EU Vote

Lib Dems are all concentrating on being in the coalition rather than they were the party of 'IN'.

I think that's rubbish. Quite silly talk.

Eurocrats will need to be wearing hard hats in the EU Parliament.

If the eurosceptics bother to turn up Pogs. What is the incentive for them to do so, unless there is a rare vote on something they see as encroaching on the glory that is Britishness.
Astounding though for UKIP to come top of poll.
Interesting divide across the country with Wales, London, NW and NE of England much less interested in UKIP and voting Labour.
Turnout low in Wales as no council elections and there was no change in the MEPS (one of each for Labour, Tory, Plaid and UKIP)

I wonder if we will see Tory MPs defecting to UKIP if they now think they have a chance of getting into parliament as a UKIP member?
It is certainly going to be a very interesting 11 months as we head into the general election. Predict top strategy teams will not be having a day off today!

Dreadful news. We now have Marine le Pen in person as our MEP.

I can't begin to imagine what people are thinking of round here. Where would all the farms be without EU subsidies?

I'm as shocked as you Mamie. The only glimmer of light that I can see, and it's tiny, is that this was a vote against Hollande, rather than for le Pen.

Yes that is true and as in the UK the majority of the population actually voted for The Apathy Party, with a very low turnout. My other ray of light is that the Front National didn't win outright in our village, getting the same number of votes as the UMP, with the Greens third.

Commiserations with you offshore members. Is fear of immigration behind this vote in France do you think?

Yes to some extent, Jess. My experience is that there is quite a bit of overt racism and xenophobia here. I think it is also a massive protest as ffinn says against Hollande. My own view is that people have an immense pride in all things French (nothing wrong with that some would say) which gets in the way of change. So French wine stays the same, French food stays the same; people talk about reform and change to improve the economy, but cling on to the status quo when it comes to actually changing anything (hours, holidays, business taxes etc).

Funny old thing patriotism isn't it mamie. People obviously want to feel good about who they are and sometimes focus on boosting self esteem through national pride . But can lead to demonising the "other" - either immigrants that are seen as diluting "the nation" or other countries e.g. many australians disliking "poms" and the Welsh anti- English.
I just hope that Ed Milliband's new American adviser is savvy enough to get the right kind of rocket up his backside now. Campaiging against people- trafficking and the illegal exploitation of immigrants (both illegal and legal ones) would be an obvious place to start. "immigrants" will drive down wages if they are being used as slave labour.

I am hoping that those people who didn't vote will get a wake up call from this and get out and vote during the general election. I have always considered UKIP to be National Front lite. I would like to think those who did vote UKIP will have done so as a protest vote and come to their senses in time for the general election. I don't care which party they vote for as long as it is not a racist one.

I thought UKIP would do well in the European elections but was surprised at how well.

I wonder, though, whether part of the vote was because people are sick of funding the European gravy train and are hoping that this will bring a big shakeup. I spoke to someone who did vote UKIP this morning and their reasons were not so much immigration, but

1 the submission of the UK to European law and the rules and regulations thought up by bureaucrats with time to think up more and more petty red tape seemingly designed to crush individuality and free enterprise.
2 our inability to deport criminals and terrorists because our judges have to abide by European human rights legislation
3 loss of sovereignty to Europe
4 belonging to a lumbering juggernaut that is seemingly accountable to no-one, and whose accounts are never scrutinised and written off.
5 the expensive travelling between two seats of government because they cannot agree where they should be

He said it started out with good intentions and has become an out-of-control monster. He thinks many people voted UKIP because none of the major parties, even the Tories who made vague promises about reform, are able to give the EU in its present form the shakeup it so deserves. It is not just the people of Britain who are appalled at this runaway juggernaut.

He thinks the intellectual left, unfortunately, are out of touch with how the ordinary people of Britain live on a daily basis as they pontificate from their ivory towers (not just the politicians) - as are the other two parties. He is indignant that anyone who has concerns about any of the above is deemed as racist and says this is not so. Free movement of labour is a good thing, it goes both ways, but a slimmed down Europe would work better, rather than this juggernaut.

One poster mentioned subsidies to farmers - well that is how it all started, surely, but just look at it now in comparison to then!

One thing that may come out of all this is that, should Europhile Nick Clegg be toppled as leader of the Lib Dems, perhaps there may not be a nice cosy little number waiting for him across the channel.
(Last 2 paragraphs are my views)

Ps my DD has been called a bleeding Pom in Australia, but not in an aggressive fashion, by a local (very rich) businessman whose surname is, I believe, Romanian!
Funny old world

And there we have, all over the media, politicians of every persuasion obsessively worrying about the 4 million who voted for the Kippers and obsessively ignoring the 40 million who didn't vote at all.

