The Progressive

Tories under pressure

As ever, the issue of Europe raises his ugly head in the Conservative Party. Tory donors are threatening to vote and support the UK Independence Party (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6262325.stm) with Stuart Wheeler saying his vote was "in doubt" because the Tories had "not been nearly strong enough on Europe". He was joined by former party treasurer Lord Kalms who told the Daily Telegraph "the option remains open for me... to vote UKIP."

To shore up support, Cameron has made reference to returning to “the ideas that encouraged me as a young man to join the Conservative Party and work for Margaret Thatcher" rather than follow Blair on the issue.

All of this follows allegations that the UKIP Leader has been promised a safe Tory seat  (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6209386.stm) and the defection of two former Tory Peers who have given UKIP their first representation in Westminster (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6243807.stm). While joining, they said UKIP was the "only party telling the truth" about Europe.

All this makes the Tory’s policy on Europe a mess – the right within his party are not going to leave the issue, and Hague has failed in his attempt to form a new political group in the European Party. This leaves them in a group of Pro-European Centre Right parties, which must serve to antagonise the right and the UKIP-friendly party members.

The opportunity this offers Labour – if the Tories run yet another election having to be hard line on Europe to keep Euro-sceptics on side – may look attractive if it squeezes the Tories' support, meaning they don’t win crucial seats. But for progressives, the launch pad in Westminster and growing credibility for UKIP might be cause to re-group and redouble our efforts. Pro-European policy was important in the creation of New Labour but not something the British public have kept with us on. Labour needs to once again be seen as pro-Europe, but also pro-reformed Europe, in a way that seems meaningful.

The far right by the back door

People in the South East will be appalled to here that one of their MEPs has joined a grouping in the European Parliament headed by the French far-right politician Bruno Gollnisch - currently awaiting a verdict on charges of Holocaust denial  - a member of the French “National Front” Party (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6251561.stm).

This former UKIP MEP, expelled from the Party, has caused controvocy amongst former colleagues with a UKIP spokeswoman saying UKIP were, "shocked and horrified" that Mr Mote would be sitting "with people like [French National Front leader] Le Pen's supporters."

This news should mean outrage across the British Political Spectrum – the British people have never voted for such far right politicians  with such an overt political agenda who have friends such as Alessandra Mussolini.

Motivations for the new grouping, known as "Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty", is their ability to now access more funds and take a more active role in the Parliament’s proceedings. The new group includes the Austrian Freedom Party and the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang from Belgium.

It has seven French MEPs (National Front), five Romanians (Greater Romania party), three Flemish MEPs (Vlaams Belang) and two Italians, including Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the former dictator Benito Mussolini.

UKIP: not dead yet?

This week's news that Nigel Farage had been elected as the new leader of the UK Independence Party, received, to say the least, less media coverage than the leadership machinations of a certain other party the week before. And rightly so.

But it seems premature to consign UKIP to the dustbin of fringe parties with one notable electoral performance (in their case the 16 per cent and third place garnered in the 2004 Euro elections), only to slide back into obscurity thereafter. What with the rejection of the European constitution, any chance of Britain joining the Euro very much receded, and expansion seemingly weakening chances of a federal 'super-state', Europe is seen as very much a dormant issue in British politics.

But there is reason to think that this might not remain so, as well as cause to think that UKIP might anyway be able to move beyond 'single-issue' status.

Firstly, the issue of immigration is once again moving up the list of voters' priorities. Not only that, but it is now explicitly linked to expansion of the EU, what with the government's admission that economic migration from accession countries - notably Poland - has been much higher than it had predicted. In 2004, EU withdrawal and strict immigration controls were easily UKIP's best-known policies.

Secondly, the two main parties' attempt to neutralise the issue of Europe by simply not talking about it. The BNP's recent success showed that seemingly 'fringe' parties of the right can reap electoral dividend, by portraying themselves as an anti-establishment voice willing to address issues neglected by the political mainstream. As Denis Macshane demonstrates in the latest issue of Progress, Labour seems reluctant to exploit clear Tory divisions on Europe for fear of reviving what it sees as a particularly tricky issue. But it is likely to be revived at some stage anyway, whether we like it or not.

Thirdly, with the election of new leaders in several major EU states, fear of deeper European integration may return. See, for example, Nicolas Sarkozy's recent proposal of a new 'mini-treaty', drawn from the embers of the European consitution.

Lastly, there are signs that UKIP may be attempting to broaden its appeal by exploiting the gap supposedly left by Cameron's Tories on school selection, immigration and tax. But that might not be all that good for Labour. UKIP's vote in 2004 consisted of a significant number of ex-Labour votes, and it was UKIP who recently pushed Labour into fourth place in the Bromley and Chiselhurst by-election.