Archive for Northern Ireland

Ireland needs a backstop agreement with the EU, not the UK

August 1, 2019 Federal Europe, Northern Ireland No comments

Throughout the sham Brexit negotiations the issue of the Northern Irish border has been the main focus with the hated “backstop” proving to be a particular sticking point. But in actual fact it is not the UK/Irish border that is the problem, it’s the EU/Irish border that is.

The idea that the border between Ireland and the UK should remain open and largely uncontrolled for both people and goods is perfectly sensible. Ireland is a large market for the UK, the UK’s only land border is with Ireland, there are lots of cross-border communities and of course the UK is Ireland’s largest trading partner. We’ve had a common travel area covering the whole of the British Isles since 1923 and it was updated as recently as 2014 to allow Indian and Chinese nationals to travel throughout the British Isles on a single visa.

To make a common travel area work the participating states need to be in control of their borders and trade policy. Each participating state relies on the others to apply a common level of control over their borders so that only people and goods permitted to move between them are able to do so. You can travel between the UK and Ireland by sea without a passport if you are a UK or Irish citizen because the Irish government trusts the UK to ensure only British and Irish citizens are allowed onto ferries without a passport and vice versa. Travel across the land border between the UK and Ireland is uncontrolled because there are adequate controls in place at our external frontiers.

The common travel area can remain in place after Brexit as long as every participating state can continue to control its external frontier and carry out adequate customs duties. Outside of the EU the UK can control its borders. We can ensure that the only people and goods entering the UK and subsequently travelling from the UK to Ireland are authorised to do so. Ireland, on the other hand, will have to allow all EU or EEA citizens and goods enter the country whence they will be able to travel into the UK whether authorised or not.

The problem is therefore with Ireland and its inability to control its border with the EU. The Irish can either have free movement of people and goods with the EU or with the UK, they can’t have both. While the EU sets Ireland’s trade tariffs and controls its borders they will be unable to facilitate free movement of people and goods with the UK. This is a decision for the Irish to make, it is not the UK’s problem to solve.

Ireland needs a backstop agreement with the EU, not the UK.

When will someone make the case for the union?

January 18, 2012 Britishness, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales 14 comments

So, I suppose it’s about time I blogged about the Scottish independence referendum as it’s been in the news for a week or so.

Basically, this is the story so far:

Alex Salmond has been dicking about for a few years saying they’re going to hold a referendum on Scottish independence but keeps putting it off because a) they won’t vote for independence and b) the longer he threatens it, the more he can screw out of the Brits at our expense.

Salmond knows that the Scots won’t vote for independence so he’s come up with a great wheeze: devolution max.  Devolution max is almost, but not quite, a confederation between Scotland and “Britain”.  The Scottish government would be almost on a par with the British government, Salmond and Cameron would meet each other as equals rather than provincial administrator and imperial overlord.

Cameron got fed up with Salmond dicking about and told him he’s got to have his referendum sooner rather than later and he can’t offer devolution max, just a yes/no to independence.  Salmond told the media London was dictating to Scotland; Cameron said he wasn’t dictating, he was merely telling the Scottish government what they can and can’t do in a dictatorial manner (I’ve paraphrased slightly).

At some point the British government decided that after years of indecision, an independence referendum held by the Scottish government would be illegal.  Nobody has offered an opinion as to what they would do if Salmond held his referendum and ended up as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Scotland – the thing about a unilateral declaration of independence is that it’s, well, unilateral.  Salmond retaliated by saying he’d order the Scottish police not to man polling stations if the ballot papers didn’t have his options on them (yes, he can do that but technically the British Home Secretary trumps the Scottish First Minister which would make for an interesting pissing contest wouldn’t it?).

The brief posturing is over with no clear winner and now the two sides are setting out their stalls.  The Brits are making the case for the union to the Scots, humming Rule Britannia whilst Britishly tearfully extolling the British virtues of the British union and good old British Britishness in British Britain and British Scotland.  Some of them are suggesting wrecking manoeuvres such as giving people in England a vote on Scottish independence as well, although they seem to have gone quiet since Survation (an up-and-coming polling company with a very good record so far on political polls) found that more people in England want to see Scotland declare independence than Scots.

The Scottish nationalists are doing what they usually do – confusing England with “Britain”, throwing some random numbers on paper to show they’re subsidising England and … well, that’s about it but even so the Survation poll says that Salmond is quite comprehensively winning the “referendum war”.

