Friday 30 May 2014

East Anglian BNP blame Post Office

From HOPE not hate by Matthew Collins:
And now the conspiracies...

Livingstone: Should look closer to home

Well, I did say there would be someone else to blame for the BNP's meltdown other than themselves.

Chris Livingstone was the BNP candidate for the East of England region.

Apparently it was the post office....

Alwyn Deacon however, the one responsible for most BNP electoral debacles appears to have other ideas. He blames a lazy regional organiser.

Let the fun begin


Yawn: A post office run by Islamist Zionists?





Tuesday 20 May 2014

Transport Tuesday

Good morning! 


I'm off to distribute leaflets outside Norwich Railway Station urging our people to vote for politics of HOPE and not politics of fear and division. 

If you see me, do say "Hello"!


I am just one of over two thousand volunteers distributing leaflets in over 300 British railway stations and tube stations today. 

The target is to give out 250,000 leaflets as a final push to encourage the anti-racist vote ahead of the European and local elections. 


This is my own !NO! to any racism in Britain. We are better than that.



LATER:

Leafleting went very well, most people are so friendly and supportive, even first thing in the morning, and the others were simply preoccupied or tired.

A team of volunteers from the UEA took over for the evening shift.

The fight against racism in our society is above ordinary politics. It is a rational and moral decision.  


I am relieved and happy to discover anew how much this position is supported in Norwich.

And it is the reason why parties and "movements" spouting racist ideology like the BNP, the EDL and now the Ukip, will never prosper for long.























Sunday 18 May 2014

Farage is a racist

From The Sun:







Mocking Ukip

A poster spotted on Dereham Road, Norwich:

























Take your children to vote with you

Good advice for all from OBV by Simon Woolley:


22nd May Elections: Take your children to vote with you

As odious as they are the greatest threat to our democracy is not necessarily the Far Right, it's apathy. Apathy is a greater threat because it can herald in bigotry and racism by default. It's simple, when good people stay at home, the enemies of race equality and decency are allowed to politically flourish. A non vote, elevates a racist vote, because it's challenged less.

Of course that's one reason why we at OBV want you to vote next Thursday, but we’d like you to go further, much further. We are urging that you not just go out and vote, and to have a voice, but also to take your child/ children with you too. Take them to vote before they go to school or when you pick them up from school. Furthermore, make an habit of doing it.

My own son has being coming to the vote with me since he was three. At first I had to bribe him with the latest ‘Ben 10’ comic, but now it’s the norm. It’s what he and his father does.

By taking our children to vote we demonstrate the importance of the simple but powerful democratic franchise; our say in a democracy. And what better role model to children than their parents politically demanding a better future for them.

By taking our children to vote we not only help defeat the Nick Griffin’s of this world,- and on most ballot papers you will see his Party’s name ,the wretched ‘BNP’, - but we will also be teaching our children about democracy and what we care about.

Cast your vote this Thursday and educate your child/children at the same time.




Saturday 17 May 2014

Farage's 'Nick Griffin moment'.

From EDL News by Gary Hasting:


UKIP's Director of Communications tries to stop disastrous Farage radio interview

UKIP Director of communications, Patrick O'Flynn, had to step in and halt a car crash interview when Nigel Farage as he was held to account on his party's racist and homophobic views on Radio LBC 97.3 James O'Brien show.

O'Brien pulled Farage up on his comments about not wanting Romanians living next door.

When O'Brien asked him what the difference was between Romanians and Germans living next door and Farage said "you know why" which left no doubt that the UKIP leader has some pretty unsavoury racist views himself.

The original interview was suppose to be an hour but O'Flynn stepped in to stop the proceeding after O'Brien brought up the issue of his expenses and Farage was already horribly out of his depth.

According to radio station staff, O'Flynn bundled Farage out of the studio before he could do any more damage to his party.

Many commentators have described the interview as Farage's 'Nick Griffin moment'.

Watch here here. Starts 2:10:





UKIP demand arrest of anyone who accuses them of being fascists

From EDL News by Gary Hasting:

Irony overload was foaming out of the top of UKIP Towers today after a letter was sent to Sussex Police demanding the arrest of anyone who calls them fascist.


The ever so not fascist, Janice Atkinson faces ridicule.

