February 9, 2010 - By Martin Wingfield

NOT bad for small political party with just two MEPs in the 736-strong European Parliament.

Yesterday in Strasbourg both Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons were able to make their presence felt in the Chamber with speeches which showed that within the very heart of the European Union there are voices of reality and voices of dissent.

The British National Party’s leader stunned MEPs with a hard hitting speech during a debate on tax co-operation across Member States.

Nick told the European Parliament:
“Discussing tax co-operation during the gathering Euro crisis is rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

“The southern nations are known in English by the harsh acronym, PIGS, but those being crucified on the Euro are not pigs, but people scourged by Utopian one-size-fits-all dogma.

“Their economies will either die of a thousands cuts, or be bailed out, to the ruin of taxpayers in Britain and elsewhere. There will be very little tax to co-operate over.

“There are two ways out: abolish the Euro and return to the captive nations of this Strawberry Soviet their own currencies; or expel the problem countries from the Euro. That might be the PIGS. More justly it would be Germany and her French collaborator, because running the Euro in the German interest is the root of this shambles.

“This endless crisis will destroy the federal project, tax co-operation and all. The tragedy is that it will grind so many innocent victims into poverty before it does so.”

Four hours later, Andrew Brons had Labour and Conservative Party MEPs squirming in their seats as he once again exposed the sham of Britain’s opt out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

He closely questioned Mr. Diego Lopez Garrido, the Spanish Secretary for European Affairs – Spain currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union – on the very subject.

“The governments of three member states (including the United Kingdom) told their electorates that they had secured ‘opt-outs’ from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. However, some members of this Committee have argued that these opt-outs are worthless, since the Lisbon Treaty. If these members of the Committee should be right, would you persuade the governments of those countries to tell the truth to their electorates.”

Mr. Lopez did not reply to this question!

Andrew then tackled the Spainish Minister on his opening speech when he declared the European Union being a force for democracy in the world:

“You spoke of democracy as a central principle of the European Union and I agree that it should be. However, democracy cannot exist without freedom of speech but member states of the EU imprison people for non-violent comment and heretical opinion.

Indeed, from November of this year, the European Union plans to extend throughout Europe, the criminalisation, not just of speech and writing, but even of thought – what they call xenophobia – which means fear of foreigners, state of mind. This is a truly Orwellian Thought Crime.

I’m afraid there is an inverse relationship between those who proclaim their belief in democracy and those who practise it. The test of being a true democrat is not whether or not a person defends the rights of himself or somebody with whom he agrees. It is whether or not he is prepared to defend the rights of his opponents.”

Mr. Lopez said he did not agree with the MEP for Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire.