|
Dear
Sir,
Mr.
Martin Bell’s decision to stand as a candidate for the European
elections is welcome as all of us respect the right of anyone to contest
elections in a democracy.
However,
his reasons standing need close scrutiny:-
1.
He claims that "vast sums of taxpayers’ money are sunk into
projects of such Euro-complexity that the accountants refuse to sign off
on them and only the European Parliament (EP) can hold them directly to
account" and connects this problem with the salaries and expenses of
MEPs to suggest that politics in the EP is failing.
2.
He claims that the Proportional Representation (PR) system of
choosing the MEPs breaks the constituency link offered by the previously
used "first past the post" system as used in Westminster and if
he were to stand as an independent candidate then this would "change,
at least in the Eastern region".
3.
He claims that he will "have a website but no
headquarters" and "it should be possible to run a successful
campaign through the Internet, free media and word of mouth" and so
he urges "people to send no money".
4.
He claims that he "shall be disappointed if we spend more than
£500" as "politics doesn’t have to be a miserable,
number-crunching, door-stepping, envelope-stuffing trawl for every
reluctant last vote in the fading twilight of democracy. It can be
fun".
Mr.
Bell must understand that 50% of the EU's £60bn budget goes to the Common
Agricultural Policy (CAP) over which the European Parliament has no
jurisdiction! The EU Treaty gives member states and the European
Commission the power to allocate, monitor and check how these funds are
disbursed. For the rest of the budget, the EP does demand from the
Commission accountability but it does not always succeed because the
Commission continues to have the power to deny access to vital documents.
Mr.
Bell, like the handful of independent MEPs we have in the EP, will not
change anything as he will neither have the position of influence nor the
force of a political group in the Parliament to challenge the Commission.
Mr.
Bell’s election will neither force the Blair government to change PR nor
will it enable him to represent any one county out of six counties
(Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire)
that constitute Eastern Region with a population of 5.4 million. I am in a
team of four Conservative MEPs and we have divided the region into four
areas in an attempt to establish some form of constituency link for the
electorate. I focus on Norfolk and Suffolk which has 15 Westminster
constituencies - but legally I also have serve constituents in the other
four counties.
Mr.
Bell claims that he neither needs money nor a campaign base as he can
access and be accessed using a website and e-mail. But what is he going to
do in the unlikely event that he is elected. How does he expect to keep in
touch with the people who have sent him to the Parliament? I have
difficulty informing all Conservative Party members, never mind the
electorate at large, about my activities because of financial constraints.
If Mr Bell intends to "communicate" with the 5.4million
constituents electronically, then how can he claim to have a direct link
with the people he says do not know their existing MEPs?
In
the past five years that I have been an MEP in Eastern Region, I have been
happy to be door-stepping, envelope-stuffing and speaking directly to as
many people as I can. It costs a lot more than £500 to do this. It allows
the constituent to judge me for what I am and what I do for them. On the
basis of my record of performance, I am able to respond with confidence
and evidence.
This
is why I think Mr. Bell, as an independent candidate, has misjudged his
importance in Brussels. It is also why I have no fear of putting my name
forward as one of a team of Conservative candidates eager to serve Eastern
Region. In my case, I shall continue to focus on Norfolk and Suffolk if I
am elected.
Bashir
Khanbhai MEP
|
