UKIP Uncovered

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

Friday, December 10, 2004

Resignation Call to UKIP Chairman Petrina Holdsworth

The manifesto fiasco has now resulted in the following open letter sent to the Party Chairman and all members of the NEC:

Manifesto - a complete farce or worse. The bell now tolls for UKIP.

Petrina,

So this is what we have been waiting for. The draft manifesto - incredible in the true sense of the word. It reads like the ramblings of a demented brain cell completely disconnected from the real world. I have to conclude that the only honourable thing you can do now is to resign on the basis that you and others have made public claims about it that are patently quite untrue.

I suspect that you took the Chairman's job on out of a sense of duty and a wish for UKIP to succeed but this surely is the bitter end of that hope. As I understand the 'cab-rank' rules for the selection of Barristers, a case can be resigned if it turns out that the barrister has been severely misled. You, and we, surely have been completely and comprehensively betrayed so you can only recover your esteem by abandoning the Sisyphean task.

Let's look at just a few elements:

1. We were told by David Lott that it would be 'exciting' - I think the 'c' in that word is an unwarranted addition and this is an exiting manifesto, exiting the field of battle.

2. We were told by Nigel Farage that it would be radical - true in the context that Labour's 1987 radical manifesto was called 'the longest suicide note in history'. This is the written equivalent of the bucket of slurry thrown over RK-S last week but it has been thrown over all UKIP members. Private Eye coined the phrase Colemanballs for the loonier utterings of David Coleman. This deserves to be called Colemanbollocks or worse.

3. We were told by Roger Knapman that it had to be kept secret to prevent other parties pinching the best ideas. They must be pinching themselves in disbelief at the possibility of this gift wrapped source of ridicule that would ensure our political annihilation.

4. We were told that it would have broad appeal - this wouldn't even appeal to old broads let alone the young, the old or those with families. It is worse than the worst fears of those who thought the plot had been lost some months ago.

5. OK it may have been thrown out for rewriting but there is no content that is worthy of rewriting and no time for the same process to be followed. By the way, it is nice to know that on the basis (P12) that you think that Lay Magistrates are not competent the reasonably laudable suggestion of returning Magistrates Courts and powers to towns should be excised.

That is enough about what is there.

What about what is missing - the headline, commonsense policies that will appeal across the board and not merely to the closed minded and bigoted Zimmerframers?

Where are the direct attacks on the present Labour Government and its failure to address so many issues? Remember the promises made after little Damilola Taylor was murdered in Peckham ? Nothing has happened. Remember 'Tough on the causes of crime' ? Nothing has happened to tackle the inner city problems that create the breeding ground for crime.

What about the scandals of the closed Family Courts that cause so much heartache and cannot even be reported on?

What about the costs to us of windmills and other things inspired by the cod-science of Kyoto?

What about Alan Edwards Conference suggestion that something has to be done about drugs - why not call for a Royal Commission?

What about Pensions - the issue that already affects over 50% of the electorate whilst Brown still burgles pension funds?

What about the nanny state and the pressure for women to work rather than look after their children in their formative years?

As I have said many times, people are not going to believe that UKIP has a chance to take over as the Government so our policies must be the ones that any MPs elected would use harass the other parties?

What is next? What we have here looks like the old idea that if you locked up a few hundred monkeys with typewriters they would eventually write something meaningful - but years to go yet.

Philip

posted by Martin |8:16 AM