Unsurprisingly and true to form for the Brits, virtually nobody is thinking about England in all this.  The Labour MP for Torfaen in Wales, Paul Murphy, has called for the balkanisation of England by resurrecting Prescott’s rejected local government reorganisation with regional assemblies but that’s about as far as it goes.  Other than that it’s been Scotland, Scotland, Scotland as if the future of the UK and the relationships between the member states in it are the exclusive domain of the Scots.

I don’t want a vote on Scottish independence because it’s Scotland’s business but if Scotland has a referendum then a referendum should also be held on English independence, Welsh independence and Northern Irish independence.  If the union is to continue then it should be because most of the people in all four member states want it to, not because 4 million voters in Scotland say so.

I would love to hear the British nationalists making the case for the union to England like they are for Scotland.  I would love to hear them explain why we should stay in a union where we have no voice, where £20bn of our taxes are taken from us on threat of imprisonment and given to the other three member states of the UK to spend on things that we can’t afford, where politicians elected in another country are allowed to introduce and vote on laws that only apply to England when they can’t even vote on the same things in the country they were elected in and where we are generally robbed, put upon and despised.  I’d love to hear them make the case for that union because right now all I’m hearing is Scotland, Scotland, Scotland when quite frankly I couldn’t give a damn whether they stay or go.

The celtic dog has been wagging the English tail for too long and it has to stop.  The British establishment is full of people who are, quite frankly, irrationally fanatical about Scotland.  They are 5m people (and falling), we are 51m and increasing.  They spend the money, we foot the bill.  They have an inferiority complex, we have to make ourselves subservient to them to make them feel better.  The obsession is with what the Scots want, forgetting that actually it’s England that would make or break the union.

So what’s the answer?  It’s quite simple …

Hold the referendum in Scotland with the three options – independence, current level of devolution or “devolution max”.  At the same time, hold a referendum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland offering the same choices (“current level of devolution” in England being what the Scots have now).  This will result in an English Parliament being created.  Take out the unconstitutional, unworkable English Votes on English Laws fudge (there’s no point trying to implement something that can’t work, it’s just wasting time and money) and support for devolution in England is overwhelming.  This may result in assymetry as it’s not guaranteed that all four member states of the UK will vote for devolution max (I’m thinking of NI here) but it would be through choice, not because the British government is prejudiced against one country.

This raises the spectre of one or more member states of the UK voting for independence.  Scotland is probably less likely to vote for independence than England despite the overt nationalism north of the border.  Of the four member states of the UK, only England pays its own way and only England would thrive outside of the union.  Despite the protestations of some Scots, they do extremely well out of the union whilst England does extremely badly out of it.  If one or more member states vote for independence then the British government should be prepared with a firm plan for a British confederation.  I won’t dwell on the virtues of a confederation, just follow the link.

The independence of one member state would raise some interesting challenges when it comes to the inheritance of treaties.  For instance, who would keep the UK’s seat on the UN Security Council?  If Scotland declared independence then “Britain” would probably still exist for a short time and once it fell apart, England would naturally be the successor state.  But if England declared independence and Scotland didn’t, “Britain” wouldn’t last any longer but Scotland would naturally be the successor state.  Salmond wants to demilitarise Scotland and on the international stage Scotland is a non-entity (“Scotland, isn’t that in England?” – you get the picture) – the UN isn’t going to have a bunch of whining skirt wearing with delusions of grandeur on the UN Security Council.

EU membership is another question that needs considering.  Scotland is the most europhile member state of the UK, it would probably want to remain a member.  The EU would want to keep England to pay the bills.  New countries joining the EU have to agree to join the €uro – Scotland might not be too fussed about joining the €uro but England?  It’s unthinkable.

What about the British Overseas Territories?  Who will inherit those?  If a confederation can successfully be created then problem solved.  If not, it’s open for negotiation – they may opt for independence, they may choose their own “protector” to pay fealty to.

The Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties says that it’s basically up to succeeding states to decide who takes on what treaties with the assumption that if no agreement is made, all the treaties currently in force will apply to all successor states.  That means that the default position is that all member states of the UK declaring independence would remain members of the EU, UN, NATO and party to all the other treaties the UK has signed up to since 1978 unless they agree to divvy them up.  Contrary to what British politicians say, independence of any of the member states of the UK does not necessarily mean losing the memberships of international bodies the UK currently holds.

None of the perceived problems are insurmountable so what reason is there for the union to continue?  This is the case the British unionists have to make to all of us, not just the Scots and this is precisely what won’t happen.  The British are so obsessed with what the Scots want that they won’t see what’s happening under their noses until it’s too late.

