose by convention because it is considered that the electorate have given their approval to the bill in the ballot box. In fact the Tories promised not to cut tax credits so the Lords haven't broken any convention and have, in fact, done exactly what they are there to do which is to scrutinise proposed legislation and if they think it's wrong, to either fix it or throw it out.

It was most amusing to hear George Osborne complaining about "unelected Labour and Liberal Lords" defying the elected House of Commons. Giving the Lib Dems another 11 peers this year despite them being wiped out at the ballot box isn't looking so clever now is it George?

UKIP hopes to scupper EU mobile roaming regulations that will increase bills

The EU's flagship federalist policy of abolishing mobile phone roaming charges looks likely to be scuppered by MEPs tomorrow.

UKIP MEP, Roger Helmer, has tabled an amendment to the proposed regulation on the grounds that it gives the EU Commission more power and will drive up bills for the majority of customers who will be expected to subsidise the minority who travel regularly throughout the EU.

The EU are desperate to abolish mobile roaming charges because it's one of the things that emphasises the national borders within the EU.

There is no need for EU regulations forcing mobile phone operators to abolish roaming charges within the EU, it is something that the market will eventually drive. In recent years mobile phone companies have introduced add-ons that significantly reduce the cost of using your phone abroad in response to increased overseas travel and one of the UK's operators even allows you to use your mobile phone in 18 countries as if you were in the UK. Companies specialising in cheap calls to and from certain countries serve ex-pat communities by buying call time wholesale and of course VOIP services like Skype, Hangouts and Facetime allow you to make calls for free wherever you can pick up wi-fi.

None of this has been as a result of EU regulations and in fact forcing all operators to negotiate roaming deals with operators in every EU country could see some fail. Estonia has just 2.5m subscribers divided between three mobile operators. Estonians travel a lot but Estonia isn't exactly top of the tourist destination list. They are likely to receive far less in revenue from operators in other EU countries than they will pay out to foreign networks for airtime and data used by Estonian subscribers. The likes of Orange and Vodafone who have a presence in most countries will dominate and prices will rise as a result.

Whilst abolishing roaming charges in the EU will benefit those looking to abolish national borders and pushing a federalist agenda, it will disadvantage the majority of customers who will never take advantage of the abolition of roaming charges but will still pay for it through their bills.

Nigel Farage satisfaction rating at an all time high

Eurosceptic Law & Justice Party win Polish elections

An Ipsos exit poll published shortly after polls closed in Poland at 9pm indicates an overwhelming victory for the eurosceptic Law & Justice Party.

The official results will be announced at the earliest on Tuesday but polls suggest Beata Szydło will become prime minister and command an absolute majority in the Polish Parliament.

The Law & Justice Party is soft eurosceptic, anti-immigration and socially conservative. The Polish president also represents the Law & Justice Party so we are unlikely to see a repeat of events in Portugal which has seen the winning Left Bloc banned from forming a government for being too eurosceptic.

Portuguese president blocks left wing coalition from forming government

A coalition of left wing parties who have an absolute majority of 50.7% in the Portuguese parliament have been barred from forming a government by Portugal's right wing social democrat president.

In denying the Left Bloc coalition the right to form a government, President Anibal Silva said:

In 40 years of democracy, no government in Portugal has ever depended on the support of anti-European forces, that is to say forces that campaigned to abrogate the Lisbon Treaty, the Fiscal Compact, the Growth and Stability Pact, as well as to dismantle monetary union and take Portugal out of the euro, in addition to wanting the dissolution of NATO. This is the worst moment for a radical change to the foundations of our democracy. After we carried out an onerous programme of financial assistance, entailing heavy sacrifices, it is my duty, within my constitutional powers, to do everything possible to prevent false signals being sent to financial institutions, investors and markets.

