Thursday 28 August 2014

Carswell's defection to UKIP forces by-election in Clacton

A definite loss for Cameron whose Tories will have to fight a by-election he wished to avoid at all costs. Milliband is the clear potential winner from this defection as Carswell may well not hold the seat and let in Labour on a split vote. Carswell got 22.8k last time and Labour 10.8k so it might well be a tight three way fight. The Scottish referendum result will also be relevant. A win for the SNP will hit the Tories badly. A win for the No led by labour's Darling will boost Labour. Its a no win situation for Dave!

It will be a huge boost for UKIP if Carswell holds on to win the seat. I hope he knows what he is doing and has a long spoon. Still, it makes things very interesting.

The current UKIP PPC for Clacton is less than ecstatic however. I quote from Guido

Just How “Delighted” Is UKIP’s Clacton Candidate?

In the post-press conference throng this morning, Guido overheard senior UKIP officials confidently assuring each other that their current candidate in Clacton “will be delighted” with the news that Carswell would be usurping him.
Lets see how that is going…
“Until they fire me, shoot me or blow me out of the party for being a rebel then I’m here,” Roger Lord tells Buzzfeed:
“As far as I’m concerned I’m carrying on.If Mr Carswell wants to join us then he can get in the queue and hand out leaflets with the rest of us. Now that I’ve announced my campaign team, which now includes many members of his campaign team, his vote looks to be sinking quite quickly.”
Yep, he sounds delighted.

UPDATE: Mr Lord should have read his UKIP constitution. Rule S24 says the NEC chooses the candidate in the event of a by-election. Guido is not sure if that counts as firing, shooting or blowing. 
UPDATE II: Statement from UKIP party secretary tells Guido:
 “Roger Lord is not now, nor has he ever been the by-election candidate for Clacton.  The National Executive Committee of the Party have voted to adopt Douglas Carswell as the candidate for the upcoming by-election.  Roger Lord is mistaken in his belief that he is the candidate and he can best serve the party’s and the county’s interests by standing behind the decision of the NEC”

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Businessmen should stay out of politics

The secret ballot was introduced to prevent electors being intimidated by their employers in election ballots. Landowners were particularly known for this practice particularly with their tenant farmers. In Ireland this perversion of democracy fueled the Irish independence movement which succeeded in 1920 and delivered an independent state.

This same practice is currently going on in the Scottish referendum and will re-occur if we ever get an In/Out EU referendum. Richard North, http://www.eureferendum.com/ , has picked up on this in his blog and his piece is well worth reading. 

These businessmen are of course only interested in their profits and bonus. The easiest way for them to achieve this is to cut their labour costs and the easiest way to do that is to employ immigrant labour hence their oft repeated claims that immigration is good for the economy. Social housing costs, health care, education for immigrant's children are not on the business profit and loss account but they jolly well should be!

More puzzling is why the media and the BBC in particular give these self seeking money grubbing creeps so much air time. I opine it is because these big firms provide a nice little earner for these equally greedy media types. Its not just the adverts but its these nice little conferences, training days etc are all very lucrative for TV types and of course z list politicians but paid for by these businessmen's company shareholders.

Its never going to be possible to legislate for this abuse of our democratic process but at least it deserves some publicity from the media who are not in big business' back pocket.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Salmond & Darling: Lessons for UKIP

I watched round 2 of this debate last night. Salmond won hands down because as one lady in the audience spotted he was figting for the Scotland and Darling was just trying to keep his job and the Labour party in power. The UKIP faithful should realise this is exactly what is going on with Farage and his useless cabal. They are there for the EU's 30 pieces of silver and not to save our country from the EU vandals.

The No campaign of sowing fear, uncertainty and doubt has been unremittingly negative and without vision. As one gent in the audience remarked if we are better off together why have the Scots seen the opposite? YOU CAN'T FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME!

I visited Scotland recently and certainly things have improved under the SNP administration. For too long Labour have used their huge majority of Scottish MPs to prop uptheir useless ideology. It was priceless to see the left wing Darling acting as Tory boy Cameron's Scottish stoodge. Darling is like Cameron a former public schoolboy who belives his kind are born to rule. Salmond went to a state school and Heriot Watt founded on engineering excellence not rowing, rugby and public school cricket.

