So. There's an election tomorrow: time for my political broadcast!
This isn't a general election; it isn't an opinion poll about the government at Westminster, it isn't even a vote on whether you want the UK to be in the European Union, or want to vote UKIP to give some politician somewhere a kicking. It's a vote for an MEP, to sit in the European Parliament and make policies and laws. A referendum about being in Europe, or whether Scotland should be part of the UK, would be another time.
The main thrust of the laws and policies of the EU are to make a level playing field for business across Europe, so, the laws that control businesses that are otherwise obliged to act just for profit - like environmental laws, employment rights, import and export rates and controls - are the same, and match the power of international businesses who might otherwise play one country against another. This level playing field also makes it easier for smaller businesses to operate across borders in Europe. The aim is not only to make one market for business, but also for workers and spenders, which means we can work anywhere in Europe, and spend money anywhere in Europe online without paying import tax, and sell things without paying another import tax. Not just online, but in person too, and that includes easy travel and holidays anywhere in Europe. All such laws have been agreed by every country, unanimously, who are members of the European Union, and they're the same for everyone in Europe. Whichever MEPs are voted in will be working on this until any time the constitution of Europe says not.
So it's for this I'm voting. The person who might continue to make laws that make for easy holidays without paying visas; that mean that next year phone calls and data on my mobile will cost the same on holiday in Europe as at home; that protect the birds and habitats such as the Severn Estuary, Chew Valley Lake, the Exe Estuary, and the ones where I've visited in France, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere; the laws that set the standards on beaches in Spain in the same way as the beaches in Cornwall; laws that have improved the air we breath, reduced acid rain, and stopped the spread of diseases that don't really stop at borders, and laws that protect Cuckoos, swifts, swallows, ospreys and more as they migrate anywhere in Europe, except Malta, and that can be sorted out through the enforcement of those same European laws.
So, just one party political point. The constituencies for these European elections are big - I'm in the South West England constituency, where 6 MEPs will be elected, and the votes are distributed proportionally. So, if half of all votes cast go for party X, then party X gets three MEPs. I don't really fancy wasting my vote, and so I'd normally not vote for a 'minor' party. But a minor party in the UK might not be a minor party across the whole of Europe. There's one fact that caught my attention more than any other for these elections:
Last time, the vote for the Green Party was just 1% less than they needed for an MEP in South West England.
I'm saying this, not completely because I'm trying to persuade you to vote Green (though Prof Molly Scott Cato, Green Party Candidate for SW England, would be pretty grateful if you did!) but to say that your vote has a purpose, and as I realised, because of the way this vote works, you're more likely to get who you vote for this time than if you're in a 'safe' constituency in a general election. There's no safe seats in this election and if you don't vote, you're more likely to get who you didn't vote for.
That's all folks!
This isn't a general election; it isn't an opinion poll about the government at Westminster, it isn't even a vote on whether you want the UK to be in the European Union, or want to vote UKIP to give some politician somewhere a kicking. It's a vote for an MEP, to sit in the European Parliament and make policies and laws. A referendum about being in Europe, or whether Scotland should be part of the UK, would be another time.
The main thrust of the laws and policies of the EU are to make a level playing field for business across Europe, so, the laws that control businesses that are otherwise obliged to act just for profit - like environmental laws, employment rights, import and export rates and controls - are the same, and match the power of international businesses who might otherwise play one country against another. This level playing field also makes it easier for smaller businesses to operate across borders in Europe. The aim is not only to make one market for business, but also for workers and spenders, which means we can work anywhere in Europe, and spend money anywhere in Europe online without paying import tax, and sell things without paying another import tax. Not just online, but in person too, and that includes easy travel and holidays anywhere in Europe. All such laws have been agreed by every country, unanimously, who are members of the European Union, and they're the same for everyone in Europe. Whichever MEPs are voted in will be working on this until any time the constitution of Europe says not.
So it's for this I'm voting. The person who might continue to make laws that make for easy holidays without paying visas; that mean that next year phone calls and data on my mobile will cost the same on holiday in Europe as at home; that protect the birds and habitats such as the Severn Estuary, Chew Valley Lake, the Exe Estuary, and the ones where I've visited in France, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere; the laws that set the standards on beaches in Spain in the same way as the beaches in Cornwall; laws that have improved the air we breath, reduced acid rain, and stopped the spread of diseases that don't really stop at borders, and laws that protect Cuckoos, swifts, swallows, ospreys and more as they migrate anywhere in Europe, except Malta, and that can be sorted out through the enforcement of those same European laws.
So, just one party political point. The constituencies for these European elections are big - I'm in the South West England constituency, where 6 MEPs will be elected, and the votes are distributed proportionally. So, if half of all votes cast go for party X, then party X gets three MEPs. I don't really fancy wasting my vote, and so I'd normally not vote for a 'minor' party. But a minor party in the UK might not be a minor party across the whole of Europe. There's one fact that caught my attention more than any other for these elections:
Last time, the vote for the Green Party was just 1% less than they needed for an MEP in South West England.
I'm saying this, not completely because I'm trying to persuade you to vote Green (though Prof Molly Scott Cato, Green Party Candidate for SW England, would be pretty grateful if you did!) but to say that your vote has a purpose, and as I realised, because of the way this vote works, you're more likely to get who you vote for this time than if you're in a 'safe' constituency in a general election. There's no safe seats in this election and if you don't vote, you're more likely to get who you didn't vote for.
That's all folks!
