SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT MOTION SALUTES MEBYON KERNOW SUCCESS

An SNP member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) has proposed a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating Mebyon Kernow, the Party for Cornwall on their election result in the local authority elections.

Kenneth Gibson, a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) representing the constituency of Cunninghame North, introduced the motion on the 9th July 2009.

The motion also supports MK's call for the establishment of a Cornish Assembly.

The full text of the motion can be found below.

S3M-04321 Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (Scottish National Party):

Mebyon Kernow, The Party for Cornwall

"That the Parliament congratulates Mebyon Kernow (MK), the Party for Cornwall, on winning three seats in the 4 June 2009 local authority elections, three more than the Labour party; considers Cornwall to be a unique and historic nation with its own culture, traditions and Celtic language, Kernowek, now undergoing a revival; considers that MK is a progressive party campaigning for greater Cornish self-government and a just, fair, sustainable, prosperous, more confident, inclusive and outward-looking Cornwall; supports MK's call for the establishment of a Cornish assembly, and wishes it every success in fighting for a better deal for all the people of Cornwall."

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Bella Caledonia on a 'British' Football Team.

"England will run out at Hampden Park representing ‘Britain’ in 2012. What a depressing end to Gordon Browns dreadful attempt to stoke up Britpop-New Labour and the Imperial End Game at the fag-end of Blighty. Thatcher, Blair and now Brown are the haggard smokers outside the pub still heaving away at the last fag of British identity. This is the last shameful wheezzie gasp, achievable only by the self-colonisation and collusion of the Scottish Football Association."

The full article from the above link is excellent. Highly recommended. JOE

Calman shows the limitations of British rule

Letter to the Editor
The Scotsman

11/06/2009

Sir,

So Sir Kenneth Calman's unionist commission has decided the future of
devolution. Rather than have a 3p rate that no-one wants to use, instead
we will get a 10p rate that no-one wants to use. What a visionary man
Sir Kenneth must be!

As we all know Calman's commission was set up by the unionist parties to
preserve the status quo. That is exactly what this proposal is intended
to achieve.

Is this is the best deal Britain can offer Scotland? If so it shows the
limitations of a continued union between three and a quarter countries
with very different political positions.

We Scots will eventually have a choice on the one logical option that
Calman has desperately tried to avoid. That choice is the normal
national and international powers of independence.

Calman's commission has proven that there is not one iota of national
pride or genuine Scottish interest in any of the British parties.

While this won't come as any shock to anyone, it will not stop the
ongoing rise of the SNP who are much clearer about the country whose
interests they represent.

Yours faithfully,

JOE MIDDLETON

SNP plan for independence is the only chance to avoid Tory Government

Letter to the Editor
The Herald

11/06/2009

Sir,

I note that in today's edition of the Herald, when reporting on the SNP
and Plaid Cymru's call to dissolve the UK parliament, that your reporter
claims that Labour's Peter Hain "scored a direct hit" on the SNP's Pete
Wishart when he claimed the real SNP agenda was to get a Tory
government.

You report: Mr Wishart said the last thing Scotland wanted was a
Conservative government. "Is he then saying he prefers a Labour
government?" asked Mr Hain.

If this represents a 'direct hit' it is on the logic of your paper's
pro-union position not on the policies or position of the SNP.

The SNP support independence for Scotland. Labour support the Union. It
is very clear from the English local elections and the European
elections that Labour cannot possibly win against The Conservatives in
England.

We are therefore looking at the almost certain prospect of a UK
Conservative Government, even if they actually have a minority of
support.

This is partly because Labour has upheld the discredited First Past the
Post system but mainly because they have wasted their entire term in
Government by pandering to the rich rather than supporting their 'ain
folk'.

Independence offers an opportunity to escape right wing Government from
England whether by the Labour or Conservative party. Mr Hain is a
hypocrite and his party is dead in the water.

This new situation is something your paper might want to wake up to if
it wishes to remain relevant to the people of Scotland.

Yours faithfully,

Joe Middleton

MEBYON KERNOW OUTPOLL LABOUR IN CORNWALL

Mebyon Kernow polls 7% in Cornwall and pushes the Labour Party into sixth place

Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall has achieved its best-ever ‘national’ election result in the elections to the European Parliament. MK polled 11,534 votes (7% of the total) in the Cornwall part of the South West Euro-constituency, pushing the Labour Party into sixth place in the Duchy.

In many places in Mid and West Cornwall, MK was polling over 10%. When votes from the Isles of Scilly, Gibraltar and throughout the massive South West seat (including Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire) were added in, the MK total finished at 14,922.
Party Leader Cllr Dick Cole, who has just been elected onto Cornwall Council, described the result as a fantastic one for MK. He said: “Achieving 7% of the vote in Cornwall and out-polling the Labour Party is a truly fantastic result for Mebyon Kernow and we would like to thank the thousands of people who voted for the Party for Cornwall.

“MK fully accepts that the odds were heavily stacked against us in this contest. But we are a party of principle and we stood in this election because we wanted to give local people the opportunity to vote for Cornwall.

“We are even more pleased with the result given that we were denied fair access to television broadcasts and there was a general lack of election coverage in the local press in Cornwall.”
In order to be allowed party election broadcasts, MK would have had to stand candidates in nine regions. Due to this unfair arrangement, MK were denied media coverage, though many minor parties including the BNP, Christian Party, the Jury Team, Libertas, No2EU and Socialist Labour were allowed coverage.

