There are just a few days to go until the European elections -- but who cares? Most of the polling cards coming through people's letter boxes will end up in the bin. More people will have voted in last night's Britain's Got Talent final than for any one of the political parties putting up candidates in Britain on Thursday. Anyway, why should people vote? All we seem to have as candidates are the usual nonentities, many of whom are hoping to get rich by claiming a seat on the Brussels gravy train. In Britain we have been scandalised by the avarice, dishonesty and greed of our MPs. But they are mere amateurs compared with those we have elected to the European parliament. Every year MEPs get more than £400,000 in salary, pension benefits and expenses without having to do anything so boring as produce a single receipt. Moreover, MEPs have continually blocked attempts to publish how much they are claiming in expenses.
There are just a few days to go until the European elections -- but who cares? Most of the polling cards coming through people's letter boxes will end up in the bin. More people will have voted in last night's Britain's Got Talent final than for any one of the political parties putting up candidates in Britain on Thursday.
Anyway, why should people vote? All we seem to have as candidates are the usual nonentities, many of whom are hoping to get rich by claiming a seat on the Brussels gravy train.
In Britain we have been scandalised by the avarice, dishonesty and greed of our MPs. But they are mere amateurs compared with those we have elected to the European parliament.
Every year MEPs get more than £400,000 in salary, pension benefits and expenses without having to do anything so boring as produce a single receipt. Moreover, MEPs have continually blocked attempts to publish how much they are claiming in expenses.
Europe. Is. Doomed (and will drag us down with it) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
David Craig is co-author of The Great European Rip-Off and is standing as a candidate for Libertas on June 4
Dutchmen living abroad are allowed to cast just one vote in next week's European elections, even if they receive two voter cards, Deputy Interior Minister Ank Bijleveld reaffirmed to reporters. Her remarks come after many Dutch expats received two voter cards: one from their country of residence, and one from the Netherlands. Ms Bijleveld emphasised that she favours a Europe-wide situation where citizens vote in the country where they live, whatever their nationality. But many other EU member states are of a different opinion and are holding on to the current system. As a result, Dutch expat voters who receive two calls have to choose: either cast a postal vote in the Netherlands, or vote at a polling station nearby. "It's illegal to vote twice," Ms Bijleveld is reminding voters. There is a 3,700 euro fine on it.
Dutchmen living abroad are allowed to cast just one vote in next week's European elections, even if they receive two voter cards, Deputy Interior Minister Ank Bijleveld reaffirmed to reporters. Her remarks come after many Dutch expats received two voter cards: one from their country of residence, and one from the Netherlands.
Ms Bijleveld emphasised that she favours a Europe-wide situation where citizens vote in the country where they live, whatever their nationality. But many other EU member states are of a different opinion and are holding on to the current system. As a result, Dutch expat voters who receive two calls have to choose: either cast a postal vote in the Netherlands, or vote at a polling station nearby.
"It's illegal to vote twice," Ms Bijleveld is reminding voters. There is a 3,700 euro fine on it.
A decision by David Cameron, the Conservative party leader, to join a new bloc in the European parliament means that it will find itself allied to a Polish party that critics have branded as homophobic, eccentric and nationalistic. While sitting down with MEPs from Poland's Law and Justice party should put Conservatives in touch with like-minded Euro-sceptics, determined to stand up for national rights they also run the risk of associating with a party that is no stranger to controversyFounded by identical twins Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski in 2001, Law and Justice, with its conservative moral stance and colourful policies, has divided Poland between those who feel it stands for traditional Polish values and those who consider it at odds with a modern Poland, thriving in the European Union.
While sitting down with MEPs from Poland's Law and Justice party should put Conservatives in touch with like-minded Euro-sceptics, determined to stand up for national rights they also run the risk of associating with a party that is no stranger to controversy
Founded by identical twins Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski in 2001, Law and Justice, with its conservative moral stance and colourful policies, has divided Poland between those who feel it stands for traditional Polish values and those who consider it at odds with a modern Poland, thriving in the European Union.
