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Wednesday, 4 March 2009

More From Robin Page


UKIP is now heading for electoral disaster. Everything gained under Roger Knapman has been thrown away by his incompetent and dishonest successor. After June 4th UKIP will be lucky to have a single MEP. In anticipation of UKIP's certain defeat can I suggest that UKIP be renamed the 'Hindenburg Party'?

Here is YET ANOTHER damning article on UKIP. Taken from Robin Page's blog:

Goodbye UKIP Goodbye - and Dave Please Read this

Will the last person to leave UKIP please put what’s left of the gravy into the dustbin – and people are leaving in droves.

UKIP’s brightest light, Prof Tim Congdon has recently gone; John Petley, an articulate lay preacher and former "Senior Researcher" tore up his membership card last Saturday, three branch Chairmen have left in the last few days, Petrina Holdsworth, former Chairman and barrister has gone, and Drs David Abbott and Eric Edmund were recently sacked from the National Executive Council. In addition Bob Spink MP has confirmed that he is no longer a "UKIP MP, he is now an "Independent MP".

So Dave – get your act together and tell us where the Tories stand on the European Superstate – there are quite a few memberships and votes up for grabs here. The alternative of course is the BNP – oh dear.

Oh, and I forgot to say, I have just resigned from UKIP too. I have had enough. I expect political parties to be transparent, democratic and accountable. Sorry, it seems to me that UKIP fails on all three counts. It is a tragedy, and remember that after the 2004 European Elections UKIP thought it had achieved a great breakthrough. Now because of its own behaviour it is facing the great "break-up" amid accusations of rigged internal elections, tales of extravagance and high living in Brussels and an embarrassing stampede to join the European Gravy Train this summer And over all this rules UKIP’s Blair-like leader Nigel Farage, yet another ex-public school boy who appears to have turned UKIP into his personal fiefdom. It would appear that he has the power to appoint and to sack as the mood takes him. It is quite extraordinary and extremely sad.

After the 2004 European Elections UKIP rode on the crest of a wave with 12 Members of the European Parliament, 2.7 million votes, 16.8% of the vote and membership of 26,000.

UKIP’s MEP’s have dropped to nine through defection and expulsion. One, former leader Jeffrey Titford has left his East Anglian constituency to live in Sussex, without informing his constituents, and membership is down to 14,000 – sorry, 13,999. At the Henley by-election last year UKIP came sixth, behind the Greens and the BNP, polling just 2.4%.

Already some UKIP diehards are claiming that I have "stormed off in a rage". Nothing could be further from the truth. It has taken me eight months to decide to resign – it must be one of the slowest and most laid-back resignations ever. In addition I liked Nigel Farage, indeed he was a guest at my wedding four years ago.

Warning signals about the state of UKIP first came to me some time ago with the dismissal of Richard North – the brains behind many of UKIP’s better policies and exposures. Together with Christopher Booker he has been responsible for some important EU exposures in the Daily Mail too. Even discussing his sacking with Nigel I could never get a sensible explanation of Richard’s sin. I can now only conclude that his light shone too brightly.

Then came my exclusion from the UKIP European Election List last year. The suggestion to put my election papers in late, and with permission, came from UKIP’s own officials – the Regional Organiser for the East and the HQ Office Manager. They required only a cheque for £250 and my CRB (police check) forms early – which they received. My other papers they suggested could be completed after I returned from a writing trip to the Scillies – or in UKIP’s case, very silly.

On my return (the first Friday in June), there was a letter from the Office Manager who had arranged everything, telling me that I had been excluded from the elections – for doing exactly what he had told me to do. Robert Mugabe eat your heart out!

I immediately contacted Nigel who assured me that he would put it to "the Political Committee". He later phoned to say; "The Political Committee" had confirmed my exclusion.

At a meeting in Ugley on Feb 7th UKIP’s Chairman, Paul Nuttall (appointed by Pol Pot Farage), stated to an amazed audience of disillusioned UKIPPERS, that Nigel was the "political committee", and there were no minutes or agendas of the meetings, when, presumably, Nigel met himself – it was then that I finally felt the dagger slowly passing between my shoulder-blades. At the meeting the Chairman told me that he would arrange a meeting between Nigel and me – no meeting was arranged. Resignation was my only honourable option.

I am sad about it, as I have met many good people at grass roots level within UKIP, but it seems to me that the Party has been stolen from the grass roots by its executive. Now all that executive seems to want is to board the European Gravy Train at all costs. Just under 2000 years ago Tacitus wrote words to the effect: "Britons are very good at being Roman. They like the baths, the forum and they think they are becoming Roman whereas in fact these devices enslave them to Rome." Replace "Britons" with "UKIP MEPs" and "Roman" with "European" and the disintegration of UKIP is explained.

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