18th May 2010
Nikki fights for the rights of Meriden and Hatton residents
Local residents are up in arms about recent invasions by travellers of Green Belt Land

 

"Madam President, the rapporteur states in his report that the accession to the ECHR will afford citizens protection against the actions of the Union. I would be far more interested in protecting the residents of my constituency, the West Midlands in the UK, against the action of the Convention on Human Rights.
Of course in the UK we incorporated this into our law in 1998, allowing the ECHR to have effect in all our courts. In the manifesto of the new Conservative Government it was promised that they would repeal the Human Rights Act but, as they should have known, Lisbon made the EU a legal entity and the EU has greater powers than the electorate of the United Kingdom. We are reminded of George Orwell. The writing is on the wall and, as we know, some people are more equal than others when it comes to human rights.
Earlier this month, my constituents in Meriden and Hatton suffered invasions by so-called ‘travellers’, who have broken the peace and who are building unauthorised and possibly illegal developments on what little remains of our precious green-belt land. Thanks to the Convention on Human Rights, these travellers have special protected rights. They have priority in health care and education, all at the expense of local taxpayers!
The rapporteur wants us to involve our national courts and ministries of justice in this process. I say that the Convention on Human Rights has done enough damage already. Perhaps the rapporteur would like to visit my constituency and witness at first hand the desecration of our land. Perhaps he would like to speak to the hardworking villagers who have seen the value of their homes plummet. He can inspect the lines of police drafted in to keep the peace and of course preserve the special rights of the travellers. He could even enjoy the spectacle of 90 lorries laden with gravel churning up the country lanes where parents walk with their children. He might help residents as they rush to install security equipment in anticipation of the surge in criminal activity that often accompanies such developments.
Of course these are but small tragedies and are nothing when compared to the important political project that is the European Union, but let us consider that when we propose special rights on one group of citizens we automatically degrade the rights of others.
The Convention on Human Rights has degraded the rights of my constituents. It should not be up to unelected officials to decide who is special and who is not. We have a newly elected government in the UK which has made promises in this area. In the name of democracy let them carry out those promises!"

 

18th May 2010
PRESS RELEASE

Nikki Sinclaire MEP fights for residents rights in European Parliament Plenary in Strasbourg

Local residents are up in arms about the recent invasions by travellers of Green Belt land in Meriden and in Hatton.

Nikki Sinclaire, independent Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands, has taken the matter to the EU, and today spoke out in a meeting of the legislature in Strasbourg.

Under the terms of the Lisbon treaty, all member states are to come under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which bestows upon travellers special rights, giving them priority in Education and health care, as well as the right, in some cases to live on taxpayer funded land.

" The principle that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law should always apply, not the EU preferred Orwellian scenario; that some are more equal than others" said Nikki, "and those rights must be protected by the law. However, I believe passionately that we are all equal. That is the basic premise of a democratic society, and the ECHR has given one section of society special rights. When we do this, we automatically degrade the rights of others. "

The new Conservative government has pledged to remove the UK from the influence of the ECHR, however the European Parliament has today discussed its proposals to place all member states under the ECHR, making a nonsense of the Tory pledge. This was fact was well known when David Cameron made his promise.