Budget statement cancelled
(CNS): Government will not be bringing a budget to the Legislative Assembly on Friday as required under the current law but will be convening a meeting of the House on Wednesday afternoon to change the Public Management and Finance Law instead. According to the amendment the UDP Administration intends to table, the obligation to bring a budget to parliament before 1 May each year is going to be removed, allowing government to present its budget any time before the end of the fiscal year on 30 June. This move will give government a two month reprieve to work on the problem of public sector cuts, which has not yet been resolved.
The State Opening and Budget Meeting of the 2010/2011 session of the Legislative Assembly that was scheduled for the 30 April has now been postponed until a date yet to be announced, according to information from the Legislative Assembly .
However, the House will still meet this week and, therefore, what was the fourth meeting of the Legislative Assembly will reconvene on Wednesday 28 April in the afternoon. The proposed amendment to the Public Management and Finance Law (2005) will then be put before members to buy government time to settle its plans for next year’s finances.
The changes to the PMFL will involve amendments to Clause 5 section 24(1) of the Principal Law to require that the annual plan and estimates for a financial year be presented for review prior to the start of that financial year rather than on the first of May in each year.
Since the latest announcements from government that it has asked the civil service to make personnel costs cuts of 8% and then operational cuts of around 10%, an email from the Financial Secretary’s Office indicated that most government departments and agencies had missed the deadline to submit their revised budgets to the Budget Management Unit. He also revealed that of those that had made the deadline, few if any had managed the full target cuts.
Government has not stipulated where cuts to services should be made but has asked for efficiencies by the public sector and a reduction in salary and benefit or head count. Earlier this month the governor denied that this decision was a cop out by Cabinet and said the civil service management were the right people to decide where cost cuts could be made. The Civil Service Association (CICSA) has disagreed, however, and pointed out that if the political arm of government wants to reduce public spending on the one hand it cannot demand ever more services on the other.
It seems that the delay to the 2010/11 budget is down to the difficulties government departments seem to be having in meeting the target cuts.
Meanwhile, although the Governor’s Office has confirmed that the UK has responded to the three-year plan submitted by Cabinet at the beginning of April, details of the UK’s position on the plan and their approval or disapproval over the borrowing to cover this year’s deficit have not yet been revealed.
Category: Headline News
And while they are at it I bet they change the laws that would make a person responsible for all the money that passed through their Department but unaccounted for NOT RESPONSIBLE! This is the Banana republic called Cayman.
You are responsible for paying your fees, dutys, and permits but they are not resposible for even telling you what they are spending it on.
How can such an incompetent leadership continue? And the answer is..
The shepherd needs only be a little smarter than the lambs.
We need to fix our immigration policies before we will be able to do very much with the CS. Government should give all illegals an amnesty to leave see the below link
http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d8a0bb30030004§ionId=75
If this were the pirate days we could intern some unaccountable Caymanians in the civil service…put ’em on a barge and send them to Honduras to make rope for a year.
Don’t worry the investment that Dr. Shetty will make will pull us out of all this and the new port facilities will do wonders. In the mean time I wonder if the Premier would not consider asking Dr. Shetty for $150M advance deposit and I am sure the developers of Caymana Bay could loan the country a $100M and the Ritz Carlton and Dragon Bay developers will be able to assist with atleast a $50M. There, problem solved we won’t even have to borrow anything on the open market. These investors knows that Cayman is good for the money that they will lend. I don’t understand why the many multi national corporations and law firms that do business here would even allow this country to be in such a state financially.
It is my belief that our government is too proud to ask them for help, I am almost positive that the many financial institutions here don’t want to go anywhere else or would not welcome a tax so why won’t they all come together with the government make a deal to pay off our national debt and bail out the government before we would have to implement added taxes which would change this islands as being tax free and we would no longer enjoy the highest standard of living in the world.
Oops… the UK’s PFML won’t allow it!
We can only borrow to a certain amount. How unfortunate!
Another great joke! The PMFL!! Convinced that it is the plan that will save the country our so called leaders have been disecting it for over 10 years now and still cannot figure out how it "works". Personally I think it has been dead all along and only a replica of a true plan like a statue at Madame Tussauds!!
Typical behaviour from he who builds high walls around his private property at our expence – yet another example for the country that laws are not there to be obeyed by the politicians in this government.
