John Redwood's Contribution to the Commons Referendum debate 24/10/11

7.51 pm
Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): There have been many powerful speeches already rightly saying that this debate is about democracy. Democracy is fundamental to the House—the mother of Parliaments, an example to the world—which has been through a bad time. It has been humbled by its failure to listen carefully enough to the people and because too many powers of self-government have been needlessly given away to Brussels. The people not only want us to listen, to have this great debate and to have a free vote to
express their opinions and views, but would like to feel that the people in this House, charged with the duty of governing, have the power to govern. They believe that the Government should come here and answer to us and that we, from both sides of the House, should hold them to account. If they do a good job, the public reward them in a general election, and if they do a bad job, they sack  them.However,whatwe nowsee happening, because there is too much unaccountable European power, is the breakdown of the fabric of consent that is
fundamental to a democracy.
 
If hon. Members were to go to Greece today, they would see what happens when that consent starts to break down. Rich Greeks nowthink that theirGovernment
have no right to tax them because they are on autopilot from Europe and they do not like what it is doing, and  poor Greeks think that the Government have no right
to remove some of their benefits because they think, again, that they are on autopilot from Brussels. In Portugal, Ireland or Slovakia, we see that the European
mess can change Governments—regardless, almost, of what the people think—but that when the people put in a new Government, it makes absolutely no difference to  the policy that the country is following, because it is all on autopilot and has been preordained by the IMF, the bankers and, above all, the EUbureaucrats and assembled  member states.

We need to ensure that we—those of us with a heart  and a conscience—send a loud message to our constituents tonight that we are democrats, that we think that the public were right to demand this debate, that we admire the Prime Minister for making it possible through the petition system and that we would like the Whips to
withdraw so that a proper expression of opinion can be given. We want our Government to understand that if too many powers are taken away, we will no longer have the authority or opportunity to govern. Already, we have to say too often to our constituents, “I cannot help you with that because it is a European directive. I cannot assist you with this because it is an unaccountable European programme.” We can no longer change the law in the way that we wish because it is preordained by some Brussels decision.

This House was great when every law that applied to the British people was fought over in this Chamber and in Committee and satisfied the needs of the majority.
This House was great when the public knew that when they had had enough of rotten Government, they could change not just the people, but the policies they were following. This House was great when it had full control of all our money and did not have to give away tariffs and taxes to foreign powers to spend in ways of which we do not approve. We need to wake up. We need to do what the British people want us to do. We need to take responsibility for governing this country. We need to enact the laws. We need to debate and argue about it in here. Brussels has too much power. The British people need a say. Let us have a vote.

Mr Redwood was followed by Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby, Labour) which I also quote for Party balance and its content:

7.54 pm
Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby) (Lab): I shall be voting for the motion tonight because I do not want to be part of what has become a three-party conspiracy
against the people. It is an abomination of democracy that the three parties, all of which have promised referendums and then denied the people those referendums
andwhich are nowforcing us to vote against a referendum, decided to impose three-lineWhips on their followers to vote for Europe. It is behaving like Europeans.
The EU is the construction of an EU elite that does not listen to the people: it knows where it wants to go, and it is not bothered what the people think. We cannot have that attitude in this country.
We have to show the people that they can have a referendum. When we had a referendum 36 years ago, people voted for a very different institution—for a
trading relationship—but it has now become a European monolith with ever-increasing powers. It is moving towards ever-closer union and is claiming to control economic policy as well. It is a very different institution and far  more expensive. Budget contributions are £7 billion net a year, rising to £10 billion fairly soon. The CAP costs us £16.7 billion while the common fisheries policy costs
us £4.7 billion. The British people must have a say on whether they want to make those excessive contributions.

Why should the three parties be denying them? It would have been sensible for all three parties to agree to give us a free vote so that we could hear the sensible, clear, un-Whipped decision of Parliament. That might well have been in favour of a referendum, but I do not know. It would also have been sensible for the Government to have had a referendum in reserve because itwould have strengthened their position in the negotiations with Europe that the Foreign Secretary told us were to come, but they avoided that. I cannot tell how this euro
crisis, which is bedevilling us all, will work out—nor can the Prime Minister for that matter—but I question whether it is in our interest to keep the euro going. It
would be more sensible for Greece to devalue and come out, and perhaps for some of the other Club Med states to do the same, because it would allow them to expand and grow, whereas at present they face 10 years of deflation. That would also put up the exchange rate of the German—or northern—euro, so that itwould become less competitive and take a smaller share of our markets.
That would be a logical outcome. We are going to struggle to use the big bazooka, as the Prime Minister put it, to keep Humpty Dumpty together—I am not sure how we would do that—but we have to bear it in mind that the people of Europe also
want referendums. There are a series of policy studies based on the 2009 referendum showing that in Europe, 63% of people—from a sample of 27,000—wanted any future decisions to be taken by a referendum. This has
been an interesting debate. It has been interesting how little praise for Europe there has been. It was interesting, too, that the Foreign Secretary defended Europe by praising with faint damns and turned down the weapon that the House was offering. I hope that we have tonight a big vote in favour of the motion. It would send a signal to Europe of what the people of this country think—not the elite, but the people—and would send asignal to the people that they can trust us and that we have their interests at heart.

THREATEN YOUR MP FOR 27/10/11

Elected MPs are the only voters on 27th October able to affect the ongoing subjugation of the UK by the non-democratic European Union.

As Britain's democracy has been almost entirely destroyed - most MPs, in pursuit of their political careers,  will most likely tend to put the interests of the EU (where they no doubt see their future paymasters principally based) well ahead of the interests of their present Westminster orientated constituents.


British voters therefore have only the period between now and the vote on 27th October to convince their own MP, that voting against offering the public a referendum on Britain's continued EU membership, will cost them YOUR vote in YOUR constituency at coming elections.

PLEDGE TO SWAMP YOUR CONSTITUENCY WITH FLYERS DETAILING THEIR VOTE DURING ALL FUTURE ELECTION CAMPAIGNS!

As the EU grows ever less popular, ever more expensive and ever more restrictive - THUS EVER MORE HATED - their chances of re-election, if voting against a referendum on 27th October 2011, will grow less and less each passing year!

Read of the panic already sweeping the Tory bencjes as re-selection looms for the reduction in MP numbers, by Paul Goodman on Conservative Home this morning, linked here.

More apparatchiks join the British Government

Link to the former seat of Britain's leaders, from here.


the Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, currently Secretary of State for Transport, to become Secretary of State for Defence;



Justine Greening MP, currently Economic Secretary at HM Treasury, to become Secretary of State for Transport;


Chloe Smith MP, currently an Assistant Whip in the House of Commons, to become Economic Secretary at HM Treasury;


  Greg Hands MP to become an Assistant Whip in the House of Commons.


LIFE EXPERIENCE - ZERO    POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY - NIL

The Fox resignation - Time to Turn Right

The Coalition Governement, now entirely lacks any Cabinet Minister, who can fairly claim to represent Conservative values, (with the possible exception of IDS).

Cameron's next step, if it represents a further ditching of everything once held dear by his party, can no longer offer a home for the likes of John Redwood, Bill Cash and Douglas Carswell!