Archive for September, 2009

Godders on Banks

Godders being his usual self, pointing out to the assembled masses of politicians that perhaps the problem was initiated by meddling politicians on the other side of the Atlantic!

Just Say No

UKIP’s London maverick London chairman Paul Wiffen (a veteran of both the music and film businesses) is off to Dublin today, armed with somewhat unusual weapons in the fight to secure an Irish No vote, a guitar and a Sixties-style protest song. Just Say No, written on his recent Italian tour and recorded in London in the 24 hours between his returning from the Venice Film Festival and his departure for Dublin and posted for free download on the Internet at we7.com, is a diatribe against the fact that the Irish are being forced to vote again on Lisbon when their answer was quite clear last time (it ends with an Irish voice asking “what part of No didn’t they understand the first time?”).

The new single, rush-released in advance of his forthcoming Freemen Of Europe album, can be heard for free at We7.com, or listeners can choose to make a 48p donation to the campaign when downloading.

Of course, politicians who play (or have played) a musical instrument are not a new phenomenon, from Bill Clinton on sax to Tony Blair on guitar. Wiffen, who arrived in Oxford just in time to witness long-haired Blair on guitar, points out that there is a big difference between these famous examples and his musical abilities. “I played in the support band for Tony Blair on several occasions and whatever you think of what he achieved in politics, he clearly made the right career choice.

Paul plans to busk the song in the Temple Bar area of the City, with UKIP’s London Treasurer Mick McGough handing out flyers which explain more fully the message behind the song and how to download it. “Mick and I often refer to ourselves as the provisional wing of UKIP, as we tend to take more direct action than many of our more staid members, as in our ambushes of Lord Mandelson and David Cameron during the Norwich North campaign.  Mick keeps asking if he can have a tambourine or penny whistle but unfortunately, the talent for music has completely bypassed the poor fellow despite being of good Irish stock.

But it is the evening’s plans that may prove the most interesting and effective, as Paul has dug out his old book of contacts which includes many people in the Irish music scene. Jim Corr, the one male family member of The Corrs, has been very vocal against the Lisbon treaty on his JimCorrTube section of YouTube and there are many others in the music business over here who recognize that Lisbon attacks fundamental human rights to self-determination in a way we have not seen since the Sixties.

I am pulling together a Band Aid-style performance at one of the No campaign rallies, calling up these and other old friends to get as many possible Lisbon rebels to make their voices heard.” Paul is no stranger to using the celebrity endorsement for political campaigning. He was to be seen last year on the steps of Downing Street with Joanna Lumley handing in a petition of ¼ million signatures long before all the other politicians jumped on the Gurkha bandwagon.

But on the eve of the second Lisbon referendum, Wiffen’s energies are 100% devoted to the No Vote in Ireland. “I am going to sing myself hoarse on the streets of Temple Bar during the day and in any pub, club or hotel bar where they’ll have me and leave it to my celebrity colleagues (and hopefully the audience) to carry the song at the rally. If they’ve all downloaded it in advance, they won’t have any excuse not to know the words.”

An entire album of material is in preparation from The Freemen Of Europe but this message was just too important to delay.

Listen to the song here

Paul Wiffen, Singer/Songwriter, The Freemen Of Europe

Brown Pinches UKIP Policy

Grodon Brown has committed Labour to holding a referendum on voting reform soon after the next election if they win.

In his conference speech, Mr Brown said Labour would hold a referendum “early” in the next Parliament on proposals for an alternative vote system.Under this, voters rank candidates in order with the bottom candidate’s second preferences transferred in each round until someone gets 50% of votes.

What is interesting is this is UKIP policy, published over a year ago. See section 3.5 of our constitutional policy paper here. Nice to see talk of sensible voting reform being talked about, though the probability of Labour winning the election is less than finding rocking horse droppings!

He has also pinched BNP policy as well…

A plan to house 16 and 17-year-old single parents in state-run shared houses rather than council flats

What else is he going to pinch?

Flying the UKIP Flag in Buckingham

by Nigel Farage

So here we are in Buckingham! A huge number of people have gathered here from all over the country for the first day in the constituency unhindered by the lack of a train station.

