Jury Team Profile - Alan Wallace

Here is the latest responses to my invitation to Jury Team candidates, this time from Alan Wallace who is running in the Scotland Primary.

Alan's full Jury Team profile can be viewed, here.

If you would like to vote for Alan in the Primary, text ALAWAL01 to 86837 (25p + Standard Rate).

If you would like to comment or ask Alan any questions you can do so in the comments field or via the contact details on Alan's Jury Team profile.








Please answer True or False to these statements:

1. The EU should have even more control over the governing of member states including the UK.
False

2. The EU is the future of Continental Europe; the UK should be less resistant to this and more willing to be engaged with EU partners.
True

3. The EU is fundamentally undemocratic in how it is made up and how it functions.
True

4. If elected to the EU Parliament I will always vote in favour of returning legislative powers to member states.
True

5. Countries like Iceland and Norway should be made to join the EU.
False

6. Ireland was wrong to vote NO in their referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
False

7. The main reason why people are against the EU in the UK is because the Tabloid media runs scare stories.
True

8. I believe the UK should be a part of a federal Europe, whether as the UK or as component nations or regions.
False

9. The UK should leave the EU as swiftly and as amicably as possible.
False

10. The UK Parliament should be sovereign. No laws made by the EU should be above the law making decisions of the UK Parliament.
True

11. The UK and France should give up their seats on the UN Security Council in favour of an EU representative.
False

12. The city of London and UK financial institutions should be regulated by the EU.
False

13. The EU has kept peace in Europe for 60 years.
False

14. If the UK left the EU, it’s economy would never recover.
False

15. Plans should be made for the UK to join the EURO within the next five year sitting of the EU parliament
Don’t know

16. UK armed forces should answer to a European Military Chain of Command.
False

17. The EU should be allowed to collect taxes directly from European citizens and/or businesses.
False

18. There will never be war in Europe as long as the EU is strong.
False - Remember Kosovo?

19. The UK should not be allowed to declare war without the approval of the EU
False

20. The UK should be allowed a referendum whether it accepts the EU Lisbon Constitutional Treaty before it comes into force.
True

21. I am prepared to give up some small freedoms so that the UK and/or the EU governments can better protect us from terrorists.
False

22. The EU should have control of EU wide policing to make standard the same across Europe, as well as centrally gather intelligence.
False

23. UK Common Law is incompatible with European Courts. We should protect Common Law.
True

24. People who stand opposed to the EU should be punished.
False

25. The Eurovision Song Contest is a wonderful form of European entertainment and the voting is in no way rigged.
False

In no more than 200 words for each question, please tell us about the following:

Q. If you are elected to the EU Parliament, by what method and frequency will your expenses be made public?
I intend to be totally open in how I conduct myself. Not only my expenses but my schedule will be published on a monthly basis, allowing constituents to have an input directly into meetings.

Q. Have you ever stood for an elected position before?
No

Q. Do you have you own website or blog?
I'm not all seriousness and levity. For a while I ran a blog about my wife's funny experiences in a cinema. Unfortunately, I ran out of material as my wife's illness took hold. http://strugglingwithlife.wordpress.com/

Q. Do you regularly read any particular newspapers or magazines? Who are your favourite writers/Journalists?
I try to get a balanced picture of events and so dip into all the main broadsheets online. To be honest, I rarely check the bye-line.

Q. Why did you decide to stand for Jury Team instead of an existing political party?
The Parties seem to exist mainly for their own furtherance and benefit. Oh they make all the right noises about working for the people, but in the end the needs of the Party always comes first. I've never been a Party man, choosing to vote for the candidate who has their own voice. Increasingly, central office control has stifled local politicians and I no longer really know what they stand for. Being a Jury Team Independent means I'm not a single-issue type like other independents.

Q. What is the very first thing you will do in your official capacity if elected?
Set up a clear multi-discipline method for people to contact me. To my face, online, by text and by phone. I can't represent people if they can't tell me their needs and wants.

Q. And, as you have been good enough to answer the above, in no more than 1,000 of your own words, tell us why we should vote for you.
I'm not a politician. I'm not practiced in the black arts of evading questions and avoiding the issue. I haven't spent so long ascending the greasy pole that I've forgotten what it's like to work for a living. I don't have any great ideological standpoints, I just recognise good ideas when I see them and I don't care if they come from the political "Left" or "Right". I'm your neighbour, the bloke you were at school with, your colleague at work or the fellow fan on the terraces. Like you, I just want the system to be fair and to work.