UKIP: Stuart Wheeler makes a fool of himself

From UKIP’s official website:

A major donor to the UK Independence Party has hit out at the Electoral Commission over its decision to push UKIP for the return of a £360,000 donation while allowing the Lib Dems to keep £2.4 million given to them by a criminal now on the run.

Former Tory donor and spread betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler, who donated £100,000 to UKIP before the European elections said today: "I am not a member of UKIP but I do support them and this does not seem right.

"The Electoral Commission has now said it does not intend to take proceedings against the Liberal Democrats for the recovery of gifts totalling about £2.4 million pounds given to them by a company controlled by Michael Brown, a man who was not a permissible donor and who is now on the run, having been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

"It is clear that the donation came from abroad and was therefore entirely against the spirit of the relevant legislation.

"But the Commission has decided to pursue UKIP for recovery of a donation given by somebody who could easily have made the donation through a permissible company and who would have been a permissible donor but for a purely technical slip which is acknowledged by the court to have been entirely inadvertent."

End of extract.

On what planet is Mr Wheeler living on? And why does he allow Farage to feed him such rubbish?

It was not a technical slip acknowledged by the court. UKIP made 67 false entries despite numerous warnings from the Electoral Commission.

And let us not forget that Andrew Smith - UKIP treasurer at the time - advised misleading Elcom.

Here is the email in question:

From: "Smith Epping" To: "Geoffrey Kingscott" Cc: "Nigel Farage (UKIP)" ; "Douglas Denny"

Subject: Treasurers meeting

Thank you Geoffrey for organising the meeting. We need to give the Electoral Commission every reason to believe we are serious about compliance, in order to provide the next Party Treasurer with a good story to tell when we next fail to meet the statutory requirements.

They should be invited to any big regional meeting and to Party Conference to speak at least to a break-out meeting to Treasurers.

It would have been a suitable event for prospective Party Treasurers to learn a lot about what the job entailed. Were any of them there?

I thought the practical points which emerged, in the absence of the Electoral Commission, were a lesson for the NEC on what their priorities should be. The branches are crying out for better admin and they are full of good ideas.

I hope the NEC takes good notice of your report of the meeting.

AS

End of email

'Inadvertent' it was not.

We would strongly advise Mr Wheeler to distance himself from such people.

To defend their lies and stupidity will only taint him in the long run.