European Politics > Will British Tories desert Sunak for Nigel Farage? Geert Wilders can't be PM of the Netherlands though he won the election

 

Rishi Sunak is warned that MORE Tories are poised to switch to Reform UK after Lee Anderson drops bombshell becoming party’s first MP – as poll shows Nigel Farage’s outfit at their highest-ever support… with one-fifth of 2019 Conservative voters backing them

by James Tapsfield, Daily Mail, March 11, 2024:

Rishi Sunak faced warnings today that more Tories are gearing up to switch to Reform UK after Lee Anderson became the insurgents’ first MP.

The PM has been left yet again struggling to quell panic in his ranks after the former Conservative deputy chair was unveiled by jubilant Reform leader Richard Tice at a press conference this morning.

Swiping at his former colleagues, Mr Anderson said he ‘wants our country back’ and had to be able to ‘speak my mind’.

The Ashfield MP said there had been a ‘lot of soul searching in my political journey’ but his parents and his staff had all told him to switch to Reform. 

The news immediately fuelled Conservative panic about the threat of an implosion at the election.

The latest Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey, published this afternoon, showed Reform UK at their highest-ever level with the pollster at 14 per cent support.

This put them just 10 percentage points behind the Tories (24 per cent), with Labour holding an 18-point lead over the Conservatives on 42 per cent…..

At the very  least, Reform will prevent Sunak from forming the next government.  

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Dutch far-right firebrand Wilders says he won't

be prime minister despite election win

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders said Wednesday that he would not be prime minister despite his stunning election win in November, due to a lack of support across the political spectrum.

Issued on: 14/03/2024 - 01:18  2 min

By:NEWS WIRES

Video by:Carys GARLANDFollow

"I can only become Prime Minister if ALL parties in the coalition support it. That was not the case," Wilders said on X. "The love for my country and voters is bigger and more important than my own position."

The announcement came on the eve of an eagerly awaited report on Dutch coalition talks, amid speculation of a breakthrough that could result in a technocratic government.

The man overseeing the negotiations, Kim Putters, has said the bickering parties were ready to take the "next step" after two days of "good and intense" talks at a country estate.

Wilders posted on X that he wanted a "right-wing cabinet... less asylum and immigration. The Dutch come first."

Party leaders have been tight-lipped during the process but public broadcaster NOS reported that the most likely outcome for Thursday's report was an "extra-parliamentary" or technocratic cabinet. It is unclear exactly what form this could take, but it is expected that four party leaders will serve as MPs.

Parties would appoint the members of the cabinet but they could be drawn from "ordinary" party members or even from outside politics, according to media reports.

Wilders stunned the Netherlands and Europe with a convincing victory in November elections that put him in pole position to lead coalition negotiations.

Unlike Britain, France or the United States for example, the Netherlands has a very fractured political system that means no party is strong enough to govern on its own.

The far-right leader's Freedom Party (PVV) therefore started talks with the centre-right Liberal VVD party, the BBB farmers' party, and a new party, the New Social Contract (NSC).

The NSC, led by anti-corruption champion Pieter Omtzigt, was the other new factor in the election, gaining 20 seats and making it indispensable in any coalition.

Nexit referendum?

But cracks began to show in the talks almost immediately, with sniping on social media and by the NSC in particular raising questions about the PVV's far-right manifesto.

Among other things, the PVV manifesto calls for a ban on mosques, the Koran and Islamic headscarves. It also wants a binding referendum on a "Nexit" – the Netherlands leaving the European Union.

In February, Omtzigt abruptly quit the coalition talks, plunging the process into chaos with the differences between his party and the PVV "too big" to bridge.

At the time, the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper described the talks as a "slow-motion disaster" with "poison, mutual sniping, gossiping".

A new person, known in the Netherlands as an "informer", was appointed to oversee the talks and this appears to have unblocked the stalemate.

The new informer, Putters, managed to get the four party leaders back to the negotiating table with talks reportedly moving towards a technocratic government.

Time is ticking for the Netherlands to find a prime minister, as the man holding the fort, Mark Rutte, is widely expected to become the new NATO secretary general.

Since the election, support for the PVV has only increased, surveys suggest, as voters voice frustration at the slow pace of talks.