£30m Olympics bribe for Scotland, Wales & NI

December 23, 2011 Come the revolution, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sport, Wales 4 comments

On Wednesday the British government finally announced the West Lothian Question commission that they promised over a year ago, yesterday they gave a practical demonstration of why it’s so desperately needed.

Olympic BribesScotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have negotiated a £30.2m bonus from the British government because the British government have spent money in London for the British Olympics.  No extra money will be spent in the rest of England where local authorities are facing cuts of about a quarter over the next few years.

The money is being handed over because of what is called Barnett Consequentials – the technical name for giving Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland a big wedge of cash just because the British government have spent some money in England.  Barnett Consequentials are part of the balancing mechanism to ensure Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to get the same outrageous level of subsidy at England’s expense no matter how much capital investment the British spend in England.

Paying Barnett Consequentials because of the Olympics is a bloody liberty though because they’re not the English Olympics, they’re the British Olympics.  England doesn’t have a Olympic team and the British government’s investment in London is for their Olympics, not for London or for England.  Some of the facilities that are being built for the Olympics are going to be relocated to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and some of the events are even being held in those countries.  They will “benefit” from the British Olympics as much as the rest of England.

The British government shouldn’t have paid any Barnett money to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the British Olympics but there was nobody at the meeting representing English interests.  As a consequence (excuse the pun), £30.2m of English taxpayers’ money is going to be handed over to the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish for no other reason than because the British spent some money in England for their Olympic vanity project.  This has only happened because there is no English government to represent English interests, saying “no, this is your Olympic games, we’re not paying your bribes”.

There are no details as yet on who will be on the West Lothian Commission, what they will consider and whether an English Parliament will be ruled out immediately or when they report in 2013.

The case for a British Confederation

May 23, 2011 Britain, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales 27 comments

Yesterday I explained that I don’t want a vote on Scottish independence and predicted how Alex Salmond would approach “independence” for Scotland.

If I am right about my prediction of what form Scottish “independence” will take is right – ie. a confederation – then that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  The ideal way to govern the UK is with a confederation where the home nations voluntarily pool resources and responsibility for matters that they choose to co-operate on such as defence and foreign affairs.  This differs from federation or the current system of devolution in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in that the powers the confederal government has are passed up from the countries that are part of it rather than being passed down from a federal government.  It’s an important differentiation because it means the members of the confederation retain their independence and sovereignty within parameters agreed by those members rather than being told what independence and sovereignty they are allowed from the centre.  But such a confederation would have to be between England, Scotland, Wales and perhaps Northern Ireland, not between Scotland and “Britain”.

This isn’t just idle conjecture on my part, I have been giving the idea of a confederation thought for some time now.  Here’s how I see it working:

An elected confederal “senate” would replace the House of Lords dealing with defence, foreign affairs and whatever else is handed up to the confederal government and an independent English Parliament would govern England as a sovereign nation within the confederation.  Scotland and Wales would similarly be governed as sovereign nations by their own government.

Northern Ireland is a bit of an oddity and might not choose to take part in a confederal government in the same way.  Clearly unification with the Republic is not the answer – it would alienate and antagonise at least half the population and it’s not in the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement – so why not give Northern Ireland the same status as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man and make it a Crown Dependency, governing itself as it does now with the confederal government responsible for its defence and jointly for foreign affairs as it is for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man?

The confederation would be the legal successor to the union, taking over the UK’s seat on the UN, NATO, the EU and any other organisation the UK is a member of unless the members agree that one of their number should become the successor state instead such as Scotland taking over the UK’s membership of the EU as the most europhile nation in the UK.  It would also mean that the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (Falklands, Bermuda, etc.) would work in the same way and could even become members of the confederation on equal terms to England, Scotland and Wales.

The confederal government could be funded by subscription from its members or by direct taxation.  A customs union and Shengen-type agreement would maintain the free movement of goods and people.  A confederal government would need very few politicians, perhaps even being made up of appointees from the national governments and the national governments should be unicameral, resulting in a net reductions of politicians.

A confederation also neatly sidesteps the issue of a federation being unconstitutional under English law.  One of the key properties of a federation is that the existence of the devolved legislatures are protected by law in perpetuity.  Under the English constitution, no British Parliament may bind its successor making it impossible to legislate in this way.  A new English Parliament for an independent England wouldn’t need an Act of the British Parliament to protect its existence, nor would it need an Act of the English Parliament to do so as its existence would be implicit in the fact that England would be an independent, sovereign nation voluntarily delegating powers to a “British Confederation”.  The English and Scottish Crowns can remain united in a personal union as they did before the 1707 Act of Union and the Queen can remain Head of State either through being Head of State of the confederation or the members in their own right.

