Ron Paul goes too far.

I'm a Ron Paul guy. Well, I'm a fan anyway. His call for fiscal responsibility, devolved power and anti-war libertarianism is vastly appealing to me. But he went too far this week.

Anwar al-Awlaki's death is a very good thing. This fanatical piece of human excrement is responsible for organising Al Qaeda's sick agenda. Ron Paul's calls that he should have been tried as a US citizen is consistent but stupid. Some go beyond the pale and should not be given the treatment that ordinary citizens receive. This the man represented a highly unusual case and his elimination does make us safer. Paul's purist position is likely to damage his chances of the Presidency in the US. His is a pretty extreme stance on this one.

Where Ron Paul's philosophy does hold up however, is that it did not take an invasion and a huge army on the ground of Yemen to target and eliminate effectively. Us bulldozing into countries as in the case of Libya is not the way forward. Small scale, targeted assassinations that have a clear and obtainable objective are welcome. Good job all round.

Heaver's Hits #2

Heaver's Hits #1

EU referendum? Don't hold your breath.

This week there have been excited tones from some quarters about the intervention of Mark Pritchard, Tory MP and Secretary of the 1922 Conservative Backbenchers group who has called for an EU referendum. As someone who is staunchly anti-EU, I'm finding it hard to work up much enthusiasm.

The big problem with the EU referendum issue is that in reality the only people who could a referendum through the Commons or put the promise of one in an election winning manifesto are David Cameron and Ed Miliband. Both have ruled such a policy out.

Will Labour and Tory MPs thus seek to change the leadership of their Party as a result, so that a pro-referendum Leader who is willing to put such a commitment in the Party's manifesto can take over? Not on your nelly.

The real reason that Mark Pritchard has spoken out is because his relationship with Number 10 broke down spectacularly. He is one of the few Conservative MPs who has now clearly written off any chance of Ministerial promotion under David Cameron's leadership of the Party. Thus, he can speak freely on issues such as championing an EU referendum that will annoy the party leadership.

This is why the rest of the so-called Conservative Eurosceptics are having meetings about backing EU reform, which is err, already in  the Tory manifesto and has already been shown to be a completely farcical position. A modest £450m per annum increase in the EU budget was apparently an example of "spectacular" Conservative reform. Not example impressive is it?

Ultimately though, signing lots of backbench MPs up to supporting an EU referendum doesn't actually change anything, except perhaps for keeping the topic on the agenda. In my opinion, there are only two ways in which we will ever get a referendum on EU membership or EU withdrawal as most supporting a referendum really want.

The first will be if we get a UKIP government. People chuckle when I say this and yes this could take a few decades to achieve, but then we have already gone since 1975 without a vote so in that context is it really impossible to believe that the pro-EU cartel in Westminster won't go on ignoring the public's will? And if they do, that UKIP cannot rapidly become a sizeable Party in the House of Commons?

Secondly will be if a Leader of Labour or the Conservative Party becomes pro-referendum. Suddenly that first option doesn't seem so out there, does it?

There is one huge massive whopping great point that most anti-EU people forget. Lets say we live in a Great Britain in 2011 that is outside of the EU; would those such as myself be keen to gamble our democracy and prosperity on a referendum as to whether we should join? Why would I when I already have what I want?

This is the point. Cameron, Miliband and Clegg all firmly believe that the UK must remain inside the EU. Therefore any potential popularity they could secure by promising a referendum is more than off-set by the gamble of their side losing and the people voting for the UK to become an independent self-governing nation once more. No more Euro grandstanding for them.

Though I would love for these men to be democrats who do listen to the public, and who do listen to their backbench MPs who dare to represent their constituents opinion that it is time for a referendum, that is not the reality. It is for this reason that the ultimate focus must stay on applying pressure at the ballot box and by voters using their electoral currency to bring down the stock of the pro-EU old parties and instead voting for a Party that represents their view on Europe, in the form of UKIP.

The likes of David Cameron would find it far harder to ignore the anti-EU cause if he had a dozen UKIP MPs to face in the House of Commons rather than a ragtag of 30  backbench rebels in his own Party who he can and has left isolated by calling in the Whips. And hopefully by then the momentum would be such that he would fall and his new adversary, not answerable to his Whips' threats and that champions democracy, binding referenda and low tax could triumph.

Working class swing towards UKIP.

The latest YouGov shows once again tonight that UKIP are consistently polling between 5% - 7% nationally which is unheard of at this stage of the electoral cycle.

A bigger breakthrough is the Party's 8% showing among working class people - out-polling the Liberal Democrats among this social class of voters.

This may be a shock to some but it is the secret to UKIP's resilience. Far from being a Party with strongholds only in suburban Tory territories, UKIP is also sustaining and gaining support in working class areas.

That's why the Liberal Democrats should be worried: their credibility as the alternative choice among many hard working poor people looking for an electoral alternative is in tatters. UKIP's big strength is that is attracts a blend of ex-Old Labour, traditional Tory and rebellious Liberal voters. Hence UKIP is seeing an elevation in the polls that has gone as high as 7%/8% whie the Greens and BNP remain each on 1% and 2%.

Lets hope the Eurozone disintegrates.

