There should be a rather interesting story to report tomorrow morning. Check this blog, GLW and the papers.
A UKIP Round up
UKIPPERS may have missed another recent dire election result. However, we can well understand the leadership's desire to forget this latest humiliation!
Egg on his face. UKIP candidate humiliated in recent election
It started with such high hopes. They even brought in the odious Paul Nuttall to lend a hand!
UKIP field army of volunteers for Poulton North by-election
AN ‘Army’ of volunteers are hoping to propel UKIP to its first council ward victory.
James Ashington is standing for the UK Independence Party in the Poulton North by-election next Thursday, July 28, and has been out campaiging in the area along with 10 party members from across the region, including MEP Paul Nuttall.
He said: “We have an Army out there and we have had nothing but positive comments. People want a change.”
Mr Ashington, who has taught numeracy at Lysander High School, says he would be happy with 10 per cent of the vote but would not be satisfied unless he wins.
“There are many things I would like to improve.
“Lots of shops in the area are boarded up and the roads need improving.
“But we cannot do that when we are spending £67,000 a day in Europe.
“We are not an anti European party but we are anti European Union,” he said.
It is the first time UKIP has stood in Poulton North and they party faces competition from Mark Chapman (CON), Colin Oliver (LD) and Ashley Pemberton (LAB).
To see the original: LINK
And the result?
Ashington, James UK Independence Party 97
Chapman, Mark Conservative 190
Oliver, Colin James Liberal Democrats 1,106
Pemberton, Ashley Labour 895
Not a bad result. Only a just over a 1000 votes behind the winner. Some army!
Farage tries to steal Nikki's thunder ......... Again!
Readers will be aware that Nikki Sinclaire and Mike Nattrass have been campaigning against the High Speed 2 (HS2) project. The proposals concern a high speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England and Central Scotland.
Here is a link to an article about HS2 on Nikki's blog: LINK
We are pleased to note that her campaign against the project has been getting a lot of publicity in the media. We can confirm that Farage was less than happy with this!
And the result was!
From the official UKIP website:
UKIP is the only political party opposed to the High Speed 2 (HS2) project.
The proposals would see a high speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England and, ultimately, Central Scotland. This project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company originally established by the last Labour government. Since May 2010 the project continues to receive support from the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government. The railway will be built in stages with the London to Birmingham section being the first stage to be completed. If the plan is approved then construction work could start in 2017 with the first trains running eight years later. It is currently estimated the project will cost in excess of £33billion.
Two UKIP MEPs have been particularly vocal in their criticism of HS2. UKIP Leader Nigel Farage is a MEP for South East England which includes Buckinghamshire, a county which will see much of its beautiful countryside butchered in the first stage of HS2. He says the project is "undesirable, unwanted and unloved".
He added: "It beggars belief that in the depths of a financial crisis the government should embark on spending such a large amount. I think it's the wrong wrong decision, at the wrong time and in the wrong place."
Paul Nuttall, Deputy UKIP Leader and MEP for North West England also condemns the plans. He said: "What are the real benefits of this project? There are none. It is predicted that HS2 will knock half an hour off the journey from London to Liverpool. Big Deal. I do not believe that those extra 30 minutes are vital to the economy of the North West. This may be a good idea one day, but in the current challenging economic times the expenditure can hardly be justified."
End of quote.
Someone should have told Nigel and the odious Paul Nuttall that public consultation had finished BEFORE they issued their statement! But when did that EVER stop them jumping on a bandwagon!
And had Nigel and Paul forgotten the following pledge in the last UKIP manifesto?
Invest in three new 200mph plus high-speed rail lines including a new line between London and Newcastle with a spur to Manchester, a London-Bristol-Exeter line and a linking route via Birmingham
The word hypocrite does rather spring to mind!
More hypocrisy from Farage!
Every right minded person was disgusted with the EFD's Borghezio after he "expressed sympathy" for the Norwegian mass murderer, Breivik. See: LINK
Farage, after much pressure from the media, was forced to make this statement:
Nigel Farage, Leader of UKIP, today contacted Francesco Speroni, co-president of The Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD), a group in the European Parliament, to demand an immediate retraction and apology following his remarks and those of his fellow Northern League MEP Mario Borghezio.
The comments, both made in recent radio interviews, were in response to the tragedy in Norway where seventy-six people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik. If no retraction is forthcoming then UKIP will suspend its membership of the EFD group in which it sits alongside the Italian political party.
Borghezio, described the ideas of Breivik as "good" and "excellent". Speroni has now said he believed Borghezio's comments to be "in support of Western civilisation". UKIP totally disassociates itself from the remarks of Borghezio and Speroni. The Northern League is due to meet tomorrow (Friday) to discuss the issue. In the meantime Northern League minister, Roberto Calderoli has condemned Borghezio's remarks.
Nigel Farage said: "I find Breivik's actions and idealogy of hatred totally repugnant. Anybody who would praise the political ideology of this mass murderer is morally and politically misguided. Consequently I have written to the leadership of the Northern League party to demand an immediate full retraction and apology. If my request is not met, then we will suspend our membership of the EFD group."
Sadly, many UKIPPERS accepted this statement at face value and thus let Farage off the hook. It should not be forgotten that Speroni, Farage's EFD co-president, said:
"Breivik's ideas are in defence of western civilisation", and "I'm with Borghezio. I don't think he should resign. If [Breivik's] ideas are that we are going towards Eurabia and those sorts of things, that western Christian civilisation needs to be defended, yes, I'm in agreement".
On 29 July, Farage's follow up statement said Speroni had written to Farage saying that he condemned the massacre and the extreme fundamentalism in question.
But had Speroni withdrawn the statements he made supporting Borghezio? No.
Had Speroni retracted his agreement with Breivik's ideas? No.
Had Speroni apologised? No.
Had Nigel Farage suspended UKIP MEPs' membership of the EFD as he promised to do? No.
So Borghezio was suspended by his party and UKIP said it was satisfied that this "will send a clear message that they, and we will not have any truck with such disgraceful sentiments now or in the future". So Speroni's comments are quietly forgotten. Farage can boast that he took "prompt action", and so the EFD survives to fight another day!
It is clear Farage's demands for "an immediate retraction and apology" from Speroni were simply for home consumption in a desperate attempt to placate both UKIPPERS and a hostile media. So why have ordinary UKIPPERS and the media allowed Farage to get away with it?
And ending a lighter note!
Our old friend, Mike 'Wolfman' McGough, doesn't post on the British Democracy as much as he used to. This is a shame because we were amused by his latest avatar.
It features the Old Mare of Ramsey, behind Bannerman, showing a little more cheek than usual!
But what does 'Scuffy Duffy' feel about 'Wolfman' McGough allowing her arse crack to be shown to the world?
