Eltham Labour Party

 

The Tories, the European People's Party and the ultra-right wing party alliance

The Tories have been very active over the past few months, deep in talks with parties across Europe.  Helping relations in Europe would always be a welcome change for the Tories, but when discovering the parties David Cameron and his party have been associating with a very worrying picture is drawn.

For some time David Cameron has made clear his policy to withdraw his party from the centre-right group of European political parties, cutting alliances with leaders like French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel further reducing the influence of his own British Conservative MEP's in European Parliament.

David Cameron remains committed to fully fledged withdrawal from the EPP, gaining support of the hard-line Euro sceptics.  This move from centre-right has led Cameron and his party to begin alliances with some far more radical parties.

• The British Chambers of Commerce has said that this withdrawal "could do significant damage to British business interests."
• Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clark raised even his worries that the Conservatives would be "looking for allies amongst ultra-nationalist right in central Europe."
• The big leaders in President Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel have also been critical of the move, threatening to "cut bilateral" relations with David Cameron over the issue after he "mightily pissed off most of the main players."
• David Cameron's very own MEP's have described his decisions as "choosing isolation", "a car crash of a decision", "ridiculous" and "barking". Warning him they "cannot watch (Britain) head for the rocks which it will do if Cameron becomes Prime Minister and has no allies in the major Governments of the European Union" except "fascist's outcasts and ne'er-do-wells."

Unheeded by this criticism even from his own party and losing his support from the major democracies in the Europe Union Cameron has now got the task of finding 25 MEP's from 7 member states to form himself a new group, so far securing the support of just two parties; The Czech Civic Democrats (ODS) and the Polish Law and Justice Party.  These two parties alone have not kept away from controversy, raising questions to why Cameron would align his party with the likes of these more radical parties.  Other potential members of Cameron's party include the far-right Danish People's Party and the nationalist Latvian Fatherland and Freedom Party.  These are a far cry from the mainstream parties Cameron has left behind in the EPP.

1. Polish Law and Justice Party (Alliance gained) - Criticised for its attitude to gay rights.  And controversially one of their MP's commented that President Obama's election would mean "an impending catastrophe, the end of the civilisation of the white man."
2. The Czech Civic Democrats (Alliance gained) - Vaclav Klaus, the founder of Czech ODS, called climate change as a "global myth".
3. Danish People Party (Potential ally) - Confirming interest with working with the Conservatives.  The DPP have been criticised for warning Muslim immigration would mean the "end of European civilisation."
4. Latvian for Fatherland and Freedom Party (Potential ally) - Are currently in talks with William Hague.  The party reportedly celebrates the Latvian Unit of Waffen SS troops.