I have it on good authority that the amendment to the law will remove the section that says that the budget must be introduced 2 months before the beginning of the fiscal year and a new clause will be added that says that the Premier MAY introduce a budget if and when he thinks that it will make him look good. As a first step they are going to change our current 12 month fiscal year into an 18 month "year", with each of the 6 new months in our new 18 month year being named after members of West Bay’s imperial family.
I hear the MLAs didn’t take those pay cuts they promised would begin in March. Has anyone asked them about this? Do we have proof of whether or not they took the reduced salaries like they promised? I completely agreed with this announcement and it certainly made the UDP look good, but I just want to confirm if they followed through… CNS?
well don’t expect any follow up work from the useless journalists on this island (cns excepted)
How about MLA’s give up the "salary for life" they have going – they get paid AFTER they leave office????? Last job I quit stopped paying me the day I left… Cause I stopped working… Why should they be paid to sit on their lazy a$$e$ for the rest of their lives?????
I agree with this one but at least for the PPM people who are out fishing most days and get paid huge salaries for doing nothing. At least the UDP is working to get us out of the mess the others left us in.
Perhaps you can answer what great work Capt. Eugene has done for his salary for his entire tenure in office. There is a saying about stones and glasshouses.
Scuse me am I reading this last sentence properly… for a moment there I thought I was reading children’s fairytales… because that’s about as realistic as your last sentence was.
What exactly, have the UDP done to get us out of this mess that they and others have left us in? Pray do tell.
"I agree with this one but – 09:26" You need a good pinch cuz you must be sleeping!! I will stand corrected if you can give one single solitary example of how the UDP "is working to get us out of the mess" You had better get to Accident & Emergency quick because a fever that high can be deadly!!!!
CNS – Can you elaborate further on this issue of "salaries for life" for our ex-leaders? Please say it aint so!!!!
I don’t work for CNS, but I pay attention to what is going on in these Islands and the pay cuts didn’t happen, last week Mr. Alden McLaughlin mention the MLA salaries not being cut in an article on the 22 of this month. Article title (UDP wasted year says PPM). So go and check it out, a very good article and thanks to CNS for the great Job they are doing.
What a mess…..yeah McKeeva praise Ken Jefferson now……he did it to the PPM and now its your turn……LMAO…..tek it !!!!
So McKeeva you increased import duty on everything by 2% in the last budget and promised the people that in return you would remove garbage fees……well well well……. we feel the 2% but we’re still paying our garbage fees. But I knew that would happen so you didn’t fool me.
Now yesterday you appeared on TV talking about imposing a VAT on the people (clearly a recommendation from yourUK handlers)….more taxes again…..and promising to remove taxes somewhere else in return. Hmmmm……..did u mean that in the same way that you removed the garbage fees ?
Perhaps we should check so lets ask the question : do you even understand the meaning of the word "remove" ? Could that education under the mango tree have taught you the meaning to be "leave in place" ? Ohhhh how I love the mango tree education !!!!
Ok peeps you voted for it, you wanted it…..think you can take another 3 years of it ??????
Over to you !
Yes we can……his Mango tree education is certainly working better than those who claim to be lawyers etc. and left such a mess in every sector of the Govt, that it will take people like Mac and his team along with the help of God to pull us out. I say shame, shame on the PPM, they should have been the ones to have to fix this (only they can’t) that’s why the UDP was chosen, and they are doing a great job, one day-at-a-day.
I see you were under that same mango tree. Have you been paying attention to world events ? This has been caused, not by the PPM as you and your classmate McKeeva has said, but rather by the global economic recession which has affected every country in the world, including our beloved Cayman Islands. Turn on CNN, BBC, FOX or listen to Rooster, Talk Today, read the Caymanian Compass, CNS, Cayman Net News etc and you willunderstand.
Stop drinking the McKeeva Bush cool aid…..opps…..I meant mango juice !!!
Oh how we need that educational reform and progress !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The UDP should have spent most of the last year completing the budget for 2010/11. Instead they wasted their time (and ours) blaming the PPM.
Look where that has gotten us!
Cayman is in a worse position now than it was this time last year as the UK were willing to give us permission to borrow and they permitted us time to get our house in order.
If the net result of their generosity is continuous blame of the past government and afailure to present the budget in the prescribe time, does anyone think the UK will be so kind to us this fiscal year?
Our leaders are failing us.