We had a good start in the town shopping area, chatting with locals about EU issues as well as local concerns such as the possible closure of the local hospital and the proposed incinerator. The latter of course is a direct result of the EU’s landfill directive where some clever johnny with a pencil and paper thought it would be much better to burn rubbish and pump the surrounding areas full of fumes than bury the stuff underground. I can’t see the sense of it, which is perhaps why I never wanted to be a civil servant.

Unusually for a politician, some might say, I am also sticking to my pledge of visiting every licensed premises in the constituency. Unfortunately our first stop to the Kings Head was delayed as it seems that the landlord had something of a heavy night and is opening late. Never mind! The White Hart it is!

Chatting with the locals in here shows a lot of positive support including people who supported us in the European Elections and now are taking that one step further for the General Election. The barman is very friendly and tells me that the smoking ban, high duty and cheap supermarket prices have had a negative effect on their business. Luckily for them they can do food and have an outisde area but it’s madness to me that something as important as the local pub should be put under threat.

The Three Cups, my next visit, can’t diversify in that way. They’re a drinking pub through and through and really feeling the hit from the smoking ban where their regulars don’t particularly like standing outside for a smoke. The landlord is supportive of my standing against John Bercow as he points out that he wants to have a choice in who to vote for. “It’s supporsed to be a democracy, not a dictatorship!” he says. He told me he feels that the ban is like MPs want to kill the pub industry. They don’t serve food so why can’t people smoke?

On the way to the next pub someone stops me to say I have his support. “If I’m still around!” he chuckles. “I’m not feeling that well at the moment!”.

And so onto the Whale. A quick glance at the TV to see that Britain is still leading the way in Formula 1 and it’s back to chatting to the staff and locals. This pub have clearly spent quite a bit of money building a smoking shelter so their regulars don’t get blown to Milton Keynes if they want a quick puff in the winter. Unfortunately one glance at it tells me that it’s going to be banned under the new rules which stipulate along the lines of ‘one wall only.’ So that’s ‘outside a building’ then. Super.

Good news! George at the Kings Head is awake. A supporter stops me on the way and says “I hope you knock him off his perch!” I presume he’s talking about Bercow. There seems to be a feeling here that MPs are all just part of the establishment, which of course they are. That’s why I’m standing – so the voters in Buckingham actually have a choice about who they vote for. Why should they not be able to vote for someone other than the speaker; they have the right to have a constituency MP and someone to represent the views they believe in.

George at the Kings Head is also a fan of motorbikes which is of course another area that the EU are trying to legislate into oblivion. When it comes to his pub he’s managing to keep his head above water but only by sacking his staff and running it just with family members. A winning formula there from the government, then: so much for growth and jobs!

We leave Buckingham and go to Winslow; a lovely little pub called The Swan which is again another drinking and smoking pub where the regulars are getting fed up of standing outside. The landlord owned another pub when the smoking ban was going through parliament and the plan was that pubs which served food would be covered by the law. So he stopped serving food and then overnight Patsy Hewitt threw their toys out of the pram and decided to ban it everywhere. Nanny knows best!

Princes Risborough, it has been decided, is now going to be part of the constituency of Buckingham. I don’t know why and neither do the locals who were quite surprised to find that their well liked MP Roger Liddleton is not going to be representing them. We went to The Bell which is run by 24-year-old Richard. Most of the pub were outside enjoying the sunshine and they have a lovely garden which lessens the impact of the smoking ban. Of course it doesn’t have an effect on the minimum prices pubs have which supermarkets don’t. When it comes to a blustery October evening these things make a huge difference in whether someone stays at home with some cheaply bought beer or goes outside to pay pub prices and not be able to smoke indoors.

Richard’s also a member of the ‘pub is the hub’ group. They have people from 18 to 80 drinking there on a Friday and that’s one of the features of the Great British Pub – it’s for everyone.

He makes the point that when it comes to anti-social behaviour the trouble is more likely to start with people guzzling cheap booze at home and then stumbling to the pub for the last few orders.