It is common on the continent, where socialist parties are still interested in workers, that the left wing is anti-EU and the right wing pro-EU. Left wing parties understand the damage the EU does to productivity and the impact uncontrolled immigration has on wages and unemployment whilst right wing parties understand that the interests of large corporations and the rich drive EU policy. This is mirrored in the UK where the nominally socialist Labour Party abandoned their long held opposition to the EU to beat the drum for Brussels whilst the forces of euroscepticism are largely represented by UKIP and to a lesser extent, the Conservatives which are both to the right of centre.

It is concerning to see the a eurosceptic movement gain the support of an absolute majority of voters and be denied the right to form a government by a europhile president entirely based on his opposition to the proposed legislative programme that the electorate voted for in the election. It makes David Cameron's decision to refuse to create new UKIP peers to reflect the 3.9m votes the party got in the election to keep eurosceptics out of the House of Lords look amateurish but does raise the question: is there a pan-EU agreement to keep eurosceptics out of power at all costs?

More than £130m per year paid in child benefit to EU immigrants

Immigrants from the EU are claiming £27m in child benefit for their children who live overseas every year which contributes to a child benefit bill for EU immigrants of over £130m.

EU immigrants are given preferential treatment over immigrants from the Commonwealth and the rest of the world, being allowed to move here in unlimited numbers and have the same entitlement to benefits as people already living here. Someone moving here from Australia or India, for example, would have to prove that they had the means to support themselves before they were given permission to move here. Someone from the EU merely has to get on a plane and fly over here and if they claim to be self employed, can claim benefits from the day set foot in the country.

The right to claim benefits for family members that live in another EU country is one that is guaranteed under EU law and makes a mockery of the claims made by supporters of mass immigration that immigrants made a positive contribution to the economy.

Bishops demand we take in 50k refugees and illegal immigrants

Not content with taking 20,000 refugees and illegal immigrants from Syria and the Middle East, 85 Church of England bishops have demanded we take another 30,000 which they describe as our "moral duty".

With an income well in excess of half a billion a year, taxpayer money coming to almost half a billion and over £5bn of investments the Church of England will presumably be more than happy to cover the cost of bringing another 30,000 people into the country. Perhaps they'll offer to house them in all those empty churches, palaces and other properties the Church of England owns? There are 15 churches up for sale in central and northern England that could, with some of that billion pound a year income, be converted into housing for them.

Of course there's no offer from the bishops to house and pay for the 30,000 people they want to bring over here, that "moral duty" falls to us proles.

How many Syrians would fit in the Palace of the Bishop of Bath & Wells?

Radio Free UK - 22nd Weekly Friday Programme - a Great Afternoons listening!

22nd weekly programme out now!

We have...

- A flashback with Farage and Hannan discussing the Lisbon Treaty just before it was signed - how slippery this slope has been!

- Vanessa interviews a Medium (maybe he can find the mythical positive case for EU membership!)

- This weeks highlights of EU in/out discussions Farage, Aker, Evans and more.

- The all time classic Michael O’Leary (founder of Ryan Air) addressing and EU hosted Innovation Convention.

- A choice selection of libertarian podcasts (including Tom Woods and Stefan Molyneux)

- And an exclusive - humourists Batsby's 'When I am King' blog read by John Powell.

And our EU Out Ambassador programme is progressing - with an initial syllabus and baseball caps!

Listen:-
Web: http://www.radiofreeuk.org
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/radiofreeuk.org/id991527053
Android App: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.idltd.android.uamp&hl=en_GB
RSS: http://www.radiofreeuk.org/feed.xml

Still looking for more content!

An army of #EUout Ambassadors - starts here.

You want the UK out of the EU,
We want the UK out of the EU.

You know your vote alone is not enough,
We know our vote alone is not enough.

You know you need to speak to others to get them to vote 'leave',
We know we need to speak to others to get them to vote 'leave'.



You are not confident enough to speak to others about it,
We are - and you can be too.

We will give you the information and tools you need to explain to others
- Why the UK is better as an independent country, outside of of the EU's control.
- Why the arguments used to keep us in the EU are flawed.