The currency debate is a typical piece of professional politicians red herring. Nothing can stop an independent Scotland using the pound sterling if they so choose. As for my former employer the Bank of England it is run by a Canadian with an American deputy. It most certainly is not independent and the MPC has never had a Scottish representative. It has always been totaly London based except it  has had at least two US based members that I can think of! Central banking is easy. A level economics plus the Taylor rule suffices to set interest rates.

The BoE's principle occupation recently has been printing about £360 bn of paper money  and calling it by a big name to confuse the general public.

The day after Scotland votes for independence negotitions will start for a common pound sterling currency because it would be in everyone's best interests.

It was nice to listen Salmond who believes in his cause. Farage only believes in Nigel Farage!


Wednesday 20 August 2014

Farage running scared of Panorama & Conor Spackman

Farage has made an idiot of himself in his panic over the latest BBC UKIP hating  Panorama investigation into UKIP's financial affairs. The main BBC investigative journalist is a large Irishman called Conor Spackman who cut his journalistic teeth in Northern Ireland during the so called troubles. He still seems to be based in Northern Ireland as his Panorama UKIP investigative team also seem to be based. A Google search for background information on Mr Spackman shows very little presumably to guard his personal safety. He seems a man used to dealing with tough nuts.

I reproduce below Farage's silly complaints to BBC Panorama boss Elizabeth Byrne. Its all good stuff for the diminshing band of UKIP faithful and increasing band of UKIP Tory moles.

"Dear Elizabeth, RE: Panorama Rehash of Times Campaign Against UKIP

"Thank you for your letter, the contents of which I have given careful consideration to and quite frankly are a rehash of a series of overtly hostile articles published in the Times during the run up to the May 2014 European Elections in which I hope you will note that over 4.3 million people voted for UKIP and we are now the biggest British party in the European Parliament.
"Having established that your line of questioning is in no way original or "fresh to the market", it is apparent from the tenor of your questions and the approach being taken by you that you are adopting a specific agenda which clearly conflicts with the well accepted BBC principles that a programme for public consumption should be fair and balanced.
"Regretfully, the concept of Panorama as judge and jury on (last century and ten-year-old) allegations which have been well dealt with by me in the past does not fulfill the BBC's charter obligations, or for that matter, its role.
"Accordingly, I can give you no further assistance and should point out to you that should you wish to proceed with this programme, I expect you to read out, without interruption, in full and without censorship, the entire contents of this letter.
"As you well know, our party is now in receipt of at least two new supporters for every ex-Conservative supporter and I wonder if it is your Labour contacts that have interested you in this project, which has previously been utilised by a panicking Conservative Party.
"A Panorama programme aimed at explaining the workings of the EU, as your Charter obliges you to do, would be far more beneficial to the British people than a tedious BBC hatchet job at the behest of your pro-EU contacts.
"Finally, if you fail to read out and place on screen this letter in any programme you choose to broadcast, this will be brought to the attention of the BBC governors and of course OFCOM.
"This letter is my final word on the matter so please do not continue the correspondence with me."
This is pure gold for the Panorama wordsmiths.
Firstly Farage has not dealt with the various allegations UKIP financial impropriety stretching back over the last 10 to 15 years. He has frequently resorted to bullying litigation that has ended up costing UKIP a great deal of money. He has never provide clear ansers to questions such as where are full details of his claimed expenses over the last 15 years. Why he continued to employ his wife when as a result of the 2010 parliamentary expenses scandal even died in the wool Tories gave up putting their wives on the public payroll as 'secretaries'.
His demand for Panorama to read out his letter in full is simply a demand for the BBC to cede editorial control to Farage in this matter. It is completely unacceptable to the BBC who rightly prize their editorial control on all their output above everything else. Their board of governors will rightly back them 100% in this matter as will OFCOM.
I expect Panorama to say something along the lines that they asked Mr Farage for an interview but his demand for editorial control was unaccepable. This has never been conceded to any politician let alone the leader of a party without a single MP. It will simply encourage BBC that there is a story here and they will dig deeper. Better to have waited until after the programmed has been broadcast and reply to any relevant allegations then. Most of Farge's letter is irrelevant bluster that he should keep for his pantomime performances in Brussels. It will cut no ice with the BBC, Mr Spackman or the wider British establishment. It makes UKIP look more and more like a cult and less and less a serious political party.. 


