UKIP Uncovered

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

Friday, February 25, 2005

The Real Veritas Party Forum

The above genuine Veritas discussion group is now up and running and may be reached from this link.

TheURL for adding to your bookmark or favourites is www.veritaspartyforum.co.uk

posted by Martin |11:14 AM

UKIP threaten Veritas with legal action!

According to a report from the BBC web pages the UK Independence Party (having seen its entire representation and staff on the London Assembly defect to Veritas) is now threatening to take legal steps against the elected members. The report is linked from here

posted by Martin |11:00 AM

Thursday, February 24, 2005

An Important Debate in a crucial Constituency!

THE BRUGES GROUP AND THE DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT HOST A JOINT PUBLIC MEETING

THE EU CONSTITUTION: WHY BRITAIN SHOULD SAY NO

Thursday, 3rd March
7.00pm for 7.30pm until 9.30pm

Speakers
The Rt. Hon Oliver Letwin, MP - Shadow Chancellor
Cllr Steve Radford - President of the Liberal Party
Marc Glendenning - Campaign Director Democracy Movement

Venue: The Corn Exchange, Dorchester
Dorset

Admission: Free
Cash Bar

The Rt Hon. Oliver Letwin MP
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and Member of Parliament for West Dorset. He was appointed Frontbench Spokesman for Constitutional Affairs in June 1998. In September 2000, he became Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In September 2001, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Home Affairs and in June 2002, he was made a member of the Privy Council. In November 2003 Oliver Letwin was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. His political interests include agriculture, European community affairs, education, international affairs and international development, social security, trade and industry. Oliver Letwin’s publications include: Ethics, Emotion and the Unity of Self; Privatising the World; Drift to Union; Aims of Schooling and Criminal Justice and the draft Constitution.

Cllr Steve Radford
President of The Liberal Party. He has represented the Tuebrook Ward of Liverpool for 27 years and has secured 85% of the vote. In the last two general elections he has come second beating the Liberal Democrats. He is a critique of ID cards and is a vociferous opponent of the EU describing it as illiberal and undemocratic akin to the politics and economics of the former Soviet Union.

Marc Henri Glendenning
Campaign Director of the Democracy Movement.

For further information contact:

Robert Oulds
Director
The Bruges Group
216 Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London W1B 5TB

posted by Martin |10:33 AM

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

UKIP Deputy Leader's Response to London Assembly Resignations

The following exchanges have been passed to the blog editor, who shares them for the valuable insight into the attitude of the UKIP Deputy Leader. If Roger Knapman does indeed stand down and Petrina Holdsworth replaces him as rumoured and reported on the blog yesterday - the party can at least be relieved they have been spared the leadership of Mike Nattrass the present deputy - what would the media make of comments such as these?

Subject: RE: SUCKERS and Screwloose.

Dear Mr Screwloose Scholefield,

We have Christened Hockney "THE HOOVER" because he is taking all the rubbish with him, please confirm you will be picked up by this sucker and screw loose.

This is the best thing that has happened yet to UKIP in 2005 and a meeting on the 9th Feb, after you have gone, is so much more logical.

No one in the West Midlands (except one in Mid Worcs,who I do not know) hasleft. We have 37 candidates plus a further 10 looking for seats and more beinginterviewed for our 59 Constituencies and whilst Mr Special K and Mr Hoover have caused a laugh they have not caused any problem. However like Chicken Little you think that something large fell on your head and I suggest you go to see a shrink about it.

Please cross me off your e mail list.

I wish you every sucker excess in your new position.

Love and kisses MIKE

The above response was apparently in reply to a rather reasonable e-mail from UKIP NEC member Anthony Scholefield to the party chairman which was as follows:-

Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:57:17 +0000
To: Petrina Holdsworth
cc: NEC

Petrina, Your email of 31st regarding postponement of the NEC meeting raises somepoints:

1. David Lott's visit to Australia. The point is that the NEC were not told that he was to be away when it voted to appoint him Campaign director. Members might still have so appointed him but it was wrong that they were not informed. They are made to look out of touch - again.

2. It is baffling why the NEC was postponed at 18 hours' notice and dependedon everybody reading their emails the following morning. Surely we were awarethat some NEC members could not make the meeting at a much earlier date? Whendid they inform the Chairman? Did not some NEC members book rail tickets inadvance?

3. Regardless of the absentees, it would have been an opportunity to address
the question of the leadership, the hoax email, legal matters and consider how many branches and PPC's have disappeared.

Regards,
Anthony Scholefield

posted by Martin |10:20 AM

UKIP Fourth Quarter 2004 donations tumble!

'The following is from a report in today's The Scotsman:

'The UK Independence Party, which lost its main donor Paul Sykes amid the row over Robert Kilroy-Silk’s bid for the leadership last autumn, took in only £63,081, of which just £8,170 was cash and the remainder gifts in kind, such as office space and printing.'

posted by Martin |10:10 AM

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Is Roger Knapman a Quitter?

Rumours circulating widely among UKIP members in the South West of England have it that party leader Roger Knapman is tiring of the constant criticisms and defections to Veritas and is planning to stand down immediately following any prompt General Election.

