UKIP Uncovered

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

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Electoral Commission

I received the following letter from the Electoral Commission this morning, in reply to my 16th July 2003 complaint:

18th Dec 2003
Dear Mr Cole,

DONATION TO UKIP

Further to our correspondence I am writing to inform you that the Electoral
Commission has been in correspondence with UKIP over the reporting of your
donation to them of 905 copies of 'Millennium Blitzkrieg'. This culminated
in a meeting with their Treasurer, Mr John de Roeck, on 16th December 2003.

At the meeting it was emphasised to Mr de Roeck that under Section 53(1)
of PPERA the value of the donation is 'the market value of the property',
and that the market value of the books at the time of donation makes the
donation a reportable one. Once this was explained fully to the UKIP Treasurer
he agreed that a donation report was needed and will be providing one in
due course. As soon as we receive this the Register and our website will
be updated to include your donation.

This donation raised the question of how to properly value and report donations
'in kind' and therefore the subject of much corrrespondence between the Commission
and UKIP. This question of interpretation has now been resolved with Mr
de Roeck, and in light of our lengthy discussions with him the Commission
will not, on this occasion, be taking any further action against UKIP.

Yours sincerely,
Robert Sprent
Compliance Officer

Unquote

This is, unsurprisingly, in complete contrast to information put out by Mark Croucher, UKIP's Press Officer, on the subject, of which this letter to a party member is an example:

Quote
Friday, September 05, 2003
Re: UKIP Accounts

Dear ******,

Contrary to correspondence from the usual suspects, the electoral commission has not contacted the party treasurer regarding any alleged irregularities within the national accounts. The electoral commission, like the police, tend to ignore complaints which they believe to be spurious and malicious. The party has no knowledge of any investigation the electoral commission may be making, and we have received no notification of the appointment of a case officer. As far as we are aware, the complaints have been dismissed as unfounded and part of the on-going smear campaign being waged against the party by disgruntled former members.

I would point out that one complaint was made relating to a large quantity of vanity published spy thrillers which were donated to the party and subsequently disposed of as unsaleable. The complainant believed that these books should have been declared, but their market value on disposal fell significantly below the reporting requirement. Consequently, the complaint was dismissed without investigation by the electoral commission.

I will of course let you know if the electoral commission does investigate the accounts, but I believe this to be highly unlikely.

Best etc
Mark

Mark Croucher
National Press Officer
U.K. Independence Party

"The history of Europe is a tissue of lies, follies and misfortunes" - Oliver Goldsmith, A Citizen of the World

Unquote

posted by Martin |12:53 PM