UKIP Uncovered

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

Thursday, January 29, 2004

A Letter from Damian Hockney

We received a copy of this letter to UKIP Party Chairman David Lott earlier today which is in response to a communication recently circularised by him amongst party officials and members.

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Dear David

I am appalled at the letter of 26th January 2004 which you have sent to large numbers of people in the party. It is seriously defamatory and much of the content is untrue and clearly designed to prejudice the forthcoming
elections for places on the NEC.

You have wrongly stated and embellished the nature of the discipline case and you have falsely claimed that I was properly informed that there was indeed to be a hearing on the date in question. You know full well I was not
informed, and it is clear that you have made the unnecessary statement in your letter knowing this. If, as you claim, a discipline panel did meet, it has seen clearly fraudulent evidence and has made a recommendation to the NEC of expulsion on the basis of that fraudulent evidence. I am not guilty of what was claimed and had no opportunity to defend myself from what has become known as a Kangaroo Court. I have made clear in private correspondence with you and with the Party Secretary that this was the case, but you have failed to respond to all of my letters and have refused to
address my comments even when we met face to face.

You have broken the party's strict rules on discipline by publicising an emotive and untrue version of this matter. Rule 5.4 makes quite clear you may not publicise rulings in this way before an appeal and before I have even been allowed to comment. David, this is seriously questionable practice and sets a very bad example to the party.

You have also failed, as has the Party Secretary, to provide any proof that you gave me notice of the hearing. You have stood guilty several times before of attempting to hold hearings while those being attacked are not available, and we all know of at least two occasions when this was specifically planned.

What is stranger still is that you continue to deny me and others on the NEC knowledge of who was on the Discipline Panel. If there was a valid hearing of which I had been properly notified, and if it was genuinely intended by you that I should actually be there, I would have set eyes on the members of any panel on arrival. I cannot believe you would have set up some Northern Ireland style security hearing with the panel hidden behind a steel wall.

Your comments in the NB section at the foot of your letter are contemptible and clearly imply that I have done something illegal, have planned to or should not be in possession of party information which I have. I therefore have to put you on notice that I demand your immediate retraction of this letter and your apology for it, failing which I must take immediate action.

I am sending this to every branch chairman which I have every right to do, and ask you to note that fact. I am allowed to use this list, in spite of your false claim that I may not, and am doing so. I shall issue a further statement using it tomorrow if I need to.

At a meeting of London activists on Monday night, members repeatedly condemned the leadership's lack of response and the lack of information being provided over a number of issues, and still the Party Leader and Party Chairman failed to provide any satisfaction.

I would conclude that it is unwise to issue legal threats to branch chairmen in the postscripts of your letter, and to blacken the name of individuals who you are in any event putting through a very questionable 'discipline' process.

Damian Hockney

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posted by Martin |4:35 PM