A New Exercise in Democracy? EU Can't Be Serious

Maybe the weather has got to my head, or maybe I'm just trying to avoid the inevitable clasp the inevitable doom of Wolves' position in the Premier League. Either way, someone should ban me from going on any pro-EU websites, most of all the official EU website, Europa.

Lording it up on their website is an article titled "New Exercise in Democracy". Wow I think to myself, perhaps they've all smoked pot in Amsterdam and come to their senses that democracy ain't all that bad. Wrong! The article refers to the and is described as:

Introduced by the Lisbon treaty, the European citizens initiative is intended to make the EU more democratic by giving citizens a more direct say in its policies.

OK, sounds good. I want the EU to consider banning overseas religious preachers. So what do I do? Write a letter? Arrange a meeting? Get the number twenty bus in to town to speak to my local elected representative? None of the above. I need to save up enough money to finance a multinational petition covering at least three EU countries with at least 300,000 (yes, three-hundred-thousand) signatures.

And that's not even half way there. The European Commission then decides whether the interests of those 300,000 people from a minimum of three EU countries is worth their time or own interests shutting it down immediately, or giving it the thumbs up for phase two. Phase two can't be that big a deal can it? After all we've convinced 300,000 people from more than 3 EU countries to sign a petition and then we've convinced the EU Commission that all 300,000 people's interests are worthy of their attention. So what more?

After the thumbs up, we need a total of 700,000 more signatures from a minimum of a total of nine EU countries. Oh and that's not the only thing. You know those signatures I've been banging on about? I slipped up. I need to go back to those 1 million people and convince them to also give me their national identification number, in the form of their social security numbers or passport numbers.

Not only that, due to data protection laws I have to also invest in security measures to protect the information of over 1 million people with a minimum of 7 million pieces of information. The costs of all of this would be a minimum of half a million pounds. That's assuming I get the bare minimum of requirements fulfilled.

Never in the history of mankind has there ever been a physical petition of 300 thousand or more signatures, ever.

A new exercise in democracy? Somehow I doubt it. Somehow, anybody with half a mind would doubt it.

Election results for England & Wales

All the results are in for the EU imperial elections except for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The counters in the Western Isles and the whole of Northern Ireland wouldn't do the count on the Sabbath so they will be doing so this morning.

However, the results from Scotland and Northern Ireland won't change the picture dramatically and the final standings for all parties and independents in England and Wales are as follows:

Conservative
4,012,600 votes
28.6% (+1.2%)
24 MEPs (+1)

UKIP
2,440,438 votes
17.4% (+0.5%)
13 MEPs (+1)

Labour
2,151,907 votes
15.3% (-7.0%)
11 MEPs (-5)

Liberal Democrats
1,953,575 votes
13.9% (-1.1%)
10 MEPs (+1)

Green Party
1,223,303 votes
8.7% (+2.5%)
2 MEPs (+0)

British National Party
916,424 votes
6.5% (+1.4%)
2 MEPs (+2)

Plaid Cymru
126,702 votes
0.9% (-0.1%)
1 MEP (+0)

English Democrats
279,801 votes
2.0% (+1.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance
232,755 votes
1.7% (+1.7%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Socialist Labour Party
150,980 votes
1.1 % (+1.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

No2EU
143,543 votes
1.0% (+1.0%)
0 MEPs (+0)

United Kingdom First
74,007 votes
0.5% (+0.5%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Libertas
73,544 votes
0.5% (+0.5%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Jury Team
72,312 votes
0.5% (+0.5%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Jan Jananayagam
50,014 votes
0.4% (+0.4%)

Pensioners Party
37,785 votes
0.3% (+0.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Mebyon Kernow
14,922 votes
0.1% (+0.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Animals Count
13,201 votes
0.1% (+0.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Peter Rigby
9,916 votes
0.1% (+0.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

The Peace Party
9,534 votes
0.1% (+0.0%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Katie Hopkins
8,971 votes
0.1% (+0.1%)