I went for a walk around the shops in Princes Risborough talking to the staff and owners. One lady had found herself on the wrong end of the EU’s Age Discrimination legislation because her insurance company wouldn’t insure her drivers over a certain age. Of course there’s nothing Westminster can do about these laws as they’re made in the EU by unelected Commissioners and MEPs, the majority of whom aren’t British. If only they’d been debated in the House of Commons instead of in a sub committee then people would know more about them and the cost to their businesses. It’s examples like this which make me more determined to stand and fight this constituency.

The local hardware shop said they’d had complaints about the latest barmy initiative banning certain lightbulbs. It’s a sad state of affairs that even how we light our sitting rooms is controlled by 26 other countries.

A trip to the pub on the high street found more support – where people are sick of the cost of the EU but also the avalance of crazy legislation that we can’t change. People want to be able to run their own country and wonder why our politicians don’t. Even the thought of it is perceived as a mad cap idea.

One local guy must have been on a trip to Brussels or Strasbourg: “That EU Parliament, ” he said, “It’s a f**king farce!” Well, quite.

The George and Dragon in Quainton was having a beer festival and it was a scene of English loveliness. Tables were full of people drinking and chatting in the autumn sunshine, animals lay snoozing and a steam fair chugged up the road to the top of the green. I must get one of those large engines in UKIP colours – they make you proud to be British but you wouldn’t want one to run over your toe.

The pub went non-smoking before the ban and that demonstrates quite how unnecessary the law is. It’s all down to freedom of choice. Of course the landlord has other problems with the high taxes and competition from superkarkets – EU law stops them from having minimum prices set!

The village also has a windmill which I staggered up – trying to hide the fact that I’m really not a fan of heights.

The final stop of the day is to The Lion in Waddesdon. The locals were invited along to meet their candidate and it was great to talk to people about their real concerns. Skilled people who have lost jobs, local business people and those who think that in a few years time this state pension they’ve been contributing to won’t exist for them. All in all, a great start to my campaign here in Buckingham.

I’ve met some people who are ‘true blue’. some who are so disillusioned with politics they’ve given up and plenty of young people eager to debate with me.

The young and the old are keen to get involved, it’s the ones in the middle who are more complacent.

I’m looking forward to the next few months and meeting as many people as possible. And I hope I see Bercow along the way and at some point he takes up the challenge of a debate.

Election Watch

The election of Susan McCaffery to represent the South West Ward on Billericay Town Council last week represents the 15th council seat we have gained as a party since the start of June. Over the last four months, we have performed better than we ever have before in local elections, picking up seats on 7 councils, increasing our contingent on one and attracting sitting councillors to join our ranks on a further two.

Billericay South West

UKIP 480 57%
Labour 266
BNP 95

Congratulations to Susan on a fine victory for the party and the local people.

UKIP candidates are fighting two electoral battles this week. The first is for a seat on Broadland District Council, in the Wroxham Ward. This ward is very close to the Norwich North parliamentary constituency, where we took 12% of the vote earlier in the year. We took 22% of the vote in the area in this year’s euro elections, but did not contest the area in either the last district council or county council elections. The candidate, one Glenn Tingle, may be familiar to a few of you! Best of luck to him.

In the second contest, Peter Parker is standing in the Laleham and Shepperton Green Ward of Spelthorne Borough Council. Notably, we scored second place with nearly a thousand votes in the equivalent ward on the county council this June, in addition to attaining 25% of the vote across Spelthorne in the euro elections. So this is definitely one to watch!

Lisbon Treaty business debate.

A very interesting debate held between Michael O’Leary and Declan Ganley on Irish TV can be viewed here.

How refreshing it is to see issues revolving around the EU being debating on television. Wouldn’t it be great to see the same in this country?

Buckingham Launch

I was in Buckingham on Saturday along with over 100 other UKIP activists to help kick off Nigel Farage’s campaign to win the seat.

In all we delivered around 36,000 leaflets, or roughly 70% of the entire constituency. Not bad going for one day. I even understand we had a Conservative member turn up to help leaflet for Nigel!

There remains some support for Bercow because he has been a good constituency MP, but nobody had anything particularly good to say about him. There seemed to be support for Farage, and recognition that he was standing among many. There was the occasional abuse and snide remarks one expects, but really not that much at all.