The letter signed by UKIP's chairman for the south east, Janice Atkinson, and MEP candidates, Patricia Culligan and Alan Stevens, demanded that protesters at their meeting in Hove this evening should be arrested and charged with hate crimes, should they have the tenacity to call them fascist.

The latest attempt at getting the police to do their dirty work comes after officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary turned up at the home of a Twitter user who had debunked a UKIP candidate's lies.

Their heavy-handed actions were condemned by civil rights campaigners and politicians from across the political spectrum.

Of course, we at EDL News believe Atkinson's attempts to stifle legitimate protest, are indeed the very essence of fascism. We await our arrests.


Just a quick matter of note for Janice, who seems to be getting ideas above her station, UKIP are not the third party by any stretch of the imagination. UKIP have zero MPs.

Full PDF of Press Release





Friday 16 May 2014

Choose HOPE

From HOPE not hate:

One last push


Plans are now well under way to prepare for our last big push before the elections - Transport Tuesday. On this day we plan to distribute at least 250,000 Get Out the Vote leaflets at train, tube and bus stations across the country.

So far we have organised 139 events across the country, with more being added all the time.

One of the exciting things from this campaign has been all the new activists who have got involved. At the weekend we had groups out leafleting in Lincolnshire, Market Harborough, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Peterborough, Andover, Reading and Middlesbrough. Another 3,000 leaflets were given out in Keighley, meaning that 87,000 have been distributed across West Yorkshire.

Our Manchester team have delivered almost 60,000 newspapers across the city, with another 100,000 being delivered in the other Greater Manchester borough.

Whatever the results of these elections, the growing HOPE not hate network bodes well for the future.

But for now, our focus is on Transport Tuesday, with our aim being to organise at least 200 events. So if you want to help us and lead an event in your local area, then please do fill out the form here:

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/page/s/transport-tuesday-2014





Thursday 15 May 2014

East Anglian Ukip councillors - a year later

From the Guardian:

Ukip councillors one year on

A year ago the Guardian published a front-page collage of Ukip's winners in the 2013 local elections, with the headline 'Ukip on the march'. We look at how far they have got

Ukip has lost almost one in 10 county councillors who won seats in 2013

Ukip East Anglian councillors are featured in this excerpt from the Guardian's full article



Ukip winners in the 2013 local elections, 
with party leader Nigel Farage centre stage




Paul Clapp, Cambridgeshire

Clapp petitioned to save a local post office, and protested that the council should pay his £42 travel expenses when he received a court summons over late payment of his council tax, after he had come out of hospital.


Daniel Divine, Cambridgeshire

Divine has opposed cuts to local services for elderly people and posted several political poems on the internet, including one about disliking "political pie".



Kerry Smith, Essex

Smith was one of the Essex councillors who protested against the county hall flying the European Union flag.


Sandra Rylance, Cambridgeshire

Rylance was another unexpected winner who was not at the count, later telling her local paper she was "not a career politician and that is the point, I think".



Keith Gibbs, Essex

Gibbs is a former Conservative and is among the Essex Ukip councillors who protested against county hall flying the EU flag.



Nigel le Gresley, Essex

Le Gresley has campaigned against street lights being switched off early in his town.



Alan Lay, Cambridgeshire

Before his election, Lay controversially blamed rival parties for allowing ­"free-loading" immigrants into the country. He has accused Tories of having a "vendetta" against Ukip councillors.



Mark Ellis, Essex

Ellis protested against a £70 parking fine incurred while on council business, saying he was being penalised for helping people.



Roger Lord, Essex

Lord is the Ukip leader on the council, and has led opposition to pensions for councillors.






Wednesday 14 May 2014

Ukip "attracts the racist vote"



'The party deliberately attracts the racist vote': 
Ukip poster girl tipped by Farage as 'rising star' quits over 'terrifying' lurch right
  • Sanya-Jeet Thandi urges supporters not to vote for party anymore
  • Hit out at ad campaign which claimed 26 million migrants after British jobs
  • Claims Nigel Farage has let party descend into 'form of racist populism'

Sanya-Jeet Thandi, 21, who was once one of the rising stars of Ukip, has quit today calling the party's latest advertising campaign 'racist'

A UKIP poster girl described by Nigel Farage as a ‘rising star’ has quit after describing it as a ‘racist’ and ‘terrifying’ party that she cannot vote for.