The members of the confederation would be free to pursue their own economic policies, raising or lowering taxes, increasing or decreasing spending.  Scotland can become the socialist republic it strives to be, England can continue down the road of free market enlightenment.  Scotland can go nuclear-free, England can keep the lights on.

One of the criticisms of supporters of an English Parliament is that they never come up with anything other than a nebulous idea about self-government.  In the case of the Campaign for an English Parliament that’s deliberate because, to paraphrase the Scottish Claim of Right, they quite rightly say that it’s for the people of England to determine the best form of government for themselves.  Well I’m a person of England and I think this is the best form of government for my country.  Discuss.

I don’t want a vote on Scottish independence

May 22, 2011 Britain, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales 5 comments

So it’s a couple of weeks since the SNP romped home to a comprehensive victory in the Scottish Parliament elections and there’s still no sign of an independence referendum but there is still plenty of talk about what the “independence” will be and who should have a vote.

Alex Salmond Laughing

So I sez "Aye, give us a coupla billion and we wunnae hold the referendum". I didnae expect him tae do it!

Scotland will never be independent, even if it leaves this union because the SNP intends Scotland to be a member of the EU, leaving a union it has a disproportionate amount of control over for a union in which it will be a tiny irrelevant voice.  But that’s a decision for the Scots to make and if they choose to take that path then more fool them.

Alex Salmond has already been talking down independence and suggesting what will be, in all but name, a confederation of Scotland and “Britain” in which Scotland remains in a union voluntarily and on their own terms with “Britain”.  Presumably he has looked at Dubai’s bailout of Abu Dhabi and decided to hedge his bets.

Lots of people are demanding a vote in Scotland’s independence referendum, arguing that if the union is to be dissolved then it’s not just the Scots who should  be able to vote on it.  I disagree for two very good reasons:

Firstly, whether Scotland decides to declare independence or not is Scotland’s business – a declaration of independence is an affirmation of sovereignty and you can’t affirm your sovereignty by asking for someone else’s permission.  The UK or “Britain” isn’t a country, it’s a union of countries and if one of them decides it no longer wants to be in that union, it’s nobody’s decision but their own.

Secondly, Scottish independence won’t mean the end of the union, the Brits will keep “Britain” going for as long as possible in a sad parody of its former self like Serbia federating with Montenegro and calling itself Yugoslavia not because the Serbian people identified themselves as Yugoslavian but because the Serbian political class that dominated Yugoslavia refused to accept the reality of post-Yugoslav Serbia.  The same will happen in England – the British political class will refuse to accept the reality that they have put Scotland on such a high pedestal that the union will seem irrelevant without them and will do whatever it takes to keep “Britain” in existence that little bit longer.

To ensure that Scotland stays in some form of union with “Britain”, the Scots will be comprehensively bribed.  The union started with England paying Scotland’s national debt and a bribe on top to be shared amongst the Scottish people which was promptly stolen by Scotland’s great and good and the end of the union will similarly marked by a Scottish cash bonanza at the expense of the English taxpayer.

The day after the SNP won the Scottish election, David Cameron gave Scotland a £2bn bung for no other reason than Alex Salmond had won the election.  This is the first of many bribes from the British government and it won’t just be handing over billions on pounds of English money, it will be political concessions as well – more independence, a greater say in what happens in England, more Scottish representation at Westminster, more Scots in key British cabinet positions, more British (English) government departments located in Scotland, more “respect” for Scotland.  The divorce settlement will cost England dearly if it is negotiated between the Brits and the Scots.

I don’t want a vote on Scottish independence (although I would vote yes if I did) because it’s none of my business as an Englishman living in England.  I am agnostic about the union – if the union survives or if England stays in it or not is something I won’t lose any sleep over but if the union survives and if England stays in it then it has to be on equal terms with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with an English Parliament and fiscal autonomy, just the same as Scotland.  But if the terms of the union – and England’s relationship with the other members – are to be fundamentally renegotiated then that renegotiation has to be done between England and the rest of the UK, not “Britain”.

The British can’t be relied up to represent English interests, we must have an English government to negotiate on our behalf.

Fuck you Ian Paisley

February 17, 2011 Anglophobia, Northern Ireland, Racism, Tories 6 comments

Ian Paisley, the MP for North Antrim in Northern Ireland, has warned the British Conservatives not to give in to English demands for equality which he says would create a Parliament “of little Englanders”.

Ian Paisley - wanker

Wanker

I appeal to my Conservative friends…they should recognise they should not play party politics with constitution of this nation.

We will have a House of little Englanders.

That does not serve this nation.