In all a good day. The campaign office was hectic but coming together well. The team is well organised and has a plan. All they need is for a steady stream of activists to go and help out. So what are you waiting for?

Practice what you preach, Mr. Cameron

So David Cameron has stated that Gordon Brown needs to get off the fence and either accept, or refuse, a televised debate amongst the three main party leaders.

This is surely a tad ‘rich’ coming from the man who has sat on his ‘European’ fence for so long, on the question of when and if we will get our promised referendum,  who won’t even debate the issue in his own constituency and who hardly shows leadership by hoping that the people of another country – the Irish or Czechs – might make the decision for him.

In the  Daily Telegraph William Hague is quoted as saying, on the subject of the Lisbon Treaty “We think it is bad for Britain in the long term and we want to give the British people their say.” So, if it is ‘bad for Britain in the long term and the British people should have their say’, what difference does it make whether the treaty is ratified or not? Simple question Mr. Hague – and the answer is?????

In the same article William Hague also states that his old mantra of ‘In Europe, but not ruled by Europe’ is what he really believes in. In that statement Hague has committed himself to an irrevocable course of action. The phrase can only have one outcome – that the United Kingdom should be able to trade with Europe, but should not be subject to the political ‘rules’ of Europe and that in other words we should have the same ‘trading arrangement’ that Norway and Switzerland have. If the Conservative Party in any way deviate from that and compromise by saying, for example, that they would accept the Lisbon Treaty but that any other political integration would need the agreement of the British people, then the only course of action would be for Hague to promptly resign his shadow front bench position and that of his parliamentary seat.

The comment that, if the Treaty is ratified, Cameron would not wait any longer: “We would set out what we would do in that contingency and it would be in our manifesto to seek a mandate for it.” is,again, prevarication by the Conservative Party. What exactly does that statement mean? I can well see the situation arising whereby the Conservative Party response will be one of ‘wait for our manifesto’.

All that this latest ‘interview’ with William Hague does is confirm that he, David Cameron and the Conservative Party are still ’sitting on the fence’!

Off to Buckingham

Tomorrow I shall descend on Buckingham along with fellow UKIPers to help Nigel Farage, erstwhile leader of UKIP, launch his campaing to unseat Bercow at the General Election.

Having seen the agenda I think I need to get well rested tonight. Early start and all that – Google maps suggests a 2hr drive.

Thinking of a suitable hashtag to end my tweet with I came up with the following #buckingbercow. So what do you think? Is this is a suitable official hashtag to use for Nigel’s campaign? Or maybe #buckbercow? Suggestions welcome.

UKIP Gain Town Councillor

As is the form these days, I learn via Twitter that UKIP has gained a Town Councillor…

The results of the Billericay Town Council by-election:
Susan McCaffery 480 (UKIP)  - 57%
Alan Bennett 266 (Labour) – 32%
Tony Gladwin 95 (BNP) – 11%

Terrific result Susan! Another one in the bag.

Irish Lisbon coverage heavily favouring “yes” side.

A company by the name of TNS has covered out an assessment of the press coverage given to the “yes” and “no” sides of the Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, their findings show that the “yes” side are being given far more exposure.

46% of Lisbon-related articles in the past week have been in favour of the Treaty, while the percentage of articles favouring the ‘no’ campaign is on 23%. The remaining 31% of articles in the past week were assessed as neutral.

In what is good news, the return of Declan Ganley and Libertas to the battlefield has garnered the “no” side some decent press coverage recently, though after their calamitous Euro Election campaign Ganley’s influence has diminished.

Interview With Nikki Sinclaire MEP

Newly elected UKIP MEP for the West Midlands, and party leadership contender, Nikki Sinclaire, has been interviewed by the Parliament magazine.

Download it here

Elvis Against Lisbon!

There is something amusing about the YES side taking the matter so seriously, while the NO side still manage to be humorous.

Maybe it is why the NO side is so difficult to beat – there is a strength of spirit the no-humour-liberal-boring-politicos simply don’t have and fail to understand.

Gisela Stuart On Lisbon

Labour MP, Gisela Stuart, speaks out against the Lisbon Treaty and explains why the Irish should vote NO, for the sake of democracy in Europe… (need to turn up your speakers for this)