Sanya-Jeet Thandi, 21, a British-born Indian who had starred in a party election broadcast and spoken at its annual conference, accused Ukip of deliberately attracting racist voters.

The university student said the party had abandoned its core supporters and called on others to end their memberships and boycott the upcoming European elections.

Just days after she appeared on Channel 4 News to defend the party, Miss Thandi said she had quit as it has ‘descended into a form of racist populism’.

She said: 
The direction in which the party is going is terrifying. This week I decided to leave the party and I will abstain from voting in the upcoming European elections. I urge other Ukip supporters to do the same.

Ukip is exploiting the stupidity of ignorant anti-immigrant voters for electoral gain. While the party deliberately attracts the racist vote, I refuse to be associated with them.
Privately-educated Miss Thandi, who was previously chairman of its youth wing in London, specifically attacked one of its campaign posters for next week’s elections, which reads: ‘26 million people in Europe are looking for work. And whose jobs are they after?’

‘The poster epitomises where the party is going wrong,’ she wrote in the blog post for the Guardian website.

Ms Thnadi, who has previously spoken at party conferences, said Ukip was exploiting 'the stupidity of ignorant anti-immigrant voters for electoral gain'

‘This anti-immigrant campaign undermines Ukip's claim not to be a racist party. They are turning the election into a game of "us" and "them". Well, I am with "them".

‘Having worked so hard to help Ukip rid themselves of their "racist" label and denying comparisons to the BNP, this direction of campaigning really isn't doing my former colleagues any favours.’

Miss Thandi's accusations come less than a week after Mr Farage appeared alongside of black and ethnic minority candidates at a rally in London, in an attempt to shake off claims Ukip is racist.

The London School of Economics anthropology student said that when she joined the party aged 17, ‘there was none of this "they took our jobs" business’.

She added: 
Ukip is straying further and further from the policies that attracted so many of its original supporters, instead cynically pursuing ever more aggressive anti-immigrant rhetoric. 

Ukip's immigration policy, to me, was all about equality for every nationality; it was about treating Europeans and people outside the EU equally.

But the recent racism scandals suggest, it seems, that most other Ukip voters and members support the policy – and the party – for a very different reason.

Previously fundamental policies like taxation and promoting a small state are being ignored in favour of going after the votes of those who think Lenny Henry "should emigrate to a black country".






Monday 12 May 2014

Wasting Police Time

From Cambridge News by RAYMOND BROWN:

Fury after Cambridge man gets police visit for tweeting list of UKIP policies


Ukip list

A Cambridge man has been visited by police after he posted a spoof UKIP policy list on Twitter.

Michael Abberton posted the tweet on Monday last week, and was then visited by officers from the Cambridgeshire force on Saturday.

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert has backed the Green Party member’s right to tweet the list.

Officers said they had received a complaint from an unknown party after the message was retweeted hundreds of times.

Mr Abberton explained on his blog how he was visited by two officers after he re-posted the list on the social network of policies proposed by UKIP candidates.

He wrote: “I’ve written about different things and different people, but surprisingly for a blog (which, let’s face it, is pretty much the archetype of vanity publishing) I’ve never written anything about me. Until now.

“They asked me to ‘take it down’ but I said I couldn’t do that as it had already been retweeted and appropriated, copied, many times and I no longer had any control of it (I had to explain to one of the officers what Twitter was and how it worked). They said that they couldn’t force me to take it down anyway.

“I asked if I could tweet about the visit. The straight answer was ‘no’, as this might appear prejudicial in light of the upcoming election and the police must appear to remain neutral. But they couldn’t stop me from doing so, as I had Freedom of Speech. Incredulously, I said, “...but you must realise how this looks!” One shrugged, the other looked embarrassed.

“As they were getting up to leave I asked for clarification - was this in relation to possible copyright infringement - and they were very clear on that point. It wasn’t, and they didn’t see how it could be. And even if it were, again it would not be a police but a civil matter.”

Dr Huppert has called for an investigation into why the force got involved. He said: 

I have huge concerns about this issue because Mr Abberton had the right to freely express his opinion and I cannot see what law he may have broken.