You have a responsibility to lead the people of England into believing passionately in the union as I do.

You only do that by not encouraging this view that we need another Parliament for the English only.

I have one thing to say to Ian Paisley: fuck you.  I’d rather be a little Englander that a racist, bigoted, hypocritical big Britisher.

Amnesty International tells NI to take Guantanamo prisoners

March 20, 2009 Northern Ireland No comments

Amnesty International has told the Northern Irish First Minister and Deputy First Minister that they should follow the leader of the Irish Republic and consider taking released prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.

The Northern Irish government doesn’t have the power to make this kind of decision, it’s a reserved matter.  Amnesty International should shut the fuck up and stop trying to promote its republican agenda in Northern Ireland.

If they’re looking for human rights abuses they could start a bit closer to home and looks at the English people dying of cancer because they can’t have the same medical treatments the Scots get on the NHS and where English people are told it is offensive or racist to fly their national flag.

Human rights aren’t just about not being locked up for disagreeing with the government or not being tortured or murdered – the right to self determination and the right to display cultural and national symbols are also in the United Nations Convention on Human Rights.

Technorati Technorati Tags: , , ,

Northern Ireland: Terrorist state

March 10, 2009 Northern Ireland, Terrorism 8 comments

A police officer has been shot dead in Northern Ireland, only two days after two soldiers were shot dead by the Real IRA.

Sinn Féin took half a day to come up with a statement that they could all agree on on the killing of the two soldiers at the weekend before they settled for saying they supported the police and that it’s not very nice to murder soldiers.  Let’s see how long it takes them to come up with a statement on the murder of a policeman if they support the police.

It’s time to cut Northern Ireland loose from the UK and make it a Crown Colony.  That way it will govern itself, raise and spend its own taxes (they get nearly £2k per head of population in subsidies from the English taxpayer so that’s a bonus) but the UK would be responsible for its defence and foreign relations.  They can then sort their own terrorists out.

Edit:
I didn’t think this was a particularly controversial suggestion but it’s rattled at least one person – I made this suggestion on Facebook to Donal Blaney and he responded by removing me from his Facebook friends!  Rather amusingly, the latest post on his blog says “As a libertarian I, of course, defend their right to protest.”  Shame that libertarian ideal doesn’t stretch to defending the rights of someone to say something he doesn’t agree with.  Libertarian my arse.

Technorati Technorati Tags: ,

Any excuse to undermine democracy

February 15, 2009 Northern Ireland 3 comments

The next round of local elections in Northern Ireland are to be postponed for a year because of changes to local government.  The number of local authorities in Northern Ireland is being reduced from 26 to 11.

The British government has also been working to reduce the number of local authorities in England by inviting local authorities to put in proposals for converting from district and county structures to unitary authorities.  Several district and county councils – such as in Shropshire – are now disappearing to be replaced with unitary authorities, often despite massive opposition locally.

Regional Assemblies are also supposed to be abolished in 2010 and city regions are being promoted and given statutory powers in England as another form of regionalisation.

Postponing the local elections was apparently requested by the Northern Ireland Assembly but it had to first be approved by the Northern Ireland Secretary and the Privy Council, on which the Northern Ireland Secretary also sits.  The Northern Ireland Secretary is Shaun Woodward MP, a former Tory who defected to Liebour and a close ally of El Gordo.

I have said, on more than one occasion, that I wouldn’t be surprised if the next elections were postponed “in the interests of national security”.  A precedent has been set in Northern Ireland now for postponing elections just to accommodate boundary changes.  There’s a lot of local government reorganisation happening in England as well as Northern Ireland in the next year.  Could this be the reason the One Eyed Scottish Idiot needs to postpone the next election?

Technorati Technorati Tags: ,

Paisley resigns

March 4, 2008 Northern Ireland 2 comments

Reverend Ian Paisley has announced his resignation as First Minister of the Northern Ireland Assembly and as Leader of the DUP. He recently announced his resignation as Moderator of the Free Presbyterian Church. Rev Paisley founded both the DUP and Free Presbyterian Church.

This is uncharacteristic for the Reverend, one has to wonder if there is a reason for this drastic cutting back of his commitments. He’s not a young man, certainly, but he doesn’t act like a man about to celebrate his 82nd birthday. Is Reverend Paisley perhaps feeling the strain of holding down several demanding jobs?

Technorati Technorati Tags:

Ahern & Brown push NI to take on more devolution

February 11, 2008 Northern Ireland No comments

No Mandate Brown and Bertie Ahern have urged the Stormont Assembly to complete the devolution process in Northern Ireland by taking on police and justice even though the DUP isn’t keen on taking on those powers.