Wow – must be nice if you have the ability to make the laws suit your needs rather than you following the law! So how frequently are we going to see now changes made to various legislation. At the end, it doesn’t matter anymore. Nobody seems to be capable of keeping up with all the rule beding anyway.
THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT AMENDING THIS LAW LAST YEAR! The change had to be made.
No accountant ends his records before May!
Which accountants? Do you mean May 2005? That is when those financial people in each Government Portfolio have last published any accounts.
^ Incorrect ^. Most year ends for most are31 March or 31 April.
Hang on, let me get this straight: Because the government have failed to comply with the law of the land that requires them to bring a budget to the House by 1 May, they intend to table a motion to change the law so they don’t have to do it by then?
What? No matter the reasons, this is political expediency beyond anything I’ve ever heard before!
Is it that really that easy for the government to change the law to suit their incompetence? Surely the opposition will not allow this blatant abuse of process to go unchallenged?
What redress do the "people" have when the government breaks the law?
Incompetence! You havn’t read carefully!
CNS article states that "According to the amendment the UDP Administration intends to table, the obligation to bring a budget to parliament before 1 May each year is going to be removed, allowing government to present its budget any time before the end of the fiscal year on 30 June."
The article does not state that this was a move to delay the process of budgeting. This was considered way before last year. June 30 is the end of the fiscal year. By most accounting standards this is when all records should be balanced. So the change in the PFML is necessary to correlate with the other books.
Although this is an opportunity to delay the process, they were speaking about this change from long time. I suggest you read up previous articles before making a judgment.
You shout "incompetence!" and then admit the government have taken an "opportunity to delay the process," my main point. If the government have been considering this change "from long time," do you not think it expedient they bring it forward now? Tell me: If they don’t lodge to budget by 1st May, have they broken the law?
Apparently the Legal Department cut salaries across the Board yesterday. Great stuff. Now look at the other departments like Planning, Budget unit and others with a high expatriate contract staff component. In these times of fiscal restraint and sluggish development industry, cut these contracts. Do not renew them. These are easy quick fixes and do not take Caymanians out of the work force or reduce their pay.
You know what boggles my mind that someone’s answer to the issues is simply non renewal of contracts and cutting non Caymanian workers. Last time I checked if a Caymanian was qualified for a job and wanted said job then said job was their’s. Maybe we ought to ask all ex pats at the hospital to leave, all ex-pats in the schools to leave, all ex-pats in any Government industry to leave.. that should save a ton of money and leave the system working just fine. Pull the cotton wool out of your brain and get an education and fill those jobs left by those dumb ex-pats!!!
what a mess this goverment is making. cannot even get thier budget together. i thought this was the responsibility of the financial secretary. when PPM said the he gave them such bad predictions i now believe them. he put a budget for UDP with 5 million surplus but ended up 62million short. this is telling me he do not knoew his job. we mustbe the laughing stock of the world
THe UDP never was one to abide by laws, so they have to change them to to avoid abiding by them. It’s not that the law catches them unawares, it’s KEN-No-NOMICS. It caught PPM by surprize and UDP revelled in the glory that it made them look bad, but look what’s happened to them. It’s come right back and bitten them on the butt. The sad part about it is that the country has to suffer from all the incompetencies as they are dumbfounded by the situation. Look at UDP’s skill set. Rolston’s an Accountant, but who’s the Minister of Finance? and they are dumbfounded.
Lol!
This is almost as ridiculous as when the USA and UK collaborated to conjure up a pile of lies and completely ignore UN gathered intelligence clearly reporting that Iraq in fact had no weapons of mass destruction in order to justify their illegal invasion into a foreign land!
USA / UK: "What!? We have no reason to invade them?! Aww..f*** the laws, international bodies and long-established rules of declaration of war – we’re going in anyway!"
(Over 1,000,000,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children were killed in the West’s criminal and heinous quest for oil and money.)
My point?
I’m just saying – let us keep things in perspective people!
This is only a national budget – besides look at the state of the UK’s economy right now! I thought they were meant to be the superior "mother country". Even with their ability to simply "print" new money they are still suffering from their greatest economic deficit ever – as is the USA.
And for the love of all things fair – STOP CALLING FOR DIRECT RULE FROM BRITAIN!
That corrupted cesspool of a country could not lead me to a puddle in the desert.