Fair Play Fair Trade Party
7,151 votes
0.1% (+0.1%)
0 MEPs (+0)

The Roman Party
5,450 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Steven Cheung
4,918 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)

Socialist Party of Great Britain
4,050 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Francis Apaloo
3,621 votes
0.0 % (+0.0%)

Yes 2 Europe
3,384 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)
0 MEPs (+0)

Independent - Sohale Rahman
3,248 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)

Independent - Gene Alcantara
1,972 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)

Independent - Haroon Saad
1,603 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)

Wai D
789 votes
0.0% (+0.0%)

UKIP Double seats in West Midlands !

Mike Nattrass and Nikki Sinclaire are set to go to Brussels !

Conservative 396,847 28.1 (+0.7) 2 0

UK Independence Party 300,471 21.3 (+3.8) 2 +1

Labour 240,201 17. (-6.4) 1 -1

Liberal Democrats 170,246 12. (-1.7) 1

Poor result in East Midlands

A poor result in the East Midlands, partly down to Robert Kilroy-Silk but mostly, I suspect, because of the immigration policy.

The Tories got 2 MEPs, Labour got 1, UKIP got 1 (from 2) and the Lib Dems got 1 at the expense of UKIP.

Here are the results:

Tory 30% (+4%)
Labour 17% (-3%)
UKIP 16% (-10%)
Lib Dem 12% (-1%)
Green 9% (+2%)

Live blogging of the results will have to stop now, check back tomorrow for an update.

Early result from West Midlands

Worcester News is reporting the West Midlands result early as follows:

Tory 2
UKIP 2
Labour 1
Lib Dem 1

One result is still outstanding but apparently won't change the result. This is excellent, a gain of one in the West Midlands.

No change in London

UKIP has retained its one seat in London, the Tories have retained their 3, Labour 2 and the Lib Dems 1.

Here are the results:

Tory 27% (+1%)
Labour 21% (-4%)
Lib Dem 14% (-2%)
Green 11% (+3%)
UKIP 11% (-2%)
BNP 4% (+1%)

BBC predicting UKIP 2nd place

The BBC's tame mathematician is predicting a UKIP 2nd place when all results are declared, Labour in 3rd.

Nigel Farage has a lot riding on this election, he has said he will resign if UKIP get less than 10 MEPs. Currently he's grinning like a Cheshire cat and understandably so. He's also making the very good point that in the last 4 weeks there's been no debate about the EU because of the expenses scandal. He also said that UKIP has 300 PPCs for Westminster elections and is aiming for 500. "It's about time we had a debate wabout where 75% of our laws come from" - right on!

UKIP gains a seat in Wales!

UKIP has gained a seat in Wales in an unbelievable result, taking a seat of Labour. The Tories have topped the poll in Wales - the first time Labour have lost a national vote in Wales since 1918. The Lib Dems have failed to win an MEP again.

The results are as follows:

Tory 21% (+2%)
Labour 29% (-12%)
Plaid Cymru 19% (+1%)
UKIP 13% (+2%)
Lib Dem 11% (+0%)

UKIP retains seat in Yorkshire & the Humber, BNP gain MEP

UKIP has retained its single MEP in Yorkshire & the Humber but the downside is the BNP gaining a seat from their fellow left wing extremists in the Labour Party.

The BNP gaining an MEP is the product of Labour's disastrous policy of hyping up the BNP threat trying to motivate Labour voters to support them and giving the BNP free advertising instead of depriving them of the oxygen of publicity.

My prediction before the election was that the BNP would win at most one seat ...

The results are as follows:

Tory 25% (+0%)
Labour 19% (-8%)
UKIP 17% (+3%)
Lib Dems 13% (+2%)
BNP 10% (+3%)
Green 9% (+3%)
EDP 3% (+1%)

UKIP keeps 2 MEPs in East of England

UKIP has kept its two MEPs in the East of England euroregion, the Tories have kept their three. The UKIP, Tory and Lib Dim vote share remained the same whilst Labour dropped 7%.

