New Years Message From Roger Knapman

mkpdavies · 03-01-2005, 02:25 PM

New Year Message
From UKIP Leader Roger Knapman MEP
Carolyn and I sincerely pray that you will have a very happy and productive 2005. If anyone deserves a good year, it is you, who have withstood disregard, disdain, slander, want of funds and frequently, as it seemed, of friends, and have stood firm. In 2004, we caught a glimpse of the rewards for such steadfastness and loyalty. In a series of elections, we humbled the established parties one by one, and moved for once and for all out of that irritating ‘others’ category and INTO phpbb_the history books.

It is no easy task to ‘knit your own’ political party from a popular movement whilst still in the thick of the battle. The glib might believe that all we now have to do is to stand before the microphones, spouting rhetoric as the cameras flash and the votes and the plaudits pour in, but there are copious amounts of research to be done, there are teams of trustworthy assistants and experts to be recruited (and untrustworthy to be purged), there are policies to be resolved, not on the hoof a la Tony Blair, nor simply in response to Daily Mail headlines (or lifted from us), a la Michael Howard, but credible policies which reflect our members’ views and will withstand exacting scrutiny.

This coming year, we have a huge amount to do. There is a General Election in prospect in which we must consolidate our many victories to date. We know that we have the supporters who yearn for the nation’s independence and are thoroughly disenchanted with the weary, cynical parties who tell the voters that they should continue to vote through habit rather than conviction. They must be persuaded that a vote for UKIP is a vote for a new order, whereas votes for all the other principal parties are in the truest sense wasted, because they are votes for no change.

Just consider a few of the headline-grabbing policies adopted by New Labour, and astonishingly by the Conservatives, over the past few weeks. They both believe in political union with Turkey! It is no surprise that New Labour, who believe in “big government”, should favour identity cards. The Conservatives have also gone down that route.

We have seen the defence of the realm compromised yet again by further amalgamation of traditional British fighting units. Geoff Hoon has spouted forth about economy, streamlining and ‘rationalisation’. The Tories have made feeble, token objections as our county regiments and their traditions are consigned to history, but they cannot really complain. They have been major players in the same process.

Neither side is prepared to admit that this has nothing to do with increased efficiency, but everything to do with conforming to the model of an EU army made up of units 1500 strong, in which no one nation state is permitted to be stronger than another. Neither side is prepared to admit that this process is organised on EU regional lines, with our irritating counties eradicated, so that the noble Gloucesters and the proud Devon and Dorset Regiment, for example, become subsumed in a ‘unit’ representing the ‘south west region’. The destruction of our historic regimental system is necessitated so we should be compatible with the new EU Defence Force and only UKIP will fight to retain our historic regiments.

Neither side is prepared so much as to consider, still less openly to state, that such enforced dependence upon other European states is strategic insanity, that, when once established as the status quo, it will be impossible for Britain ever again to stand alone or to fight for a cause which does not enjoy Qualified Majority support.

Initially, the absorption of Turkey will cost £9 billion, and it is our experience that Britain ends up paying a minimum 20 percent of any EU initiative, and plays host to a disproportionate number of the resultant migrants. UKIP believes in friendship and free trade with Turkey and values their role as a NATO ally. I am astonished and many Labour and Conservative voters will be similarly astounded that the two main parties advocate political union with Turkey. This is the measure that will cause the scales to fall from many people’s eyes.

Government knows more about us individually and collectively than at any time in the past and we have every reason to fear its control freak tendencies. UKIP will fight the traditional parties with regards to identity cards because it is on issues just like this that UKIP has to defend the rights of the ordinary citizen.

We have long since learned to consider apparently innocuous measures in context, and, in the context of the EU with its rapid defence force, its regulations inhibiting personal choice and invading privacy at every turn and its rejection of fundamental liberties such as that to trial by jury, the identity card should be regarded with the profoundest suspicion. One thing is clear. It will do precisely nothing to curb terrorism. Strong borders and efficient security forces are the best weapons against terrorists, and, as we have seen, our traditional parties reject both of these whilst clutching at the fig-leaf of the identity card.

