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Thursday, 30 August 2012

Gary Cartwright on 'Working with UKIP'

 

From Brussels Blog:

I've often been asked how I came to work in Brussels.

In a nutshell, I joined UKIP in around 2001 and found myself, having been co-opted onto the London Regional Committee, working with mayoral candidate Frank Maloney. Immediately after that campaign I took myself off to Minsk where I worked with elements of the democratic opposition that have now been absorbed into the Belorussian Popular Front. Its an interesting life...

On my return from Minsk I found a letter on my doormat from Nigel Farage inviting me to come out to Brussels. Thats how it happened. I had studied European Governance and Democratic Theory at Uni, so I suppose I was considered to be as well qualified as anybody in UKIP.

Sadly I fell out with Farage, as so many do, and I have been airbrushed out of UKIP history, and painted as some sort of a right-wing extremist. Anybody associated with me, it is hinted, is also an extremist, something that I find extremely offensive.


Bulletin From Brussels, Issue 1

So lets put the record straight, shall we?

This is from the first issue of Bulletin From Brussels, which I edited for, I seem to recall, 4 issues. It was a bit of fun, and I was quite pleased with it at the time It was a publication of UKIP's Independence & Democracy Group in the European Parliament.

Whilst I remain on good terms with most of the fine folk in these pictures, I wonder what would happen to them if they were photographed with me now?



Bulletin From Brussels, Issue 3
Although the front page of the Bulletin always featured Nigel Farage, understandable given that he was head of the UKIP delegation in the EP, it was Roger Knapman, then party leader, with whom I always had the most pleasure working.

I have always credited Roger with UKIP's landmark election results in 2004. Without his political acumen, contacts, and steady hand (albeit with a little help from Kilroy and Dick Morris!) I think UKIP would have struggled to hold the 3 seats gained in 1999.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
But is was not just in Brussels that we produced such literature. I was also tasked by Farage with editing a one-off 'Independence News', similar to something that had been produced previously. This, however, was officially a UKIP publication. If anybody associated with me is an extremist, then this cutting must surely beg some answers!

Of course, Nigel Farage is no more an extremist than I am, despite what some might say about him. It was always easy to write copy for him as he always had a clear idea of what he wanted to say, and generally trusted his staff to deliver.

And so there you have it. Since leaving the Independence & Democracy Group I have worked with Independent MEPs in 2 parliaments, and to this day I am happy to work with, in an official capacity, 2 UKIP MEPs.

I also had a brief spell working as a journalist, during which period I presented a report on extremism in the EU to the Simon Weisenthal Centre. Life is never dull in the world of politics!
 
To read the original: LINK

Tuesday, 28 August 2012

UKIP: Back from our hols



The Junius Team have been taking a well-deserved break from the wonderful world of UKIP. And in our absence nothing much has changed.

Farage's sycophants continue to bluster and lie about GLW and this site. The latest claim is that our absence is down to alleged threatened legal action from Gerard Batten. Wolfman McGough keeps threatening dire consequences regarding comments made by Batten's former employee. We can confirm that the lady in question would more than welcome legal action from Gerard and UKIP. It would then enable her to air some VERY dirty UKIP linen in public. For more on this: LINK & LINK

We note that UKIP is putting up candidates to run for police commissioner in various parts of the country. The biggest laugh is that Godfrey Bloom is standing in Humberside! That's rather like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women's refuge!

Of course, none will get elected.

UKIP's Corby by-election candidate has caused some ruffled feathers in the East Midlands. That she stood against UKIP in a previous election and couldn't be bothered to stand for the party in local elections has been noted. That she is yet another wannabe MEP candidate and friend of Lisa Duffy also comes as no surprise. So Lisa Duffy is in charge of the campaign! Wonderful! They never learn do they? Ms Duffy is about as much use as a chocolate teapot on a very hot day!

UKIP has now become a complete irrelevance in British politics. They will never get anyone elected to Westminster. They will never form a government. UKIP exists solely to keep Farage and his sycophants on the EU Gravy Train. Nigel and his chums have done very well out of the EU and the UK taxpayer. So why would they want to vote themselves out of a job?



They may get MEPs back in 2014, but they will achieve nothing. Are we any closer to getting out of the EU thanks to UKIP? The answer is no. We are far more likely to get out of the EU thanks to EU debt and the fall out following the collapse of the euro zone.

Wednesday, 8 August 2012

UKIP: More hypocrisy from Nigel Farage



From New Europe:

Ah, the Olympics. At such a huge sporting event, there's only one thing on politicians minds; how can I milk this?

London Mayor, Boris Johnson has grasped the opportunity to strengthen his challenge to David Cameron, making the most of the opportunity.

UKIP have also been spurred on to offer a raffle, of a silver bar. They hope to raise 10 grand for 700 pounds worth of the metal. "This silver bar is a generous donation from Humberside member John Galt," said the organiser, perhaps unaware that Galt is the protagonist in the deeply dreary Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, so beloved a book of the party's leading thinkers.

Party leader, Nigel Farage has also been swept up in the Olympic spirit, "It's been a fabulous week for our elite athletes in all sports. We've had some brililant results in rowing, shooting, cycling and the swimming but it's hard to top Jessica Ennis' amazing victory in the heptathalon, particularly with the weight of a nation's expectations on her shoulders," he says on the party website.

He adds, "Our 'Face of the Games' became the 'Queen of the Games' last night, while Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford also grabbed gold at the highest level."

But UKIP weren't always fans of the games.

During the bidding process the party, led by their then representatives on the London Assembly, fought hard for the games to be brought to... Paris.

Yes, the pro-Britain patriots went for France, even hoisting a giant banner at City Hall emblazoned with the Paris bid logo and the French tricolour.

Damian Hockney, UKIP London assembly member, said an Olympics-free London would save the country from billions of pounds of debt. As for Paris, "the French will make it work and make a thumping great profit out of it".

This did not go down well in London, or even in Paris.

Senior executives of the French bid to host the Games met British Olympic officials in Athens to make an official complaint. Philippe Baudillon, chief executive of the Paris bid, said UKIP had used its logo without permission and had given the impression that Paris was breaching Olympic rules.

To read the original: LINK