UKIP Uncovered

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

Thursday, April 27, 2006

EU Withdrawalists banned from Tory front bench

A very important blinkered policy statement, linked here, in yesterday's Daily Telegraph begins as follows:

David Cameron threw down the gauntlet to Eurosceptic Tory MPs yesterday by declaring that anyone who advocated withdrawal from the European Union would not serve on his front bench.

On the eve of the launch of a pressure group promoting withdrawal, the Tory leader effectively warned backbenchers not to get involved if they valued their careers..

UKIP should ask for no more effective recruiting aid than this report.

posted by Martin |6:50 PM

Friday, April 21, 2006

Christopher Gill to join UKIP

An ex-MP and man who is reputed to be of outstanding character has announced he is joining UKIP.

Perhaps the coming UKIP leadership contest could produce a candidate who might offer the voters some choice and the country some hope.

The following is from the UKIP website:

www Ukip Uncovered

Christopher Gill, the former Conservative MP for Ludlow from 1987 to 2001, today announced (20.4.06) that he would join the UK Independence Party in protest at David Cameron’s comments.

Mr Gill made his decision after a lengthy meeting with former Parliamentary colleague, now UKIP Leader, Roger Knapman. Christopher Gill, who was a Maastricht rebel and a well-known campaigning MP, said that by reducing politics to nothing more than ‘playground name-calling’, Mr Cameron has brought the Conservative party to ‘a new low’.

He continued: “Mr Cameron’s new, forward looking Conservative Party seems to have brought back many of the disastrous has-beens from the Major administration: Maude, Gummer, Heseltine and Clarke, to name but a few, dinosaur Europhiles all. It is clear that no argument will move the Conservative Party’s official position on Europe, despite many of their MPs privately agreeing with UKIP.”

Roger Knapman added: “This excellent news shows the growing support for UKIP from seasoned political figures who now take our Party seriously. I have every confidence that more will follow.”

Eleven former Conservative MPs are now members of UKIP.

posted by Martin | 7:46 PM

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Letter to The Times

The Times April 20, 2006 (Linked here)

BNP: beyond the fringes

Sir, The report that one in four people is considering voting for the BNP party says more about the Conservative Party than about Labour (report, April 17). There are many critics of new Labour’s apparent laissez faire attitude about immigration, none more so that the indigenous people of Britain.

Where once we had a choice — if a political party had been in power for some years and had run its course, we could then vote the other party in to balance things up — we now have all three parties congregating in the centre. Just when we need a right-of-centre party which has an effective immigration policy, is tough on crime and stands up for its people, the Tories decide to clone themselves into “new Conservatives” and shuffle along to the left. Even though David Cameron is witnessing the unravelling of new Labour, he still insists on aping it. People are going to put their crosses in the box where his party should be — a box which, unfortunately, is now occupied by the BNP and UKIP.

RICHARD REEVES
Bromley, Kent

posted by Martin | 6:48 PM

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

GLW turns on Farage

I have received a copy of a lengthy rant purported to have appeared on the EUrorealist website.

It certainly bears all the hallmarks of a Greg Lance Watkins ramble, many of which are quoted in full on this blog.

I will not quote it in full as I cannot be sure it might not have been edited before arriving at this present UKIP backwater. The following passage which comes towards the end of the diatribe, seems accurate and representative and is therefore worth quoting:

> It is time UKIP was restored to probity and transparency and its MEPs
understood they have a debt to the Party and a duty to 16.5% of the electorate
who lent their votes to UKIP on a single core message of GET BRITAIN BACK.
People did not vote for individuals however much your collective egos may not
wish to believe the truth – they voted for the message, for UKIP and for the
hard work 1,000s of UKIP supporters did to GET BRITAIN BACK – not to make any of
you think you are important nor to enrich any of you – EVERY VOTE that was lent
to UKIP was for the core message GET BRITAIN BACK.
>
> So now is the time to dump those who seek to enrich themselves or be
important, it is time for us to hear your apology for your outrageous behaviour
and it is time to put the accounts on an honest footing. It is also time that
MEPs started to act with some integrity accountable to the Party that gave them
the job.

NEC members or UKIP Branch Managers who have not seen the whole posting with its many startling allegations can contact this blog and I will forward the entire text, without guarantee as to its authenticity

posted by Martin | 8:35 PM

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

After Birmingham.....Newton Abbot - Is this a Party going National?

The following is from the minutes of the last NEC meeting as appearing on the UKIP website:

The major item for discussion was the future of party offices. With its limited finances, the Party needs to seek efficiencies. Party Treasurer Andrew Smith gave a cogently argued report, based on discussions in the Chairman’s Committee. Differing views were expressed, but the final decision was to move the administrative head office to Lexdrum House (Newton Abbot), if agreement can be reached with the staff there and on a sub-letting arrangement. Ashford office will cease entirely to be a telephone call centre, and will become an IT Centre for a temporary period as required, to update and enhance the Party’s database management.

Limited finances????? Daniel Hannan in the Sunday Telegraph recently estimated each Euro MEP gets one million pounds for his party. UKIP MEPs at the last election reckoned their posts were worth even more! Where is the money going?

UKIP could be doing so much, but achieves so little. A new leader could change all. Nominations are now open for an election in September.....surely UKIP members must realise they could now finally make a difference.

posted by Martin | 6:34 PM

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Cameron's Error

The Daily Telegraph's leading article this morning calls on David Cameron to apologise to UKIP. It may be read in full from this link, the following are what I consider the main points:

"Some UKIP members are no doubt mad and bad. So are some Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat members....."

"Rather than a strategic move, it is more likely that Mr Cameron's remark was an off-the-cuff expression of what he considers a normal and unobjectionable view. This bodes ill for the cause of the Conservative Party at the next election. Westminster types, to be sure, may regard single-issue fringe parties as strange fruit, a distraction from the task of gaining the "centre ground" and so winning power. But it is precisely this sneering indifference to people's passionate concerns that makes them so fed up with politics. The Tory leader should apologise."

The contents of this blog provide ample evidence of individual dottiness and suspect backgrounds (some as in the case of their leader, Roger Knapman, by association with right wing Tory groups) but to suggest the entire party are closet racists is totally unacceptable. I would never have joined the party and offered to stand as a candidate had I believed there was the slightest element of truth in such a claim!

UKIP was important in the past because of the Conservative Party's betrayal of their country AND particularly their party's membership over the Common Market, the EEC and now the European Union. UKIP is important today and for the immediate future because the several faced David Cameron won the Conservative Party leadership.

posted by Martin | 9:20 AM

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Vapid's UKIP Attack

Cameron's unfitness to lead as exposed on my blog Teetering Tories linked here, is further exposed by his misplaced attack on UKIP. Reports may be read from here, here and here

Even the BBC is consequently forced to admit that the UKIP may have got the Conservative Party worried, why else the smear. That item may be read from here .

The concerns shown by Vapid Cameron seem to have resulted from a request by UKIP for more information on the Conservative Party's electoral loans - a topic on which I made earlier comment on my blog Ironies Too linked here.

posted by Martin | 2:21 PM