The Green Party and UKIP were both allowed two European election broadcasts, as well as one each for the local elections. MK had more local election candidates than the Greens and UKIP but were not allowed coverage because we do not stand outside of Cornwall.

At the same time, there was very little coverage of the European election in local newspapers and MK had little opportunity to feature on reports on local television.

Mebyon Kernow – the Party for Cornwall can also confirm that it will be making representations to recover the £5,000 deposit that it was forced to pay to stand in the Euro-elections.

Cllr Dick Cole added:

“Parties polling over 2.5% of the vote automatically get the deposit back. As a Cornish Party, we only campaigned in Cornwall and polled 7% of the votes cast in Cornwall, though in the massive South West seat this equates to 1% of the overall poll.

“We are a unique party and it is hardly our fault that we have to stand in a massive constituency of which Cornwall makes up only 10%.

“As we only distributed literature within Cornwall, we believe that there is a strong moral case for the money to be returned to MK to support our ongoing campaigns for a better deal for the people of Cornwall.”

The main results of the European Election in Cornwall was as follows:

Conservative Party 46,589
UKIP 39,954
Liberal Democrats 29,436
Green Party 13,361
Mebyon Kernow 11,534
Labour Party 8,483

PHENOMENAL WIN FOR SNP IN EURO ELECTIONS

Ian Hudghton - returned with Alyn Smith as SNP Euro MP's as SNP reach a historic high in terms of the popular vote.

from the Scotsman

SNP 321,007 (29.06%)

LABOUR 229,853 (20.81%)

CON 185,794 (16.82%)

LD 127,038 (11.50%)

GREEN 80,442 (7.28%)

LABOUR suffered a mauling at the hands of the SNP as disastrous European election results across the UK dealt another shattering blow to Gordon Brown's insistence that he will not step down as Prime Minister.

After all but one of the results had been declared, the SNP was heading for about 29 per cent of the popular vote in Scotland, well ahead of Labour, which had around 21 per cent. However, Labour held on to its two seats.

The SNP also took two seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on one each.

Full results are here

From the Daily Record

SNP claim Euro victory after humiliating Labour in elections
Jun 8 2009

THE SNP beat Labour into a humiliating second place in Scotland today in the European elections.

The final results gave the parties two seats each, while the Tories and Liberal Democrats each picked up one.

But the full scale of the Labour reverse was shown in the percentage share of the vote. The SNP secured 29.1% of Scottish votes, with Labour on 20.8% and the Tories on 16.8%.

The Liberal Democrats achieved 11.5%, the Greens 7.3%, and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) 5.2%.

The BNP trailed on 2.5%.

It is the first time the SNP has topped the poll in a European election in Scotland and comes two years after the Nationalists secured power in the Scottish Parliament.

On the basis of the European Parliament voting figures, the SNP would come first in 22 Scottish council areas, the Tories in four, the Liberal Democrats in three - and Labour also reduced to just three.

The Scottish results were announced on the city's historic Royal Mile where candidates gathered on the Mercat Cross outside the city chambers.

Newly-returned SNP MEP Ian Hudghton welcomed the "fantastic result".

He told supporters: "The SNP said the target was to win the election - we've won the election.

"This is a fantastic result for the SNP and a ringing endorsement of our success in government.

"It's a vote of confidence in our record speaking up for Scottish interests in the European Parliament."

The party won 22 of the 32 local authority areas in Scotland, Mr Hudghton told activists on the Royal Mile.

"We've won in the south, east, west, north and central belt," he said.

"Communities across Scotland have stood up and given us their confidence in our ability to lead Scotland forward."

He pledged to work with the Nationalist Government at Holyrood as well as businesses and communities throughout Scotland to promote the country's interests in Europe.

He added: "We will also work to take Scotland to the normal status of independence for this nation."

LABOUR COUNCIL ELECTION WIPE OUT IN ENGLAND

While we await the news of the European elections on Sunday, the council elections in England make interesting reading:

LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS

Party Councillors

LAB 176 (-273)
CON 1476 (+233)
LIB DEM 473 (-4)
OTH 167 (+ 37)

Labour now control no councils in England, so what was the point of their move to the right 'to convince middle England'? Clearly all Brown's faux British efforts including dressing the England football team in a Union Jack for the Olympics hasn't helped him one bit.

English Democrats move rightwards

The English Democrats (who support a English parliament, and some rather unsavoury right wing policies it looks like from their website) also picked up a Mayor and a few council seats.

Here's their 'policies':

Immigration

England is the third most densely populated country in the world and the most densely populated country in Europe. We don't have space or resources to permit more large scale immigration. We say mass immigration must be ended. We would deport illegal immigrants and all those who are extremists, terrorists and criminals. We would get control of our immigration systems by leaving the EU!

English Identity

We demand the right to enjoy and celebrate our Englishness. We say that pride in our Country and community is healthy and natural. This is why we call for an English First Minister, Government and Parliament with at least the same powers as the Scottish ones!

EU

English Democrats advocate withdrawal from the European Union (EU) and rejoining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) , which will guarantee free trade with the EU but will free us from EU political rule and save us its £63 billion per year cost!

Political Correctness

It is time common sense prevailed. The various quangos promoting political correctness should be closed and those laws promoting political correctness repealed. We want English freedoms and values, not multiculturalism.

Shades of UKIP and the Tories it sounds like, if not the BNP with that last bit. A progressive English nationalist party looks a long way off but that is hardly a shock.