Before the General Election is called, you will see the results of much of the work put in over the last few months. Nearly half of the British people do not bother to vote but we advocate referendums which will help many of them to reconnect with the democratic process. Our institutions have been under attack in recent years and we shall seek to restore pride and accountability to local government. We will also restore the House of Lords, which will be reformed and made respectable once again.

So let no-one tell you that a vote for UKIP is wasted. A vote for UKIP is a vote for self-determination, for a Britain ruled by Britons, for the restoration of freedom to a free people. The UK Independence Party is the only political party that believes in Great Britain and the national interest. We are the only party articulating the view that Britain should be strong, independent and free. On the assumption that we get a referendum on the EU Constitution, UKIP will play an increasingly important role in British politics in the months ahead.

Thank you for your support and here’s to even greater success in 2005 and our first Westminster MPs!

Happy New Year,

Roger Knapman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEXDRUM UP AND RUNNING

The new General Election Campaign offices at Lexdrum House near Newton Abbott are, frankly, magnificent. Certainly Millbank and Central Office have nothing so fine, spacious and modern to offer. David Lott and his team will be there full time in the build-up to the election, and all enquiries and information should be addressed to: david@dlott.wannado.co.uk or 01626-830041.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daily Press Digest

For members and supporters who have only recently signed up for e-mail bulletins, you may also wish to subscribe to the daily digest of the British newspapers which is prepared by the press office. It is of course free, and features EU and British political items which may be of interest. Rather than send to all unrequested, if you would like to receive it simply reply to this e-mail, changing the subject line to 'subscribe', and you will be added to the distribution list.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Candidates Weekend, Exeter

On 14th and 15th January, we will be holding a strategy weekend for prospective candidates and chairmen and women at the Loop Centre, Exeter. Dick Morris will be there to share his extensive international experience. This will not be a tedious round of speeches, but an opportunity for candidates to ask questions, practise media techniques, share experience and expertise, resolve strategies and get to know one another so that initiatives and skills can be shared nationwide. I very much look forward to seeing you all there, and hope that you will leave not only with your passion for the cause as high as ever but with the means and the will to further it, not merely as individuals in your own areas, but as members of a unified UKIP team.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scotland completes the jigsaw

Congratulations to George Cormack, who has set up a national party organisation for Scotland. This completes the jigsaw of the mainland UK. Every region in the kingdom save Ulster now has a full-time regional organiser. One of the achievements of which I am proudest during the past two years (during which, of course, we have, according to some, passed our time in eating lotuses) is that we have now established UKIP, formerly a largely southern-based pressure group, as a truly nationwide party. Please continue to do everything in your power to enhance communications and to share information and resources wherever possible.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regional Assemblies

Also in the course of January, we will be launching a new campaign against unrepresentative, unconstitutional and unwanted regional assemblies. Council Tax is already too high, yet our hard-earned money is taken without our will to finance another stratum of self-appointed, self-important, self-perpetuating fat-cat government, in brazen defiance of the principle of ‘no taxation without representation.’ We pay our taxes, too, either to Westminster for central British government or to our local councils for local services, not to have them converted INTO phpbb_funding for a Brussels initiative for which none of us has voted.

We will be writing to every councillor in Britain, urging them to oppose participation in this integrationist, alien scheme and to represent the will of their electorates instead. It is well within their power to initiate the winding up of Regional Assemblies which, as was triumphantly demonstrated in the north-east this autumn, are none of the British people’s wishing. Given the sneaky, somewhat shady nature of regional government to date, many might providently elect to resign before the excrement hits the ventilation system. Whatever their responses, we will be reporting them back to the nation, so that voters will know whether their representatives have the least interest in their wishes. If not, we will know what to do with them at the next elections.

In the meantime, we will be urging voters to get out onto the streets, to take every opportunity to appear on local television and radio and to let the nation know just what they think of regional assemblies and why. As our manifesto shows, we are entirely in favour of empowered local government with considerable discretionary powers, but that is directly representative government, not the imposition of another ruling class, dedicated to the service of Brussels.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

South East Asian Disaster

Finally, I am sure you will join me in sending our condolences to the people affected by the terrible disaster which has struck the countries of South Eastern Asia. The scale of the catastrophe, which has at the time of writing claimed in excess of 100,000 lives, puts our own troubles INTO phpbb_perspective.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepared and distributed by Mark Croucher, U.K. Independence Party/ID Group National Press Officer. ©2004 Mark Croucher

Carl Faulkner · 03-01-2005, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Daily Press Digest

For members and supporters who have only recently signed up for e-mail bulletins, you may also wish to subscribe to the daily digest of the British newspapers which is prepared by the press office. It is of course free, and features EU and British political items which may be of interest. Rather than send to all unrequested, if you would like to receive it simply reply to this e-mail, changing the subject line to 'subscribe', and you will be added to the distribution list.

