The film is full of cracking one-liners. Plus lots of silly dialogue that, for some reason, makes one glad to be alive
Oil companies stand accused of cheating London motorists out of £1.50 a tank after the price slumped again on world markets
More...
The Dorset village holding Britain's first referendum on EU treaty
Last updated at 14:37pm on 20.09.07A small rural village has used a little-known law to force a vote to be held today on whether there should be a referendum on the new European Union treaty.
Residents of East Stoke, near Wareham, Dorset, will be the first in the UK to go to the polls to answer the question "Do you want a referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty?".
The unprecedented move came about after villager John Barnes, a supporter of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), used a provision of the Local Government Act 1972 to call for the vote.
Scroll down for more...
Roger Knapman, UKIP MEP for the South Western Counties, said: 'We very much welcome this move to give people a say and will support it fully'
The act states that if 10 members of a parish call for a vote on any subject, whether it be a local, national or even international issue, then the council is obliged to carry out the request.
In order to do this, Mr Barnes called for a meeting of East Stoke Parish Council, which required six members of the parish giving notice.
This meeting was held last Thursday and a minimum of 10 people were needed to vote in favour of the treaty poll for it to be passed.
Under the act, it does not matter how many people vote against having a poll - only that 10 people vote in favour of it.
Roger Knapman, UK Independence Party MEP for the South Western Counties, said: "We very much welcome this move to give people a say and will support it fully.
Scroll down for more...
Quaint: Residents of East Stoke will make a landmark vote today on whether there should be a referendum on the EU treaty
"In this case we are talking about a crucial issue involving the sovereignty of our country.
"There should be a proper national referendum. As the Government has reneged on its promise to hold one, I certainly am encouraging people to make their own arrangements.
"With sufficient pressure, the call for a referendum will become irresistible."
Scroll down for more...
Leafy: But East Stoke in Dorset is making political waves
Simon Cross, chairman of East Stoke Parish Council, explained that only 18 people out of the 350 people who live in the parish turned out for the meeting and enough votes were cast for the poll to be carried out. Mr Cross said: "Under the present legislation, six members of a parish can call for a parish meeting by giving notice.
"The parish council chairman has the right to chair the meeting, which I did. At that meeting only 10 people needed to vote in favour for the question to proceed to the poll.
"It was suggested that possibly 30 or 40 members of the parish might attend to vote against the poll but as this would have made no difference because of the procedural rules, they did not attend."
Scroll down for more...
A campaigner hands out leaflets in the village that has forced a vote on an EU referendum
The cost of the poll to the parish council is about £500, which objectors believe should have been spent on normal services such as repairs to the village hall.
The parish poll is being held between 4pm and 9pm today, with the count following afterwards at the Dorset River Centre, Church Lane, East Stoke.
Reader views (10)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
So it's a fact that alternate universes do exist... at least I take it that that is the case judging from Ian McKay's comments – he seems to have popped across into our dimension from his, in which “Europe has been living in peace for more than 100 years (apart from when the English start interfering)...” I wonder... who's living in the REAL world?
- Brian Hughes, Swanage, Dorset
Parish rules need revision.
A loophole, really an error, in local government law allows a very small number of citizens of a parish to force a district council to hold a referendum. Clearly, our right to protest against government policy is important and the initiative shown by the activists in this case is praiseworthy.
However, the democratic instrument ("parish poll") regulated in the Act of 1972 is defective and the regulations should be revised, preferably as part of a reform which entrenches our democratic rights of citizen-initiated referendum at all levels of governance.
For instance, only a substantial number of electors, not a handful, should be needed in order to trigger a referendum. A sliding scale, currently used in The Netherlands, offers a guide to proportion of "signatures" needed, depending on size of the political unit (village, town, city etc.).
- Michael Macpherson, Guildford, England
The south seems more open to debate than some cities. Good luck whatever the outcome, democracy still exists somewhere.
Power to the people.
- Paul Francis, Bournemouth, Dorset
12°c
17°c