Incredibly enough, hot tip to replace him is the recently unknown Party Chairman Petrina Holdsworth who would seem to have done nothing to prove she has the necessary political astuteness since taking over from David Lott a few months ago.

Some credence can be given to such a suggestion however, as it would tie in with the normal strategy of Nigel Farage MEP, who likes to control the party from the sidelines by appointing weak and inept leaders. Ms Holdworth would seem to have all the qualities necessary to step smoothly into the shoes of Roger Knapman in that respect.

We will cover developments on the blog and hope to report more fully on a circular UKIP members in the Midlands received asking if the recipients are still within the party or indeed plan to continue their membership!

posted by Martin |10:43 AM

Saturday, February 19, 2005

Shamed Councillor joins UKIP

The following is taken from the Manchester Online News linked here.

FORMER city councillor Damien O'Connor, who left the Labour Party in
disgrace after being convicted of fraud, is to stand as a UK
Independence Party candidate.

He was convicted of housing benefit fraud in 2000 and later resigned
from the Labour Party to form the Independent Progressive Labour Party
but refused to step down from Manchester City Council. He lost his
Newton Heath seat to Labour in 2003.

He is now standing as UKIP's parliamentary candidate for Manchester Central.

Mr O'Connor, a Newton Heath resident, was selected by UKIP in the week
ex-chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk quit the party which he labelled "a
joke".

Proposals

Kilroy Silk, also a former Labour politician, had his BBC TV show axed
after an article he wrote for a newspaper criticising Arabs was
condemned as racist.

Mr O'Connor said: "I joined UKIP because of its focus on saving the
pound and bringing decision-making as close to the local community as
possible."

Mr O'Connor, who will stand in the forthcoming General Election expected
to take place in May, began his campaign by claiming that proposals for
housing developments in the Ardwick and Longsight areas could cost lives.

He suggested that as many as eight elderly people have died as a result
of stress suffered during the implementation of similar developments in
Manchester operated under the government's private/public partnership
PFI (private finance initiative) scheme.

He said: "It is absolutely vital that we listen to the concerns of local
residents."

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/

posted by Martin |10:30 AM

Monday, February 14, 2005

Veritas Immigration Policy Unveiled

Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP unveiled the Veritas Immigration and Asylum policy in Westminster this morning. Full details are now linked from the party website:

http://www.veritasparty.com

posted by Martin |4:22 PM

Friday, February 11, 2005

Robert Kilroy-Silk MP - Principled Eurosceptic and Rebel

The attacks against the character and supposed opportunism of the leader of the new Veritas party are entirely disproved by the report, linked here, with its detailedsurvey into the voting records of his period as an MP. The following is a brief extract:-

....As the table shows, these 53 (rebellious -ed) votes ranged across many different areas of policy.

Kilroy-Silk’s first ever rebellious vote occurred on the issue of Europe: in April 1974, he voted against the Second Reading of the Channel Tunnel Bill, his only rebellious vote of the short March-October Labour Government.

He also voted against direct elections to the European Parliament on no less than six occasions (plus opposing the two Second Reading votes of the twice-introduced European Assembly Elections Bill, which were both subject to a Labour free vote) and voted in favour of greater scrutiny of European Commission documents by Westminster’s Standing Committees. In April 1975, he was also one of 145 Labour MPs who voted against a Government motion (on a free vote, but against frontbench advice) supporting Britain’s continued membership of the Common Market, following Foreign Secretary Jim Callaghan’s ‘renegotiation’ of the terms of membership.

posted by Martin |9:59 AM

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Blog Contributor Edward Spalton joins Veritas

I am delighted to report that Edward Spalton, long time eurosceptic activist and ex-UKIP member, has now joined Veritas with his wife Ellen. Welcome Aboard!

posted by Martin |5:19 PM

Veritas South West Web Site Launched

The new website may be viewed by clicking here

The URL for entering into your bookmarks or favourites is http://www.veritasparty-southwest.com/

The new page opens as follows:-

Years of spin, distortion and outright lies have caused almost two in three voters in Britain to ‘give up’ on politics. This has allowed the most controlling and self-serving government in our history to trample all over our customs, our way of life and our fundamental freedoms.

This party will bring people back into political decision making by being honest about the problems that face the nation, offering commonsense policies to deal with them and committing to implement them without fear or favour.... (for more visit the page).

posted by Martin |10:29 AM

UKIP in the London Assembly is NO MORE!

As a direct result of UKIP's betrayal of euroscepticism - fully illustrated by its refusal to fight any of the three Westminster by-elections since the victory of last June, or to properly prepare for the coming General Election - UKIP has ceased to have any representation or staff in the London Assembly. The two assembly members elected last June will now commence an effective battle against the EU under the banner of the Veritas Party.

As well as the two former UKIP members Damian Hockney and Peter Hulme-Cross, former Party Treasurer and UKIP National Executive Committee member John de Roeck becomes Treasurer of the Veritas Party while Michael Harvey beomes the Secretary of the new party.

Other names well known to UKIP members now on board with Veritas are Miss Antoine, Shanker and Daniel Moss.

