UKIP Uncovered

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

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Further Unconstitutional Action - Now over the NEC Returning Officer

We have received a copy of a letter, sent to the NEC by a candidate in the postponed NEC election. It was not written by any of those mentioned within the letter!

Quote

Dear NEC members and candidates for election to the NEC

There seems to be some misunderstanding on the NEC about the role of the Returning Officer in the forthcoming NEC elections, and about the ability of the NEC to interfere at will with the process.

Over the weekend before the 15th March 2004 NEC meeting, the Returning Officer put out a statement to all the NEC making clear what action he was taking to ensure fair elections. The Returnng Officer had already put out a statement in February 2004 making clear that Party Chairman David Lott's actions had caused the suspension of then NEC elections.

One of the important aspects of these fair elections is the need to correct and balance the damage done by David Lott's vicious attack upon Damian Hockney to the branch officers on 26th January 2004, and subsequent attacks by other party officials on a number of candidates during February 2004.

As you know, these attacks have included a number of falsehoods and smears, and they all unquestionably broke the party's rules and constitution. As you also know, and I am sure you all agree, simply because the Party Chairman or Nigel Farage might disagree with someone, this does not give them the right to break the party's rules and attack those members in a malicious attempt to ensure that they are not elected.

At the time of that 26th January 2004 attack, the papers for the NEC elections were just about to be distributed and were ready at the distributors to be despatched. The attack was clearly timed to cause maximum damage to candidates' chances of being elected and timed in with the political attempt to discipline candidates like Damian Hockney and Michael Harvey using false information and flawed procedures.

Members of the NEC - some of whom are up for election - may not now interfere with the process of the elections, giving orders to the Returning Officer which countermand or simply ignore (as the meeting appears to have done) the course of action outlined by the Returning Officer.

The NEC cannot now simply state that it will replace the Returning Officer if he does not do the will of the nine who, for example, voted unlawfully and unconstitutionally to expel NEC election candidate Damian Hockney - that will which is clearly to damage certain candidates' chances of being elected by attempting to force them into an election race where falsehoods and lies stand uncorrected.

Similarly, as you are now aware, a leadership supporter and NEC election candidate John Moran (implicated in the false claims that Michael Harvey was planning to barricade himself into the Broadwick Street office) has now issued a defamatory statement attacking two candidates for the NEC elections. The information came from Monday's NEC and can only have come from certain sources.

It is unlawful and unconstitutional for the NEC to stop the Returning Officer from acting through the threat of being sacked.

I will regard any attempt to unconstitutionally remove or interfere with the Returning Officer's already-stated plan of action as a direct attack by the leadership and a part of the NEC upon the candidacies of a number of members, as it clearly is.

Unquote

I have witheld the name of the signatory of this letter as he is unknown to me, and therefore not able to be contacted for permission.

The lengths the cabal appear willing to go to maintain their grip on the party, and the absence of protest from the general membership and Branch Chairmen now truly beggars all belief. Can this farce really continue much longer?

posted by Martin |6:11 PM