Phil Sheldon

I e-mailed my three local councillors asking them if they supported Kevin Barron's "aye" vote in the HoC on the Constitution/Treaty and all that it implies.
Here is one reply received so far:

You are asking me a question which is essentially about whether I
believe in a united Europe, & Kevin Barron's voting record. I support
Kevin, and have no hesitation in telling you I am pro-Europe.

I have a feeling that you stood as a UKIP candidate in the past, & in a
democracy that is fine.

I just happen to believe that with the enormous threats facing the
world including....Climate Change. Terrorism. Exploitation of Working
people. The emergence of the economies of India & China. etc etc
It is absolutely vital that Europe punches its combined weight & takes
a full part in world affairs.
UKIP to me stands for a Little Englander state of mind, closely akin to the Conservative Party, and should not be a realistic part of our future.

I have drafted my reply-including his implicit support for the lie that we would be given the opportunity to vote in a referendum-but I would welcome suggestions from this forum.
I have also written that,unlike the Tory party UKIP is the ONLY party that opposes this sell-out.
All ideas and suggestions welcome.

__________________
Those who would sacrifice Freedom
for Safety
deserve neither.

Independent UKIP

Should not implies that we will or can be a realistic part of our future despite them disagreeing with it. Thanks for the acknowledgement of UKIP's importance/potential importance Mr/Ms Councillor.

Probably not very helpful to you Phil but I just wanted to say that!

Hunter

Interesting letter. The impression he gives is that he hasn't a clue what's really going on, and is just following orders.

Pehaps if you were to send him some of the information about the nature and structure of the EU - for example why has there never been an audit of EU finances? - which will, hopefully, give some education on the matter.

If I may be so bold as to correct you on one issue - the UKIP is NOT the ONLY Party opposed to this sell-out.

ANGLO-STAFFS

A ringing endorsment there then!
Any bets on him/her being the next defector to UKIP?

Britannist

I have never thought much of europhile Labourite Barron.

The letter (quoted in the first posting to this thread) belongs in the bin.

As does the party the letter writer is a member of.

I read an article in the newspaper a couple of years ago in which it said that some Labour MPs write some of their replies based a on template (i.e. standard letter) written for them by the headquarters of the Labour Party in London. The newspaper made the claim after a constituent in a Labour-held seat got a letter from her MP which included gaps (which should have been filled in by the MP but which he forgot to do) in the main body of the letter such as in a sentence like "...the Labour Government is determined to improve the living standards of the people of [NAME OF CONSTITUENCY] and the Labour-controlled [NAME OF COUNTY] County Council is playing a full part in that."

Britannist

Good to see that a Labour councillor is sensitive to getting a letter from someone in UKIP.

May I suggest, Phil, that (just in case you have not done this before) that you get someone who is not known as being a UKIP member to write to these Labour councillors and to MP Barron?

You have probably thought of this and may have done it - but I mention it because it may help others reading this.

If Barron and/or the local Labour councillors does/do not know that the person writing to him/them is in UKIP he/they may adopt a different tone and use different wording in his/their reply/replies on this subject. For he/they will not know if the person writing to him/them is a UKIP supporter; Labour supporter registered as a member in another constituency or a supporter of another party.

He/they may have to tread very carefully regarding what he/they say/s in his/their reply/replies because he/they would realise that the correspondent could be an anti-EU Labour member/supporter who could quote him/them in Labour political circles and/or in letters to local newspapers.

Britannist

The fear in Labour circles is that if UKIP can cut deeply into the Labour vote once (as it did do in London, the south-east of England and the 'East' Midlands of England in the last EU Elections) - it can do so again.

The sooner the better.

Britannist

I think some of these elected Labour people may seek help in writing some letters.

Most elected Labour members haven't got a clue about EU matters/issues (i.e the huge cost of the EU and the damage it is doing to our country) and probably have to visit the Labour Party website to find out what the official view of their party is on the EU before replying to any (from their point of view) 'unwelcome' letter asking them (what they think are) 'difficult' questions about EU matters.

Britannist

Might I also make another suggestion Phil? I hope it helps.

Why not ask these Labour councillors or MPs what they think of the views of the Labour Group Against The EU Superstate?

As you know, the group is made up of Labour MPs and other Labour Party members who are opposed to the euro and against giving the EU more power.
Glasgow Labour MP Ian Davidson is Chairman of the group.

You could quote from things Mr. Davidson has said (or quote from the views of other Labour MPs in the group he heads) in your letter to your local Labour MP (and/or Labour councillors) and ask them if they agree with the quote of the views of the group and if not, why not.

This would put them in the position of either having to back the EU and effectively criticise some popular Labour MPs (I believe that over 20 MPs are in the Labour Group Against The EU Superstate) - or to being loyal to those Labour MPs and effectively declaring themselves as eurosceptic.

Britannist

Phil: I've just been searching on google and cannot find a website for Labour Against a Superstate (I have tried several variations of the name) so you might think of writing directly to Mr. Davidson (Chairman of the above-named group) asking him for copies of any speeches he has made on the subject of the Labour Party and the EU and the EU in general.

This is what I found on google:

Address for correspondence: Ian Davidson MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA (Source: ePolitix.com)

UKIP Bradford - Labour EUrosceptics - Labour Against a Superstate

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Ian Davidson MP, Glasgow South West (TheyWorkForYou.com)

BBC NEWS | Politics | Labour MP's anti-constitution move