My Regional Assembly
November 7, 2004 by Ken
Filed under The Best of the Rest
My letter to my regional assembly
English Regions Should Decide Their Own Futures, says
Regional Assembly
This assembly is the embryo form of a local parliament; however it has no public mandate and does not have any claim to the authority to represent the peoples of this region.
I believe that the Maastricht Treaty, set up the “Committee of the Regions†and the Niece Treaty made it a condition for those members of the Committee to have either been elected or selected by an elected chamber in their region.
So it is not an option for this assembly to just continue with the present situation indefinitely, without placing the matter before the people in a referendum. If the people do not support this assembly, it then not only has no mandate to exist, but it also has no voice in the EU.
The Committee of the Regions is part of the EU policy of “regionalismâ€, in which “countries†are replaced by regions and regions are seen as the natural constituents of the EU rather than countries. For example, documents issued by the North West English Regional Development Agency (RDA) refer to the “North West†as a region of the EU and not as an English region.
I do understand that the concept of the regionalisation of England predates the EU in all its previous forms; however England has now been divided along the EU regional lines and your office in Brussels with its eleven full time members of staff is clear acknowledgement that this particular form of regionalisation is connected to the EU. Do you for instance also have an office in London if not why not?
Bransby Thomas says, “that people may choose to vote in favour of an elected assembly whilst some regions may choose not to go down the elected route at all†If the people do not choose to vote yes to an elected assembly then as in the North East, the people will have made their choice clear, that they do not want an assembly at all, they will not be saying the present assembly is acceptable. Therefore the assembly must either seek a mandate from the people or it must disband.
I shall be writing to my local council to ask them what voluntary form of financial support they are giving to your assembly, and I shall be insisting that your assembly must have a democratic mandate for the work you claim to be doing for the region, otherwise I will be demanding that my local council cease to support this assembly.
The people of the West Midlands did not choose to have this regional assembly and they have not chosen to pay for it.
