Major Issues Bulletin 30 - EDP English Democratic Party.


	MAJOR ISSUES BULLETIN


	British soldier’s in Iraq -lost vote due to MoD indifference and usual cock-up. * Daily Mail Friday, April 15, 2005 * My comrades risked their lives to bring democracy to Iraq- Now they are denied the vote in their own country. By Colonel Tim Collins * When brave men and women join this country’s Armed Services, it is in the certain knowledge that one day they may receive orders that will lead to them laying their lives down for their country. What they do NOT expect is that by joining up, they will somehow forfeit the right to vote for the Government that issues those orders. This, however, is quite disgraceful situation in which up to 200,000 servicemen and women could find themselves following what, at its worst, could be called the mother of cock-ups by the Ministry of Defence. The soldiers who brought democracy to Iraq, who have faithfully spread the message about the ballot box always being stronger than the bullet or bomb, now face the supreme irony of finding themselves without a vote in Britain’s own General Election. It is spectacular and shameful own goal which will lead the ordinary serving soldier overseas not just disenfranchised but bloody angry. After all, if anyone has a right to cast a vote on the rightness or wrongness of the war in Iraq, it is surely the soldiers who were out there fighting it. And they are still out there, of course, dodging the bullets and the suicide bombers and generally ‘keeping the peace’. This is the thanks they get. Not that you are likely to hear them complaining. When soldiers join up, the ability to talk to the Press without permission is just one of the many freedoms they willingly forgo. They are subject to military law and are no longer free to do what they like but in return they expect those freedoms they still enjoy-such as the right to vote-to be fiercely protected by those above them, which in this case is the Labour Government. That covenant has now been shamefully broken. How has this happened? Well, the best, or rather sinister explanation is that it is a mistake by the ever more incompetent MoD. This is after all the organisation, which failed to inform me that I had been awarded the OBE until long after I had been phoned by a relative who had heard it on the radio. So I am far from surprised that the four years it has had to adapt to new rules governing the registration of service voters has not been long enough. The rules mean that instead of filling out a ‘one-off’ service voter registration when they first join up, service personnel now have to re-register in their home constituency every year. That would be fine if you could get the right paperwork to them overseas, but the MoD apparently could not. As a result, it is estimated that 80 per cent of service personnel will not have a vote in this election. For many of the young soldiers serving in Iraq - most of whom are under 25 - it will have been their first opportunity to vote in the General Election, to express a democratic view on a decision to go to war that has cost the lives of 80 of their comrades [with many thousands injured - some severely]. What a terrible introduction to democracy. Some military observers saw the problem coming and representations were made to Parliament urging the MoD to conduct a campaign amongst servicemen to urge them to vote. Eventually in January [2005], leaflets were printed for distribution to units but none of these was distributed until early March [2005]. The deadline for voters to register for the May 5 poll - a date that has been in the public domain for months - was March 11. With some units not getting their leaflets until well after the deadline has passed, the situation has been a disgrace. At the very least, it demands an apology and a full explanation, both from the highest levels of the MoD and Government. After all, the British Army is a volunteer army, the social makeup of which reflects the diverse nation it has drawn from more closely than any army in the world. In the British Army a teenager from a Glasgow council estate really can find himself serving along side of a duke and as a nation we would be rightly proud of it. But we cannot expect to maintain all the good things that come with having a volunteer army -higher morale, better discipline, stronger motivation etc - if by joining up, the prospective soldier sailor or airman knows he is in danger of forfeiting one of the most basic rights of citizenship -the right to vote. It is an appalling situation, which I am absolutely certain, would never have been allowed to happen in the United States Army. There their leaders don’t Just preach democracy they make sure their soldiers can practice it too. Shambles, cock-up -call it what you will. But I know there are many within the Armed Forces who see the disenfranchisement of so many service personnel as more sinister than that. They see deliberate conspiracy and, frankly who can blame them. Because this sudden loss of service voting power doesn’t just coincide with a hugely controversial war. It also coincides with the biggest shake-up of the Army for well over a century. Under the proposed changes announced last year by General Sir Mike Jackson the Army won’t just lose three much needed battalions but it will also lose its traditional