Referendum
Multiple reports are emerging that EU citizens have been sent polling cards despite not having a vote in the referendum. Jakub Pawlowski, a Polish citizen living in Kingston, Surrey, tells Guido: “I have been living in UK since 2006 but never applied for British citizenship. I recently bought a house and in December 2015, right after completion, filled the form to get registered on electoral roll. I have selected there that I’m a Polish citizen. I could therefore vote in London mayoral elections this month, however recently I got a polling card for the upcoming referendum on EU membership.” Non-British EU citizens do not have a vote in the referendum… Kingston council told Jakub that he was erroneously in their database as a British citizen. But this appears to be a widespread problem:
Calls were growing tonight for an urgent inquiry into the integrity of the EU referendum amid claims that European citizens are being sent polling cards despite being ineligible to vote. Ukip leader Nigel Farage said reports that people with no British citizenship are apparently on the register to take part in the historic Brexit vote “need looking at” immediately. Fears that the integrity of the vote could be compromised were raised after one Polish man living in Surrey said he was incorrectly registered with the council as a British citizen.
Claims are emerging that European Union (EU) citizens living in the UK are receiving polling cards for next month’s referendum despite not being allowed to vote. George Eaton, Political Editor of the New Statesman, claims that he knows of EU citizens, specifically Germans and Poles, receiving the cards even though they are officially ineligible to vote in the referendum.
Immigration
Migrants will be barred from entering Britain after a Brexit unless they can speak good English and have the right skills for a job, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have pledged as they set out their vision for the UK outside of the EU. In a joint declaration, Mr Johnson and Mr Gove announce plans for an Australian-style points based immigration system to come into force in the years after Britain leaves the EU. Their statement, which is also signed by employment minister Priti Patel, will infuriate Downing Street and represents a major challenge to David Cameron’s authority.
Brexit would pave the way for an immigration revolution to slash numbers arriving from the EU, leading Out campaigners pledge today. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Priti Patel say they will insist on a tough Australian-style points system to finally meet the Tory pledge to cut net immigration to below 100,000. In a statement they attack David Cameron’s dismal record on the issue, warning that Britain’s EU membership means we ‘don’t have control’ over who comes here.
Plans to introduce an Australian-style points system of immigration have been unveiled by leading Leave campaigners. A statement from Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart sets out a blueprint in which the right to come to the UK would be based on skills. It would end the automatic right of EU citizens to live and work here.
The UK could have a “fairer, more humane” immigration system that would work better for the economy if it left the EU, leading Leave campaigners say. Tories Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, and Labour’s Gisela Stuart are calling for a points-based system for all migrants coming to the UK. They say EU free movement rules have hit wages and strained public services. The Remain campaign said the proposal would “wreck” the UK economy and could drive up immigration.
European migrants coming to the UK will have to prove that they can speak good English and be subject to an Australian-style points system if Britain votes to leave the EU, according Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Priti Patel. The three leading Conservative out campaigners, who all sit in David Cameron’s main or political cabinet, have issued a joint statement about the rules they would want to implement in a post-Brexit Britain. “By the next general election, we will create a genuine Australian-style points based immigration system. The automatic right of all EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK will end, as will EU control over vital aspects of our social security system,” they write.
An Australian-style points-based immigration system could be introduced in the UK if Britain votes to leave the EU, Brexit campaigners have revealed. Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Priti Patel and Gisela Stuart from the Labour party were among those to set out the immigration system blueprint. The plan would spell the end of the automatic right of EU citizens to come to live and work in the UK. Skills would then become the primary basis on which residence in the UK would be permitted.
Nearly half a million refugees and their kids could flock to Britain from the EU from 2020, a report claims today. Migration Watch estimates 4.8 million asylum seekers will head to Europe “over a period of years”, with between 5 per cent and 10 per cent coming to the UK if they can. Chairman Lord Deddington said: “The UK could well face a significant secondary flow of refugees from Europe in the coming years adding to the already huge strain being placed on housing and public services.