We are just like you - we want the UK out of the EU, and we want to tell others why, but not only that we want to tell them how they can tell others to do the same!

Don't just persuade others to vote 'leave', persuade them to persuade others to vote 'leave', and persuade those others to persuade others to vote 'leave'...

Leave needs to go viral and it needs to start now to be string enough come polling day to win a 'Leave' vote.

Most of the arguments for leaving the EU are not actually specifically about the EU, they are about the UK being a strong, successful, free country, and its people being strong, successful and free. They are arguments that every British school child should be taught, they are the essence of a modern, free society.

We aren't perfect, we don't know everything, but we have made a start, and it will develop. We aren't 'in charge', we are just doing this because we want to - and you can too...

Please visit this page, and add your comments - we can create a nation of ambassadors for a modern free society from the bottom up - sweeping the EU (and any future threats!) away while we do so.

http://www.radiofreeuk.org/ambassadors-thats-you/

EU promises €3bn and visa free travel to Turkey

The EU has agreed to accelerate the accession process for Turkey and relax visa restrictions as well as giving them a £2.2bn bung to get them to make an effort to stop illegal immigrants travelling through the country to Europe.

Under the deal around 77m Turks will get the right to visa free travel throughout the Schengen zone as early as the first half of next year.

The UK's contribution to the £2.2bn bill is expected to be around £260m, or the wages of 9,880 nurses.

The 2008 eurobarometer gauged support for Turkey joining the EU and found that a majority of people in almost every EU member state were opposed and quite comprehensively so in France and Germany.

UKIP hold Chatteris division on Cambridgeshire County Council

UKIP have held the Chatteris division on Cambridgeshire County Council in a by-election yesterday.

The seat became vacant after the incumbent Cllr Sandra Rylance sadly passed away from a brain tumour in August. Cllr Rylance was described by her colleagues as a tremendous lady, loyal, honest and trustworthy who will be sorely missed.

Richard Mandley has managed to hold on to the seat for UKIP with a slim majority but a 6.2% increase in votes.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Richard Mandley	UKIP	600	40.98
Alan Melton	Conservatives	590	40.30
John Freeman	Lib Dems	274	18.72

Unelected president of EU Commission demands £1.65bn to pay for immigration policy

The unelected president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is demanding €2.25bn (£1.65bn) of funding to pay for the EU's disastrous immigration policy.

In a thinly veiled swipe at member states for not stumping up the cash they promised three weeks ago fast enough, Juncker said:

These pledges, in terms of staffing, in Greece and elsewhere, and generally – there is a significant amount of money not forthcoming, the member states are delaying the provision of the 2.25 billion which is still not available. That was a decision adopted on the 23rd of September. And now it’s a question of credibility – the credibility of the European Council and the member states as well, that they live up to their promises.

I guess £1.65bn is small change to someone who heads up institutions that loses tens of billions of pounds a year to fraud and waste.

The double referendum penny just dropped at the Telegraph

The Torygraph have finally realised what we've been saying for the last couple of years - the EU referendum we've been promised by 2017 isn't necessarily the only one we're going to get.

Under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, any state wishing to leave the EU has to give two years' notice during which time it has to negotiate a new relationship with the EU. On the face of it, it's a sensible clause because it allows for a two year transitionary period where the exiting member state can get its treaties lined up ready to take effect on the day it leaves to govern its new relationship with the EU outside of the shackles of political union.

In reality, however, it's a "last gasp" clause to justify a second referendum. After a vote to leave, the EU is going to offer concessions for the member state to remain in. After extracting concessions from the usually intractable EU - a victory for the statesmanlike prime minister showing them lot in Brussels who's the boss of course - it would be perfectly reasonable to hold another referendum because things would be so much more different than they were when the first referendum was held. Just like the EU Constitution and Lisbon Treaty which were completely different and not at all the same thing with a different title and a change of payload.