I have taken this matter up with Cambridgeshire Police Superintendent, Vicky Skeels, Area Commander for Cambridge asking her to carry out an urgent investigation.

I want to know why they sent two police officers to Mr Abberton’s home to investigate his tweet which criticised UKIP’s policies.

And I also want her to explain under what powers they asked Mr Abberton to remove his tweet and why he should not tweet about their visit.
A police spokesman said: 
We were called with a complaint about a message on social media at about 12.40pm on Friday. Enquiries were made as to whether any offences had been committed under the Representation of the People Act but none were revealed and no further action was taken.






Saturday 10 May 2014

2014 elections: UKIP, far right and nationalist candidates Norfolk


NORFOLK - all UKIP candidates, 
no more BNP, far right and nationalist candidates here

Great Yarmouth:


     Bradwell North                     Lynne Shenna Connel

     Bradwell South/HoptonCarl     Adrian Annison

     Caistor North                        John Henry Cutting

     Caistor South                       Thomas Charles Andrews
         

     Central/Northgate                 Malcolm Dudley Bird

     Claydon                              Tabith Faith Alice Rodwell

          
     East Flegg                           Clayton Grayham Green 

     Gorleston                            Kay Elizabeth Grey

     Lothingland                         Adrian Paul Myers

     Magdalen                            Danny Andrew Chambers

     Nelson                                Kathryn Ann Stenhouse

     Southtown/Cobholme             Robert John Connell

     Yarmouth North                     Rachel Louise Jones

Norwich:


     Catton Grove                       Michelle Ho

     Crome                                Ann Williams

     Lakenham                            Steve Emmens

     Mile Cross                           Steven Bradley

     Sewell                                Glenn Tingle






Thursday 8 May 2014

BNP fizzles out under Griffin's "catastrophic" leadership

Norfolk "BNP-free" activists 
(under the great leadership of the late Sid Frisby)
who campaigned in Barking and Dagenham in 2010*

From the Guardian:

BNP faces defeat in European elections under Griffin’s ‘catastrophic leadership’


Experts say Britain on verge of being ‘BNP-free’ as Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons look set to lose seats this month


The British National party – the most successful far right organisation in the UK’s history – is facing meltdown at this month’s elections.

Just five years ago it was surfing a wave of success, with leader Nick Griffin and his colleague Andrew Brons elected to the European parliament and more than 50 councillors sitting in town halls up and down the country.

But that high point was short lived. Dogged by bitter infighting and financial turmoil, scores of key activists have left, and now, after a series of disastrous elections, it has just two councillors, and experts say both Griffin and Brons are facing defeat in a few weeks time – leaving the UK effectively “BNP-free”.

Matthew Goodwin, from the University of Nottingham and co-author of Revolt on the Right, said the party’s demise was in large part down to Griffin’s “catastrophic leadership”.  Goodwin said:

British politics is on the verge of being free of BNP representation for the first time in a decade, The party is currently polling between 0% and 1% which is well below its position in 2009 when Griffin and Brons were elected. They are almost certain to lose both these seats and that would effectively be the end of the party as we know it.
The BNP’s implosion began with Griffin’s disastrous appearance on BBC Question Time after his election in 2009. It was followed by a series of costly legal battles, including a case taken by the Equalities Commission which challenged the party’s allegedly racist membership rules.

As the party’s finances worsened, lack of discipline, heightened by personal rivalries and concerted campaigning by opponents, led to several key activists either being sacked or leaving to join smaller far-right groups. In 2012 even Brons quit the party to form his own organisation – the British Democratic party.  Goodwin said:

Griffin has managed to alienate pretty much everyone who is anyone on the far right in the UK and we are seeing the results of that.
The financial turmoil facing the party was underlined earlier this year when Griffin was declared bankrupt following a dispute with a firm of solicitors over outstanding debts of £120,000.

Now even in its former strongholds of Yorkshire, the Midlands and east London it is struggling to field candidates or run effective campaigns.

We are also seeing the BNP’s collapse at the local level in areas like Burnley, Barking and Dagenham and Barnsley where the number of candidates is massively down on 2010.
The party’s two remaining borough councillors are in Pendle in Lancashire and Charnwood in the Midlands. Only one of them, Pendle councillor Brian Parker, is up for re-election later this month.

-----------------------------------------------------------

*  I was the one who took the photo.  Sid and a couple of others were too bashful to be included.