Tuesday 19 August 2014

The 3 million UK jobs depend on EU membership LibDem lie

The first LibDem one I remember pedaling this line was Shirley Williams then a Labour cabinet minister during 1975 Wislon's phoney referendum. She is a rich hypocrite who has got richer on the backs of the poor. Do as I say not as I do has been Mrs Williams motto since 1975.

It is only recently this claim has been properly challenged and the sordid LibDems are now rowing back from their big lie to the smaller untruth that 3 million UK jobs are linked to our trade with the EU and that the EU is the biggest market trading block in the world which is also untrue.

One can debate economic arguments endlessly but I prefer common sense, a scarce commodity amongst economists, backed up by personal observation.

The EU's major players France, Germany and Italy make roughly the same goods as we do which means UK sales into the EU are difficult and certainly less profitable than selling into former British colonies. Sure we still have to compete with the EU but its a more level market which cannot be skewed in favour of the home team as happens in the EU. I am in France just now and I have observed that the wine list in restaurants is entirely comprised of French wine. Not a drop of New Zealand white or Argentinian Malbec to be had. (NB Major Warry)

A very smart businessman once told me that there are many countries that are easy to trade with but very difficult to trade profitably with. Whereas countries that are difficult to trade withif you can crack it are  profitable. That is the point the Europhiles miss. There is no point in doing business except tomake a profit and its damn hard to do that in The EU with the table rigged against you by Mutti Merkel and the French.

I conclude if we exited the EU, negotiate bilateral trade deals on our own rather than losing jobs UK employment will increase. Profits drive employment not politicians.

Monday 18 August 2014

Sausages Gill revisited

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I can write sittting in the setting sun on the porch of my wife's bijou holiday home in South Brittany and I have just received Tim Congdon's latest news email, that is news about TC, saying he is stepping down from his position as Chairman of the Freedom association, TFA for short. Like all economists Tim takes himself far to seriously and like jazz maestros can only interact with others whom he considers of similar status to himself. Tim's problem is ordinary people, even extraordinary people, cannot understand what he is on about.

Tim's foray into the TFA seems to have followed his scarcely surprising defeat by Farage for the UKIP leadership in the 2010 post Pearson UKIP leadership contest. His path into chairman of the TFA seems to have been smoothed by ex-Tory MP Christopher Gill known to his Tory MP contempories circa !990 as 'Sausages' after the family sausage business. Even by the standards of Tory back bench MPs he was undistinguished  and never progressed in 15 years as an MP beyond backbencher. He seems to have been useful to TC in soothing his hurt feelings following his 2010 leadership defeat and getting him another platform. Its sad that a man of Tim's undoubted intelligence should have had to be assisted by Gill.

Gill did immense damage to UKIP by smoothing the path of Marta Andreasen as a UKIP MEP candidate in the 2009 European elections an as number two to Farage on the SE list she was duly elected. Farage had put Gill in overall charge of 2009 UKIP MEP candidate selection in the sure and certain knowledge that Gill would do whatever Frage told him. Anreasen should never have been allowed on any UKIP candiadate list as she breached 6  seperate UKIP and electoral commission. When Del Young, David Abbot and I pointed this out at the NEC we were duely attacked and villified by the Cabal as 'malcontents'. Gill waived the rules and waved Andreasen onto the SE slate.

Andreasen eventually turned on Farage, joined the Tories and was almost re-elected as a Tory SE MEP this year. Bannerman did the same but was successful in getting back on the EU gravy train in 2014 as a Tory MEP after publicly professing deep admiration for David Cameron. He previously of course professed deep admiration for Nigel!

It is this willingness to ignore the rules at Farage;s behest which makes UKIP a cult, not a party. Indeed with people like Gill, a man who told me at my fitrst NEC meeting  Farage was 'UKIP 's greatest asset, to do unquestionly do Farage's bidding ignoring the rules UKIP can never be a serious political  party. My reply to Gill 6 years ago was UKIP's greatest asset is its members who believed in and were committed to getting us out of the EU. I doubt that will last given the saturation of UKIP's leadership by Farage with failed ex-Tories with no real belief in our cause and only intent on jumping on the EU gravy to line their pockets.

UKIP is now on a downward trajectory.