A second referendum was so inevitable, in fact, that we helpfully pointed it out in this handy graphic from a couple of years ago ...

It's nice to see the media finally catching up with the real world.

UKIP still in control of Thanet District Council despite resignation

A UKIP Thanet councillor has left the UKIP group and joined the independents, losing UKIP its overall majority on the council.

Thanet District Council was the first major local authority to come under UKIP control and it is disappointing to see Cllr Jeff Elenor leave the UKIP group over a perceived lack of action with regard to reopening Manston airport when there are concerns from the council, the Department for Transport and consultants that the proposed buyer of Manston airport can't actually afford to run it.

Although UKIP is now 1 councillor short of an absolute majority there are still 28 UKIP councillors on Thanet District Council out of 58 and UKIP continue to lead the council. With a party like the Conservatives or Labour a majority matters because they whip their members but there is no whip in UKIP and therefore no guarantee that all UKIP councillors would vote the same way as their colleagues do.

The four UKIP councillors that have joined the Democratic Independents group over the last few months were clearly not travelling in the same direction as the rest of the UKIP group and were unlikely to vote with the party anyway making their defection largely irrelevant to the way the council is run.

Labour and Lib Dem peers want to give children the vote

Labour and Lib Dem peers are planning to join forces to allow impressionable school children to vote in the EU referendum.

Attempts to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds were defeated in the House of Commons but the Conservatives don't have a majority in the House of Lords and are likely to be outvoted. Although the Lords can't force the Commons to give children a vote in the EU referendum, Cameron can't really afford to turn down the opportunity of 1.5m voters being fed pro-EU propaganda through the education system to try and swing the vote his way.

Giving all those failed Lib Dem MPs peerages rather than creating UKIP peers who would almost certainly have voted against giving school children the vote probably isn't looking like such a good idea any more eh Dave?

Jean-Claude Juncker admits the UK doesn't need the EU

The unelected president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has admitted that the UK doesn't need the EU.

Juncker was heard saying:

I am 150 per cent in favour of having Britain as a constructive member state of the European Union. We need Britain. Personally I don’t think Britain needs European Union. But as a matter of conviction others might have a different feeling on that.

Nigel Farage has offered to buy Juncker a bottle of champagne for his comments.

Cecilia Malmström doesn't take her mandate from the people

When asked by a journalist how she could continue with TTIP negotiations when there is such mass opposition to it across the EU the MEP leading the secret negotiations that even national governments are being denied access to, Cecilia Malmström, said:

I do not take my mandate from the European people

Cameron's "key demands" for EU reform have finally been made public and they're nonsense

David Cameron has finally revealed his four "key demands" from the EU. Try not to be too underwhelmed.

Here's what he wants:

• An "explicit statement" that the UK will be exempt from ever closer union
• An "explicit statement" that the €uro isn't the official currency of the EU
• A "red card" system so that groups of national parliaments can veto laws and directives
• A new structure for the EU to prevent the €urozone countries dominating non-€urozone countries

You'll notice the absence of the phrase "treaty change" which means that even if the EU agrees to everything he's asking for word for word it's absolutely unenforceable. An "explicit statement" isn't legally enforceable and a promise from the EU is worthless. They promised our money wouldn't be spent on guaranteeing Greek bonds this year and then guaranteed Greek bonds with our money. They make promises all the time and then do whatever they want. If it's not written down in a treaty it means nothing and even then you have to rely on EU courts to uphold the law.

Ever-closer union is mentioned in EU treaties but it's a political statement, it doesn't actually make anything happen or not happen other than on an ideological level. A statement that the UK is "exempt" from ever closer union is a political statement and will change nothing here or elsewhere in the EU which would remain committed to ever closer union.

Whether the €uro is the official of the EU or not is irrelevant. The UK has an opt-out from adopting the €uro which can only be taken away with treaty change and the Germans have already said there will be no treaty changes in the next few years.

