The Conservatives’ new friends in Europe

By Mary Honeyball MEP

During the recent election campaign I warned about the Conservative Party flirting with extremists. It is now confirmed that the Nasty Party has made friends with some other very nasty parties. The photo here is of Derk Jan Eppink from the Belgian Dedecker list. Let me remind you of his views:

Mr. Eppink wrote in his 2004 book Avonturen van een Nederbelg that:

* “young ambitious women” are linked to “social frustration” among men.

* Flemish women are much more agreeable than Dutch women, as they are supposedly less emancipated.

Eppink sympathizes with Hans Hillen, former Dutch MP, has complained about the rising numbers of female politicians:

“I don’t know many nice women in politics. Often they are more ambitious than men and they lack a good sense of humour. They always want to win. You can go for a drink with a male politician after having had a political disagreement. You can forget about that with female politicians.”

(It’s Ok Derk-Jan, I will not be looking to go for a drink with you!)

Here’s Mr. Eppink on diversity in society:

“As a Dutchman living in Flanders I have the impression that the life of a white, heterosexual Dutchman with a good job and an expensive car is not easy. He has to pay taxes and has to shut up. He gets blamed for racial and sexual discrimination, the fact that he earns much money is deemed ‘anti-social’ and his car pollutes the environment. As he does not belong to any minority group, he is ‘unlucky’. Soon he will have to pay penance for slavery.”

Derk-Jan’s views on Dutch women border on the racist. Who would Derk-Jan suggest the “white, heterosexual Dutchman” vote for? Another of the Conservatives’ new friends is the Dutch Christian Union, whose MEP Peter van Dalen is also part of the new group. They are open about their views on women: they do not believe they should stand for election.

Then there’s the hompohobic Polish Law and Justice Party which has banned gay rights marches, and the Latvian National Independence Movement. They treat the ethnic Russians living in Latvia (some 25% of the population) as second class citizens and propagate outright racism and extreme Latvian nationalism. Sounds like a party the BNP should be working with; but, no, David Cameron’s Conservatives have clinched the deal with this party who look after the “indigenous” population.

So if you are a sexist, a racist, a hompohobe, or a combination of these and you are lonely, join the Conservatives: the place to find extremist friends.