UKIP Uncovered

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

Monday, October 25, 2004

Two excerpts from the lively internet debates on the UKIP leadership

On the Robert Kilroy-Silk broadcast on GMTV yesterday :

In interview he is commanding and in control of the whole process unlike most politicians and he is saying nothing that I believe any UKIP member can disagree with and a lot that I am sure most would very much agree with.

He seems dynamic and in a hurry to get on with GE preparations - I believe we should let him show us what he can do.

I do worry that the present leadership are against him simply because they fear he would easily win in a poll of all members and that they would lose the grip they have on the Party.

If they are not frightened of this then let them prove it and have an election now, at least it will put the matter to bed and we can move forward whatever the result. RK has done a good job for which we are very grateful, but time moves on and I feel that in RKS we have a man who can move us up into another league altogether, but time is of the essence.

From another debate comes this review of the Roger Knapman performance against John Prescott, which is linked from an earlier posting on this page.

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KNAPMAN v PRESCOTT ON JEREMY VINE'S 'POLITICS SHOW'
(Viewed by internet)

Faced with wide allegations that he is 'faceless', Knapman nominated himself or permitted himself to be nominated, to appear on JV's 'Politics Show', discussing the NE Regional Assembly referendum campaign. This was rather unwise since under the aegis of Knapman and Farage UKIP in the NE was reported to have been devastated and the committee forced out. There is much hatred of UKIP leadership in the NE because of this, and because UKIP leaders have been conspicuous by their absence throughout the campaign.

Nonetheless, Knapman was presumably tempted by the easy ride ahead since he was to face only the lightweight John Prescott.

Who could not wipe the floor with him?

Following a review, not of the NE but of the SW regional efforts, debate finally got under way. Cue : John Prescott. He gave a prepared speech emphasising the vague benefits to the 'people'.

Cue : Knapman ; he too had a prepared speech, and it was fine, until he made the fatal and very unprofessional blunder of inviting Prescott back on camera by asking him a direct question, rather than giving the answer so that the camera stayed on himself. The question was along the lines that after Labour has skimmed off both the top and bottom layers of government what percentage of laws would emanate from Westminster(sic)? As the camera turned to Prescott an embarrassed Knapman choked out 'I mean Brussels'. Prescott knew that. He had an answer ready and nailed Knap-man with it in seconds :

'You were the Tory Whip who forced through the Maastricht Treaty. That gave away more powers than ever'. He then talked and talked to hold the camera. Knapman never really recovered from losing the service like that. Most views of him thereafter
showed him sitting with head on one side and mouth hanging open while Prescott talked. Though he had Knapman on the defensive he still missed one or two openings.

When Knapman was foolish enough to charge Prescott with : 'I was elected.You were selected' it was the perfect chance for Prescott to reply that he was never elected by his party and was at that moment desperately trying to avoid or delay an election.

Prescott however had him on the ropes anyway by that time. That lost chance made little difference ; Prescott was having it all his own way. He flooded the camera with statistics - not necessarily true - but that was no matter ; Knapman was totally inert. He failed to land all those blows available to UKIP. What about the way the Tories were given £100,000 for doing a lousy job in urging a NO vote ? What about the corruption of postal ballots ? Knapman was cowering on the ropes and a good referee would have stopped the fight.

Seeing Prescott having it all his own way ; claiming that the regional assemblies would save not cost money, JV mentioned the cost of the Scots Parliament building. Prescott talked about the peoples' choice and hectored. At this stage Knapman took off those large owlish glasses. He should have done it sooner. They emphasise his 'Billy Bunter' appearance. Unfortunately he soon put them back.

By now Prescott knew he had nothing to fear from Knapman, and actually changed the subject with a ridiculous claim that Labour had spent more on schools hospitals
and 'services'. Knapman did not know how to answer this or to force him back to regions. When he spoke, Prescott hit him again with being the Tory whip who forced through the Maastricht Treaty. In desperation to get a word in Knapman claimed 'That was why I left'. It was a foolish lie, and JV nailed it with 'Not at the time of Maastricht you didn't' JV then taunted Prescott with delaying the NW Regional referendum. Prescott had the nerve to say they had to in case the Electoral Commission should raise criticisms over the postal votes. This was unbelievable. Prescott was landing a blow Knapman should have landed the other way round. ; but Knapman was out of his depth. JV closed by bringing up the leadership of the Labour Party, only to hand the camera to Knapman as he also had a leadership crisis. Knapman had a prepared cliché which we have heard before. The problem was that
it was nonsense. He rapped out 'I was elected (really?) for four years three years ago when nobody wanted the job (really?). Now they want a one man one vote election among our 27,000 members. That is progress.' Well it will be if they get it. Cue : Curtains.
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posted by Martin |5:54 PM