Also announced yesterday afternoon was the name of the new Veritas London Region Campaign Manager Tim Parker.

posted by Martin |10:10 AM

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Mass Defections from UKIP!

There will be a Press Conference at the London Assembly this afternoon.

Blogspot will be attending and a first hand report will be posted in full on the blog tomorrow.

Among those coming across to Veritas are some members of the NEC according to the latest rumours.

posted by Martin |2:21 PM

Monday, February 07, 2005

Veritas Straight Talk Blog

Defections and the rare UKIP related matters likely to affect the forthcoming general election may from time to time be reported on this blog.

Important eurosceptic news and events, such as that on the first Veritas Councillor, Frank Leeming, now holding the balance of power on the Derby City Council will be found on the blogs Veritas Straight Talk, linked here, or other Veritas sites which will be linked and referenced shortly.

posted by Martin |10:42 AM

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Sorry for the delayed posting:

PLEASE JOIN VERITAS

The posting today is considerably later than usual..... but there was a real eurosceptic party to launch. It is of course called Veritas, it will be led by Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP with the Deputy Leader being Damian Hockney Leader of Veritas in the London Assembly and Chaired by Richard Vass formerly with the New Party from where we have also obtained our Chief Executive Dr Jonathan Lockhart. Full details of posts and policy spokesmen and spokeswomen willbe posted on a linked Veritas site in due course.

I have had the honour to have been appointed Chief of Staff to Robert Kilroy-Silk, so my postings will necessarily be less frequent. I assure all regular readers of all my blogs that I will be working just as hard, but more directly, for what I see as the best interests of Britain.

Please consider joining Veritas, the website is linked here and the telephone number where you can enroll or inquire further is 0870 428 0087.

The website for Veritas is again www.veritasparty.com, the live link is above.

posted by Martin |5:19 PM

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

Damian Hockney's Resignation Letter to UKIP Members

Dear UKIP Member,

It is with a deep sense of regret that I announce my resignation from UKIP. I have been a party member for eight years and have not taken this step lightly. It would be pointless to go through all the events which have led to my decision, and I have determined that once outside the party I shall not become involved in criticising individuals, or any form of name calling. After today, I will simply not be drawn into a public row of accusation and counter-accusation.

You may have seen that in the past 48 hours the UKIP leadership has put out at least four different statements making highly personalised attacks upon me. Press releases from the Party Leadership attacking me are based upon false information. The minutes of several meetings of the NEC were falsified, a matter which the Party Secretary refused to investigate or even respond to. They now rely upon these falsified minutes to attack me in public. The minutes secretary himself complained about the party leadership doctoring the minutes. This situation is symptomatic of what has gone wrong within UKIP. And of course there is the fact that the leadership have accused me of being "an MI5 agent", "a Tory mole" and "a BNP plant", sometimes in the same sentence. You may remember that I was obliged to stop all this by taking legal action.

The past two years have seen a slow erosion of my trust in UKIP’s leadership, culminating in their disastrous handling of Robert Kilroy-Silk and the failure to hold an EGM on the leadership issue, against the wishes of ordinary members. The failure to organise a credible General Election campaign has also obviously been a serious concern, and also the "Roadmap to Independence" which appeared to me to be a roadblock to leaving the EU, an unnecessary series of hurdles. I joined UKIP because if we were elected we would take Britain out of the EU. I could not accept this qualification of our aims, introduced by the party leadership. No wonder it caused an outcry within the party. Indeed it was the sound instincts of UKIP members at grass roots that kept me in the party in this difficult period. I knew that they felt instinctively the way that I did.

I now believe that the only way forward for the anti-EU movement is a new professionally run party, determined to fight the election effectively and untainted by the mistakes of the past. Happily such a party now exists – Robert Kilroy-Silk’s Veritas.

As of today, I will be directing all my efforts and energies to fighting the election for Veritas. I have no ill-feeling towards UKIP members, and will avoid all public criticism of the party. I made none in my appearances on the TV news programmes on Sunday announcing my decision to resign. I have great respect for the vast majority of UKIP's members, and wish to remain on good terms with them. From now on our only enemies are the three main pro-EU parties, and I promise to do everything I can to ensure the anti-EU movement has a voice in Westminster. I am sure I will be working with you in future.

You may also be aware that many others will be joining me, including the party's other Assembly Member Peter Hulme-Cross. They will be writing to you themselves in the next few days.

Kind regards
Damian Hockney, former Leader of the UKIP Group on the London Assembly

posted by Martin |3:54 PM

Veritas Launch Announced

VERITAS …the Straight Talking Party

MEDIA ADVICE: Tuesday 1 February 2005, 11am

Robert Kilroy-Silk to front launch of VERITAS - Wednesday, 2 February, Institute of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, Westminster, 10.30am prompt

Robert Kilroy-Silk will tomorrow (Wednesday), at 10.30am, announce the formation of a new political Party, the straight talking Party, VERITAS.

An attractive, central venue has been chosen at the Institute of Civil Engineers, with plenty of room for guests from TV, radio and press:

1 Great George Street, Westminster, LONDON SW1P 3AA Tel: 0207 665 2323.

posted by Martin |3:37 PM