Peter Cole, UKIP Branch Chairman, writes to the Eastern Region Committee

George Curtis, Chairman of the Eastern Region, has gone on record as stating that “the actions of Peter Cole ( pictured above) suggested he was out to destroy the Party”. Mike McGough, the man who lied in his MEP election address, has also made a similar allegation on the British Democracy Forum. Is there any truth to this?

Here are extracts from Mr Cole's letter to Curtis and the other members of the Committee:

“Below I list just some of the things I have been doing of late, if this proves that I am out to damage the Party then I must be told to my face and I will withdraw my membership.

1. I have designed, printed and delivered in two Dunstable wards UKIP leaflets; I am presently designing a booklet which will also be delivered. Unfortunately having asked Peter Reeve to give me samples of his leaflets and his stating “will do” I still await some 7 months later, hence my own designing.

2. I have recently taken the chair, by request from members I might add, of two UKIP branches, Fenland, and more recently South West Beds, in both cases to keep them alive.

3. I asked for and received application forms to sit on the NEC but the way I am being treated by both the Regional Organiser and the Eastern Counties Committee I have decided not to apply.

4. This year at the Fenland Branch we have organised functions for a) St. Georges Day Dinner; b) UKIP Fenland Branch ‘FUN DAY’; both Reeve and Curtis really upset Len Baynes by telling him that he had to have their permission to accept donations from Tom Wise. C) Trafalgar Day Dinner and the forthcoming; d) Christmas Dinner, a few places left; e) UKIP involvement in having Christmas Lights in the village of Doddington where I have been honoured with the task of switching them on December 5th at 5pm (ALL WELCOME, PLEASE WEAR YOUR ROSETTES). All these events make money for UKIP and encourage new membership.

5. I have for the past two years held a Garden Party and B.B.Q. At my own property, completely at my own expense to raise money for UKIP.

6. I have attended and spent the whole afternoon as ‘Chef’ at a B.B.Q. At a Mid-Beds Branch meeting, this entailed taking tables and chairs and my cooking unit to the site, again all at my own expense.

7. I have stood as a UKIP candidate at the last two local elections and although I was not elected have caused quite a stir in the local ward.

8. I organised, had printed, delivered 8,000 cards asking for a vote if our local council should change to fortnightly bin collection, I received 3,075 replies, 3,069 against the change and only 6 thinking it was a good idea, these cards were then delivered to the local council offices and were handed over in front of two local papers and I was interviewed on two local Radio stations on the subject.

9. I spent a total of 15 nights away from my wife and my home comforts when I was driving the ‘REFERENDUM BATTLE BUS’ around the South Coast and South Wales. During these tours hundreds of signatures were gathered and a number of new UKIP members. Incidentally Peter Reeve refused to organise anything in the Eastern Counties because Tom Wise had organised the bus to be brought from Brussels. It should be noted that it was the Ind/Dem’s money that was used to finance this, not Tom’s. It should also be noted that when I took the bus to London Nigel Farage was only too keen to speak from the top of it as he did when I took the bus to Brighton to support the court case against Gordon Brown.

10. I get invited to many Branch meetings to speak. One of those meetings was at Fenland when Peter Reeve was also invited to attend; this is where he really cooked his books with the membership, when he refused to sit at the same top table where I was sitting because he stated that I work for Tom Wise!! How very childish, the membership went ballistic; I consider this was the start of the members insisting that Peter Reeve must be deselected as their PPC.

11. I have, at the request of members, at Branch meetings, organised a motion of no confidence in Peter Reeve as Regional Organiser, perhaps by now you are beginning to realise why. At the only South West Bedfordshire Branch meeting he has attended in 21 months as R.O. He actually stated and I quote from the minutes taken by the Branch Secretary “Peter Reeve stated that he was not concerned about our Branch, Jackie Cole told him he should be concerned”. This was the first time in over a year that Jackie, an ex-teacher, has spoken at a Branch meeting, she was very angry! Jackie has since refused to renew her membership as have several others.

12. I was also invited to sit on a ‘Question Time Panel’ as a UKIP representative alongside Patrick Hall a Labour MP, and PPC’s from the Greens, Tories, and Lib/Dems, I have also been invited to sit on another panel in April ’09.

13. I was invited to lay a wreath at Bedford on behalf of UKIP in November ’07 where I was very proud to be able to wear my late Father’s medals; he served in both the 1st and 2nd world wars.

I will now explain why the Motions of no confidence in the Eastern Counties Committee were voted on by the membership.

A. It is considered that that the Eastern Counties Committee is unlawful for the following reasons – 4.1 of the Regional Committee Rules dated 4th February 2008, states - The Term of regional committees shall be 5 years, with each committee normally elected two years before each euro-election. – This did not happen, therefore by UKIP’s own rules, the committee is unlawful! That in turn makes every decision taken since June 2007 unlawful.

B. This also includes the selection of MEP candidates, and what a shambles that was, and still is in my opinion. How on earth a girl of 19, still at school, can be better suited to stand than a man with the political experience of Christopher Hudson is beyond comprehension!

C. Lastly, the lies spoken by both George Curtis and Andrew Smith at committee meetings are disgraceful and without reason, when I ask for an apology from Mr Curtis all I get is “Please could you inform as to where and when I am supposed to have made such a statement?” – My reply “At your last meeting” – I have repeated my request for an apology but I have not received that courtesy.

I was under the impression that the ECC is there for the benefit of the members and therefore I see no reason why minutes are kept secret, well that is until someone passes me a copy, and that would open a few eyes if you knew my source!

On Monday 24th November 2008 I managed to talk an Eastern Counties Branch Chairman from holding a branch meeting until after our meeting with the Party Chairman, the membership are so disillusioned with UKIP and in particular Peter Reeve that they want to close the branch; this has now been put on hold.

Do I really sound as though I am anti-UKIP? My assumption is that certain people do not want me at a meeting, or indeed want me to answer a letter I might receive from the committee for fear of being made to look fools!

I spent 37 years of my life running my own businesses, retiring when I could not happily continue under EU laws, I have since then devoted my time to helping UKIP, but it appears, because I work for Tom Wise 9 to 5 Monday to Friday ONLY, the only thanks I get is to be kicked in the teeth”.

Sincerely
Peter Cole

End of letter.

Is this really a man out to destroy UKIP?

Can Mr Curtis say he has done as much for UKIP? After all, the vast majority of UKIPPERS in the East don’t even know that he is the Chairman of the Regional Committee. And those that have heard of Mr Curtis generally regard him as a bumbling Colonel Blimp figure without a single original idea in his head.

Mike McGough is no better. In the May elections he only got 1% of the vote. This was largely due to his lacklustre campaign and his inability to inspire even his own supporters. To make matters worse he then went on to lie in his MEP address. Even Piers Merchant’s report on the selection process criticised him for this. Despite this he is still allowed to remain on the list. He also continues to make a fool of himself on the British Democracy Forum but seems oblivious to this.

When I think of Mr Curtis and Mr McGough the words fools and hypocrites come to mind.