Is it the feedback form which is used to sign-up?

http://www.ukip.org/index.php?menu=b...masterfeedback

mkpdavies · 03-01-2005, 04:20 PM

Send a subscribe message to mcroucher@ukippressoffice.demon.co.uk

doc_cruel · 03-01-2005, 06:00 PM

From UKIP Leader Roger Knapman MEP

I aint saying a thing! 8)

Just reading the message.... why the hell does he want a 'restored' house of Lords? I thought we stood for democracy and people's freedom - He moans about elected regional assemblies taking our hard earned cash but is fine with the Lords getting their hefty wage & London weighting?!

Having the country part run by a set of un-elected peers who're in power simply because of their family name is not what we as a country need nor what us as a party should be promoting!

Carl Faulkner · 03-01-2005, 06:40 PM

I too thought the HOL was not a democratic institution. But in a quirky British way it worked. What do we have now? Hand-picked cronies from all politiacal parties who do the bidding of the people who put them there.

What we have now is far more undemocratic...but even that is not enough for the socialist types. Total control is everything to them.

doc_cruel · 03-01-2005, 07:30 PM

House of commons more undemocratic then the house of Lords?

Maybe I'm missing something but how is minsters voted INTO phpbb_office by a majority of local constituant members less democratic then the house of Lords where a lot of the members are signed up for life simply as there's peerage within the family?

I accept the party system often means that the best guy for the job doesnt always get in but that's the nature of the process! But to give Life-time peers the same right as the commons to stop new laws? That's a joke and backfires on the party cliam that UKIP is the voice of the unspoken majority.

C_steam · 03-01-2005, 07:48 PM

Doc. One possible line of argument goes thus:-

House of commons - elected PARTY MP's - some (few) are free thinking, consult with their electorate and act accordingly. Most are in the business of politics for a career, and thus make their decisions based on the wishes of the leader of their party (through 'whipping' or their own choice) and/or to ingratiate themselves with the hope of higher office = higher salary = higher pension etc.

Accordingly undemocratic as they are not voting on behalf of their people.

'Old' House of lords. Rich, land owning gentry, generally old. No need for money, no need for power, no need to ingratiate themselves with anyone. Make voting decisions based on what they think is 'best' for britain as a whole. Familiar with old values of service and know that you can't flog a dead horse. Accordingly, in a way, more 'democratic' than the HOC. Tend to act as a 'dashpot' and dampen / even out the fluctuations of various government extremes.

algypug · 03-01-2005, 08:32 PM

Brilliant C_Steam !!!!!!!

doc_cruel · 03-01-2005, 09:31 PM

Hold the phone. The Lords are just as partisan as the commons the only difference is that they dont need to do anything for anyone else but themselves! The argument that the rich dont want to get richer certainly isn't true!

Giving un-elected lifetime peers the ultimate power to pass or stop laws such as what Knapman is claiming is stupid and bad for this country! What motivation would there be for them to act in the interests of anyone except themselves? They wouldn't - it's as simple as that! Just look at the way that they opposed the hunting bill even though the vast majority of us Brits supported it!

We'd live in a country of a few hundred mini Saddams.

Nic · 03-01-2005, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doc_cruel

Hold the phone. The Lords are just as partisan as the commons the only difference is that they dont need to do anything for anyone else but themselves! The argument that the rich dont want to get richer certainly isn't true!

Giving un-elected lifetime peers the ultimate power to pass or stop laws such as what Knapman is claiming is stupid and bad for this country! What motivation would there be for them to act in the interests of anyone except themselves? They wouldn't - it's as simple as that! Just look at the way that they opposed the hunting bill even though the vast majority of us Brits supported it!

