Jury Team Profile (Belated) - Andrew Parker

Here are the responses to my invitation to Jury Team candidates from Andrew Parker who is running in the East of England Primary.

Andrew had actually sent me his responses on 30th March, however they somehow ended up in my junk mail folder, and I have only just discovered them today (Sorry Andrew!)

You can view Andrew's full Jury Team profile, here.

If you would like to vote for Andrew in the Primary, text ANDPAR01 to 86837.





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.
FALSE

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.
TRUE

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.
TRUE

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.
FALSE

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.
TRUE

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.
TRUE! Of course!

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?
Personally, I’d be happy for expenses to be published annually or every six months via the web (or cheapest equivalent to avoid wasting paper or cutting down trees). I certainly won’t be making claims for watching, er, ‘relaxing’ movies!

Q. Have you ever stood for an elected position before?
Yes – many years ago I stood as an independent for the presidency of my student union. I was beaten by the Labour Party candidate. Even back then I was not keen on party politics.

Q. Do you have you own website or blog?
I am in the process of developing these to support my campaign.

Q. Do you regularly read any particular newspapers or magazines? Who are your favourite writers/Journalists?
I try to read material from different sides of the political divide – so I’ll look at both the Telegraph and The Guardian, for example. Same with the tabloids – the Mail versus the Mirror. My favourite writers aren’t necessarily those whose politics I favour. I just want real debate, rather than party flag-waving.

Q. Why did you decide to stand for Jury Team instead of an existing political party?
I want to be able to pick and choose those items of proposed legislation that it’s right to support or reject. I don’t want to be told that I’ll be upsetting other politicians if I don’t vote the same way as they do. A prominent ex-Labour MP said in an interview that on one occasion she voted against the government. Thereafter, she was suddenly excluded from a lot of party business – effectively ‘cold-shouldered’ because she hadn’t done what the Cabinet told her to do. Presumably, she had voted according to the wishes of her constituents. So, I want to be totally free to vote according to the people I hope to represent, without any hindrance from anyone else. Similarly, I have no connections to big industry or business, so again my vote will not be influenced by unrepresentative interests.

Q. What is the very first thing you will do in your official capacity if elected?
Find out exactly what powers I really have to support people in my region – I’ll want to know what I can do to get started with helping people live their lives as they wish.

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 asking people to vote for me because I am prepared to put the work in to find out how we can benefit from membership of the EU. Also because I am a decent, honest person who believes in democracy. I’m proud of being a British citizen, and I want to promote and defend my country in its dealings with its European neighbours. Even if I’m a lone voice, I want to ask for increased accountability from the EU in terms of what it is providing our region in return for our taxes.

I like to think that I am a reasonable, approachable individual with the necessary skills to listen to people and then take their views forward to the European Parliament. Likewise, I know I am capable of getting up to speed quickly with the administrative set-up of the EP, and so will be able to make the most of my time there.

Mainly I’m asking people to vote for me because I will take my responsibilities extremely seriously, and do everything possible to be the very best representative for our region.