It just was never going to work. A currency Union involving countries as diverse as Greece and Germany could never work. Their economies, in terms of wealth, size and composition were just too different. Those who bravely made the case that Britain's prosperous future lay with retaining its own currency were derided as inwards looking and backwards, much as many who want to see Britain take back control of its democracy from Brussels still are today.

The Euro is an economic nightmare that has had masses of political capital invested into it by supposedly clever and powerful people from right across the continent. They however are now reduced to bail outs and subsidies of billions to keep the old dear going. But it has no future, certainly not as a mass currency union including anywhere near as many countries as currently sit within the Eurozone.

The longer the Euro limps on, the worst the catastrophic fallout will be. If Greece and later Portugal and Italy left now it would be damaging. Very damaging. But that is no reason to argue against them taking off the shackles of Eurozone membership if the alternative is to carry on and succumb to an even worse fallout later.

The destruction of the Euro will be a defining moment in European politics. It will hurt the EU fanatics who have insisted that their brand of anti-democratic nationalistic supranationalism is the way forward. The credibility of the EU its direction and its very existence will hopefully all be called into question.

Now is not the time to hope against hope that countries like Greece that have been devastated by false promises and bungling idealistic pro-EU politicians somehow cling on inside the Eurozone. The Euro's inevitable judgement day is fast approaching. It will be the EU itself which is next.

Newsflash: Tory Eurosceptics talk some more about "EU reform".

The big news on Europe that seems to have some right-wing commentators and writers excited is the fact that a group of around 90 - 100 Conservative MPs have had a meeting. This meeting largely seems to be about talking about more reform of the European Union. Yawn.

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin recently wrote about the group, praising an agenda whereby Britain would stay in the EU  but somehow not have open borders, would make its own laws and regain full control over agriculture and fishing policy. Jenkin and others seem to want to have their cake and eat it. This smacks of more Tory navel-gazing to me.

After all, the Conservatives are led by a Prime Minister who talked of big things. An EU reform agenda, a cast-iron guarantee of a referendum and such like. Of course now they are in power the Tories are whipping their MPs to vote for everything from EU Embassies to a large increase in the UK's financial contributions to the EU. Out of the 90 Conservative MPs who are now talking about reducing the UK's contribution to the EU's coffers, only 37 took the opportunity to recently vote for such a thing. Funny how quickly principle can be stamped out of these politicians when pressure is put on. Actions speak louder than words.

Young people such as myself have grown up in a country where Tory MPs repeatedly talk of change coming to the EU. But they achieve nothing. Literally nothing Even when so-called Conservative hardliners have the opportunity to vote for a strongly worded Eurosceptic proposal, they soon fizzle out under the Whips' scrutiny. Others who are explicitly anti-EU inside the Tory Party are stuck inside a circle of around a dozen, all of whom are barred from serving on David Cameron's front bench as a result. How can these people stand on a Tory manifesto that urges EU expansion and open borders with Turkey? 

For my generation the EU question now centres around one of membership, not simply tinkering and talking about fanciful tweaks that are pure fantasy. The only way that Britain can realistically take control over its waters ever again in terms of fishing policy will be to leave the EU. Talking about any other solution is an utter waste of time and I have no respect for those Conservatives who have spent a career talking tough and achieving nothing except earning a career out of being a rebel talking to a brick wall of contempt from their own Party leadership. It is for this reason that those who have had the guts to join a Party that represents a viable alternative argument in UKIP, deserve praise for principle.

Not only are the new reformist Tory MPs out of touch with the public (55% now reguarly poll wanting full withdrawal), they are out of touch with Conservative Party members. 60% of Tory members recently polled want Britain to end its membership of the EU. This is a logical position, though apparently too hardline for the ever-ambitious mass of Tories who now occupy Parliament.

Whilst some may get excited about more Tory meetings and chit-chat, it is simply farcical and represents a lack of connect with ordinary voters. For most people in this country, the 21st century EU debate is one of membership, one of in vs. out. Anything inbetween has been shown in history to lead to some cushedy careers and theoretical articles, but very little action. The line in the sand is down - do you support the EU's domination of our national legiislature or not? If you support membership, your answer is yes, no matter what theory for unworkable reform Tory backbenchers wish to cook up this time.

Shreela Flather's non-PC tirade.

Britain's first female Asian peer Baroness Flather launched an incredibly non-politically correct attack today on some Pakistani and Bangladeshi families who she accuses of exploiting the welfare system, having large families to collect large welfare cheques.

The incredible thing is that her points would have been deemed as an attack on a community had she herself not been Asian. In fact they may have been branded as lazy stereotyping and probably racist had Baroness Flather been a white middle class politician. That is the problem with political correctness: you are attacked regardless if your point is valid or not, purely because it may offend.

Instead Flather's points seem to be taken seriously by the media, with the BBC not featuring quotes from anti-fascist groups who would have been foaming at the mouth had a UKIP official for example, made the point.

It's an interesting story that demonstrates in society nowadays how a point made can be reported and debated with a different degree of seriousness and radically different tone based on the background of the person making the point. And that's seriously unhealthy.

Whether families from these particular backgrounds tend to exploit the welfare system more than others, I don't know. What I do know is that many people across the country do fiddle the welfare system and have kids they can't afford and expect the  state to pay for. That I'm afraid is just a fact.