06 February 2008

Don't Ditch Dan

Conservative MEP Dan Hannan is under a bit of pressure and may face expulsion fro the EPP following some rather robust remarks which draw comparisons between a change within the EU Parliament and an event in Nazi Germany in 1933. I hope Dan Hannan is not subjected to some sort of witch hunt because he chose to express himself in the way that he did. There needs to be a factual analysis of his comments to examine whether there is any ring of truth in what he said. If there is a legitimate factual comparison between the situation now and the historic reference Dan Hannan is making, then any punishment will mean that our political system is turning a blind eye to the lessons of history. The facts from Dan’s perspective seem to be:

1. In 1933 the Enabling Act was passed in the Reichstag allowing the then Government to enact laws without further involvement of the Reichstag.

2. In 2008, the Authorities at the EU were grated the right to change rules within the parliament, at will, in order to stifle a legitimate, polite protest by Eurosceptic MEPs.

Dan Hannan is not daft (evidenced by his blog), but he is someone that the bureaucrats within the EU would have an interest in stifling because of his excellent service to the Eurosceptic cause. The treatment of Roger Helmer MEP is evidence that the EU institution does not like opposition.

As Dan quite rightly suggests, this provides more evidence than anyone could ask for that the EU needs opposition from within; the Conservative withdrawal from the EPP cannot happen soon enough.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Man in a Shed said...

I'm not sure if I'll be able to vote Conservative at the European elections if we are still members of the EPP.

Perhaps that means I'll have to leave the party.

Frankly I've had enough promises and recommendations to be patient. I need to see the colour of peoples money now.

4:03 PM  

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