Monday 8 June 2009

European Elections

Sunday night saw the counting and publishing of the EU results from across Europe. Across Europe there was a growth in support for the centre-right parties, many of which are in government in certain European countries. This growth was therefore opposed by a shrink in support for the main left wing European party, the Party of European Socialists.

These losses were from many countries, including Britian, where the Labour party suffered disasterous results, and therefore Labour sent less MEP's to the Party of European Socialists.

As well as a general gain for the centre right, and a loss for the socialists, there was also a significant gain in the Green bloc of the European party, which saw it's number of MEP increase from 41 in 2004, to 50 this time around. However in Britian there were no gains for the Green Party, despite a large vote increase in certain regions. High polling in Brighton and Norwich for the Green Party suggest that they may be on their way to sending their first MP to Westminister, come the General Election.

What was also apparant across many European countries, was the growth of the extremist and fringe parties. In the Netherlands, with the Party for Freedom coming second in the polls - a party who's leader was barred from entering Britain because of his comments on Islam, such as calling the Qu'ran as a "fascist book."

In Britian too, the BNP has made gains, with two BNP members being sent to Brussels to represent Britian. It is sad that the movement against the BNP wasn't successfull enough, and that now, as a result, Britian is sending two fascists to represent us in Europe. There needs to now be coordinated efforts by all the mainstream parties to combat the BNP, to prevent them making similar gains in a General Election.

However, there are hopes that this will not be the case. In the North West region, where Nick Griffin, the BNP leader won his seat, the number of BNP votes actually decreased from last election, yet their share of the vote increased due to the collapse of Labour support. Apathy plauges European elections, with this year's turnout being the lowest ever, at 43%. Were the European elections made more engaging to the people - if people knew more about what the European Parliament did, what they were voting for and why it mattered, then the turnout would probably be much higher.

Finally, I should like to put up a link to a petition that shall be handed to Nick Griffin the day he takes his seat in the European Parliament. Let the fascists know what you think, and tell them that their election is not in your name.

Click here to sign the petition.

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