Do I have to remind everyone of the Chagos Islands fiasco along with their "Tarzans" and "Man Fridays"?
Guess what…this is what your beloved UK thinks of your Caymanian behind at the end of the day!
Wake up.
Whoopsie…may have mistakenly inserted a few extra "0"s in previous post.
:o)
Morning all!
Once again – feel free to criticize our government – but some of us are going WAY too far with the suggested solutions to the situation.
If we are calling for such drastic measures for something as basic as a mismanaged budget – what should we do with the warmongering, corrupt, broke and FIAT money based super-nations such as the USA, UK etc.?
Think about it … don’t mind the thumbs downs – Brits tend to dislike blatant negative truths of their beloved nation.
:o)
"what should we do with the warmongering, corrupt, broke and FIAT money based super-nations such as the USA, UK etc.?"
Uh — how about nothing!
First — they are soveriegn nations, Cayman is not
Second — the only thing different between USA/UK and Cayman is the warmongering. Cayman is corrupt, broke, and based on FIAT monetary system.
You know…no one actually respects the bigger, bullying brother of the family.
They just let him be for that is just the way it is.
He feels good about himself, sadly however, every one else simply pities him.
By the way – do you appreciate how grotesquely complacent and smug is your mindset in regards to the current state of affairs in this western world today?
Pretty scary as one can safely assume that deep down this is the typical perspective of most westerners.
I’m telling you – dark days are ahead of us…very, very dark.
In response to whodatis, did you go to Iraq and fight the war? Have you ever gone to Iraq and seen the mass grave sites, or the the sites that were setup for chemical warfare? Well I have and what I can tell you is that your lame thoughts and assumptions on a war in comparison to Cayman tells me that you have no idea what youre talking about. The idiotic comments have absolutely no bearing, nor does it support what is going on presently in Cayman. There is no dictataorship here, no mass grave sites, no soliders raping and pillaging the villages or killing the young because they don’t want to join a terrorist group.
This is coming from a 5th generation born and settled Caymanian, your ignorant comments just made us look like the same country you are bashing now.
You wake up.
Chad, Chad … dearest Chad.
I actually feel sorry for you.
For you to have actually put your life on the line as you fought in an illegal war / invasion based upon lies and deceit only to usher in the astronomically lucrative, public / private (more so private) military industrial complex of the USA and UK is quite an unfortunate state of affairs.
Don’t think that you as a single person who risked his life in the Middle East negates all of the smoke and mirrors trickery administered onto the masses of the West (WMD’s / "Saddam can carry out a nuclear attack on Germany in 45 minutes!") in the lead up to, during and future of this "war".
You seem to believe that the USA actually gives a damn about brown Muslims being "oppressed" and "exterminated" by a brutal dictator.The USA themselves did this all over Latin America throughout the 70’s and 80’s – shipping in tons of narcotics into their own country in the process. That is a declassified fact.
Whether bad things have happened in Iraq or not does not give any foreign nation the right to lie and carry out an illegal invasion. Consider this – around 70% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was either responsible for or connected to the "terror attack" on 9/11! Such statistics do not come about by mere chance my friend. We are dealing with massive portions of propaganda here.
Anyway – I know this is a futile argument as you are fully indoctrinated salesman .. oops, soldier of the U.S.A. / UK (pretty much the same now actually) military forces.
All jokes and sarcasm aside – I am very glad that you made it out in one piece and I hope that you shall never return.
Saddam was a bad / mad man as well as many of the command elements of his leadership team.
Fortunately that is irrelevant for this discussion about fiscal responsibility of the Cayman Island Government. This adds no value whatsoever to the current problems facing us.
They should have made the change at the beginning of the accounting cycle, not the end.
They should have all accounting information, from the various departments, within the scheduled timeframe.
Unfortunately these two items make it impossible to have a budget and provide no accountability to the managers of the respective departments.
Now there is another fiscal year budget deficit and borrowing is going to be required. It really doesn’t matter if the budget is done this week or last week of May — they won’t be any more $.
What you say is truth!
Alot of Caymanians who complain about their government, should be supporting them…
And besides – if you read the article here, it does not say they change the PFML law to avoid or postpone the balancing of their books. IT CLEARLY STATES TO COME UP TO PAR WITH ACCOUNTING PRACTICES – the "real" end of the fiscal year 30 June!
These amendments were discussed before.