Wednesday 7 May 2014

10 good reasons not to vote for Ukip

From The Guardian by Hugh Muir:

Nigel Farage may seem genial but his party is anything but. The polls tell us that many voters are tempted to vote Ukip at the next election, while others dismiss them as a joke – but the prospect of them gaining more power in Europe is no laughing matter

If the polls are right, and they probably are, legions of ordinary British people, decent in so many respects, will back Ukip in the forthcoming European elections.

Some will tick the Farage box because they believe the party to be the future, setting out with clarity our country's political, social and economic future. Others will give their endorsement because they have come to despise the other parties and the establishment. Indeed Farage has been encouraging them to turn away from the political elite and to see Ukip as a new way of doing things.

There will be those, genuinely unhappy, who wish for tougher action on migration and a handbrake turn away from Europe. Both are hot-potato issues and Ukip serves up a mash more easily digestible than that available elsewhere.

And then there is the contingent that thinks some or none of these things but will vote for the party as a form of interactive entertainment. "That Farage, he's a good bloke," they will say. "You can have a laugh with him."

Ukip will do well because it can best survive in the polluted atmosphere that engulfs debate about migration and Europe, but also because it's a perfect vehicle for a protest vote. No one takes it very seriously. And that's the sadness. Because Ukip isn't and has never been much of a laughing matter. Here's why …

1. Its stances are bonkers

It appears to dislike everything about the European parliament, except, of course, the money EU taxpayers make available to its representatives (of which more later). Anything born of the EU seems bad. Let's consider some of the things that have been bad in the recent past. In the past few months Ukip has voted against updated rules on cab design and safety, which would make it easier for the drivers of lorries to spot pedestrians and cyclists. Also against requirements that MEPs who draft legislation should publish which lobbyists they have met and their influence on the legislation. It opposed greater transparency for clinical trials data and greater protections for holidaymakers buying package holidays. Also legislation to tackle money laundering and calls for greater public access to EU documents. Things are moving in the right direction, perhaps. The2010 manifesto, which Farage has called "drivel", called for taxi drivers to be required to wear uniforms, dress codes for the theatre and for the Circle line on London's underground to be made a circle again.

2. It has nasty friends in Europe

Farage seems a laugh in that "hail fellow well met" way. But you can tell a lot by the friends he keeps. And some of the types he hangs out with in Brussels would be seen as a rough crowd here. Who are they? There are the figures in the xenophobic and rightwing Italian Northern League, the second largest grouping in the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, which Farage chairs. Umberto Bossi, its founder, once called for illegal immigrants to be shot. Farage knows they can be a bit unreconstructed. He had to expel one of its MEPs from the group last year after racist comments about Cécile Kyenge, Italy's first black minister. She was, said Mario Borghezio, more suited to being a "housekeeper" or a low-level council official than a minister and would impose African "tribal traditions" on Italy.

The True Finns are firm friends too. One of them collided with a spot of bother for floating the idea of mandatory armbands for foreigners to make it easier for police to identify them.

The Danish People's party: more ghastlies. In 2002, MEP Morten Messerschmidt was one of a group convicted of racially motivated offences. Frank Vanhecke is there too. He's the former leader of Belgium's Vlaams Blok, the far-right party disbanded after a court said it broke anti-racist laws. He appeared at a student rally with the BNP's Nick Griffin in 2010. None of them are as obviously clubbable as Nige and he may want shot of them after the election. But they have been his Euro-mates for a while.

3. It's a magnet for unsavoury types here

Domestically Ukip talks a good game. We only want respectable types, it says. But as Jeremy Hunt has pointed out, it does seem effortlessly able to attract – among the decent – a proportion of rum characters. When they say racist, Islamophobic or plain offensive things, Farage wields the stick. But even he must wonder why they pitch up on his party's doorstep in the first place.

Andre Lampitt, we know. Having starred in the latest Ukip TV ad, he was outed for dismissing Ed Miliband as "a Pole", asserting that Enoch Powell was right, Islam was Satanic and that Africans should be left to "kill themselves". He has since been suspended. And then there was David Silvester, the councillor who attributed the winter floods to gay marriage.William Henwood popped up this week, calling for Lenny Henry, who seeks equality in the creative arts, to emigrate to "a black country". These were outriders, perhaps. But what about fellow MEP Gerard Batten, who called for British Muslims to sign a special code of conduct promising not to engage in violent jihad. Farage said that wasn't party policy.

