Jury Team Profile - Bill Barnett

Here are the responses to my questions from Jury Team Candidate Bill Barnett who is running in the South West Primary.

Bill's full Jury Team profile can be seen, here.

If you would like to vote for Bill, text WILBAR01 to 86837 (25p + Standard Rate).

You can leave questions and comments in the comments field of this post, or if you would prefer you can contact Bill on the details on his 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.
N0

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.
YES

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

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

5. Counties like Iceland and Norway should be made to join the EU.
NO

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

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

8. I believe the UK should be a part of a federal Europe, whether as the UK or as component nations or regions.
NO

9. The UK should leave the EU as swiftly and as amicably as possible.
If that is the will of the UK public

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

11. The UK and France should give up their seats on the UN Security Council in favour of an EU representative.
MAYBE – the UN is largely irrelevant

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

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

14. If the UK left the EU, it’s economy would never recover.
NO

15. Plans should be made for the UK to join the EURO within the next five year sitting of the EU parliament.
NO

16. UK armed forces should answer to a European Military Chain of Command.
WHY? NATO works perfectly well

17. The EU should be allowed to collect taxes directly from European citizens and/or businesses.
NO

18. There will never be war in Europe as long as the EU is strong.
Never is a long time, but it is unlikely

19. The UK should not be allowed to declare war without the approval of the EU.
NO

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

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.
NO [response shortened]

22. The EU should have control of EU wide policing to make standard the same across Europe, as well as centrally gather intelligence.
Maybe, [response shortened]

23. UK Common Law is incompatible with European Courts. We should protect Common Law.
Not incompatible, just different.

24. People who stand opposed to the EU should be punished.
NO

25. The Eurovision Song Contest is a wonderful form of European entertainment and the voting is in no way rigged.
Yes it is, and of course the voting is rigged – thats all part of the pantomime.

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?
Monthly statement online, plus copies of all receipts scanned. Also, I'd try to ensure that as much expenditure as possible is directed to local businesses in my area, and any support staff will be recruited through fair and open competition from my local area – its a token gesture, but it all helps increase my economic impact in the SW.

Q. Have you ever stood for an elected position before?
Only as a workplace rep for my union, PCS.

Q. Do you have you own website or blog?
Thanks for asking, yes I do - http://beardy-bill.blogspot.com/ and I'm also on twitter http://twitter.com/beardy_bill

Q. Do you regularly read any particular newspapers or magazines? Who are your favourite writers/Journalists?
Usually read the Times, plus blogs and online news – the BBC is very good. I don't like the rabid bigotry of the Daily Mail.

Q. Why did you decide to stand for Jury Team instead of an existing political party?
The existing parties do not represent my beliefs, or those of the vast majority of people in the UK. Over the last 20 years I have felt more an more disengaged as the parties have become increasingly self serving and contemptuous of the public. In the past we had conviction politicians across the spectrum, and while you maybe disagreed with them, at least you were clear about what they stood for. The political elite has been taken over by professional politicians equipped with the verbal chicanery that comes with very slick PR or legal training – these people would argue black is white if it would give them some personal advantage, and this abuse of trust disgusts me.

Q. What is the very first thing you will do in your official capacity if elected?
Haven't given it any thought yet.

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 would hope people will read my profile, broadly agree with my views and then think “he seems a reasonable kind of bloke, lets give him a shot” - more importantly than voting for me, is just getting out and voting. Don't allow the current crop of self-serving b******s to steal power through apathy. If you can't bring yourself to vote positively, then spoil your ballot, but make sure its counted.

On a more positive note, if you do decide that you want to make your vote really count, then think about this – even though I freely admit to having no political ambition, could I really be any worse than your current representative? Vote for me and you'll get hard work, straight talk, absolute integrity and no bull-s**t.