Ralph Atkinson to be removed from UKIP MEP list

The shameful and undemocratic way in which the UKIP leadership is ignoring the wishes of the membership by purging the MEP lists of candidates who have not demonstrated sufficient subservience to Farage, is likely to bring the Party to court in more than one region.

We have already witnessed the removal of Dr Eric Edmond and Victor Webb. Trevor Colman also faces removal from the SW list.

The next region to be hit will be London. Ralph Atkinson - second on the list - is set to be removed by the NEC in a matter of days. Whilst his use of the database to phone London members to canvass support was deemed OK at the time, Farage has now deemed Atkinson's actions unacceptable, and is seeking to clear him out, in order to make way for Zuckerman.

There is also an as yet unspecified charge relating to Atkinson, which I can confirm relates to his alleged anti-social behaviour whilst under the influence in Brussels.

Atkinson was elected to second place on the London list by the members, and any decision concerning his candidacy should be made by them, not by the dimwits of the NEC acting on Farage's orders. He is a hard working, if somewhat eccentric, activist, and that Farage should repay his loyalty to the party and to the leadership in this way tells us something of the man and his morals.