"Do not forget: I will become prime minister of the Netherlands one day. With the support of even more Dutch," Wilders posted. "If not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. Because the voices of millions of Dutch will be heard!"

(AFP)

Is George Soros Pulling the Strings of European Parliament?

Soros and his ‘226 EU friends’ thrust into spotlight by Farage

– so who are they?

Picking up the anti-Soros torch from Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, UK politician Nigel Farage is seeking to investigate fellow EU MEPs who support the controversial vision of the wealthy financier. But are Orban and Farage’s fears valid?

UK politician Nigel Farage, the prominent face of Brexit, is now concerned about Europe’s destiny. Addressing the EU Parliament this week, Farage provided some thoughtful ideas as to the source of the claims that Russia had somehow manipulated the Brexit vote, as well as the Trump election.

“Just last week, the electoral commission, in the UK, launched an investigation to find out whether the ‘Leave’ campaign took offshore money or Russian money,” Farage said.

"This came about as a result of questions asked in the House of Commons by one Ben Bradshaw, somebody linked to an organization called Open Society.”

But Farage, who seems to take great delight in agitating his fellow MPs, was just warming up. He went on to provide yet another example of an EU parliamentarian working on behalf of George Soros, this time against Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, who has accused the financier of seeking to create “a Europe of mixed population.”

“We even had last week Mr. [Guy] Verhofstadt lobbying on behalf of Mr. Soros at the Conference of Presidents in a battle that is going on with Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary,” Farage said, pointing directly at Verhofstadt as he spoke.

“I wonder,” Farage continued, “when we are talking about ‘political collusion,’ I wonder if we are looking in the wrong place.”

Farage described Soros’s influence in Strasbourg and Brussels as “truly extraordinary.” And that influence looks set to increase dramatically now that Soros has donated the bulk of his wealth - $18 billion - into his Open Society pet project, which campaigns for open borders and supranational structures such as the European Union.

$18 bn can buy a whole lot of MEPs.

Farage concluded his short, fiery monologue with a weighty statement: “I fear we could be looking at the biggest level of international, political collusion in history.”

On the surface, there seems to be some legitimacy to Farage’s claim. According to public sources, Open Society European Policy Institute (OSEPI), the EU policy arm of Open Society Foundations, met with members of the European Commission on 44 separate occasions in 2016. And now that the organization has just been energized with $18 billion, it would seem apparent that that influence is set to increase.

Moreover, the Soros organizations published a pamphlet providing details on a list of 226 reliable “friends” who serve in the European Parliament. Farage said he would call on the parliament to set up a special committee to investigate the issue.

Who are Soros’ 226 EU ‘friends’?

In a 177-page pamphlet published by Open Society, entitled “Reliable Allies in the European Parliament (2014-2019),” 226 EU MEPs are listed and labeled according to their political orientation and views.

According to the pamphlet, “The presence of an MEP in this mapping indicates that they are likely to support Open Society’s work. Considering there are 751 members of the European Parliament, “reliable allies” of George Soros hold at least one-third of seats."

So what sort of qualifications does an MEP need to be included among Open Society’s “reliable allies?” A quick preview of the candidate’s description field provides some good indication as to what Soros expects from his allies, including a political philosophy that includes support of the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or intersex) movement, open borders and an anti-Russia stance.

Among the 226 chosen, there is one Yana Toom, an MEP from Estonia, who comes in for a bit of criticism despite her inclusion. “Refused supporting the European Parliament’s first resolution on the Ukraine-Russia conflict in July 2014, and may be pro-Russia to an unknown extent (and, in that case, not necessarily an Open Society).”

For anyone who questions whether Open Society works directly against Russian interests, that single line should dispel all doubts. Moreover, it provides some background as to why Russia in 2015 banned Open Society from operating on its territory due to the threat it posed to the country’s “constitutional order.”

Another MEP on the list, Monica Macovei of Romania, serves as something like the golden mean for star-studded Soros status.

“Resolutely progressive; unquestionable ally of Open Society values; does not hesitate to go against her group’s instructions; however, can sometimes be described as a loose cannon with her own, uncompromising set of priorities.”

When reading such an assessment, one might get the mistaken impression that the European Parliament is designed to serve the will of George Soros and his highly controversial agenda, as opposed to the will of the European peoples.