But Batten's still there, Ukip MEP for multicultural London. And would any other party have welcomed to a senior post Neil Hamilton, the disgraced poster boy of the cash for questions scandal? His election role has reportedly been downgraded, but he's still deputy chair. At the weekend, he was on the BBC wearing his party hat and preaching the Faragian gospel. A strange choice to hoist on to the Ukip soapbox, but not the strangest. Is it worth mentioning that two of Ukip's 2004 intake ended up in jail for EU expenses fraud? The party that isn't like the other parties seems to be like the other parties after all.

4. It has rewarded offence

Link to video: Godfrey Bloom hits journalist Michael Crick with Ukip brochure

Recently the party has taken the stick to those who might tarnish its journey into the electoral mainstream. Perhaps that is because with favourable polls comes harsher scrutiny. But hitherto, it seemed to have little problem with those who caused outrage or offence. Poor Godfrey Bloom had to biff Michael Crick of Channel 4 News with a party brochureto get himself disciplined, but prior to that, the nonstop misogyny and references to aid being sent to Bongo Bongo Land were viewed benignly. In 2010 we encountered Paul Wiffen. He was London chairman of Ukip when he thought to hold forth on Community Care website, addressing those whose views were different. "You leftwing scum are all the same," he said. "Wanting to hand our birthright to Romanian Gypsies who beat their wives and children into begging and stealing money they can gamble with, Muslim nutters who want to kill us and put us all under medieval Sharia law, the same Africans who sold their Afro-Caribbean brothers into a slavery that Britain was the first to abolish (but you still want to apologise for!)." Like Lampitt, he was suspended. And then he was selected as Ukip's London North East candidate for the London assembly in 2012.

He did not win.

5. It hates the EU but cashes in

Nigel Farage claims he uses EU money to hasten its demise. 
Photograph: Getty Images/Laura Ronchi

The Times and Farage have tussled about all the money he claims from the European parliament, in addition to the average £83,000 salary. It is my entitlement, he says. I use EU money to hasten its demise. Much of the focus has been on the monthly fixed-rate allowance of £3,850 and whether it is used to fund his activities as an MEP or party work. But attention has also been paid to the fact that Farage is one of 38 British MEPs in line for a second EU pension, which could reap them £41,000 a year in addition to the basic EU fund.

"It is not a system that I defend but it is the system," he told the Telegraph.

His take on the allowances, as revealed in the Guardian, is clear and may be instructive. Is this above board, he was asked. "I think I've kept just the right side of the line, albeit pushing right up to it," he replied.

Everywhere contradictions. Last week Ukip's patriotic People's Army toured the country in a-Mercedes Benz.

6. Its MEPs are not exactly worker bees

Having been elected and having pledged to topple the EU from within, one might think the Ukipians would be assiduous attenders, the better to disparage and critique it. Instead, they are famed absentees.

This seems a badge of honour. They get elected to the European parliament, receive a salary and allowances for being members of the European parliament. And then restrict appearances there on the basis that regular attendances would lend the place legitimacy. Ukip's deputy leader, Paul Nuttall, set out the position on his blog after his spotty record in the EU parliament was flagged up in the Telegraph. 
Dispatched to Brussels, his focus is actually his UK fiefdom.  He said:

I'll hold my hands up. My attendance record is flaky to say the least. But so what?  I treat Brussels with the contempt it deserves.
7. It's as vulnerable to special interests as any other party

Much of the criticism of what Farage calls the establishment elite boils down to influence and money. He says that the other parties are in hock to vested interests and that chimes. No one wants to see the political process skewed by interests with fat wallets. So what is one to think of the Ukip poster campaign? The multimillionaire Paul Sykes has been generous, as previously he was to the anti-EU Democracy Movement and to the Conservatives before he fell out with them. But the £1.5m publicity campaign – the most visible in the party's history – is as much his as Ukip's. He funded it. Prudent perhaps. One of Britain's richest self-made men, he didn't become rich by wasting his money. But if his input is that important, who calls the shots?
8. It speaks with forked tongues

Leave aside the now acknowledged mistake of featuring Lampitt in the party political broadcast. And the fact that another person described as an ordinary voter in a manifesto document turned out to be a party employee who works for Farage. And the fact that one man featured in the poster campaign turned out to be a migrant actor from Ireland. And the fact that former head of the British Army Lord Dannatt condemned the image of the British flag on fire. Consider the central implausibility of the central claim: that 26 million of the European unemployed are gunning for jobs in Britain. Two million from the total are British anyway. Consider that if an entity save for a political party enjoying exemption from the advertising code of conduct ran that misleading ad, it would have been forced to withdraw it.

