English Democrats to stand against David Davis

Following on from my post about the need for an English party at the Haltemprice and Howden by-election comes this press release from the English Democrats Party:

IMMEDIATE

The English Democrats have formally selected Joanne Robinson for the forthcoming by-election in Haltemprice and Howden. In a statement today Joanne praised David Davis for his courageous decision to stand down and prompt a by-election.

"By calling an election on the issue of civil liberties David Davis has done a great service to all of us for whom the word England still means something. The erosion of civil liberties under New Labour is a betrayal of our past and a betrayal of all our futures. The gifts of freedom and liberty bequeathed to us by generations of Englishmen and Englishwomen past are not Gordon Brown's to discard and make alien to future generations."

Chairman, Robin Tilbrook, also praised David Davis, but had strong words of criticism for Gordon Brown. "Gordon Brown is a coward", said Tilbrook, "He's afraid to give England a vote on her own parliament, he's afraid of a general election, he's afraid to give us a vote on the Lisbon Treaty, and now he's afraid to put up a candidate in this by-election. He's never put himself to the public vote in England, not as an MP - because he is elected in Scotland - and not as the leader of the Labour Party. He has no mandate."

The English Democrats sent out a clear signal that although they respected David Davis's stance he would not have the debate all his own way. We will point out that the transference of political power, and ultimately responsibility, from Westminster to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has created a democratic deficit that has damaged English voters, perverting the most important civil liberty that a democratic people hold - the ability to choose and remove their own government.

The English Democrats will ask why Davis has backtracked on his belief that the English should be free to choose their own government. We will ask why Privacy International find that civil liberties are better protected in Scotland than in England. We will ask why Scottish MPs can vote to abolish smoking in English pubs, but not in their own country. And we will ask why the Scots debate civil liberties in their Parliament at Holyrood while the English debate theirs on the doorsteps of Haltemprice and Howden.

These are difficult questions for politicians that like to prattle on about Britishness and British values.

OK the press release you've just read is a fake. I wrote it. Did you spot it? I think it's what they should have put out, or something like it. The real one, which completely ignores the point of the by-election and comes across as unremittingly negative, follows.

The English Democrats have formally selected Joanne Robinson for the forthcoming by-election in Haltemprice and Howden. The English Democrats are offering a fresh start and reject the cliché ridden and spin politics of the past. We offer the politics of a common national identity and common values. There should be an immediate referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty. It is wholly wrong for Labour to try and impose this treaty on us, contrary to their own specific manifesto commitment that there should be a referendum. The people of the Republic of Ireland have said NO – WE WANT OUR SAY. There should be free residential care for the elderly, as is available in Scotland. It is wrong that pensioner’s homes in England are being seized to pay for this. Free access to all NHS drugs – not a postcode lottery. The unjustified subsidies to other parts of the UK – We want a fair system for all. Our politics are riddled with spin and political correctness, a vote for the English Democrats is a vote for honest and plain speaking. We should protect society and not the criminals. There should be an English Parliament, with an English Prime Minister to put England on an equal footing with Scotland and Wales. We believe in an English Parliament within a federal UK working alongside the parliaments and assemblies of the other UK countries. The country can no longer sustain uncontrolled mass immigration. It should be stopped. It places an unacceptable strain on all our services. All previous governments have allowed this to happen. The voters of Haltemprice and Howden have a wonderful opportunity and the chance to send a clear message to the government and the rest of the stale political establishment that the people of England are no longer prepared to be treated as second class citizens within the UK. Let us put England’s interests first. A vote for Joanne and the English Democrats is a positive vote for the people of Haltemprice and Howden. It is a vote for ENGLAND and an English Parliament.

Joanne Robinson stood for UKIP at the 2001 General Election in Haltemprice and Howden.