Dress code
Employers can ban workers from wearing headscarves, crucifixes and other religious clothing, the European Union’s top legal adviser said yesterday. G4S, the security firm, did not breach EU anti-discrimination laws when it fired a Belgian Muslim receptionist who wanted to cover her head, it was argued. Company dress codes that ban religious clothing are legal in the EU as long as they apply to all faiths and political views equally, it was said.
Terror
Tens of thousands of American tourists were warned yesterday that they are at risk of terrorist attacks across Europe this summer, leading to fears that holidays will be cancelled en masse. The US State Department issued an unusually broad travel alert that applies to the whole continent for this month, next month and August. It warns American citizens that they could be in danger at major events, tourist sites, city centres, restaurants and on public transport.
Referendum
Support for Brexit appears to be increasing after two polls gave the Leave campaign a narrow lead with little more than three weeks to go before the referendum. The pound fell against the dollar after the polls, one carried out online and the other by telephone, both gave Leave a 52-48 lead over Remain.
Public opinion has shifted towards the UK leaving the EU, two Guardian/ICM polls suggest as the referendum campaign picks up pace – with voters split 52% -48% in favour of Brexit, whether surveyed online or by phone. Previous polls have tended to show voters surveyed online to be more in favour of Britain leaving the EU. But in the latest ICM research, carried out for the Guardian, both methodologies yielded the same result – a majority in favour of leaving.
EU
A break-up of the EU would be Brussels’ fault for rushing towards a United States of Europe, a top eurocrat has admitted. In a frank acceptance of rising euroscepticism across the continent, European Council president Donald Tusk confessed Brussels officials have blindly hurtled towards forming an EU superstate against the wishes of most Europeans. The ex-Polish prime minister, who worked with David Cameron on his renegotiation of Britain’s EU relationship, also claimed now is the wrong moment to push ahead with further integration between all 28 member states. Speaking less than four weeks before the UK’s historic in/out referendum on EU membership, Mr Tusk delivered a candid speech to federalist euro politicians.
A number of left, liberal-leaning groups rode to the defence of free speech this morning after it was announced that the European Commission in partnership with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft, would be heavily policing the internet for “hate speech” and criminalising those it accused of falling foul of their regulations. Speaking to Breitbart London, the Index on Censorship, the National Secular Society, the Open Rights Group, and the U.S.-based ‘Free Press’ organisation all railed against the new European Union (EU) and social media giant plans to police the web for content they deem to be offensive.
Fraud
The European Union lost more than £675million of taxpayers’ money through fraud last year, a bombshell report revealed today. Most of the cash was taken through bogus claims for grants made from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The scams were disclosed in the annual report of the European Anti-Fraud Office, an investigative body set up by the EU. Investigators looked into nearly 1,400 allegations during 2015, the report said. Only £142million of the total fraud was recovered.
The European Union lost an estimated £675m to fraud last year, investigators have said. According to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), many of the false claims were concentrated in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary, some of the trading bloc’s poorest states. One of the 1,400 fraud allegations investigated involved a £1m payment to a factory which wanted to upgrade equipment to chill vegetables. When the transaction was investigated, officials found the equipment supplier and the factory owner were in fact the same person – and that the price of the machinery had been inflated.
There is far more scrutiny of any person applying to work or settle in Australia than a simple points system suggests. When suitability for work has been satisfied the applicant is interviewed by the Australian High Commission in this country
and again when he arrives in Australia. He has to take a thorough health examination and confirm proof that any dependents he wishes to accompany him will not be in any way dependent upon the State when they arrive. In some professions he has to demonstrate his skills before he is allowed to work and also be prepared to spend two years working where the Government has designated. Australian citizenship has to be applied for after so many years and is not an automatic right.
It stands to reason that a country which is unencumbered with
a dependent population and trouble makers is going to thrive and outclass all others.
