UK Independence Party (UKIP)
South Sefton Branch

Dear Joe
 
I have a number of questions that I would like you to answer: -
 
Last night, you voted against both Conservative and Labour amendments which could have allowed for a referendum to take place on the EU Lisbon Treaty. As one of your constituents I would like to know why you voted in this way. I would also like to know why you voted in favour of the Treaty on 21 January. Could you enlighten me as to the benefits this treaty will bring to the UK?  
 
As you already know, I am not one of your average constituents with limited knowledge of this issue: I work as a Political Advisor to the Independence and Democracy Group in the European Parliament and it is my job to understand this treaty inside and out. I would like to know whether you have read the full text of the Lisbon Treaty. It is a large document in itself, but it is impossible to understand unless you have two further documents to cross reference and one of them - the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - is almost impossible to find. So, if you have not read the Treaty - which I suspect 99% of MPs (as well as MEPs) have not - then allow me to enlighten you as to its contents:      
 
Official analysis of this treaty by Jens Peter Bonde has shown that the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Constitution are over 90% the same.  For example, the EU Constitution would have granted the EU 105 new powers and so does the new Lisbon Treaty.  The only difference is that out go the EU symbols and in come competence over Climate Change. The other 104 remain the same. Moreover, in the rejected Constitution, Qualified Majority Voting would have replaced Unanimity in 62 areas. This is increased to 63 in the Lisbon Treaty, so in some ways it is even worse! The only difference is that out go Intellectual Property Rights and in come Energy and Climate Change. The other 60 remain the same. Indeed, Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the author of the rejected EU Constitution, admitted that there were only “cosmetic changes” which would make the new Lisbon Treaty “easier to swallow.” Both Nicholas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel have also admitted that the Constitution and the Lisbon Treaty are almost one and the same.  
 
Finally, in 2005 we fought a General Election in which you were pledged to support a referendum on the EU Constitution. So, given that the two documents are virtually identical, do you not feel that you broke your promise to the people of Bootle last night? If you do not believe that the two documents are the same, then please could you inform me as to how they are different? 
 
Yours sincerely,   Paul Nuttall  
 

 I WOULD like to congratulate Merseyside Labour MPs Frank Field and Bob Wareing for voting against the EU Reform Treaty in Westminster on Tuesday. 

They did so against the wish of the Labour Party leadership and showed courage in their convictions. The same, however, cannot be said about Merseyside’s other Labour MPs, who all voted in favour of the EU Reform Treaty. This document considerably increases the power of the EU, while weakening British sovereignty. It creates an EU president, an EU foreign minister and hands power in 60 areas over to the unelected EU Commission. 

Most importantly, it gives the EU a legal personality, which means it can now sign treaties on behalf of the British people. This treaty significantly alters Britain’s relationship with the EU and should be put to a referendum, just as the Labour Party promised in its 2005 Manifesto. 

Paul Nuttall, UK Independence Party prospective Parliamentary candidate for Bootle 

Just click on: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/eu-reform-treaty.html

The UK Independence Party’s Bootle Parliamentary Candidate, Paul Nuttall is telling the people of Bootle  “House of Commons, 21st January 2008: Labour MP’s, Joe Benton and Claire Cutis-Thomas voted FOR the EU Reform Treaty.  UKIP say this is a disgrace!”
The Labour government promised the nation a referendum on the EU constitution and now they intend to go ahead and ratify the Reform Treaty without giving the people that referendum.
We need to wake up and reject this Euro take-over before we lose our national identity altogether!
        

On Thursday 31 January 2008, a report by Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall urged the EU Commission to phase out patio heaters in the near future. The Commission is more than willing to take up this challenge and has indicated that they will be banned by 2010.  The UK Independence Party’s Bootle Parliamentary Candidate, Paul Nuttall, said: “The EU now wants to know what we have in our back gardens. It is intrusive and an affront to civil liberty.” 

He continued: “It is also complete madness. The smoking ban came into force last year, so pub landlords were forced to buy patio heaters so that smokers could have a cigarette outside. Now the EU has gone and banned them. It is obvious that the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing.”

Here we go again: more EU Legislation hurts the people of my constituency (Bootle). If it isn’t Post Office closures, it’s fortnightly bin collections, and now we have the closure of the Rolls Royce factory in Netherton. The North West Development Agency, which receives huge chunks of EU cash, has said that although it was in negotiation with Rolls Royce, it could not simply hand out subsidies to ensure that the factory stayed in Netherton. Why? Because this would have broken EU Competition Law.  If the British Government or the NWDA wants to provide Rolls Royce with subsidies or incentives to stay in Netherton, then they should have the right to do so. However, the only way to do this is to stop harmful EU legislation being imposed on the British people - and the only way to put a stop to that is by leaving the EU.  

Paul Nuttall (Bootle UK Independence Party Parliamentary Candidate)  

Tell the Truth Mr. Benton   Paul Nuttall, the UK Independence Party Parliamentary Candidate for Bootle, challenged MP Joe Benton to come clean on the recent announcement that Aintree Road Post Office is set for closure.   Paul’s challenge was published in this weeks Bootle Times.

Mr. Nuttall, who is a Political Advisor in the European Parliament and also a local resident, stated that “Mr. Benton claims he is fighting to save our post office by setting up petitions and talking to local people. But I am sure he is not telling them the real reason our beloved post office is closing.”   In 1997, Labour Party MEPs voted for EU Directive 97/67/EC, which was designed to break up state monopolies, including the Royal Mail. The directive also forced a cut in state subsidies which has forced post office closures all over Britain.   

Mr. Nuttall concluded: “I think it is a bit rich that Joe Benton is now trying to paint himself as the possible saviour of the Aintree Road Post Office. Do not forget that his party’s MEPs voted for an EU Directive that has forced over 3500 post office closures since 1997. Unfortunately, it will probably claim Aintree Road Post Office as its next victim”