What does Soros want?

To say that George Soros, who was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, has an influence on the global scene, would be the understatement of the century. His excessive wealth allows him to finance a veritable army of organizations, many serving at cross purposes.

Indeed, Soros, 87, has been connected to movements and civil disturbances as diverse as distanced as Black Lives Matter movement in the US, to the Maidan uprising in Ukraine.

And nowhere has Soros’s influence been more felt than in the ongoing European debate over migrants. 

It looks like the European refugee crisis, which has been blamed on the Syrian civil war, would not occur in its current intensity without the direct assistance of the Open Society Foundation.

Thanks to the advocacy work of the Migration Policy Institute and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), both Soros-sponsored organizations, the mass resettlement of Muslims from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe became the norm.

In fact, it appeared that the so-called “Merkel Plan” – the deal struck by the EU and Turkey – was the brainchild of the European Stability Initiative, “in addition to the largesse of George Soros’ foundations,” F. William Engdahl wrote in the Near Eastern Outlook.

Considering that the massive influx of Muslim migrants threatens to change the face of “Christian Europe” forever, and without any vote on the matter by the people of Europe, perhaps it is time to see exactly what kind of direct influence George Soros and his Open Society Foundation are having on European parliamentarians. After all, these are not the play toys of any one individual, but the representatives of an entire state.

Tories Accuse Left-Wing Students of ‘Voting Twice’ in General Election

What? No Russian link? Or is Corbyn the Russian link? Aha!

Senior Tories are accusing left-wing youngsters of breaking the law during the general election, with claims they cast their vote twice.

The government has signaled it will be reviewing electoral rules amid reports of students boasting on social media about casting their vote twice – once in their home constituency and again in their university town.

Under the current system, people are allowed to register to vote in two different places, but it is a criminal offence to vote twice.

The Tories suffered a blow in the general election, losing their 17-seat working majority, forcing leader Theresa May to sign a deal with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to help prop up a minority administration. 

It is thought that an unusually high turnout among young voters gave May’s Labour opponents a significant boost. Now senior Tories are suggesting Labour benefitted from voter fraud. 

Former Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom told MPs there is a need to investigate any potential abuse of the democratic system.

Leadsom was responding to Wellingborough MP Peter Bone, who claimed left-leaning students had announced on social media they had voted twice in the June 8 election.

“It has been brought to my attention that people can be registered to vote in a general election in two places.

“I am registered in London and in my constituency,” Bone said, according to the Daily Express.

“However, a number of students are bragging on social media that they voted not only where they live, but where they go to university. That is an abuse, so could we have a statement from the Cabinet Office on that matter next week?”

Bone also said an investigation is needed to verify whether groups such as Momentum, a grassroots Labour campaign, could be behind students’ double voting.

Responding to Bone, Leadsom said: “We must get to the bottom of people deliberately voting twice, which I understand is illegal. 

“We need to investigate that and ensure that parliamentary democracy, for which this country has been famous—this is indeed the mother of all Parliaments—upholds the rights of one person and one vote.”

The accusation against young voters, however, was first raised by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

In an interview with US media, Farage said voters had been so attracted by Labour’s “Marxist” policies that they voted for its leader twice.

Farage said the reason why so many people are flocking to Labour is that they are yet to understand the implications of Marxism. He claimed they had been lured by Jeremy Corbyn’s socialist promises, such as the scrapping of university tuition fees.

“Marxism is very appealing if you’ve never been exposed to it before or seen what history has done with it,” said Farage.

“Corbyn went around saying to our students ‘look, I will wipe away all your tuition fees, I will promise you a land where there’ll be money for this, and money for that, and it’ll all be absolutely lovely’ and young people were very attracted by it.”

Migration will give UK Biggest Population in Europe by 2045

© Travelpix Ltd / Getty Images

The UK is on course to be the most populous country in the EU before 2050, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Britain’s population will surpass France and Germany’s, soaring from the current 65 million to an estimated 76 million people by 2045.

The rapid growth is thought to be down to the greater number of births compared to deaths every year since 1955, with the exception of 1976.

The ageing population is another contributing factor.  The number of over 65s has grown from 14.1 million in 1975 to 17.8 million in 2015.

