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Dear
Friend,
At last, we have a
real choice regarding our future in Europe; a
choice I have been campaigning now for over 10 years. David Cameron has committed our Party to an in-or-out
referendum in 2017. Between now and then we will attempt to renegotiate our
relationship with the EU, leading to real reforms which bring powers back to Westminster and make us
once again more of a self-governing, sovereign nation. These negotiations will,
I hope, give us what we always sought: a purely trading relationship with the
EU in a Common Market.
Of course these
negotiations will be difficult. We may not get what we want. What do we do if
we are offered only minor repatriations? Where do we, as a nation, go next if
we vote to leave the EU? The naïve
thinking of UKIP foresees Britain
reverting to the type of status that Switzerland holds. Is this the
limit of our aspiration, to become merely another small nation? Hardly. We are
a world power with nuclear capability. Ours is the 6th largest economy. We sit
on the UN Security Council, the G8, the G20 and NATO.
We must NOW work to
find a real alternative in the event of an OUT vote to leave the EU. The
obvious solution is to reconnect with our historical allies in the
Commonwealth; countries whose economies are currently growing at a phenomenal
rate whilst Europe languishes in its slow
demise. Unlike our uneasy relationship with the EU, we share a common history with
these nations; a common language, a common system of law, a similar model of
government and in many cases we share our Sovereign. There is a huge scope for
bilateral trade with these nations; one that offers an enormous potential
benefit to Britain, yet our membership in the EU does not allow our government
to pursue these options.
Therefore, I have
taken it upon myself to reach out to selected Commonwealth Parliaments,
asking their Members to help set up working groups that will, sector by sector,
explore with my working groups in London, how we can strengthen our trade,
economic, investment, scientific research, agricultural, tourism and
environmental relationships. I have written to David Cameron informing him of
my intentions (please find a scanned copy of his response attached.)
It is my hope that come 2017, we will have laid the groundwork for what would
constitute a genuine alternative for the British people; a free trade alliance
of Commonwealth and Anglo sphere nations, tied not by regulation and
bureaucracy but by a shared history and common practices.
If you have any
questions please don't hesitate to get in touch with my office at office@nirjdeva.com
With all best
wishes,
As ever
Nirj
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Headlines- Editorial
- Purdah Notice
- Reporting back from the South East
- South East Campaigns
- Political Priorities
- Legislative achievements
- Events in Europe
- The Winner is...
- My rallies in the South East in April
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AFTER
THE 2nd OF MAY TILL THE END OF JULY I AM NOT ALLOWED TO CONTACT YOU !!
Beginning on 2nd May until 26th July, I and my Conservative MEP
colleagues go into a period of ‘purdah.’
This is a party requirement due to the reselection process of your MEP
candidates, which takes place in July.
During this period we are not allowed to attend constituency events
organised by individuals or party members, nor are we allowed to contact you
with briefings or bulletins (we can of course continue to answer constituent’s
correspondence). |
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Reporting Back from the South East
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It
has been a great honour to represent you in the European Parliament since being
re-elected in 2009. I have sought to
spend my weekends away from Brussels and, instead, within my constituency, participating
in 383 events in Kent, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. I believe that these visits are vitally
important in allowing me to hear your views and concerns so that I may act upon
them in Brussels.
While
it is impossible to frequently mail all 7.5 million constituents in the South
East of England, I have sent numerous newsletters, thousands of leaflets and many
letters to party members, informing them of my activities and requesting their
feedback. Last year, I conducted the largest interactive survey of South East
Conservative Party Members ever held, asking you a range of questions on your
opinions about our relationship with the EU.
Thousands of you took the time to respond and for that I am deeply
grateful. |
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Here is a list of
my ongoing campaigns on behalf of the South East:
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Continuing the campaign against
a federal Europe
- Ensuring that we get the pledged
referendum in 2017 by mandating this in
a Bill in the Commons now.
- Founding and chairing the
Commonwealth Commission to provide a real Commonwealth alternative should we
leave the EU.
- Saving British taxpayers money
by securing a CUT in the EU Budget.
- Cutting the waste of the
European Parliament by campaigning to end the monthly jaunt to Strasbourg.
- Securing flood relief for South
East communities and campaigning for continued insurance cover.
- Protecting South East farmers by
demanding parity with Germany
and Holland on
subsidies per acre
- Stopping EU plans to cut funds
for rural development schemes by 20%, which would badly affect our farmers.
- Promoting the South East for
inward investment by meeting delegations from China,
UAE, India and Korea.
- Persuading mobile phone
operators to reduce overseas mobile phone roaming charges for British
customers.