This proposed "red card" system is the existing veto system by another name and isn't going to apply to the areas now covered by Qualified Majority Voting. The requirement for "groups of national parliaments" to come together to stop a law or directive is particularly weak. It sounds like the plan is for a minimum number of countries to be able to veto laws which is weaker than the existing veto system and the UK is more often than not on its own when it comes to opposing EU directives.

A new structure for the EU is unnecessary other than excising the UK from it. The UK is only bound by those €urozone obligations it chooses to submit to. The UK isn't dominated in the EU by €urozone members because they're €urozone members, it just happens that the EU is run by and for the benefit of Germany and France and they are the lead countries in the €urozone. Whether the €urozone existed or not, we would still be dominated by the eurofederalists.

Interestingly there is no mention of restricting free movement of people which is eurospeak for unlimited immigration. David Cameron has made numerous promises to cut immigration and secure concessions from the EU to stem the tide of unskilled economic immigrants and benefits tourists from the poorer EU countries. He's failed to stop immigration rising and been knocked back by the EU on rule changes every time he's mentioned it. Angela Merkel has made it very clear that the principle of free movement of people is inviolable and no concessions will be made. The message has clearly sunk in at last if it's not on Cameron's list of "key demands".

As expected, Cameron's watered down list of demands for changes to our relationship with the EU skirt round the issues and will make no real change to how the EU works or the UK's place in it. The only compromises are those made by Cameron who is going to have an impossible job selling this renegotiation to his own MPs, let alone the voting public who know when they're being taken for fools.

Go Team Vanessa! Do your bit with a tweet or two! Support UKIP Bournemouth East!

The first two episodes of BBC4's new reality show 'Close to the Edge' went out last night - and more to come for the next four Tuesdays.

One of the stars is UKIP's Vanessa Coleman a top local fund raiser and activist!

This is some of the most positive coverage of UKIP I have seen on BBC - and Vanessa was very brave to do it.

UKIP detractors will be out on social media on the attack, so it would be good if UKIP supporters could give her their backing and support her putting UKIP in a good light on national TV.

It is a reality show, so don't expect car chases and explosions :) - but rivalry like that between Vanessa and Babs hasn't been seen since Dallas!

So do watch, do get onto social media (especially twitter) and give Vanessa your support on the hash tag #CTTE - every little helps!

And, of course, follow her weekly podcast on http://www.radiofreeuk.org

Charity to stop providing aid to illegal immigrants in Calais

The Human Relief Foundation charity is expected to stop providing aid to the illegal immigrant camp in Calais after its chief executive paid a visit and found that 95-97% of the illegal immigrants there were male economic migrants.

HRF has been providing food and clothes for families to the camp in Calais but chief executive Kassim Tokan found that the unneeded clothing for women and children was discarded or burnt and unwanted food was dumped. He said that the illegal immigrants are mainly interested in getting hold of cash and mobile phones and that HRF would now probably refocus on helping to build shower blocks and toilets rather than providing aid.

Bahar Mustafa charged with malicious communications

A student union "diversity officer" who tweeted #killallwhitemen and calls white people "white trash" has been summonsed to appear before Bromley Magistrates Court to answer charges of disseminating racially motivated malicious communications.

Bahar Mustafa was the student union diversity officer at Goldsmiths University when she achieved infamy for banning white men and straight people from university diversity workshops, used the phrase "white trash" to describe white people and the hashtag #killallwhitemen on social media. A petition was launched to have her sacked which was signed by more than 21,000 people but Goldsmiths let her keep her job.

Mustafa has been charged with sending a letter, communication or article conveying a threatening message and sending by public communication network an offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing message or matter between November 10th, 2014, and May 31st this year. She claims that she can't be racist because she's an ethnic minority woman.

Mustafa graduated with an MA in gender and media studies which probably goes some way to explaining why Goldsmiths is a relatively lowly 50th in the UK universities league table if an out and out racist, sexist and heterophobe can get a masters in gender studies.