Saturday 16 August 2014

Farage will 'blow' South Thanet

I write from my wife's bijou holiday home in South Brittany. Its all good publicity but Nigel knows which sde his bread is buttered and will stay an MEP. If he wins SouthThanet and becomes an MP he will have to resign as an MEP and lose all that kovely money, salary plus expenses plus pension plus freebies plus limo etc.and allow Donna Edmunds to take over as MEP. Worse who will take Nigel's place as leader of his far right pan European party? I have no doubt Nigel would like it to be Paul Nuttall a long time Farage puppet but I doubt UKIP's new intake of ex-Tories will wear that and neither will the mid European fascists in the group. It will be like Iraq after Saddam!

Consider the other downsides for NF:

He will have to work, see constituents weekly in South Thanet and also in Westminster and take uptheir mundane issues with the government - no grandstanding there for Mr F.

He will be exposed to the full scrutiny of the British press and BBC led media. He might even merit the attentions of the fake sheikh!

His expenses will be properly scrutinised not only by the authorities but also by LibLabCon.

The LibDems smarting from a near electoral wipe out will be out to get him and they fight dirty.

All in, Nigel will fight a mediocre campaign and having shown the flag will lose narrowly and return to the safety and luxurious comfort and security of Brussels and his beloved EU. As for getting us out of the EU that will be left for someone else to do.

 

Sunday 10 August 2014

Far right dominates Farage's UKIP cult

Bill Etheridge a recently Farage selected and elected UKIP MEP described Adolf Hiler as a "magnetic and forceful" performer who "achieved a great deal" to gulilble UKIP youf. With MEPs like Mr Etheridge who needs enemies?

Click below to get the BBC and Daily Mail versions

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28729098

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2720860/Hitler-achieved-great-deal-Ukip-MEP-sparks-anger-tells-youth-wing-copy-Nazi-leader.html

The Daily Mail article gives much more background. Mr Etheridge. Like most of the Farage chosen he is a former failed Tory. "He was suspended by the Conservative Party in 2011 after he posed on Facebook with a golliwog." He was talking and indoctrinating the youth wing of UKIP, impressionable youngsters who might believe Mr Etheridge represents Farage's views.

Here is Mr Etheridge with his doll:

Etheridge

and here is the man whose oratory he admires


Hitler







and here is UKIPs vey own Fuerher in full flow



I remember Private Eye did a telling caption on a picture of Enoch Powell in a similar pose which I could not possibly repeat but it was in the late sixties for those with a collection of old Eyes.

Two of their funnier efforts

Private Eye covers


Hitler always gave his most rabble rousing speeches at night. The psycological reason for this that in the dark when people can only see the flooodlit stage and cannot themselves be seen people lose their inhibitions and are far more receptive to inflammatory rhetoric. Remember Kinnock in Sheffield pre the 1972 election. Farage also likes to keep grassroots UKIP members in the dark like mushrooms while he basks in the full glare of publicity. It is good to see Mrs Farage has picked up another nice little EU earner with Farage associate and now UKIP MEP Ray Finch, a very common conjunction in UKIP. I wonder why?, 



Ein Volk, ein UKIP, ein Führer!


as they say.

Friday 8 August 2014

There are now 850 peers in the Lords

First where do they all park their cars? The latest batch of 21 includes 6 LibDem never wozzers to use Le Carre's phrase, 3 Labour non-entities with the remainder a very motley group of Tories. Farage will obviously fit seemlessly into this organisation!

We need an elected second chamber asap. The MPs will of ourse never vote for this as it would drastically reduce the power of the PM which would be a very good thing.

I suggest we go with  the US Senate model and elect two peers per English County, roughly 70 and have 30 between Scotland ,Wales and Northern Ireland. If the US can get by with 100 senators, 2 for each state then surely we can manage with the same number. I know the Brits love titles. I detest them as it implies some people are our superiors. Bollocks! A man's a man for a that and I would extend that to women and include heterosexuals and homosexuals and get rid of Lord and Lady nonentity.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Salmond Darling referendum debate

I have taken a close interest in this referendum as a Scot and as a rehearsal of what UKIP will face in Dave's 2017 EU referendum if he manages the unlikely and wins a majority in 2015.

