UKIP loses Elcom case: Farage admits this could be the end of UKIP!

How the mighty have fallen. Here is the story:

Alan Bown is not on the electoral roll. UKIP accept illegal donations from Alan Bown. Andrew Smith seeks to misled Elcom over this.

Here is the email:

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

Farage and Smith ignore multiple warnings from the Electoral Commission. They are advised that donations from Mr Bown are illegal under electoral law. They ignore these warnings.

It finally goes to court and UKIP are told to pay £18,481 in costs.

Farage does not accept this.

In 2007 Farage attacks Elcom during a speech at a party conference and accuses them of acting like a playground bully. Elcom takes offence at this and throws the book at UKIP.

Here is the BBC’s report on the whole sorry affair.

The UK Independence Party has lost the latest stage of its battle to avoid having to repay donations of £363,697.

The Court of Appeal said the gifts from retired bookmaker Alan Bown between Dec 2004 and Jan 2006 were illegal because he was not on the electoral register.

Party leader Nigel Farage threatened to appeal against the ruling, saying: "There is a very real danger that this could put UKIP out of business."

The money would go to the Treasury, not back to Mr Bown.

UKIP estimates its total bill, including legal costs, could reach £750,000.

Mr Farage said the party had nothing like that amount of money in its funds.

'Irrelevant'

Mr Bown says he was mistakenly taken off the electoral register in December 2004 and did not find out until December 2005 he was not on it. He was reinstated in February 2006.

In 2007, the Electoral Commission said it wanted UKIP to forfeit all Mr Bown's donations.

But Westminster Magistrates' Court had said the breach of rules was accidental and ordered the party to pay back only £18,481.

The commission then took the case to the Court of Appeal, arguing that all the donations should be forfeited.

Three judges have now ordered the magistrates' court to change its original decision.

Political party donors must be on the electoral register if they give more than £200.

This rule was enacted mainly to stop foreign donations, but judge Sir Paul Kennedy said:

"Parliament having decided that the test of acceptability of a donation from an individual should be whether that individual was registered in an electoral register, it seems to me to be irrelevant whether an impermissible donor is or is not making a foreign donation."

He added: "The fact that UKIP accepted donations from Mr Bown without realising that he was no longer in an electoral register is also, to my mind, immaterial."

'Simple and easy'

Following the judgement, Electoral Commission chief executive Peter Wardle said that "all parties also need to follow the rules. And these rules need to be clear, simple and easy to follow.

"Parliament decided that political parties should only be able to accept money from individuals if they are on a UK electoral register.

"This provides a straightforward test of whether they should accept money or not. They simply need to check the electoral register. The United Kingdom Independence Party did not take these simple steps."

Mr Bown had been on the electoral register in Thanet, Kent, but was removed apparently by mistake without his knowledge in December 2004.

UKIP, which has 13 MEPs, admitted breaking the law, but said it was because of a clerical error and that to order forfeiture of Mr Bown's donations would be disproportionate.

End of report.

To see the original: LINK

UKIP now faces financial ruin thanks to the stupidity and arrogance of Nigel Farage, Andrew Smith and all those who colluded with them in this farce.

The Greeks called it Hubris.

Also see: LINK