We'd live in a country of a few hundred mini Saddams.

Relentlessly pursuing your anti-hunting rant is, frankly, flogging a dead horse (!!!).

Importantly, as for your last sentence, what do you mean "we'd be living in a country of a few hundred mini Saddams"? We already do.

Have you not read the Civil Contingencies Act? That is probably the single most extreme, totalitarian piece of legislation ever to be passed by Parliament in this country. If you, or any extreme hunt supporter, read that, you'd forget your (in comparision) trivial differences and concentrate on opposing it.

It allows the Government simply to proclaim that pro- or anti- anything is a potential danger to this country and prevent you from airing your views, even on a forum like this. What's more, if they can imprison you for it. All it takes is for Bliar to decide that you're subversive.

03-01-2005, 02:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 31,034 Party: Libertarian Party	New Years Message From Roger Knapman New Year Message From UKIP Leader Roger Knapman MEP Carolyn and I sincerely pray that you will have a very happy and productive 2005. If anyone deserves a good year, it is you, who have withstood disregard, disdain, slander, want of funds and frequently, as it seemed, of friends, and have stood firm. In 2004, we caught a glimpse of the rewards for such steadfastness and loyalty. In a series of elections, we humbled the established parties one by one, and moved for once and for all out of that irritating ‘others’ category and INTO phpbb_the history books. It is no easy task to ‘knit your own’ political party from a popular movement whilst still in the thick of the battle. The glib might believe that all we now have to do is to stand before the microphones, spouting rhetoric as the cameras flash and the votes and the plaudits pour in, but there are copious amounts of research to be done, there are teams of trustworthy assistants and experts to be recruited (and untrustworthy to be purged), there are policies to be resolved, not on the hoof a la Tony Blair, nor simply in response to Daily Mail headlines (or lifted from us), a la Michael Howard, but credible policies which reflect our members’ views and will withstand exacting scrutiny. This coming year, we have a huge amount to do. There is a General Election in prospect in which we must consolidate our many victories to date. We know that we have the supporters who yearn for the nation’s independence and are thoroughly disenchanted with the weary, cynical parties who tell the voters that they should continue to vote through habit rather than conviction. They must be persuaded that a vote for UKIP is a vote for a new order, whereas votes for all the other principal parties are in the truest sense wasted, because they are votes for no change. Just consider a few of the headline-grabbing policies adopted by New Labour, and astonishingly by the Conservatives, over the past few weeks. They both believe in political union with Turkey! It is no surprise that New Labour, who believe in “big government”, should favour identity cards. The Conservatives have also gone down that route. We have seen the defence of the realm compromised yet again by further amalgamation of traditional British fighting units. Geoff Hoon has spouted forth about economy, streamlining and ‘rationalisation’. The Tories have made feeble, token objections as our county regiments and their traditions are consigned to history, but they cannot really complain. They have been major players in the same process. Neither side is prepared to admit that this has nothing to do with increased efficiency, but everything to do with conforming to the model of an EU army made up of units 1500 strong, in which no one nation state is permitted to be stronger than another. Neither side is prepared to admit that this process is organised on EU regional lines, with our irritating counties eradicated, so that the noble Gloucesters and the proud Devon and Dorset Regiment, for example, become subsumed in a ‘unit’ representing the ‘south west region’. The destruction of our historic regimental system is necessitated so we should be compatible with the new EU Defence Force and only UKIP will fight to retain our historic regiments. Neither side is prepared so much as to consider, still less openly to state, that such enforced dependence upon other European states is strategic insanity, that, when once established as the status quo, it will be impossible for Britain ever again to stand alone or to fight for a cause which does not enjoy Qualified Majority support. Initially, the absorption of Turkey will cost £9 billion, and it is our experience that Britain ends up paying a minimum 20 percent of any EU initiative, and plays host to a disproportionate number of the resultant migrants. UKIP believes in friendship and free trade with Turkey and values their role as a NATO ally. I am astonished and many Labour and Conservative voters will be similarly astounded that the two main parties advocate political union with Turkey. This is the measure that will cause the scales to fall from many people’s eyes. Government knows more about us individually and collectively than at any time in the past and we have every reason to fear its control freak tendencies. UKIP will fight the traditional parties with regards to identity cards because it is on issues just like this that UKIP has to defend the rights of the ordinary citizen. We have long since learned to consider apparently innocuous measures in context, and, in the context of the EU with its rapid defence force, its regulations inhibiting personal choice and invading privacy at every turn and its rejection of fundamental liberties such as that to trial by jury, the identity card should be regarded with the profoundest suspicion. One thing is clear. It will do precisely nothing to curb terrorism. Strong borders and efficient security forces are the best weapons against terrorists, and, as we have seen, our traditional parties reject both of these whilst clutching at the fig-leaf of the identity card. Before the General Election is called, you will see the results of