No to the EU – Yes to Democracy
Encyclopedia
No2EU – Yes to Democracy is a left-wing electoral alliance
which was initiated by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
(RMT) to contest the June 2009 European elections in the United Kingdom
. The party fielded candidates only in Great Britain. In addition to the RMT, the coalition includes:
It also experiences support from some members of Respect – The Unity Coalition and of the Socialist Workers Party
.
The No2EU:Yes to Democracy coalition is unique in that it is the first instance in recent history of a national trade union officially putting its support behind an electoral presence other than the Labour Party.
mainstream parties. Bob Crow
, the party's lead candidate in London has said he is "not against workers coming into the country", unlike other Eurosceptic
groupings, but he is against "two workers from different countries competing against each other on different rates of pay" and added that "Our main role will be out there among working people, giving them our support and helping to save their industries from privatisation".
Among other candidates were the former Labour MP Dave Nellist
and former Labour Group Leader on East Sussex County Council Professor Dave Hill
.
No2EU stands for a Europe of "independent, democratic states that value its public services and does not offer them to profiteers; a Europe that guarantees the rights of workers and does not put the interests of big business above that of ordinary people". They believe that the current EU structure makes this impossible.
The main policies are:
's Socialist Labour Party
. The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows.
Electoral alliance
An electoral alliance may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc. It is an association of political parties or individuals which exists solely to stand in elections...
which was initiated by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
(RMT) to contest the June 2009 European elections in the United Kingdom
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...
. The party fielded candidates only in Great Britain. In addition to the RMT, the coalition includes:
- the Socialist PartySocialist Party (England and Wales)The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist party active in England and Wales.It publishes the weekly newspaper The Socialist and the monthly magazine Socialism Today...
- the Communist Party of BritainCommunist Party of BritainThe Communist Party of Britain is a communist political party in Great Britain. Although founded in 1988 it traces its origins back to 1920 and the Communist Party of Great Britain, and claims the legacy of that party and its most influential members Harry Pollitt and John Gollan as its...
, - SolidaritySolidarity (Scotland)Solidarity is a political party in Scotland, launched on September 3, 2006 as a breakaway from the Scottish Socialist Party in the aftermath of Tommy Sheridan's libel action...
- the Alliance for Green SocialismAlliance for Green SocialismThe Alliance for Green Socialism is a socialist and environmentalist political grouping operating across Britain...
, - the Liberal PartyLiberal Party (UK, 1989)The Liberal Party is a United Kingdom political party. It was formed in 1989 by a group of individuals within the original Liberal Party who felt that the merger of the party with the Social Democratic Party, to form the Liberal Democrats, had ended the spirit of the Liberal Party, claiming that...
, - Socialist ResistanceSocialist ResistanceSocialist Resistance is a Trotskyist and ecosocialist organisation in Britain which publishes a Marxist periodical of the same name. In July 2009 the International Socialist Group merged into it, making SR the British Section of the Fourth International.-Origins:It was launched on 8 September...
and - the Indian Workers' AssociationIndian Workers' AssociationThe Indian Workers' Association is a political organisation in Great Britain.The first Indian Workers' Association was founded in London in the 1930s, while another was set up in Coventry in 1938. Set up by immigrant workers from India, their members included Udham Singh, and they focussed on...
.
It also experiences support from some members of Respect – The Unity Coalition and of the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
.
The No2EU:Yes to Democracy coalition is unique in that it is the first instance in recent history of a national trade union officially putting its support behind an electoral presence other than the Labour Party.
Policies
According to its press statements it stands in opposition to the perceived xenophobic, nationalist and pro-business policies of existing euro-critical parties and the pro-EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
mainstream parties. Bob Crow
Bob Crow
Robert Crow , who is better known as Bob Crow, is a British trade union leader, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and a member of the General Council of the TUC...
, the party's lead candidate in London has said he is "not against workers coming into the country", unlike other Eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
groupings, but he is against "two workers from different countries competing against each other on different rates of pay" and added that "Our main role will be out there among working people, giving them our support and helping to save their industries from privatisation".
Among other candidates were the former Labour MP Dave Nellist
Dave Nellist
David John Nellist is a British Trotskyist activist and former Labour Member of Parliament for the now abolished constituency of Coventry South East...
and former Labour Group Leader on East Sussex County Council Professor Dave Hill
Dave Hill (Professor)
Dave Hill teaches at Middlesex University and is Visiting Professor of Critical Education Policy and Equality Studies at the University of Limerick, Ireland. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics....
.
No2EU stands for a Europe of "independent, democratic states that value its public services and does not offer them to profiteers; a Europe that guarantees the rights of workers and does not put the interests of big business above that of ordinary people". They believe that the current EU structure makes this impossible.