Then consider this, from the Sun on 12 April. "In an article MoT fix axe fears (March 30) we quoted a letter from Ukip containing claims that thousands of MoT test centres could close under EU proposals forcing motorists whose cars fail to go to a different garage for repairs. We have been informed that no such EU proposals exist and are happy to set the record straight."

9. Its only plan is Nigel 

Has there ever been a major party so dependent on one sellable character? Farage is, without question, the most dominant and effective party leader in national politics. Erase him from the canvas and what is left? EU stayaway Nuttall? "Liar and a cheat" Hamilton?

The cult of Farage is rivalled only in its potency by the cult of Boris, for like him, Farage is a vivid brand deployed to politics.

Both trade illusions. Boris projects slapstick and shambles when all the time beneath is ambitious focus and a keen-eyed grasp of modern politics. Farage is Everyman; all booze and fags and antennae for the cares and fears of ordinary people. This from the son of a stockbroker, with an often-lamented career in the City behind him; children all privately educated; prosperous product of a village upbringing in Kent.

10. It makes a sensible debate on Europe less likely

Quite the biggest achievement of Ukip has been to shape the ground on which we discuss two touchstone issues, Europe and migration. Both are complex. Both bring benefits and present challenges. But Ukip's reductionist approach has made reasoned and nuanced discussion of both virtually impossible. And so, frightened of being eclipsed, and mindful that a simplistic answer will always trump a detailed one in the 24-hour news cycle, politicians in Farage's slipstream distil their own arguments, minimising maturity and sacrificing logic. Those who present a reasoned argument are howled down or judged to have lost the argument. Perhaps the least amusing aspect of Farage is the impact he will have on parties other than his own.

--------------------------------------------------------


Please come along if you agree that
UKIP does not offer an alternative. 

We need to organise around the European Elections in May so that they don't make an impact locally.



This evening at 7:00pm
The Curve, the Forum, Norwich







Stand up to UKIP: Public Meeting TODAY

Wednesday 7th May, 7pm, the Curve, the Forum 

Hosted by We are Norwich. 

Speakers to include:

Richard Howitt (Labour MEP)
Mark Ereira-Guyer (Leader of Suffolk Greens)
Julie Bremner (Norwich Pride)
A national Stand up to UKIP speaker

We are deeply concerned by the rising level of support for UKIP, shown in recent elections and opinion polls. UKIP is a far-right populist party. It is similar to far-right populist parties across Europe — such as Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) in the Netherlands and the Tea Party movement in the US.

Like these parties, UKIP stirs up racism and reactionary views. It scapegoats immigrants, blaming them for the economic crisis, unemployment and lack of housing. UKIP has also targeted Muslims, LGBT people and other minority communities. It attacks our multicultural society. It encourages a racist and reactionary current of public opinion that threatens black and Asian people, Jewish people, Eastern Europeans, LGBT people and others. 

 Mark Ereira-Guyer says 
I have now met and spoken with many people from established and newly arrived migrant communities who are feeling bullied and cowed by the aggressive tone of UKIP’s ‘immigration’ rhetoric and their transparent 'dog-whistling' election materials – and this contributes to an atmosphere where really ugly racism can more easily flourish. We must ensure that this is robustly countered wherever possible, and I strongly commend the Stand Up to UKIP and We are Norwich campaign for starting to do this. It now needs the backing of the progressive, tolerant and decent-minded majority in this region and across the UK.
The party is riddled with racists, sexists, homophobes and bigots. Farage says his political hero is Enoch Powell. UKIP claims to be anti-establishment, but Farage is a private school educated, ex-Tory City broker. 

