#eu exit

I've read lots of posts from people saying they're not going to vote.

If you don't vote then you have no right to complain, no right to moan about how your council tax is being spent, no right to complain about your council services being cut, libraries closing, subsidised bus route being cancelled.

If you don't vote then you have no right to complain about how the Government are doing, you have no right to complain about Government ministers.  

Every vote is important, every legal vote counts. I wont tell you who to vote for, you should look at all candidates and vote on issues you feel strongly about.

None of the main Parties had any Green policies until Parties like the Green Party started to gain support, none of the main Parties had any real immigration policies until Parties like UKIP started gaining support.

Don't believe me how every vote is important? Here are some examples from a Party that have never held power yet some of their policies have become law.

The Monster Raving Loony Party

1. 24-hour licensing laws

The party campaigned for all day opening of pubs in the 1980s, which became law in 1995. So at the 1997 elections they went a step loonier with a manifesto pledge for all-night opening too.

24-hour drinking became legal in 2005.

2. Lowering the voting age to 18

Back, in the ’60s, before the Monster Raving Loony Party existed in its current incarnation, founding Loony “Screaming” Lord Sutch stood as a candidate for his National Teenage Party – their key policy was lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.

Votes for 18 year olds were introduced in 1969.

3. Abolition of dog licences

It used to be technically mandatory for dog owners to hold a licence, although it was often ignored.

One of the first parties to campaign for their abolition was… the Monster Raving Loony Party!

Dog licences were abolished in 1987.

There’s no word on whether the government will introduce the Poetic Licence the Loonies campaigned for in 2010.

4. The legalisation of commercial radio

Again another early policy of Loony predecessors the National Teenage Party: until Radio One started in 1967 there was nothing for kids on the BBC, so to hear pop music you had to tune into illegal pirate stations.

Lord Sutch was no stranger to the world of pirate radio – he had run his own station, Radio Sutch, from a fort in the Thames Estuary.

The first commercial radio licences were issued in 1972.

5. The pedestrianisation of Carnaby Street

Lord Sutch had heard from friends in Swinging London’s Carnaby Street that traders were finding the increasing congestion hard to deal with. He joined the campaign for pedestrianisation, along with follow political eccentric Bill Boaks, joint holder of the record for the lowest number of votes won in a by-election

The Greater London Council gave in and pedestrianised the street in 1973

6. Passports for pets

The party made a pledge in their 1983 manifesto to issue pets with passports so that they could travel abroad without lengthy stays in quarantine.

Pet passports were introduced in October 2001.

7. Abolition of the 11 plus exam

Another policy from the Loonies’ National Teenage Party incarnation, because it’s “the wrong age to take an exam that affects you for the rest of your life”.

The 11 plus was abolished nationally in 1976.

(Although kids do have to take it in snooty counties that still have grammar schools.)

“Hey, don't blame me I didn't vote” Yes you are to blame, had you of voted the results could have been totally different.

France issues border checks warning to England : EU referendum

France could end UK border controls in Calais and allow migrants to cross the Channel unchecked, if the UK leaves the EU, France’s finance minister has said. Emmanuel Macron told the Financial Times his country could also limit access to the single market and try to tempt London’s bankers to relocate. His comments come as David Cameron and Francois Hollande prepare for security and migration…

SME decision makers split on EU-Referendum, in YouGov Survey

Interest in the upcoming referendum on our position in the European Union is taking off. I don’t think it’s yet the hot topic in pubs and bars, that’ll happen closer to the date of the vote. Meanwhile, I’ve been offered access to a recent YouGov opinion poll. Which, on the basis that small firms accounted for 99.3 per cent of all private sector businesses in the UK, could be of interest to…