Talk about taking the piss!  Northern Ireland is being pushed into accepting more devolution that it doesn’t want while England is being refused any form of devolution that doesn’t involve abolishing our country and replacing it with regional pseudo-parliaments.

I just sent this to the Taoiseach Press Office:

To whom it may concern,

Mr Ahern has issued a joint statement with the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, urging the Northern Ireland Assembly to take on more devolved powers in the areas of policing and justice despite the DUP and others being reluctant to take on those powers.

As Mr Ahern is taking such a keen interest in devolution in the UK, could he please encourage Mr Brown when next they meet to extend devolution to England as well?  We are 85% of the population of the UK yet we have no form of devolved government in England.  MPs elected in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – such as Mr Brown – vote on issues that are devolved in their own constituencies yet MPs elected in England cannot vote on those same issues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Does Mr Ahern think this situation is fair on the people of England and does he think it appropriate to press the Northern Irish government to “complete the devolution process” in Northern Ireland whilst England remains the only nation in Europe that doesn’t have direct political representation?

Kind Regards, 

Stuart Parr
Campaign for an English Parliament

Technorati Technorati Tags: , ,

Could England’s future be in the hands of Kosovo?

December 10, 2007 Come the revolution, England, Federal Europe, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales 3 comments

Kosovo has suffered terribly at the hands of the Serbs ever since Yugoslavia broke up.

For a while now, Federal Europe has provided mediators to try and come up with a solution that would allow Kosovo to remain part of Serbia which would be acceptable to both the Serbs who don’t want to lose Kosovo and to the majority Kosovan Albanians who want independence.

They have so far failed to come up with a solution and it’s now almost certain that Kosovo will declare independence very soon but there is opposition amongst some EU member states who are concerned that recognising Kosovan independence would set a precedent and force them to recognise the independence of their own seperatist regions.

Belgium has seperatist movements in Flanders and Wallonia; Denmark has seperatist movements in the Faroes and Greenland; Finland has a seperatist movement in Åaland; France has seperatist movements in Brittany, Corsica and Savoy; Italy has seperatist movements in Sardinia, Sicily and Northern Italy; Romania has a seperatist movement in Transylvania; Spain has seperatist movements in the Basque Country, Catalonia and Navarre; Sweden has a seperatist movement in Lapland; The UK has seperatist movements in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Cornwall.

Belgium has been without a government for months now after the main parties failed (several times) to form a coalition government.  The former Prime Minister has been caretaker-Prime Minister ever since the last election.  There are strong calls for independence for Flanders and to a lesser extent, Wallonia.  The situation in Belgium is similar to in the UK – a constitutional monarchy, no-mandate Prime Minister, an artifical union at the end of its useful life, one nation of the union subsidising the rest and a lack of concern as to whether the union breaks up or not.  What is different, however, is that Belgium is held up by Federal Europe as the perfect multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual union.  It is, in short, what the European Union wants to be when it grows up and that’s why the break-up of Belgium is so important to the majority of Europeans who don’t want to live in a Federal Europe.

The Basque Country is virtually independent now within Spain.  They have so much autonomy that there is virtually nothing that can be devolved from Spain other than foreign relations and defence.  It is only a matter of time before Basque declares unilateral independence from Spain.

Scotland is also on the verge of leaving the UK but it’s proving difficult for the SNP to convince the Scots to cut the apron strings and go it alone.  This is, I think, partly to do with the fact that they want to leave a union that they control and benefit from financially to a European Union in which they will be an irrelevance and will probably end up being a net contributor to.

Kosovo could be the key to independence for many nations in Europe and ultimately the dissolution of the European Union.  The UK, Italy, France and Germany have written to other EU member states asking them support Kosavan independence if they declare it.  Italy, France and Germany don’t have much to worry about from a precedent for recognising independence because they don’t have strong seperatist movements but the British government does.  There are two possible reasons why No Mandate Brown would support setting a precedent for recognising unilateral declarations of independence – either he thinks that he could take power in an independent Scotland or he really is stupid enough to think that the union will last beyond the next 10 years.

No matter what the reasons the powers that be have for supporting independence for Kosovo, it has the potential to give English people what they want – self-government (one way or the other) and the break-up of the Federal Europe.  For these reasons, every Englishman should actively support the Kosovan independence movement.  A vote for Kosovo is a vote for England!

Technorati Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Send him home!

November 20, 2007 Northern Ireland, WTF? 41 comments

A university lecturer who was banned by the Attorney General from taking legal action has found a way round the ban by launching another racial discrimination case in Northern Ireland.