A lot of the commentators here are either Anti-Caymanian or PPM! That is why you are not going to get sensible comments, especially, from UK’ brainwashed lovers and loyalist.
I’m just saying – let us keep things in perspective people!
So that makes it right? Hitler was responsible fro the kiliing of millions. If I went out and murdered say10 people is that wong?
keep it in perspective people, comparedd to Hitler I’d still be a saint
XXXX
Umm…ok then.
Just wanted to address one part of your comment.
"Hitler was responsible fro the kiliing of millions"
Incorrect.
That amazing feat of evil was carried out by Germans.
Hitler was but one man.
Question: Off the top, does any one here know the name of the leader of the oppressive side in the Rwandan "genocide" of the 1990’s?
No. And no one cares – all we know is that Africans were killing Africans.
Now ask yourself – what is the outstanding difference between these two historical events?
History recalls different events in different ways depending on where in the world the event took place.
("Hitler" is perhaps the greatest scapegoat of European history in recent times.)
CNS: This comment was flagged as abuse. The person objecting thought that the comment is "verging on Holocaust denial, a crime in some places…" However, I don’t believe Whodatis is in any way denying that the Holocaust took place. I believe he is pointing out that the evil of the Holocaust could not have been achieved by one man alone and that it required the complicity of a nation. He is saying that the statement "Hitler was responsible for the killing of millions" waters down the responsibility of the people who let that happen.
Off the top, does any one here know the name of the leader of the oppressive side in the Rwandan "genocide" of the 1990’s?
Theoneste Bagosora
what is the outstanding difference between these two historical events?
you really don’t know? let’s see
1) Rwanda was a civil war, World war 2 was a war involving very many countries all over the world
2) between 500,000 and 1,000,000 peaple died in Rwanda, in WW2 the total deaths are estimated at over 73,000,000!
There you go, pretty obvious no?
You are far too intelligent to be pretending as if you do not fully understand the basis of my comment.
Anyway, it is your right to do so.
Sorry whodatis but you can’t slip this one through.
The poster who provided details about Rwanda clearly demonstrates why the Holocaust is globally regarded in a different light. Of course, what you wanted was an explanation based on race, but that poster didn’t buy it and I don’t either. Nothing to do with race, everything to do with scale and global reach.
Further, I do not believe ensuring that the world understands the role of the German people in any way diminishes the responsibility of Hitler. Responsibility in this context is not a finite commodity. Allocate as much negative sentiment as you want to the people of Germany; it does not reduce Hitler’s burden and any attempt to do so does indeed verge on holocaust denial in my book.
I think CNS got this one wrong. What else can writing "Hitler is perhaps the greatest scapegoat of European history in recent times" mean if it does not refer to his role in the Holocaust?
CNS: I admit I don’t know what Whodatis meant by that sentence and maybe he can explain it. (Why is "Hitler" in quotation marks?) I think he meant something other than your interpretation – but let’s hear from him..
However, the debate over who was more to blame for the Holocaust, Hitler or the people who followed him, has nothing to do with the original complaint (repeated here), which was that Whodatis’ comment bordered on Holocaust denial, which it didn’t. Holocaust denial is very specifically the claim that the Holocaust did not take place. For the record, I agree with your sentiments about Hitler. I also agree with what I think Whodatis is trying to say, which is that we should not excuse the followers of evil men (and women, not to be accused of being sexist).
I’m not a big fan of Wikipedia, but I’ll use their definition of Holocaust for simplicity.
"Holocaust denial consists of claims that the genocide of Jews during World War II—usually referred to as the Holocaust[1]—did not occur at all, or that it did not happen in the manner or to the extent historically recognized." ( Sorry about the colour but i couldn’t change it. )
Whodatis comment seeks to reduce Hitler’s responsibility by sharing it around the German people ( hence suggesting he is a scapegoat), which to me is an effort to suggest Hitler’s responsibility is not as extensive as historically recognised. I submit this falls within the definition above.
Your site, your call.
@ O’Really
I just spent a lot of time that I really don’t have composing a long and detailed post explaining my perspective on the Hitler factor and why I regard it the way I do. I have given up.
Not because I cannot articulate my points – but because it is simply too time consuming and draining to break it all down, for as one point is expanding upon another is opened up for even further debate.
If ever true identities are exposed we could perhaps have a discussion on a face to face basis.
