Guest Blogger - John Hopkinson

I have today a 2nd Guest blogger of the week and i will continue to find people of interest to appear and write an article for my blog which hopefully will be enlightening and varied.

Before John's blog entry , I would like to just say a big well done to the England Cricket team on their victory last night in Australia ,Over Australia in the Ashes to secure a stunning 3 - 1 win , where they outplayed them in nearly every department.
The Victory was the first in Australia for 24 years and many records were set and many recent records were broken by the English players , one being the highest team score which was 644 runs.
I know that many people like myself stayed up to watch the cricket and i also know many people like me were very tired when they got to work this morning , but it was worth it.


Now for John Hopkinson - He describes himself as a political and community activist who supports withdrawal from the European Union and the creation of an English Parliament.

Below unadjusted and unedited is Johns Entry , Just for you.

One would have thought the time had come for the English Democrats. Growing dissatisfaction with the European Union with its ever increasing demands for funds from member countries , the euro is disarray and the unsatisfactory devolution arrangements in the United Kingdom highlighted by the student fee's issue should have people clamouring at the door to join the English Democrats. And to add to this list a growing unease of immigration and fears of Islamification the English Democrats should be breaking through to win local and national elections.

But they are not. There are a number of reasons for this. One is the English Democrats is a new party formed in 2002.
It takes time to build up momentum. The existence of Ukip makes it difficult to attract anti EU votes unless it is made clear that Ukip does not favour the creation of English Parliament which is headline policy of the English Democrats.
A further reason is the attempts by the media and the three main political parties to associate them with the BNP.
The English Democrats need to be even more specific and outspoken against racism.

In Tunbridge Wells recently an English Democrat gained 8.4% of the vote first time out , against the three main parties and Ukip. A good result, but the key was the candidate was well know locally because she had been campaigning successfully on local issues for a long time.
A common gripe is that people only see the political parties when there is an election.
What the English Democrats should be doing is getting out there and becoming known as leaders and campaigners in their local communities.


Id like to thank John for his entry and hope you have all enjoyed reading what he had to say and look forward to getting some feedback