European Council president Donald Tusk has said:
A break-up of the EU would be Brussels’ fault for rushing towards a United States of Europe.
I am surprised more has not been made of this statement. For years our europhiles have disingenuously claimed, in that supercilious, patronising way they have, “but no one is suggesting a United States of Europe.” True, but that was the point; no one would, but we and they knew perfectly well that that is what was happening.
Now here is the President of the European Council openly confirming the whole project. But I wouldn’t call 40 years’ stealthy development, “rushing”, would you? I think what he means is that careless in their own self-righteous arrogance and belief that they finally have the power to crush opposition, they have abandoned stealth and let the cat out of the bag.
Yes glad you mentioned this Phil.
Just read it on the front page of yesterday`s Daily Telegraph Business section myself.
Is this the first sign of a crack in the EU establishment.
Could the result of a policy of “ever closer union” be,
“ever wider disunion”.
Thank you Donald Tusk for chalking up confirmation that a vote to Remain means the certainty of being part of a Federal EU, whereas by voting to LEAVE we will actually be doing the EU a favour in that the EU can only remain in existence long term if it changes to a true democratic non – PRESCRIPTIVE assembly. – the alternative to that reform is complete implosion of the EU
John, I totally agree with you and the FACT that EU treaties never were legal (in GB). I just couldn’t get my head around the other FACT.. that nobody seemed to want to champion the point (really MP and ‘Legal Eagal’ work)! It seemed obvious to me (unless I misunderstood basic English Law) but seeing as I am ‘just’ an Engineer who stuck my nose into a Law Course for an afternoon off work ever week….?
Best of luck with the petition 122770; I signed up straight away….Nobody is going to carry me off to an EU Jail for stating the obvious (I hope)!
REFERENDUM
So, surprise, many Polling Registers across the nation are suspected or being fixed in favour of non-British nationals having a ‘free vote’ in our Governments EU Referendum! This is against the Law. I wonder how many more ‘illegals’ are on the countries register?
Is ‘Dodgy Dave@ and his motley crew trying to favour the ‘EU Referendum stitch-up’ with dodgy voter dossiers and non qualified voter names, at ‘Leave EU’s’ expense?
Surely this must be investigated immediately, and the Referendum delayed until after it can be certified as being legal and correct. It must be within the nations interests? I for one would like to know the total numbers involved if this is infact Nationwide Fraud!
Who will defend this country’s interests? Do you realy trust ‘Dodgy Dave’ to do it?
Joe I too am most concerned.
I think that if, whether by error or design, people ineligible to vote in the referendum have, or are being sent, poling cards this needs to be addressed.
It would not be sensible to trust politicians committed to arranging for our country to be taken over and changed forever by the European Union to do this. Certainly we would be ill-advised to hold our breath while waiting for them to announce a delay in holding the referendum while the matter is being resolved.
Each and every person with evidence of referendum irregularities of any kind needs to come forward. The matter of who they should come forward too needs to be resolved as a matter of extreme urgency. In the same vein postal voting needs to be monitored very closely. It is imperative that actionable evidence be retained to ensure that at the very least there are consequences for those who break the law.
I think it important to understand that in democratic countries such as ours people resolve issues like this peacefully simply because our democratic institutions make this possible. It is not ‘because we are British’ or any such magical thing. Take away this framework and with it will go our peaceful ways.
This is something for entrusted officials to ponder, whichever side of the Brexit fence they may personally sit.
As for we ordinary voters, we need as big a majority as we can possibly muster. By the sounds of things, a massive landslide victory may just get us over 50%.
Thanks Michael. Lets hope you are right, because there is an obvious build up of potential for a ‘Civil Unresst’ situation over the matters, with an even more obvious risk of intervention by (requested or un requested) EU armed ‘Riot Police’.
I would hate to think of any of them getting hurt! It could ruin their ‘image’.