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Yay for Martin Bell! Although he's kept a fairly low profile for the last few years, he's still got enough name recognition and a good enough reputation to raise the profile of the European elections through his decision to stand as an independent candidate:

"European politics is a mystery. Few people know who their MEPs are. Who, for instance, represents Norfolk and Suffolk in Brussels and Strasbourg?

"Most of the voters neither know nor care. They feel powerless. It is no wonder that the turnout in the last Euro election was a dismal 24%. We can, and shall, do better."

The less said about the racist moron Robert Kilroy-Silk standing for the quasi-fascist UKIP the better.

Nonetheless, having big names stand as MEPs is a good thing. It might convince people that the European Parliament actually matters. They'e always happy to complain about how Brussels is ripping them off with unreasonable legislation, but they never bother to vote in European electons.

Considering European elections generally have a turnout well below 30%, perhaps the vociferous Eurosceptic crowd might better turn their attention to drumming up votes. If the majority of the British public support them as they routinely claim, it should be a doddle to clean up at every Euro election going.

permalink | posted by Nosemonkey