Sorry buddy – I simply cannot break this all down right now. To fight against such documented and historical misinformation and or neglect of broader and factual issues often proves to be quite a draining process.
Be good.
Fair enough. Appreciate the explanation.
Obviously saying that a political leader, particularly a dictator, is "responsible" for the deaths of millions is not tantamount to saying that he turned the levers to release the gas at the death camps. You should know that. It is disingenuous to say that Hitler was but one man when he has the author of Mein Kampf which provided the intellectual and moral basis for the Final Solution which outlined a stage by stage plan for the elimination of the Jews. As Chancellor he specifically ordered the holocaust. Of course he seized upon German nationalism. This is what demagogues do. There was no corresponding singular demagogue in Rwanda. That is why it is not comparable to Nazi Germany.
What is your point? That we should despise Germans instead of Hitler? Leaders have a higher degree of responsibility.
"CNS: This comment was flagged as abuse. The person objecting thought that the comment is "verging on Holocaust denial, a crime in some places…"
Wow! Seriously, sir or madame flagger?!
Thanks CNS for maintaining a fair and balanced playing field.
Folks always get their panties in a bunch when it comes to this issue.
Funny how such "untouchable" status is never granted to any other reprehensible historical period / event.
Honestly, some people in this world do consider themselves or their group to be something special.
Snap out of it folks – the gig is up.
:o)
THANK YOU!
MY WHOLE FAMILY RALLIES BEHIND YOUR WORDS
Cayman wake up!
The UK’s problem is that it has had an insane socialist in charge of the money for over a decade. Soon that will be over. However it will take more than a generation to fix the damage done in little more than a decade.
Cayman, get your budget under control NOW before it drags these islands down to the bottem of the Cayman trench.
Whodatis, Caymanians love the UK enough to have her rule over us since 1503 to present as is evident, as your name suggests we don’t know whodatis and don’t want to know or have you represent us with your foolishness.
I wish the UK could come and have direct rule over us before the bunch of jokers totally destroy us.
Please tell me this ain’t so! You mean to say that after all that the UDP & Mckeeva Bush have had to say about the PPM in the past all the UDP & Bush have been able to come up with so far is:
1. a first proposed budget with a projected surplus of $5 million that ended up being a very embarrassing $62 million deficit (Amazing!!)
2. a delayed budget with Mckeeva Bush blaming everyone but himself as to whyit has very embarrassingly been delayed!
The UDP & Mckeeva Bush have become the laughing stock of politics. They are an embarrassment & have not got a clue what to do. They have failed miserably, & they need help.
Bush & the UDP loved to criticize the PPM government for any & every little mistake, but the PPM were never as incompetent & clueless as Bush & his lackies. They have become known as the government of flip-floppers, blaming everyone, delay & fail (especially the budget), & spending money wildly on themselves! Yes, they need a lot of help.
Oh Please!
I think the PPM are in the same boat with the UDP
Wha a shocker!
For a man who complained about anything slightly out of order by the PPM, I am wondering how can this man have the audacity to even reveal that the budget will be delayed.
But then he tells us that he is thinking of giving the Cayman people an early Christmas gift – VAT.
This man is truly incredible but in the worst way!
GOOD LUCK CAYMAN, we have three more years!
Government has not stipulated where cuts to services should be made but has asked for efficiencies by the public sector and a reduction in salary and benefit or head count.
The Civil Service Association (CICSA) has disagreed, however, and pointed out that if the political arm of government wants to reduce public spending on the one hand it cannot demand ever more services on the other.
"What!!!! You want us to show up for work AND do something!!!! Like….. bring accounts up to date and give someone relevant budget information???? AND on top of that…provide services you can’t afford????
How can we do that with a handful of people!!!!! We’re going to need MORE STAFF!!!!"
what a joke cayman politicians are…… direct rule from the uk please!
My friend,
Clearly, you are ignorant of the implications of direct BRITISH RULE over these Islands! Be careful what you pray for! The UK is struggling right now with corruption in the ranks of their own Parliament. I don’t think you know what it entails to have our freedom and our own budget taken away from us to be given to the same ones who launched their million dollar investigations about finding "corruption" here. To take away people’s freedom for whatever reason is an injustice and is not democracy – it is colonialism like in the days of slavery! I would rather be independent any day than to be a slave to dictators.
So be careful what you pray for! That is my warning