much of the work put in over the last few months. Nearly half of the British people do not bother to vote but we advocate referendums which will help many of them to reconnect with the democratic process. Our institutions have been under attack in recent years and we shall seek to restore pride and accountability to local government. We will also restore the House of Lords, which will be reformed and made respectable once again. So let no-one tell you that a vote for UKIP is wasted. A vote for UKIP is a vote for self-determination, for a Britain ruled by Britons, for the restoration of freedom to a free people. The UK Independence Party is the only political party that believes in Great Britain and the national interest. We are the only party articulating the view that Britain should be strong, independent and free. On the assumption that we get a referendum on the EU Constitution, UKIP will play an increasingly important role in British politics in the months ahead. Thank you for your support and here’s to even greater success in 2005 and our first Westminster MPs! Happy New Year, Roger Knapman -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEXDRUM UP AND RUNNING The new General Election Campaign offices at Lexdrum House near Newton Abbott are, frankly, magnificent. Certainly Millbank and Central Office have nothing so fine, spacious and modern to offer. David Lott and his team will be there full time in the build-up to the election, and all enquiries and information should be addressed to: david@dlott.wannado.co.uk or 01626-830041. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Press Digest For members and supporters who have only recently signed up for e-mail bulletins, you may also wish to subscribe to the daily digest of the British newspapers which is prepared by the press office. It is of course free, and features EU and British political items which may be of interest. Rather than send to all unrequested, if you would like to receive it simply reply to this e-mail, changing the subject line to 'subscribe', and you will be added to the distribution list. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Candidates Weekend, Exeter On 14th and 15th January, we will be holding a strategy weekend for prospective candidates and chairmen and women at the Loop Centre, Exeter. Dick Morris will be there to share his extensive international experience. This will not be a tedious round of speeches, but an opportunity for candidates to ask questions, practise media techniques, share experience and expertise, resolve strategies and get to know one another so that initiatives and skills can be shared nationwide. I very much look forward to seeing you all there, and hope that you will leave not only with your passion for the cause as high as ever but with the means and the will to further it, not merely as individuals in your own areas, but as members of a unified UKIP team. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scotland completes the jigsaw Congratulations to George Cormack, who has set up a national party organisation for Scotland. This completes the jigsaw of the mainland UK. Every region in the kingdom save Ulster now has a full-time regional organiser. One of the achievements of which I am proudest during the past two years (during which, of course, we have, according to some, passed our time in eating lotuses) is that we have now established UKIP, formerly a largely southern-based pressure group, as a truly nationwide party. Please continue to do everything in your power to enhance communications and to share information and resources wherever possible. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regional Assemblies Also in the course of January, we will be launching a new campaign against unrepresentative, unconstitutional and unwanted regional assemblies. Council Tax is already too high, yet our hard-earned money is taken without our will to finance another stratum of self-appointed, self-important, self-perpetuating fat-cat government, in brazen defiance of the principle of ‘no taxation without representation.’ We pay our taxes, too, either to Westminster for central British government or to our local councils for local services, not to have them converted INTO phpbb_funding for a Brussels initiative for which none of us has voted. We will be writing to every councillor in Britain, urging them to oppose participation in this integrationist, alien scheme and to represent the will of their electorates instead. It is well within their power to initiate the winding up of Regional Assemblies which, as was triumphantly demonstrated in the north-east this autumn, are none of the British people’s wishing. Given the sneaky, somewhat shady nature of regional government to date, many might providently elect to resign before the excrement hits the ventilation system. Whatever their responses, we will be reporting them back to the nation, so that voters will know whether their representatives have the least interest in their wishes. If not, we will know what to do with them at the next elections. In the meantime, we will be urging voters to get out onto the streets, to take every opportunity to appear on local television and radio and to let the nation know just what they think of regional assemblies and why. As our manifesto shows, we are entirely in favour of empowered local government with considerable discretionary powers, but that is directly representative government, not the imposition of another ruling class, dedicated to the service of Brussels. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South East Asian Disaster Finally, I am sure you will join me in sending our condolences to the people affected by the terrible disaster which has struck the countries of South Eastern Asia. The scale of the catastrophe, which has at the time of writing claimed in excess of 100,000 lives, puts our own troubles INTO phpbb_perspective. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prepared and distributed by Mark Croucher, U.K. Independence Party/ID Group National Press Officer. ©2004 Mark Croucher __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