regiments [To fit the European Army pattern - of course] effectively ending a proven and successful unit of military organisation that in some cases goes back more than 300 years. Not surprisingly, Army personnel, who tend to have fierce loyalty to their regiment, have strong views on the subject and the 2005 General Election would have been their first and only chance to vote on changes that will have a profound impact on their working lives. The fact that they won’t now get a chance is as undemocratic as it is unforgivable. [And all the Government does is apologise most sincerely -but at the same time chuckling to themselves of how easy it was to fool the people on so many occasions-and still get away with it. Well! Many voters would not take the warnings to heart and are now paying the price.] Many believe that there has been a deliberate dragging of Ministerial feet to deprive service personnel of their vote and I for one cannot say they are definitely wrong. What I can say is that the loss of their vote is but the latest indignity to be heaped on a British Army whose soldiers and officers have grown accustomed to longer tours of duty, shorter intervals between tours and equipment that is either obsolete or doesn’t work. Well! Enough is enough Last year when I was in the city of Al Quernah, said by some to be the location of the Garden of Eden, I never imagined, as I extolled the virtues of democracy to local Iraqi leaders, that they would be voting in 2005 but that many officers and soldiers of my regiment would not. Having left the Army last summer after more than 22 years of service I, however do have a vote and intend to use it. Together with many others who hold the future of Britain’s Armed Forces dear, we must send the clearest message to Tony Blair on May 5. As Alan Sugar so succinctly puts it in his television series, The Apprentice: ‘Tony, you’re fired. * * * [Font altered-bolding &underlining used -comments in brackets] APRIL/05 STILL TIME TO RIGHT A WRONG [Might we suggest that anyone who had decided previously not to vote at the May 5 General Election -now do so for the disenfranchised servicemen and women who do not have a vote to make their TRUE feelings felt? Many ex-serviceman and others who had previously felt that they would not vote because all politicians are all the same can know see a very good reason to put their vote where it will hurt the Government - after all- they are to blame. As many will say don’t get angry - get even! * * * APRIL/05 * * * 13th October,2007 So You Want Out Of The EU THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout Details from petition creator With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty the people of Britain were given DUAL CITIZENSHIP -both EUROPEAN and BRITISH The extra tier of citizenship was thrust upon the people without their consent -and in many cases knowledge. The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be allowed the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so wish. The GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted out with BRITISH DOCUMENTATION -only such as British (not EU) passports, driving licences and other national documents. EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP * * Let the people speak! www.makeitanissue.org.uk * www.noliberties.com [Latest Addition - June07] * www.eutruth.org.uk * www.thewestminsternews.co.uk * www.speakout.co.uk * Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION to the EU www.telegraph.co.uk.blogs * GORDON BROWN WANTS TRUST-BUT WHY WON'T HE TRUST YOU? HELL ON EARTH IN IRAQ * 67% want powers back from EU-ICM poll-June 21-2007-95% of British people want a REFERENDUM * PETITION FOR A REFERENDUM SIGN TODAY ON LINE telegraph.co.uk/eureferendum * July 18-2007 ALSO JOIN THE 10 DOWNING STREET PROTEST Readers can add their support to the growing clamour for a REFERENDUM on the '"REFORM TREATY" by signing up to a 10 Downing Street 0n-line petition http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/EU-treaty-NON/ The Petition reads as follows: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to guarantee that the British people will be permitted a binding REFERENDUM on any and all attempts to resurrect the EU " CONSTITUTION" (and any or all of its content) regardless of nomenclature." Deadline for the PETITION is 31st January,2008 Eurofacts 27th July 2007. * 'The Spirit of England' by Winston Churchill In London on St.George's Day -1953 * VOTE -2007 TO LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE TO SET YOU FREE THE UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY www.ukip.org THE QUESTION THAT THE VOTER MUST ANSWER ‘DO YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAW AND CUSTOM OR BY THE CORRUPT ,EXPENSIVE UNACCOUNTABLE AND CORRUPT ALIEN BUSYBODY BRUSSELS’ -SIMPLE IS IT NOT? TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T VOTE FOR THE TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER BUT SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR MINDS WITHOUT SPIN AND LIES. * ONLY PRO-PORTIONAL REPRESENTATION WILL BRING DEMOCRACY BACK TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE * SCOTLAND -ITS PARLIAMENT -WALES-ITS ASSEMBLY-ENGLAND-STILL AWAITS ITS PARLIAMENT-WHY? * Home Rule for Scotland WHY NOT HOME RULE for ENGLAND * [All underlined words have a separate bulletin]