Results update

There are still no more results in for euroregions although local results are trickling in.

The vote share in Scotland is dismal as expected. To paraphrase a certain West Midlands MP, Scotland is horribly socialist.

Cornwall looks interesting - Labour have been pushed into 6th place behind Mebyn Kernow, the Cornish nationalist party.

Yorkshire & the Humber's result is due imminently and it looks like UKIP have come second but may not have done well enough to get the second MEP which may go to the BNP.

UKIP narrowly misses out on North East seat

UKIP has narrowly missed out on a seat in the North East of England euroregion.

The results were as follows:

Labour 25%
Tory 20%
Lib Dem 18%
UKIP 15%
BNP 9%

There are only 3 seats in the North East of England so the LibLabCon get one each.

An interesting prediction is the BBC saying the Tories will top the poll in Wales and that UKIP may get the fourth seat at the expense of Plaid Cymru.

UKIP is polling joint 1st with Labour in Hull.

EU election results on Bloggers4UKIP

You can follow @Bloggers4UKIP on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news on the EU imperial elections.

Updates will appear on the blog throughout the evening.

EU puts Dutch government in its place

Hat-tip to Tony Sharp and EU Referendum for pointing out that the European Empire has slapped down the Dutch government for releasing exit poll and partial count information on the imperial elections ahead of Sunday's official announcement in accordance with Dutch law.

Spokesman for the imperial commission, Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, reminded the Dutch government who makes the rules:

The events that took place in the Netherlands yesterday seem not to comply with the spirit of the European elections. They're supposed to go beyond the purely national aspects. If we want citizens to understand the European nature of these elections, we think it's absolutely essential that we release the results in all countries at the same time, also in order not to influence the vote in the countries which have not voted yet – and that at the moment is 25 out of the 27 member states.

Amadeu Altafaj is absolutely right, of course, the decision by the Dutch government to comply with Dutch law and publish details of the elections doesn't comply with the spirit of the European elections, the objective of which is to undermine national identity and sovereignty. If the Dutch government had any balls they'd tell this unelected Belgian civil servant that the Dutch government makes the rules in the Netherlands but of course that isn't the case any more, the Dutch government have accepted the primacy of European law over domestic law the same as the British government have.

EU protest voting spreads to Netherlands

The exit polls indicate that yesterday was a good day for UKIP with an average or better than average turnout and a lot of people voting the only sensible way they could - for UKIP.

The Dutch also went to the polls yesterday and their exit polls are showing a surprisingly strong showing for Geert Wilders' Freedom Party which stood in the EU elections for the first time yesterday. The anti-Islam, anti-immigration, marginally eurosceptic (roughly akin to the vague euroscepticism of the Tories) Freedom Party looks to have come second on the Dutch EU election, not far behind the incumbent Christian Democrats headed up by Dutch PM, Jan Peter Balkenende (or Harry Potter as he is affectionately known).

It looks like the eurosceptic protest vote (yes, there are eurosceptics in the Netherlands, they're just very quiet) all across the European Empire will be a strong one.

EARLY RESULTS

Dave Nixon, the Chairman of the Newcastle Under Lyme UKIP branch has reported a UKIP win in the Metropolitan Council election in the Woolstanton Ward.

The results were:

UKIP 475, Conservative 345, Labour 393, Lib Dem 285. UKIP win.

In the same area in the Seabridge Ward UKIP came second. The results were:

Conservative 602, UKIP 352, Labour 310, Lib Dem 302.

At the verification for the Euro elections in Walsall town hall it was showing a higher than normal turnout for the European elections with most wards showing around, or over, 40% turnout. The St Martins church hall polling station in the Park Farm Pheasey Ward there was a 60% turnout.

Mike Nattrass has said the signs look good in Erdington and Nikki Sinclaire also reported a high turnout in Solihull. Although the ballot papers for the European elections have been counted face down for the verification of the votes before the main vote on Sunday, from those ballot papers that have been glimpsed the signs are looking good for UKIP.