03-01-2005, 04:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
mkpdavies Uber Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Woking Posts: 31,034 Party: Libertarian Party	Send a subscribe message to mcroucher@ukippressoffice.demon.co.uk __________________ http://brits4ronpaul.blogspot.com/ http://wokinglibertarians.blogspot.com/ http://lpuk.org My ignore list Labour, Blue Labour, Lib Dems

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03-01-2005, 06:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
doc_cruel Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 213	From UKIP Leader Roger Knapman MEP I aint saying a thing! 8) Just reading the message.... why the hell does he want a 'restored' house of Lords? I thought we stood for democracy and people's freedom - He moans about elected regional assemblies taking our hard earned cash but is fine with the Lords getting their hefty wage & London weighting?! Having the country part run by a set of un-elected peers who're in power simply because of their family name is not what we as a country need nor what us as a party should be promoting!

03-01-2005, 06:40 PM	#5 (permalink)
Carl Faulkner Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 352	I too thought the HOL was not a democratic institution. But in a quirky British way it worked. What do we have now? Hand-picked cronies from all politiacal parties who do the bidding of the people who put them there. What we have now is far more undemocratic...but even that is not enough for the socialist types. Total control is everything to them.

03-01-2005, 07:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
doc_cruel Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 213	House of commons more undemocratic then the house of Lords? Maybe I'm missing something but how is minsters voted INTO phpbb_office by a majority of local constituant members less democratic then the house of Lords where a lot of the members are signed up for life simply as there's peerage within the family? I accept the party system often means that the best guy for the job doesnt always get in but that's the nature of the process! But to give Life-time peers the same right as the commons to stop new laws? That's a joke and backfires on the party cliam that UKIP is the voice of the unspoken majority.

03-01-2005, 07:48 PM	#7 (permalink)
C_steam Super Moderator Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Paddling up 5hit creek..... Posts: 7,786	Doc. One possible line of argument goes thus:- House of commons - elected PARTY MP's - some (few) are free thinking, consult with their electorate and act accordingly. Most are in the business of politics for a career, and thus make their decisions based on the wishes of the leader of their party (through 'whipping' or their own choice) and/or to ingratiate themselves with the hope of higher office = higher salary = higher pension etc. Accordingly undemocratic as they are not voting on behalf of their people. 'Old' House of lords. Rich, land owning gentry, generally old. No need for money, no need for power, no need to ingratiate themselves with anyone. Make voting decisions based on what they think is 'best' for britain as a whole. Familiar with old values of service and know that you can't flog a dead horse. Accordingly, in a way, more 'democratic' than the HOC. Tend to act as a 'dashpot' and dampen / even out the fluctuations of various government extremes.

03-01-2005, 08:32 PM	#8 (permalink)
algypug Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 254	Brilliant C_Steam !!!!!!!

03-01-2005, 09:31 PM	#9 (permalink)
doc_cruel Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 213	Hold the phone. The Lords are just as partisan as the commons the only difference is that they dont need to do anything for anyone else but themselves! The argument that the rich dont want to get richer certainly isn't true! Giving un-elected lifetime peers the ultimate power to pass or stop laws such as what Knapman is claiming is stupid and bad for this country! What motivation would there be for them to act in the interests of anyone except themselves? They wouldn't - it's as simple as that! Just look at the way that they opposed the hunting bill even though the vast majority of us Brits supported it! We'd live in a country of a few hundred mini Saddams.