Westcountryman

Exactly. I thought the whole point of having him on board was his seat at Westminster.

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Anyone who supports 42 days pre-charge detention should read this:

42-day detention: the threat to our liberty | John Major - Times Online

and this:

Why David Davis is right to make a stand | Mail Online

steve fowler

Cheers mate, thought the whole idea of us be really happy two weeks ago was cause we gained an MP and to hold that mp in place not throw him on the MEP list and lose our only seat!!.

__________________
RULE BRITANNIA BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES, BRITONS NEVER EVER SHALL BE SLAVE'S.

Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
Winston Churchill.

When Labour won the 1997 General Election, Enoch Powell told his wife that the electorate had voted to break up the United Kingdom.

Westcountryman

Again, spot on. I'm glad I didn't rejoin the Party like some others did after we got the news of Spink's defection if all that's going to happen as a result is that Spink is going to go on the MEP list and stand down from the Commons.

If UKIP's going to go down the 'jobs for the boys' route they're going to lose all credibility and will be no better than the 'big 3'.

__________________
Anyone who supports 42 days pre-charge detention should read this:

42-day detention: the threat to our liberty | John Major - Times Online

and this:

Why David Davis is right to make a stand | Mail Online

Anthony Butcher

I think that it remains firmly in the 'rumour' category at the moment (and therefore stands a good chance of being untrue), although I have to say that it was pretty much one of my first thoughts when I heard the news. This is a speculative poll just to see how people feel about it.

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If you care about what's in your food and where it comes from, then get it labelled!
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eublues

I agree that it would not be good use of Bob Spink if he ends up as an MEP. Do we know that he was promised a shot at that?

Petrina

Charlie Endell is of the view that a deal has been done and he seems to be in the know on quite a few topics.
Of course Farage has no right to state to anyone that he/she will be top of the list (for the Eastern Region presumably),that should be for the locals to decide and if Bob Spink gets involved in dodgy deals with the management it will not help his credibility at all.
However if the GE and EU Election were held at the same time I believe that he could stand for both but only take up one option .The only real problem would be if the EU Election came before the GE,then if he were elected as an MEP he would have to stand down as an MP if he wanted the post .
Interesting to see what will happen-one would have thought that the RKS debacle would have taught people a thing or two about promises you might not be able to keep.

charlie endell

I think Ian Paisley was MP & MEP at the same time...

Westcountryman

Strange.

Does S.1 (e) of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 not apply?

(e) is a member of the legislature of any country or territory outside the Commonwealth [F3 (other than Ireland)]; or

__________________
Anyone who supports 42 days pre-charge detention should read this:

42-day detention: the threat to our liberty | John Major - Times Online

and this:

Why David Davis is right to make a stand | Mail Online

TomPhil

I doubt that the EU counts as a country or territory for the purposes of that Act. I believe that one can be an MEP and MP at the same time legally speaking, but practically speaking is an entirely different matter. The opposition parties would have a fiel day at the next election in Bob Spink, having been elected as an MEP, stood for re-election to Westminster. Any slim chance he may have ahd of re-election would be completely lost.

Surrendering our seat in Parliament shortly after getting it would be foolish to the extreme. However, the one thing I would say is that the way things are at the moment, Bob Spink standing as a MEP candidate and being elected are two entirely different things.

Has he been promised top spot on the list? If not, put him in second spot: it's still a respectable position, but one that is highly unlikely to send him to Brussels as things are at the moment.

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"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."

In Labour we trusted and now we are busted... again. It's the economy, stupid.

Populist Lee

The exemptions to this are those who entered the European Parliament prior to 1975.
Ian Paisley entered in 1974.