The main policies are:
- Reject the Lisbon Treaty
- No to EU directives that privatise our public services
- Defend and develop manufacturing, agriculture and fishing industries in the United Kingdom
- Repeal anti-trade union ECJ rulings and EU rules promoting social dumping
- No to racismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and fascismFascismFascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, Yes to international solidarity of working people - No to EU militarisation
- Repatriate democratic powers to EU member states
- Replace unequal EU trade deals with fair trade that benefits developing nations
- Scrap EU rules designed to stop member states from implementing independent economic policies
- Keep the United Kingdom out of the eurozoneEurozoneThe eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
, as they perceive it to have an agenda of protecting and maintaining capitalism and the capitalist agenda.
2009 European Parliament election results
No2EU received 153,236 votes or 1% of the national vote failing to win a seat at the European parliament and finishing in 11th place, behind Arthur ScargillArthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...
's Socialist Labour Party
Socialist Labour Party (UK)
The Socialist Labour Party is a far left socialist political party in the United Kingdom. The party is led by former trade union leader Arthur Scargill, who established it in 1996 as a breakaway from the Labour Party...
. The regional breakdown of the vote was as follows.
| Constituency | Candidates | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands East Midlands (European Parliament constituency) East Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 5 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
John McEwan, Avtar Sadiq, Jean Thorpe, Shangara Singh Gahonia, Laurence Platt | 11,375 | 0.9 |
| East of England East of England (European Parliament constituency) East of England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 7 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
Brian Denny, Frank Jepson, Steve Glennon, Phil Katz, Eleanor Donne, Pete Relph, Ron Rodwell | 13,939 | 0.9 |
| London London (European Parliament constituency) London is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :The constituency corresponds to Greater London, in the south east of the United Kingdom.... |
Bob Crow Bob Crow Robert Crow , who is better known as Bob Crow, is a British trade union leader, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and a member of the General Council of the TUC... , John Hendy, Mary Davis, Kevin Nolan, Syed Islam, Onay Kasab, John Rowe, Nick Wrack |
17,758 | 1.0 |
| North East England North East England (European Parliament constituency) North East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 3 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
Martin Levy, Hannah Walter, Peter Pinkney | 8,066 | 1.4 |
| North West England North West England (European Parliament constituency) North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:... |
Roger Bannister, Les Skarrot, Craig Johnston, Alec McFadden, Steve Radford Steve Radford Steve Radford is a British politician, and is leader of the Liberal Party.Radford is also a long-standing Liverpool city councillor, representing Tuebrook and Stoneycroft Ward. He is leader of the three-strong Liberal group on Liverpool City Council.Radford has been the Liberal candidate in four... , Lynn Worthington, John Metcalfe, Harry Smith |
23,580 | 1.4 |
| South East England South East England (European Parliament constituency) South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 10 Members of the European Parliament using the D'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
Dave Hill Dave Hill (Professor) Dave Hill teaches at Middlesex University and is Visiting Professor of Critical Education Policy and Equality Studies at the University of Limerick, Ireland. His working-class background and consciousness fed in to his left-wing politics.... , Garry Hassell, Kevin Hayes, Owen Morris, Gawain Little, Robert Wilkinson, Jacqui Berry, Nick Wright, Nick Chaffey, Sarah Wrack |
21,455 | 0.9 |
| South West England South West England (European Parliament constituency) South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:... |
Alex Gordon, Roger Davey, Rachel Lynch, Nick Quirk, John Chambers, Paul Dyer | 9,741 | 0.6 |
| West Midlands West Midlands (European Parliament constituency) West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect... |
David Nellist, Dyal Singh Bagri, Malcolm Gribbin, Jo Stevenson, Peter MacLaren, Andy Chaffer | 13,415 | 1.0 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber Yorkshire and the Humber (European Parliament constituency) Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
Keith Gibson, Celia Foote, Jackie Grunsell, Peter Marsh, Mike Davies, Juliet Marie Boddington | 15,614 | 1.3 |
| Wales Wales (European Parliament constituency) Wales is a constituency of the European Parliament. It currently elects 4 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
Robert Griffiths Robert Griffiths (politician) Robert Griffiths is the general-secretary of the Communist Party of Britain . He was elected by the CPB's Executive Committee in January 1998, in place of Mike Hicks, who, along with others, subsequently left the party he had a major role in founding.... , Rob Williams, Laura Picand, Trevor Jones |
8,600 | 1.3 |
| Scotland Scotland (European Parliament constituency) Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :... |
John Foster, Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan Tommy Sheridan is a Scottish socialist politician. He has had various prominent roles within the socialist movement in Scotland and is currently one of two co-convenors of the left-wing Scottish political party Solidarity.... , Leah Ganley, Stuart Hyslop, Ajit Singh Uppal, Tom Morrison |
9,693 | 0.9 |