Joëlle Bergeron (see picture) was elected to the European Parliament with Front National last month. However, according to her, she came under pressure to give up her seat to another member of the party deemed as more 'orthodox' and closer to Le Pen. A couple of days before the European Parliament elections, Madame Bergeron had raised a few eyebrows in Front National's leadership by speaking out in favour of giving immigrants the right to vote in local elections in France. She eventually decided not to step down as an MEP, but she quit Front National and joined UKIP's group.
How these parties will coexist remains uncertain. For example, UKIP wants to quit the EU, and Beppe Grillo’s Five-Star Movement is a rather unpredictable quantity that doesn’t want to leave the EU and supports a financial transaction tax. Indeed, the fact that parties will be allowed to vote independently on each specific issue could help make the alliance more sustainable.
So Nigel was faster than Marine, but Le Pen still has a good chance of forming her own group. She was in Brussels yesterday for a meeting with her new allies, and Polish MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke was sitting at the table (see picture) - most likely a sign that Poland's Congress of the New Right (KNP) is on board. This means Le Pen only needs one more national delegation to finish the job. Difficult, given that the deadline to register new groups expires next Tuesday, but definitely not impossible.
12 comments:
Well done, Nigel
so much for the inability of UKIP to form a group.
may they and Le Pen's group-to-be obstruct the EU institutions and raise blood pressure of the Eurocrats
It might be asked how the members of the ECR group will co-exist when the Tories have successfully wooed members of parties which they previously said were just too vile to be considered as acceptable partners, the latest being this Dutch MEP whose party banned women from even being members until 2006:
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/06/17/Cameron-s-Euro-Tories-embrace-party-which-denies-women-are-equal
"A Dutch Calvinist political party which denies the equality of women and which until 2006 banned women from party membership has now become a member of the British Conservative’s group (the European Conservatives and Reformists) at the European Parliament.
In the last parliament, the Tories refused to admit the Dutch Reformed Political Party (SGP) because of the party’s attitude towards women."
Those leading the Tories are so utterly committed to keeping us in the EU at all costs that they showed themselves up as totally unscrupulous and hypocritical in their efforts to stop UKIP being able to form a group; now they have not only failed to do that, they have also got themselves associated with parties which they rejected as too unsavoury when they were in the same group as UKIP, plus they have upset Merkel who is supposed to be their great ally in pressing for EU "reform", what a joke.
Serves them right, in my view.
It might be asked how the members of the ECR group will co-exist when the Tories have successfully wooed members of parties which they previously said were just too vile to be considered as acceptable partners, the latest being this Dutch MEP whose party banned women from even being members until 2006:
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/06/17/Cameron-s-Euro-Tories-embrace-party-which-denies-women-are-equal
"A Dutch Calvinist political party which denies the equality of women and which until 2006 banned women from party membership has now become a member of the British Conservative’s group (the European Conservatives and Reformists) at the European Parliament.
In the last parliament, the Tories refused to admit the Dutch Reformed Political Party (SGP) because of the party’s attitude towards women."
Those leading the Tories are so utterly committed to keeping us in the EU at all costs that they showed themselves up as totally unscrupulous and hypocritical in their efforts to stop UKIP being able to form a group; now they have not only failed to do that, they have also got themselves associated with parties which they rejected as too unsavoury when they were in the same group as UKIP, plus they have upset Merkel who is supposed to be their great ally in pressing for EU "reform", what a joke.
Serves them right, in my view.
Shows how democratic the Eu is a party that wants to abolish it can claim all that money.
Kippers don't normally bother to turn up but the money will be very useful!
"but she quit Front National and joined UKIP's group."
Another Open Europe misrepresentation.
Her decision to leave the Front national and her decision to join EFD were two different and unconnected decision.
i.e.
She DID NOT defect from the Front national to join EFD.
Open Europe's implication that she did is a lie -- just one more of many Open Europe lies.
It is a deceit on the voters to switch parties two days after being elected. Of course, it doesn't help that the undemocratic election procedure which precludes by-elections, encourages this sort of thing. There should be a system of recall.
It just strikes me that this is a wonderful way for Nigel to maintain a link to Front National, despite his avowed intent that UKIP not have anything to do with the party...
RE Perdix your comment is a lie , several UKIP MEPs had excellent attendance records in the last Parliament but the Media focussed on Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall but as they pointed out they had to function as the leaders of a National UK Party and compared to Cameron/Clegg/Milliband their record for attendance/voting in the UK Parliament Farage and Nuttall were paragons of virtue.
Re taking money as the saying goes you dont let the devil have the best tunes and as it is our taxes which pay for the EU Parliament it is only correct that the millions of voters that the EDF represent get some money.
Re the Conservatives Syed Kamall the leader of the ECR made it very clear in intereviews in the media and on TV ( Daily Politics ) his aim was to stop UKIP and to do so the means justified the ends and his Groupo were even willing to ignore a direct order from Cameron not to include AfD
Another Open Europe lie.
The MEP UKIP picked up wasn't a Front Nationale defector.
She had already left the that party and was an independent MEP when Farage enlisted her.
So she did not "defect."
Why does Open Europe keep telling lies?
You've got to hand it to Farage, he's a very good player indeed. A fascinating politician all round.
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