The ONS report said that while we should “celebrate” the growing population, it could also put more pressure on public services such as health and housing.

Much of the growth in the UK’s population may be down to net migration- that’s the difference in the number of people coming into the country and those leaving.

Net migration has reportedly increased the population between 2004 and 2015 by an average of 250,000 each year.

Migrants coming into the country tend to be between 20 and 36, which is regarded as “traditional working age”.

The UK is currently the third largest country by population among European Union and European Free Trade Association member states.

Brexit Secretary David Davis recently insisted Britain’s doors “won’t suddenly shut” to “talented” migrants.

“The hospitality sector, hotels, and restaurants, in the social care sector, working in agriculture, it will take time. It will be years and years before we get British citizens to do those jobs,” Davis said.

“Don’t expect just because we’re changing who makes the decision on the policy, the door will suddenly shut. It won’t.”

But his views are in stark contrast to those of UKIP, which has used net migration as a selling card for its Leave campaign during the EU referendum.

Ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage told the BBC he wanted to bring migration levels “back to normality” as the figures for net migration had gotten “out of control”. 

“Normality was what we had from Windrush right up until the year 2000, where we had net migration into Britain ... between 20,000 and 50,000 people a year,” Farage said.

He added that since then “we have gone mad, we opened the doors to much of the world but in particular, we opened up the doors to 10 former communist countries, and as a result of our EU membership we have absolutely zero control over the numbers who come.”

EU Countries Turning on Merkel in Mass Resentment at Germany's Dominance

NIGEL FARAGE today claimed other EU countries are ready to bring Angela Merkel “down a peg or two” amid growing resentment at the German Chancellor’s dominance of European decision-making.

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL REPORTER EXPRESS

Nigel Farage noted rising anger at Angela Merkel's grip on EU affairs

EU leaders are currently meeting in Brussels to discuss a plan drawn up between Mrs Merkel and Turkey in a bid to stem the flow of migrants into Europe amid the ongoing refugee crisis.

But the Ukip leader suggested the fact the German leader now appears to “speak on behalf of all” Europeans is causing “massive, massive resentment right across the EU”.

Speaking to LBC Radio from the Belgian capital, Nigel Farage described how “one or two countries are beginning to kick back” against Mrs Merkel’s grip on EU affairs.

The MEP insisted Germany had never intended to dominate the EU, but had been thrust into a central role following the outbreak of the eurozone debt crisis.

Mr Farage said the EU’s unelected bureaucrats “did not command the authority to be the leading voices on what the eurozone should do faced with this crisis”, adding: ”And so what happened was the biggest, most powerful country in the eurozone and the EU… stepped to the fore.

“We’ve seen since 2008 and 2009 Germany increasingly becoming the dominant voice.”

I sense that one or two countries are now

 on the verge of bringing her down a peg or two.

Nigel Farage

The anti-EU politician outlined how Mrs Merkel now “speaks on what should happen with Turkey, she speaks on what should happen with the migrant crisis and she speaks on what the Greeks should do with their public spending levels”.

Mr Farage added: ”She appears, when she speaks, to speak on behalf of all of us.

“That is causing massive, massive resentment right across the EU and particularly in the south and the Mediterranean.

“I sense that one or two countries are now on the verge of bringing her down a peg or two.”

The Ukip leader noted how the Netherlands are holding a referendum next month on the proposed deal to put Ukraine on the path to EU membership, which he predicted would be rejected.

And Mr Farage also highlighted moves in Hungary to hold a vote on the “Merkel proposal” for compulsory migrant quotas for each EU member state.

He said: “She [Merkel] is still the top dog, if you like, in the EU - but one or two countries are beginning to kick back.”

Earlier this month, Iceland’s prime minister gave a similar warning over Germany’s dominance of the EU.

Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, who has seen his country’s economy soar outside of the EU, said: “When it comes to the big stuff the decisions are made by two, and increasingly one country.”

Last weekend, Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party suffered a series of painful defeats in regional elections as part of a continuing backlash against the German Chancellor’s handling of the refugee crisis.

Mrs Merkel initially offered safe passage for all Syrian refugees to Germany, but soon saw her popularity plummet as the country saw nearly half-a-million asylum claims in 2015.