UKIP Uncovered

UKIP Uncovered
What motivates the leaders of the United Kingdom Independence Party?

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Birmingham by way of Beachy Head?

Interestingly Birmingham gets a mention in G.K. Chesterton's poem The Secret People which also contains these lines:

Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not
quite forget.
For we are the people of England, that never
have spoken yet.

More comments on the proposed UKIP Headquarters move from internet fora:

There might be a case for transferring UKIP headquarters to a location in the eurosceptic south-west, say a tourist resort like Torquay or Bournemouth, where thousands of visitors would pass by its offices. ...... But, an office block in the industrial Birmingham suburbs? Maybe UKIP has indeed lost its sense of direction

P.S. Michael Nattrass has been surprisingly close to many of the controversial decisions in UKIP. He has endorsed the heavy-handed disciplinary action taken by Michael Harvey and Derek Clark, often by insulting those being disciplined. It was I believe in Nattrass's warehouses that Nigel Farage organised the pirate copying of the BBC video film in which Richard North was heard to speak of 'raggy-a***d dagos*. I am pretty sure it was a Nattrass sidekick that copied the tapes

The Chairman's Statement has been further dissected as follows:

1.The letter (the UKIP Press Officer - ed.) circulated says, "You may be aware that the party's lease on its head office at Bridgeman House, Broadwick Street, London W1 is due
to expire on the 31st December".

THE TRUTH - Lease does not expire at end of December. Expires end of March.

2. The letter says, "With this in mind, the NEC decided yesterday that that lease would not be renewed, but that the head office should move".

THE TRUTH - UKIP could renew it anyway. The whole building is being redeveloped. The plan was to find new offices - in London.

3. The letter says, " ...the necessary space in central London would prove prohibitively expensive".

THE TRUTH - Necessary space would not be prohibitively expensive. Already, two members of the NEC have found good space at a good deal. Remember, rents have fallen enormously in central London because of the congestion charge etc.

4. The letter says, "...head office will move to a larger yet less expensive headquarters in Birmingham.

THE TRUTH - No-one even looked for a new office in central London. Derek Lott and (another NEC member - ed.) - did not do what they were asked (see point 3 above). Why?????

5. The letter says, "Next year is a crucial year for UKIP, with the European elections offering UKIP the chance to substantially increase the number of European seats it holds". This move will allow us to concentrate on fighting these elections successfully, .."

THE TRUTH - a sudden move of HQ which results in the loss of experienced HQ staff will not help the fight for EU election success. Neither will this move promote unity within the NEC! Therefore the move will be the reverse of what is claimed!

You must ask yourself why this deceit is being attempted! With so many untruths and distortions in one short letter, you can be certain that something is very wrong indeed!

The original statement not so far reproduced on the blog was as follows:-

You may be aware that the party's lease on its head office at Bridgeman House, Broadwick Street, London W1 is due to expire on the 31st December. With this in mind, the NEC decided yesterday that that lease would not be renewed, but that the head office should move. With the party growing at a phenomenal rate, the necessary space in central London would prove prohibitively expensive. Therefore, the NEC agreed that Head Office would move out of London. As a result, from the 1st January 2004, the party's head office will move to a new 1500 sq ft office in Birmingham.

David Lott, UKIP Chairman, said, "The growth of the party has been astounding over the past 6 months, and we expect that growth to accelerate as we approach the European elections in June. As a consequence, the NEC has decided that the head office will move to a larger yet less expensive headquarters in Birmingham.

"The move to a more central location will make party hq more accessible to our growing number of members in the north of England, Scotland and Wales, whilst saving the party money compared with the cost of maintaining a large central office in London.

"Next year is a crucial year for UKIP, with the European elections offering UKIP the chance to substantially increase the number of European seats it holds. This move will allow us to concentrate on fighting these elections successfully, and the reduction in cost will allow us divert more resources to conducting a successful campaign."

posted by Martin |2:24 PM