I spent the weekend before the last one in the South West helping the PPCs ( prospective parliamentary candidates) launch the campaign for the national election. I met many of the PPCs and attended four different events in the course of the two days in different parts of the region.

The campaign is strongly based on defence issues. Plymouth is a navy city which is gradually losing its life-blood as the nuclear submarine fleet has been sent to Scotland and the frigate fleet is to be sent to Portsmouth. UKIP´s contention is that all three main parties are content to cut defence spending and wind down the Royal Navy because they will 'outsource' our forces to the EU (e.g. the EU Navy currently operating off Somalia with one British frigate). Without the navy, Plymouth will lose 1,500 families, many dockyard jobs and its main economic driver.

We started with a press conference in Plymouth attended by people from the area, all apparently from a Naval tradition, many having been part of the Navy life. I explained among other things that although the EU had not yet set up a defence budget, the Lisbon and Amsterdam Treaties look for progressive growth of defence policy. UK´s command centre in Northwood is available to the EU and is at present Headquarter to ATALANTA (the Indian Ocean patrol against piracy). Lisbon sees the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) close to the Common Security and Foreign Policy (CSFP) which is part of Ashton’s empire. I did not mention but it should be noted here that the traditional British reluctance to take part in the CSDP changed to endorsement after Blair met with Chirac in St Malo back in 1998.

Later on we went up to St Mabyn for a small private dinner with Lord Pearson and a handful of selected guests, most of them loyal followers of the Tory party until then.

On Sunday morning I went with Trevor Colman my colleague MEP for the South West to look at the site of a proposed new wind turbine development. We met with a group of neighbors of the area who expressed their concern that this turbine would alter the ecosystem and spoil heritage landscape. Our policy of encouraging wind power at the micro-generation level but rejecting it as a primary source of grid energy because of its unreliability (92% back-up required), is becoming increasingly well-known and popular, and it will be a major election issue in the SW, with all three main parties on the wrong side.

After that we went to a fundraising lunch again in St Mabyn where, after giving a five minute speech on why I am fighting against the EU and have joined UKIP, I had the opportunity to talk with different invitees many of whom, as I said before, after having voted Tory for a lifetime, were now about to jump to UKIP because they did not see the Tory party representing them anymore. Up close it is clear that ordinary British people have a lot of frustration with the existing political elite and parties!

We also had photographs taken with all the PPCs present: Stephanie McWilliam, candidate for SE Cornwall, and Steve Crowther who had organized the whole programme.

I was happy to help there even if it is not my constituency and hope we can organize something similar in the South East. I am prepared to go around the country helping as I did before at the European Elections! All our energy now has to be put into the national election campaign!!!