The Hindu “Indian American” was named a vexatious litigant by the Attorney General after starting 40 discrimination cases against various universities and academic bodies in the US and UK. He has made almost £200,000 in compensation claims and cost the taxpayer around £1m.

According to the Daily Mail his modus operandi is to apply for jobs which he may or may not be qualified for and if he failed to get shortlisted then he will launch a racial discrimination case. Sometimes he will apply for a job in both his own name and also with a fake “white” name and if he failed to get shortlisted but his fake name did then he will launch a racial discrimination case.

Unfortunately, the ban doesn’t cover Northern Ireland as it has its own judiciary and so Suresh Deman has launched his latest spurious claim there. He has complained that he can’t get a job because they know about his reputation. When a journalist approached him about the banning order he threatened to sue them.

Deman is an American citizen, has no job, is clearly an undesirable immigrant and quite obviously unemployable. He is abusing the legal system with spurious and unfounded legal action against taxpayer-funded organisations to pay the bills. Why not send him home where they teach this sort of thing in primary school?

Technorati Technorati Tags: ,

Free care for the elederly in NI

May 29, 2007 Northern Ireland No comments

The Northern Irish government has voted to provide free personal care for the elderly in Northern Ireland from 2008 although the Northern Irish Health Minister says that the date in the bill isn’t binding on the Executive and that it is more likely to happen in 2010.

Personal care for the elderly is already free in Scotland and Wales paid for by the multi-billion pound annual subsidy the English taxpayer gives to the rest of the UK.

English pensioners will still have to sell their homes and assets and empty their bank accounts to pay for their personal care.

NI demonstrates the benefits of devolution

May 9, 2007 Anglophobia, Northern Ireland No comments

The Northern Ireland Assembly has only been reinstated for 2 days and already they’re demonstrating the benefits of devolution – benefits that we English are being denied by the anti-English, British establishment.

There is, of course, the “peace dividend” – a large pot of cash that the Tartan Taxman kindly donated from English taxes to sweeten the power-sharing deal.  Then there was the promise that water meters wouldn’t be introduced if power-sharing went ahead – NI remains on a water rates system which means they can use as much water as they want for the same flat fee.

The pope, the Queen and George Bush have all gushed about how wonderful it is that NI has gotten its own government back again and the province has made headlines all over the world.

The European Commission has announced that it is setting up a new taskforce to see how Northern Ireland can maximise its share of EU funding and pledged £600m for Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic counties on the border.

Re-opening Stormont for business is set to create a further 180 jobs in the short term in Assembly support staff.  More will follow as the workload ramps up.

These are just the immediate financial benefits – there is the additional benefit that the Northern Irish people will now be governed mostly by MLAs that they have elected to govern their province.  MPs from England, Scotland and Wales will no longer have a say in the day-to-day running of Northern Ireland and most of the money spent on Northern Ireland will now be spent by people interested in what is good for Northern Irleand, not the whole of the UK.

Giving devolution back to Northern Ireland without any thought for what the English want is a deep insult and may well be the straw that breaks the camels back.  How can the union continue to function when state-sponsored racism and discrimination is an integral part of the fabric of the British government?

Cut your cloth Paisley

March 23, 2007 Northern Ireland No comments

Ian Paisley has told the Tartan Taxman that the money he’s offering Northern Ireland isn’t enough.

Currently the Barnett Formula gives Northern Ireland an average of over £1,800 per head in central government funding straight from the English taxpayers pockets but this, Paisley claims, is not good enough.

Nor is the extra £1bn of English taxes that the Chancellor has pledged over an above the £35bn they have been allocated over the next 4 years.

The £1bn is being offered as a bribe to both sides to get them to agree to a devolution sttlement on the 26th March.  Peter Hain, the bigotted Northern Ireland Secretary, has also piled the pressure on with a promise to postpone a new law imposing water charges on Northern Ireland by 12 months as long as the devolution settlement is agreed to by the 26th.  The Scottish Raj has said that unless the settlement is agreed to they will dissolve the Stormont Assembly and maintain direct rule from Westminster.

What about us?

March 10, 2007 England, Northern Ireland, Tories 3 comments

Yesterday the people of Northern Ireland went to the polls to elect assembly members for the Stormont Assembly.

The DUP, under Reverend Ian Paisley, has taken the majority of votes with The IRA Sinn Féin in a fairly close second place.

All parties involved in the Northern Ireland Assembly have until the 25th of March to come to an agreement on power sharing or devolution won’t happen.  At least that’s what Tory Bliar has told them but there is no way in the world that the British government are going to go back on their pledge to restore devolution to Northern Ireland.

