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| There are several parties that you can vote for in this years 2004 European Elections. I have given them a rating out of ten. They are: Conservative Party The Conservatives basically want to be "in Europe but not run by Europe". As such they are against the European Constitution and want to call a referendum as soon as possible. They want to reform CAP (which is very good), but are against the Euro (which is bad in the long term). They are serious about tackling fraud in the EU. The party is generally united behind its leader, Michael Howard. Verdict: 8. The Tories are probably your best bet. Labour Party Labour backs the European Constitution and will hold a referendum. Most of the party supports UK entry into the Euro, but says it will hold a referendum once the so called five economic tests have been met. In fact Labour want to hold a referendum on almost all issues of European policy, which in gerneral is a bad thing as most of the voters don't have the first idea what they are voting about. There are large splits in the Labour party, which means they cannot be trusted to hold to any of their promises. I voted for them in the last general election (as there was no-one else to vote for), but I would never do so again. Their general attitude of instilling a sense of 'why bother when someone else will eventually do it' is sapping the Britishness from this country. An they are want to walk over the ancient heritage of the country to satisfy the Labour left - scrapping the Lord High Chancellor with no proper alternative is a strong example. They have also wrecked Britain's image with half the world abroad. Verdict: 5. A party of broken promises and is now becoming dangerous to Britain. Liberal Democrats The Lib Dems are the most pro-Europe of all the main parties. They are generally a sap to the European Liberal Democrats party which contains the likes of the French Radical Party and the Spanish Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya (a Catalonian succesionist party). These are generally dangerous because they insist that the EU takes control of every single social issue there is, and in a way that makes it impossible to actually get anything done. The Lib Dems also want to increase government spending and borrowing: money the general public will never to be able to tell if it's been spent. Verdict: 4. Aligned with the wrong people. UK Independence Party They want the UK to withdraw from the EU and form a trading group similar to the ones that Iceland, Norway and Mexico belong to. They are in no way related to the BNP. However, Britain's future does not lie outside the EU. Verdict: 3. Living in their own world. Green Party Claim to have been against the Iraq war from the start. Wants immediate withdrawal of British troops from the region. But what would that achieve? Blindly holding to the view one has at the start of something and then refusing to adapt as the situation changes is not the sign of a forward thinking party. The rest of the Green's policies basically involve crippling the British economy to be unilateraly nice to the environment. Verdict: 2. Haven't got a clue. Scottish National Party Committed to an independent Scotland within the EU. Critical of EU fishing policy. Must not have read the in-depth study carried out by the Royal Bank of Scotland that found that Scotland could not survive economically without the rest of the UK, even if it had all the North Sea oil. Verdict: 1. Dangerous to the whole of the UK. Plaid Cymru Want an independent Wales. Why? Verdict: 0. Pointless. British National Party A bunch of racist thugs. Verdict: -1. Don't even think about it. |