UKIP: Mike Nattrass makes an ass of himself.

The latest issue of Independence News features a short, rambling article from Mike Nattrass.

We have always known that Mike is not the sharpest knife in box. Even his fellow MEPs regard him as a fool. But why is he so determined to advertise the fact to as many people as possible?

Mike’s article is largely devoted to attacking the Sunday Times for publishing an article on OLAF and the allegation that Dennis Brookes was paid through public funds while working as a regional organiser for UKIP. The EU does not allow taxpayers’ money to be used to pay party officials.

The article is reproduced above. Hold your mouse over it and left click twice to read it.

In the article he makes the ludicrous claim that the Sunday Times wanted to damage his leadership bid by publishing the details of the investgation. But why would they care? They knew that Nattrass had no chance of winning. Even Farage couldn’t understand why he was bothering to stand.

He also attacks Petrina Holdsworth. She was UKIP’s chairman but later decided to resign after Nattrass insulted her in an email. This followed her request for information on UKIP’s paid employees. She wanted to know what they were doing for their money.

Mike Nattrass was extremely reluctant to answer the question. We wonder why? OLAF was also rather puzzled by his reluctance to answer this simple question.

And let us not forget that he still persists in claiming that UKIP made a genuine mistake in accepting illegal donations from Alan Bown. So how come Andrew Smith - UKIP's Treasurer at the time - advised misleading Elcom? See: LINK

And how come UKIP's leadership ignored repeated warnings from Elcom?

Here is a letter written by Peter Wardle, Chief Executive of The Electoral Commission. It dates from 2009 and was published in the Sunday Telegraph:

Ukip’s rulebreaking

SIR – It is not correct for Christopher Booker (October 25) to suggest that Ukip was guilty of only a “trivial breach of electoral law” due to an “oversight” by not checking whether their donor, Alan Bown, was on the electoral register.

The law is clear: political parties must check that a donor is on the electoral register each time they accept a donation over £200. Ukip chose not to do so on 67 separate occasions, over a period of more than a year, and despite repeated warnings from the Electoral Commission.

Ukip took donations it was not entitled to receive, which gave it financial resources it was not entitled to have under the law. Ukip accepted that these donations – which totalled more than £365,000 – were all impermissible. But the magistrates’ court ordered them to forfeit just £18,481.

The Electoral Commission’s view was that this treatment of one party which had not followed the rules was unfair to the majority that do follow the rules and which have previously forfeited impermissible donations. The Court of Appeal shared that view.

Christopher Booker also claimed that the Commission “seems unwilling to take further action” in relation to donations from 5th Avenue Partners to the Liberal Democrats. In fact, we are conducting an ongoing investigation into that issue.

Peter Wardle
Chief Executive
The Electoral Commission
London SW1

See: LINK

Once again, Nattrass is exposed as a liar.

Nattrass is threatening to sue the Times for defamation. We sincerely hope that this is not just hot air and bluster. We would dearly love to see Mike make a fool of himself in the courts!

Here are a few facts. We will make them simple and easy to understand as we understand that Mike has trouble with long words:

You can’t sue a paper for telling the truth.

Nattrass has been under investigation by OLAF for these many months.

Various UKIP officials have been interviewed by OLAF.

Nattrass has been accused of misusing his EU allowances.

The file is now being studied by the relevant authorities.

And finally ……

Here is the Sunday Times article in full:

UKIP MEP Michael Nattrass in expenses fraud inquiry

Daniel Foggo

An MEP for the United Kingdom Independence party is being investigated by the European Union’s anti-fraud watchdog over his use of expenses.

Michael Nattrass, who has represented the West Midlands in the European parliament since 2004, is the subject of an inquiry into whether Denis Brookes, one of his former aides, was paid through public funds while he was working as a regional organiser for UKIP. The EU does not allow taxpayers’ money to be used to pay party officials.

The inquiry into Nattrass, which is part of a wider investigation into UKIP’s finances, comes as one of its former MEPs, Tom Wise, was jailed last week for two years for embezzling funds out of his assistant’s allowance.

It has also emerged that Nattrass was using a company of which he was a shareholding partner as the “paying agent” for all his assistants’ salaries provided by the EU.

Between 2004 and summer this year, all of his assistants’ allowances were channelled through the company account of Nattrass Giles, a chartered surveyors in Birmingham which he founded nearly 30 years ago.

Nattrass was a signatory to the bank account, although he insisted last night that the administration was handled by another partner in the firm who has since died.

MEPs must not act as their own paying agents. The role can only be performed by “third parties”.

New rules brought in since July this year have further tightened the controls and MEPs can now only use accredited people or companies as paying agents.

Nattrass said he had been told by EU officials that he could use his Birmingham company.

He also insisted that Brookes had worked for him in his capacity as an MEP until his employment as an aide came to an end three years ago

See: LINK

Also see: LINK