Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
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A
Million illegal immigrants 'have set up home in UK'
By
Graeme Wilson - Political Correspondent, Daily Mail, January 12,
2005
One
million illegal immigrants could be living in Britain, it emerged
last night. The figures are based on a report commissioned by
ministers into the number of foreigners working illegally. The
report failed to estimate the scale of illegal immigration, but
spelt out how other countries have measured the problem.
One
method popular in other European countries revealed there could
be more than 900,000 illegal immigrants in Britain. The figure
is calculated by comparing the number of illegal immigrants who
come forward during amnesties with the number of officially recorded
foreign residents. If the ratio in the UK was similar to that
in Spain and Italy, it means there are at least 900,000 illegal
immigrants in Britain.
The
revelation comes 16 months after former Home Secretary David Blunkett
admitted 'he had not got a clue' how many illegal immigrants there
were in the country. An estimate of nearly a million immigrants
is bolstered by various other methods of measuring the problem
which are mentioned in the University College London report.
Work
by academics in Austria suggests there could be 2.5 million people
working in the UK's black economy, though this figure includes
hundreds of thousands of British workers. And a senior immigration
officer told the Guardian newspaper yesterday that there could
be two million foreigners working for so-called 'gang-masters'.
This includes several hundred thousand people from new EU countries
in Eastern Europe who are in the country legally - but is in line
with the idea that there are at least a million illegals.
The
Government estimates there are 1.8million 'surplus' National Insurance
numbers, many of which are being used by illegal workers. Some
of these are exploited by British fraudsters but a significant
number are believed to be in the hands of illegal immigrants.
The
revelation that there could be up to one million illegal immigrants
was greeted with fury last night. Former British ambassador Sir
Andrew Green, who heads the Migrationwatch think-tank, said: "It's
impossible to be sure how many people are in Britain illegally.
But nobody doubts that it runs into hundreds of thousands. Recent
anecdotal evidence simply underlines that fact that the government
has lost control of our borders."
The
Conservatives said people would be appalled at the continuing
confusion about the scale of the problem in Whitehall. Shadow
Home Secretary David Davis said: "The government says it
doesn't have a clue how many people are living in Britain illegally.
It turns out that it could be up to one million. No wonder the
Government has kept this information secret. Under Labour only
one in five failed asylum seekers is ever removed from Britain.
We need to get a grip on this shambles."
Mr
Davis said the Tories would impose an Australian-style quota system
on the number of migrant workers allowed into the country. But
the Home Office last night said it would be wrong to use the UCL
report to try to estimate the number of illegal immigrants. "It's
not possible using this report to come up with a reliable figure
for the size of the illegal immigrant population in the UK,"
said a spokesman. "We are working on ways of assessing the
impact of the number of people who are here illegally, as well
as trying to cut abuses and protect our borders."
The
European Union is
considering introducing US-style green card system to attract
skilled immigrants, it said last night. It believes that issuing
permanent work visas could boost economic growth and help to tackle
the problem of an ageing population. The EU also wants to standardise
immigration rules.
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
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Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
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Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