In Scotland the better off together No campaign is the party of big business and has 2 to 3 times more donations than the Yes SNP campaign of ordinary people. It will be the same in 2017 with the stay in campaign being supported by big business who benefit from the EU and will be many times bettter funded than the leave the EU campaign of the ordinary people who of course suffer most at the hands of the EU.

The media have lined up even more heavily than business against the SNP as they will line up in 2017 against UKIP.

Cameron got the turncoat Darling, an avowed Socialis,t to head up the big business campaign for the sordid political reason that without Scottish Labour MPs Labour will be permanently out of power unless Tony has a second coming. I have no doubt the EU will find another traitor like Heath to head up its UK campaign.

I don't think the debate was Salmond's best performance. He certainly did not lose it as the Torygraph claims but neither did he win - just like Dave in 2010.

Samond is quite right about the currency question. Post a Yes vote there would have to be a currency sharing agreement as it is in everyones interests to have one. Salmond's ace would be the threat to quickly kickTrident, its nuclear arsenal and other facilities out of Scotland creating a big problem for Dave.

As one who has worked in the Bank of England I can assure you the name is a big lie. Its a bank of a motley collection of midEuropeans headed  up by a Canadian with a Yankee lady as de facto 2 ic.

Salmond comes from an ordinary background and education. Darling is a champagne socialist from Loretto, an English public school based in Musselburgh just outside Edinburgh. People who were at Lorreto with AD speak of his lack of intellect. Salmond must expose this next time.

Salmon's most telling argument is if you vote Yes Scotss will never again get a government like Thatcher that they did not want. That really is what it is all about for ordinary people.

Monday 4 August 2014

UKIP NEC is running scared today

UKIP NEC meetings take place on the first Monday of the month except August when people members are on holiday or when the Cabal has not sufficient numbers to carry their nasty proposals and NEC meetings are cancelled by the Chairman. There is however a meeting today. Why?

I opine it may be related to the activities of a large Irish investigative journalist, one Conor Spackman, who with his Northern Ireland BBC camera team has been interviewing all and sundry from all over the UK for the last six weeks delving into UKIP's potentially dodgy financial dealings over the last 10 years especially the now defunct Ashford call centre but which in its heyday was a nice little earner for UKIP.

The output is due to be shown on Panorama this autumn. Mr Spackman is a formidable forensic interviewer, not the usual BBC patsy push over for Farage. If Spackman has got his teeth into Mr F's soft and delicate parts then UKIP is in trouble. Mr Spackman has spent his career dealing with the Northern Ireland hard men of both persuasions. Methinks Farage will not be able to bullshit his way past Mr Spackman.

The cabal has good reason to be scared. Perhaps members of HM press corps should be on the doorstep of the Farmers club today around 4 :30 pm. They might pick up a good story.

Sunday 3 August 2014

Compulsory reading for new UKIP members


Alan Sked, UKIP's founder and former UKIP leader is trying to get his new left of centre leave the EU party called New Deal up and running. There is an excellent summary of Prof Sked's and Mr Farage's history and  in this Guardian piece:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/26/ukip-founder-alan-sked-party-become-frankensteins-monster

This is Prof Sked's third new party formation and the Guardian piece gives much of the early history of UKIP from the anti- Federalist league via the Referendum party to UKIP. More interesting it lists Farage's long standing association with members of far right groups. This continues right now with the same UKIP money generating far right alliances in the EU parliament that led to Nikki Sinclair leaving UKIP in the previous  2009-2014 period. New UKIP members should read the Guardian piece note the same Farage supporters still run UKIP.

It is depressing that UKIP is now little more than a dumping ground for can't make it old Tories and carpetbaggers along with younger talentless chancers. Like Alan Sked I wanted a centre ground party that did not legitimise the EU by sending MEPs to Brussels.  ( I was viciously attacked by the Farage cabal for saying this at my first NEC meeting in 2009) This is the only sort of party that can win seats at Westminster in sufficient numbers to deliver us from the EU. Farage's strategy has enriched Farage and his clique. That is its sole purpose. It can never get us out of the EU and the UKIP cabal does not want us out. They get so much EU money for keeping us in!

I have been off in Scotland this last month and unable to blog. Mrs Milliband aka Justine Thornton was also there. She is a Mrs James with more brains and would be an election winning asset if Labour use her rather than women like Rachel Reeve and Hetty Harman. Like Cherie she is a barrister but unlike Cherie is a very likeable lady.