So where does that leave us, the people of England?  Well, it leaves us in precisely the same position that we currently find ourselves – the only nation in Federal Europe that has no direct political representation and the only part of the British Isles that doesn’t have its own government.  Scotland has its Parliament, Wales and Northern Ireland have their Assemblies, the Isle of Man has its own Parliament (the oldest in the world apparently), the Channel Islands have their own Parlaiments – even the Scottish Isles have more say over what happens in their little corner of the world than we do with their Islands Council.

Liebour has pledged to restore devolution to Northern Ireland, they pledged to bring devolution to Wales and Scotland but all they’ve pledged for England is to continue the current racist, undemocratic system of asymetric devolution with England ruled directly by the British government.  Of course, we’ve been offered devolution but with a big price to pay – the dissolution of England.  The only offer of devolved power in England is in the form of regional government, either by Regional Assemblies or City Regions, but its a price too high for most people in this country.

John Major has criticised the way England is being robbed blind and discriminated against by the Scottish Raj but it’s too little too late – he had his chance to do something about it when he was in charge of the country but he chose to do nothing.  Only now that it is looking increasingly like becoming the big election issue are the Tories looking to do something about it but even then they can’t bring themselves to give us what we want – an English Parliament.

Yesterday the Conservative MP for Dorset introduced the House of Commons (Participation) Bill which would have implemented the Tory policy of English Votes on English Legislation (EVoEL).  The EVoEL proposal would allow the Speaker of the House of Commons (currently a Scottish Labour MP – well, you wouldn’t expect anything else from King Tony would you?) to certify that a bill only affects England and Wales and ban MP’s elected in Scotland and Northern Ireland from debating and voting on it.  The bill was opposed and didn’t get a second reading with most opposition coming from what the Daily Mail describes as “hostile, mainly Scottish, MP’s”.  The fact that MP’s elected in Scotland are even allowed, let alone have the bare-faced gall, to take part in a debate on whether it is right that they should be allowed to interfere in English legislation only serves to emphasise the ridiculous mess that Liebour have made of devolution.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a supporter of EVoEL – it is an inherently fauly concept and will solve nothing – but it is at least an acknowledgement that there is a problem that needs addressing and should it ever miraculously get passed into the statute books it will fall on its face spectacularly and the only solution will be to introduce an English Parliament.

Thieving toads

December 12, 2006 Anglophobia, Britain, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales One comment

The New Labour election fund Barnett formula has been sending even more English money to our neighbours.

The Times has today published an article explaining exactly how much of our taxes goes to our thieving, subsidy junkie neighbours leaving our health service so underfunded that cancer patients are told to shut up and die because we can’t afford the treatments our taxes are paying for in Scotland and Wales.

The Chancellor – elected to a Scottish constituency – sets the rates for the Barnett Formula and has, once again, ensured that Scotland’s loyal Labour voters receive more money than those dastardly Tory voters in England.

UK government spending in Scotland was an average of £7,248 per head compared with only £6,361 per head in England.  The difference between spending in England and the rest of the UK has jumped significantly with Wales now receiving £7,248 per head and Northern Ireland £7,597.

The Scottish Parliament has the ability to vary income tax in Scotland to raise more revenue, thereby reducing the burden on the English taxpayer but this would cost valuable votes for Labour who have only a 66 seat majority in the British parliament with elections looming in May next year.

The Conservatives have responded with an attack on Labour for their discrimination against the English which they now accept is leading to the break-up of the union.

The SNP has responded with the “oor oil” argument, again ignoring the fact that a lot of it is actually “our oil” and in spite of figures showing that if Scotland received North Sea oil and gas revenues it would still have had a £3bn budget defecit.

Labour responded by saying the SNP figures on oild had been discredited.  Because that’s relevant.

Ian Paisley to be First Minister of NI?

December 4, 2006 Northern Ireland No comments

Sieg …

Reverend Ian Paisley, terrorist mouthpiece and sympathiser, says that he will accept the nomination of First Minister at Stormont if all his conditions are met.His conditions are that Sinn Féin prove that the IRA has been disbanded and its weapons decommissioned.

A war criminal heading up the British government and a terrorist heading up the Northern Irish Assembly.  Best learn the words to Starspangled Banner because the UK is fast becoming a rogue state.

81% of Sun readers want independence

November 28, 2006 Britain, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales 5 comments

Yesterday’s phone-in poll amongst Sun readers resulted in 81% of people saying they wanted English independence from the rest of the UK.

UK Dead

« Older Entries