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Coalition's Europe failure: One year on

Wednesday, 11th May 2011

When the Coalition signed their Rose Garden love pact a year ago the agreement included their 10-point dysfunctional plan for Europe, writes UKIP Leader Nigel Farage.

Cameron and Clegg made grand promises, they said that 'no further powers should be transferred to Brussels without a referendum'. So how have they fared? Have they indeed been 'protecting our national sovereignty'?
 
They promised to work on global warming and global poverty, and they have succeeded in ring fencing the budget for International aid while cutting police, the military and domestic services at home. They have also pushed for strengthening the targets on Climate Change ensuring massive extra costs to the British taxpayer.
 
They claimed that no further sovereignty would move to Brussels, but have accepted that the EU is to take a place at the UN, and is handing over data on British passengers to the EU authorities. They claimed that they would, "examine the balance of the EU’s existing competences and will, in particular, work to limit the application of the Working Time Directive (WTD)". The WTD is still fully in place and is causing massive disruption within the NHS and elsewhere. The BMA, the Royal College of Surgeons, the Nurses, the midwives all agree and the coalition has done, and can do nothing to help. The balance of EU regulation keeps stacking up in Europe's favour, with this Government as a willing accomplice, bar boasting that they won't fly the EU flag on Europe day.
 
They called for a Referendum Lock and a Sovereignty Bill to stop new Treaties. These have been enacted, but the Government still decides whether the lock comes into force and despite amendments to the EU Treaties has not offered the promised referendum.
 
They promise not to join the Euro. Big deal. A paper tiger, they might as well have promised not to slaughter the first born.
 
The promised that they would "strongly defend the UK’s national interests in the forthcoming EU budget negotiations and agree that the EU budget should only focus on those areas where the EU can add value".
 
By agreeing to a 2.9% increase in our contributions despite promising to Parliament and the Country that there would be no increase, resulting in an increase for every household of £400 (and going along with the former Government's agreement to tie Britain to the ongoing series of EU bailouts which has already cost more than all the governments reductions in public spending.
 
They claim that on Justice and Home affairs they will judge new European Law on "a case-by-case basis". This is true, they have opted into every single one that has been presented to them. One of the first acts of the Coalition was to opt in to the European Investigation Order which compels British police forces to act on the orders of foreign police forces, with or without primary evidence, and even for actions which are not criminal act in the UK. How the Government can claim this is a strengthening of British civil liberties escapes me. The Government has also caved into demands from the ECHR (which is compulsory within the EU) to allow votes for prisoners, against the wishes of the British people and even the House of Commons.
 
They support the further enlargement of the EU. This is true, the coalition support Turkey joining the EU which in the fullness of time will allow 90 million Turks to have access to Britain, its welfare system and it jobs. Result.

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