Well, it has shaken them all up anyway, but the apathy of non-voters is worrying.
I am not for a compulsory vote with fines for non-voting but it would be interesting to know how different, if at all, the result would have been if it was.

And, of course, voting Labour was a 'protest vote' in the beginning.

I think the cat is out of the bag and at some stage there has to be an acceptance that the people of Europe have not liked what they see concerning the EU. That's democracy whether we like it or not.

The European Commission/Parliament has to some extent reaped it's own reward. Like national parties it has thought itself above the voices calling for a 'wind back' in it's actions and the 'European Elite' are probably quite worried, or perhaps they are so smug they will think it will be same old, same old because of their arrogance.

I hope, not sure it will happen, that UKIP MEP's will start to take this more seriously and stop with crass way they have behaved so far. There will hopefully be more scrutiny over UKIP's behaviour , as here, so they might 'grow up' and START to vote in the British national interest instead of 'staying in the champaign bar' and not voting, which they have found an amusing situation.

Terrible night for the Lib Dems who are still today saying it's being in the coalition, not being the party of IN that has cost them votes.

Labour has not done very well, if not for the inner city, high immigrant areas it would be third.

Conservatives have not done very well, better than they thought. I think they were bracing themselves for a sound kicking.

I hope the media has become more interested in Europe and will give us a bit more news and coverage so that the British people can see how UKIP MEP's represent us but I won't hold my breath as the average voter couldn't give a damn yet we are ruled by Europe.

There is no doubt the eurosceptic parties have done really well, at what expense????

The truth remains they have done so well because people were not being listened to, apparently all over Europe. I just hope that there will more concentration in the EU Parliament on matters such as the economy, immigration policies, red tape etc. or it could implode in years to come and any good it has done will have been totally wasted because of the European Elite's arrogance.

The report of Germany voting in a neo-Nazi is bizarre, but another symptom of this trend towards protesting about loss of control of migration across Europe. I don't worry about the shake-up which is giving voters more of a voice, but do care about an undignified scramble for votes in next year's election that will result in impossible promises being made and dirty propaganda being used to discredit opposition. I will watch to see who is nearest to keeping it clean, realistic and fair.

'Labour has not done very well, if it were not for the inner city high immigrant areas it would be third'

Oh right, the votes of those of us who live in the inner city and those of us who are 'immigrants' don't count then.

MiceElf

Why should anybody be interested in the view of the 40 million people who you say didn't vote???

It's perhaps a good thing as they obviously wouldn't vote due to having principles or knowledge of politics or even knowing what the EU does. Make a person vote and you might have BNP MEP's today, just for the hell of it or to make a protest vote.

Clean, realistic and fair

That could be a vain hope, whenim!

MiceElf

You are going to call me a racist next I suppose.

Sometimes the facts are what they are whether you like them or not.

Labour did not do as expected in it's heartlands, except for the inner city, immigrant areas. That is a fact not a partisan politically motivated comment, nor a snide one.

Of course all votes count.

No POGS I'm not. I'm simply pointing out the offensiveness if that part of your post.

Labour's heartlands are the inner city areas. Always have been. Its vote came, for the most part from the poor, the dispossessed and those without much power. And, for the most part, still does. That's why it's strong among those who live in the inner city and those who have come to this country one, two or three generations ago. Most 'immigrants' are British or EU citizens. As are those who were born here and now live any one of the other European countries.

Given the latest reports about the high percentage of EU migrants who have registered for employment and will be paying taxes, voters need to be careful they don't shoot themselves in the foot when opting to leave the EU. We benefit from immigration, just as our forefathers did.

As for 40 million not voting, the 'poor, dispossessed and those without power' described by MiceElf, doesn't that in itself give a strong message that the majority don't see the relevance of voting for any party that is going to continue to ignore them, or just use them to gain power. If they could experience tangible benefits from voting, the turn out would be higher. I'd like to see candidates and MPs busily engaging themselves with non-voting citizens when there ISN'T something in it for them.

MiceElf

I haven't said the inner cities were not Labour heartlands. I was trying to say it was the Inner City heartlands that have kept up the Labour vote as opposed to the heartlands in the north and midlands where UKIP probably stole a few of Labours projected votes.

The only comfort we can take in the southwest is that we got rid of one UKIP MEP and gained 1 Green and 1 Labour...not sure which trend that fits, other than confusion.