- Demanding fast clearance by the
EU Commission for Superfast Internet Broadband Hubs for the South East.
- Supporting hidden telephone
masts in Church Towers to improve rural connectivity and
Church funds.
- Protecting citizens in Gibraltar from Spanish legal action threatening their
right to vote in European elections.
- Opposing EU rules on the
transport of live animals for more than 8 hours per day and reducing animal
testing.
- Lobbying to reduce burdens upon
the 768,000 small businesses in the South East due to EU legislation.
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Allowing small, South East fishing boats to keep their catch and not
throw small fish back into the sea.
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Looking
ahead, my Political Priorities for the near-future are:
- Get a Conservative Government elected in 2015
- Introduce a mandate bill in the House of Commons, guaranteeing a
2017 referendum.
- Make Europe a common market, not
a common country.
- Trade with the EU instead of being run by it.
- Explore the opportunities of a commonwealth alliance as an
alternative,
- Create a de-regulated, less bureaucratic, pro-enterprise, high
productive European Market.
- Repatriate to Westminster
those policy areas that are best implemented at local level.
- Cut waste and make European decisions more transparent and
democratic.
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| Legislative
achievements
Since my
re-election in 2009, I have led on over 113 legislative initiatives through my
work on the Development Committee. Besides my duties as Her Majesty's Deputy
Lieutenant for the Lord Lieutenancy of Greater London, I was honoured to accept
a Papal Knighthood in 2012 and the MEP of the Year award for my development
work in 2011, having contributed to 167 debates in Plenary and Committee.
These initiatives
include: establishing transparent accounting and accountability; establishing
property rights and wealth creation in developing countries; securing food
security by preventing surpluses being dumped by the EU on developing
countries; establishing clinical trials in the fight against Aids, Malaria and
Tuberculosis; publishing reports on a range of topics including: human rights
and democracy, transparency and good governance, economic partnership
agreements, water and sanitation, empowerment of women, settlement of refugees
and uprooted people, tsunami relief and rehabilitation, conflict prevention and
nation building, child labour, Zimbabwe, Darfur, Burma, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Ethiopia. |
| | And the winner is…
I
should like to thank everyone who responded to my EU survey at the end of last
year. The number of responses was
overwhelming and demonstrated the strength of feeling amongst our party on this
vitally important issue, with 69% of you stating your wish for Britain to
leave the EU and only 22% committing to stay.
I
am pleased to announce that a winner has been picked at random for a trip to Brussels and a tour of
the EU Parliament. The winner is ROGER AINSLEY of Portsmouth South.
Congratulations Roger!
Thanks
again to all who responded. The full results and analysis shall be made available
on my website http://www.nirjdeva.com/
Finally,
I want to thank all of you most profoundly for the continued support and trust
you have given me through out these years to uphold the dignity, virtue,
freedom and sovereignty of our Great Nation. |
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| Events in Europe
The
EU is infected with a shameful disregard for democratic accountability and we
have seen two major cases of this recently.
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, recently attempted
to bypass one of the basic tenets of parliamentary democracy and hold a secret
vote against the reduced EU budget proposal.
This is the man who would have seen himself installed as President of
the Parliament through a back-room deal in 2012 had I not stood against him,
triggering an election and coming second with 142 votes, beating the Liberal candidate
into third place. Thanks to the 26
Member Conservative-led campaign the vote was held openly and I stood as the
first British Conservative MEP to campaign for the Presidency of the Parliament
in 25 years. We punched above our
weight. I have also fought to reduce the
EU budget for over a decade and to my delight, under the leadership of David
Cameron, we have succeeded in saving £29bn, the first ever real-terms cut to
the EU budget.
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| Join me at
The Future of Europe Debate
The Runnymede Dialogues
"Britain and the EU: What next?"
DATES:
Saturday 6th April; 10am—12pm At University of
Sussex, Southern Ring Rd, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 9RH— with
Maria Caulfield and Cllr Paul Dendle
Saturday 20th April; 10am—12pm At Mercure Great Danes
Hotel , Hollingbourne, Nr Maidstone, ME17 1RE with Rt Hon Lord Lamont and
Regional Chairman Andrew Sharpe
To be confirmed - Saturday 26th April; Surrey with Rt Hon Michael Gove MP
and Cllr Steve Bell - please ring the office at 01895470463 to get
final confirmation of venue and date
Saturday 29th April; 6pm—8pm At Newbury Racecourse,
Newbury RG14 7NZ with Rt Hon Owen Patterson MP and Dan Hannan MEP
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