UKIP preparing legal challenge to election result

UKIP has received hundreds of phone calls complaining that they can't vote UKIP because it isn't appearing on ballot papers.

UKIP is on all ballot papers but as parties are listed in alphabetical order, UKIP appears at the bottom. The problem is that election officials are folding the ballot papers into 3 or 4, voters are unfolding the papers only once not realising that there is more to the ballot paper and being presented with a shorter list of parties to vote for.

Because of the high number of complaints, UKIP is preparing a legal challenge to the result which may lead to the election having to be re-staged.

Updates:

• The Electoral Commission have already issued guidance to all returning officers that ballot papers should be handed to voters unfolded.
• In some areas, just the UKIP box has been tightly folded so that the ballot paper appears not to have a UKIP option.
• Anyone who has been issued a folded ballot paper should call UKIP on 08005876587 and leave their name, address and polling station details as evidence of unfair or fraudulent activity.

Times poll puts UKIP on 19% 2nd only to Tories !

UKIP is on track for a an historic result at the June 4 Euro elections after the latest Populus poll for The Times newspaper released today put support for the party at 19%.

That shows a rise of 13% in three weeks. Most observers are putting the surge in popularity down to growing voter disgust at the MP expenses scandal and the way the three major parties are dealing with the main culprits.

Polling experts estimate that 19% of the European elections vote would translate into 15 MEP seats for UKIP but with momentum building, they reckon the party could now be looking at support of more than 20% come June 4. At a similar stage before the 2004 Euro elections, UKIP was commanding 10% of the vote and ulitmately took 16%.

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage told the BBC not so long ago UKIP was on course to beat Labour in the Euro elections and the result would topple Gordon Brown. This now looks more than likely and even bookmakers William Hill have shortened the odds to even money that UKIP will out-perform Labour in Europe.

The actual figures for European voting intention were CON 30%(-4), LAB 16%(-9), LDEM 12%(-8), UKIP 19%(+13!), Green 10%(+5), BNP 5%(+3),

Sunday Public Meeting Success!

On Sunday 17th May, The Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle Upon Tyne saw UKIP Leader, Nigel Farage and Chairman Paul Nuttall.

UKIP North East's Lead Candidate, Gordon Parkin also made a speech outlining the reasons why we should vote for UKIP on June 4th. The meeting itself was a success with about 50 attending and the event being covered by BBC Look North. The day was chaired by UKIP No3 Candidate, John Tennant.

Paul Nuttall, Party Chairman, opened the proceedings with a talk on UKIP's professional Campaign in 2009. The first time UKIP has ever run a completely professional Campaign with the backing of two National Newspapers and a Nationwide Billboard Campaign. Paul also outlined the possibility of UKIP defeating the Governing Labour Party in these EU Elections.

Following on, Nigel Farage made a half-hour speech about his experiences in the European Parliament, and the hard work UKIP has put in to be a voice of opposition. For the last Ten years, UKIP has been the sole voice of Opposition, and that is important in a democratic system. Something the EU Commission fails to understand.

Gordon Parkin rounded off the day with a speech about what he would do if elected to the EU Parliament. To make sure that UKIP's voice is heard and that we actively seek Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

The day was enjoyable, and the lively questions from the audience were welcomed indeed. There was also opportunity for the audience to speak to the panellists and there was a general feeling of support for UKIP on June 4th.

Comedian Carson signs up to UKIP

Belfast-born comedian Frank Carson has today joined the UK Independence Party.

Mr Carson, who now lives in Blackpool, said he took the decision because he was "disgusted with the way politics has gone".

"We need to get out of the EU and ditch the human rights legislation," he said.

"I'm fed up with all the other political parties and think it's time for a change, and so do many others."

Party chairman Paul Nuttall said he was delighted that Mr Carson had joined the UKIP. "He is an excellent comedian, but he has a very serious point," he said.