Labour MP accuses Nigel Farage of misusing EU funds

Labour MP, Wes Streeting, has reported Nigel Farage to the EU for using EU funding to partly pay for his Say no to the EU tour of the UK.

Streeting wrote to the unelected president of the EU Commission, Martin Schultz, asking him to investigate whether Farage has broken any rules by using money allocated to the EFDD for his tour. He said "Nigel Farage has a catalogue of questions to answer about whether he is spending taxpayers’ money on his campaign and breaching European Parliament rules".

MEP groups in the EU Parliament are given funding to pay for their administration, producing information about the EU, EU election campaigns and meetings and conferences where the expenditure is "directly linked to the objectives set out in the party's political programme".

The Say no the EU tour is part of the EFDD group's political programme to give UK citizens information on how the EU works and why we would be better off out. The tour is an EFDD event headed by EFDD co-president, Nigel Farage MEP. It is directly linked to the objectives set out in the EFDD's political program which is to promote freedom and co-operation between member states; more democracy and respect of peoples' will; respect for Europe's history, traditions and cultural values and; respect for national differences and interests.

Labour know that public opinion is against them in their irrational crusade to keep the UK shackled to an undemocratic, morally and financially bankrupt European Union and that is why they are resorting to such desperate measures to close down the flow of information from the EFDD group.

Not exactly Bollywood ...

This has got to be one of the most cringeworthy campaign videos in the history of politics!

Word is, someone paid a couple of people in Pakistan to record the video without the party leadership knowing about it.

"Therese Hirst" is former Veritas candidate, Therese Muchewicz. Presumably her name was a bit too foreign sounding for the English Democrats and the BNP rejects that they've recruited into the party. Hirst/Muchewicz got just 98 votes in this year's general election which is quite good for the English Democrats who regularly lose to the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Far left extremists help illegal immigrants break into Channel Tunnel

Far left extremist group "No Borders" are believed to have helped a group of 200 illegal immigrants break into the Channel Tunnel.

Up to 120 of the illegal immigrants made it 10 miles into the tunnel, attacking security and police officers. The majority of the illegal immigrants are Sudanese and Eritrean.

Fences were torn down and stones thrown at lorries and port staff with injuries to staff and two police officers. The self-styled anarchists helped pull down fences and guide the illegal immigrants to the tunnel.

Car smoking ban should be welcomed by libertarians

Smoking in a car with children present became illegal in England today. Whilst the general public are largely behind the ban there is a section of society that believes what you do with your own children and your own property is your own concern and that the ban is illiberal.

I like to think of myself as a libertarian (although those of an anarcho-libertarian bent would probably disagree) and I have no problem reconciling my libertarian principles with this ban.

The central tenet of libertarianism is that you should be free to do what you want as long as you aren't hurting anyone else without their consent. It's for this reason that I think prosecuting adults for not wearing a helmet whilst riding a motorbike or not wearing a seatbelt is wrong. Of course it's for their own safety and they'd be stupid not to do so but if they have an accident and kill themselves they're not putting someone else in danger by doing so. An adult of sound mind is able to make that decision.

Children can't choose whether to get into a car with an adult who is smoking. If they are in a car and the driver lights up they can't demand they stop and let them out. Whilst the driver is perfectly within their rights to smoke in their own car if they wish and in the company of other adults if they consent to being in the car at the same time, any children in the car are unable to consent to having their health put at risk from passive smoking any more than they can consent to sex, piercings, contractual obligations, etc. Children don't have the mental or legal capacity to consent to self harm in the way that adults do and it is proven beyond doubt that cigarette smoke (including second hand smoke) is harmful to a person's health.

Libertarianism isn't about having no rules and nobody telling you what to do, that's anarchism. Banning smoking in cars with children present is protecting someone who can't protect themselves and absolutely compatible with libertarian principles. I for one welcome the ban and hope that the police take enforcement of the ban seriously.