We believe people of goodwill must come together to stand up to UKIP and say no to its racism and reactionary ideas — regardless of our differing views on Europe or other political issues. If we do not, there is a danger that UKIP will grow in influence. This will give increasing legitimacy to its racist scapegoating, which in turn will have an impact on mainstream politics. Such a climate of racist and reactionary ideas also creates a fertile breeding ground for fascist organisations, such as the British National Party and the English Defence League. Julie Bremner says: 
When a UKIP counsellor blames gay people for the floods or say it's ok to dislike homosexuality, comparing it to not liking certain types of tea, I think you have to question whether they would be capable of running the country. UKIP also blames migrant workers for the economic crisis which is incorrect and unacceptable.
We call on all those who reject racism, scapegoating and xenophobic nationalism to join us in campaigning against UKIP. Let’s say no to racism and stand up for our multicultural society.

All our speakers will talk about UKIP and how we can best campaign against them. We are also planning local leafleting in the weeks leading up to the elections.

For more info, contact Nick O'Brien on 07717504210




Saturday 3 May 2014

EAST ENGLAND EURO CANDIDATES 2014

From YouGov's UK Polling Report

The East of England returns seven MEPs. In 2009 it elected three Conservative MEPs, two UKIP, one Liberal Democrat and one Labour. UKIP MEP David Campbell Bannerman subsequently rejoined the Conservative party and will stand on the Conservative list at the next election. Full results from 2009 are here


1

RICHARD HOWITT (Labour) Born 1961, Reading. Educated at Oxford University. Harlow councillor 1985-1995.Contested Billericay 1987. MEP for Essex South 1994-1999, MEP for East of England since 1999.
2

ALEX MAYER (Labour)
3

SANDY MARTIN (Labour) Ipswich councillor since 2002, Suffolk councillor since 1997.
4

BHAVNA JOSHI (Labour) Born in Huddersfield. Educated at Kings College London. Solicitor. Former Wandsworth councillor. Contested Central Suffolk and North Ipswich 2010.

5. Paul Bishop 
6. Jane Basham
7. Chris Ostrowski


1

VICKY FORD (Conservative) Born 1967, Omagh. Educated at Cambridge University. Contested Birmingham Northfield 2005. MEP for East of England since 2009.
2

GEOFFREY VAN ORDEN (Conservative) Born 1945, Waterlooville. Former brigadier in the Intelligence Corps. MEP for the East of England since 1999.
3

DAVID CAMPBELL BANNERMAN (Conservative) Born 1960, Bombay. Educated at Edinburgh University. Former communications director and special advisor to Sir Patrick Mayhew. Tunbridge Wells councillor 1992-1996 for the Conservatives. Contested Glasgow Rutherglen 1997, Warwick and Leamington Spa 2001 for the Conservatives, North Cornwall 2005, Highlands and Islands 2007 Scottish election, Suffolk South 2010 for UKIP. MEP for the East of England since 2009. Contested UKIP leadership election 2006, 2010. Deputy leader of UKIP 2006-2010. Rejoined the Conservative party in 2011.
4

JOHN FLACK (Conservative) Educated at Abbs Cross High School. Director of a property investment company. Contested Enfield Southgate 2001, Northumbria 1994, London region 1999, Eastern Region 2009 European elections.

5. Tom Hunt 
6. Margaret Simons
7. Jonathan Collett


1

ANDREW DUFF (Liberal Democrat) Born 1950, Birkenhead. Educated at Cambridge University. Cambridge councillor 1982-1990. MEP for East of England since 1999. Awarded the OBE for services to politics in 1997.
2

JOSPEHINE HAYES (Liberal Democrat) Educated at Oxford university. Barrister. Colchester councillor since 2012.
3

BELINDA BROOKS-GORDON (Liberal Democrat) Educated at Middlesex Polytechnic and Cambridge University. Psychologist. Cambridgeshire councillor.
4

STEPHEN ROBINSON (Liberal Democrat) Born 1966. Educated at Buckhurst Hill County High School and University of Central Lancashire. PR and fundraising consultant. Essex councillor, Chelmsford councillor since 2011 and Epping Forest councillor 1990-1998. Contested West Chelmsford 2001, 2005, Chelmsford 2010.

5. Michael Green 
6. Linda Jack
7. Hugh Annand


1

PATRICK O`FLYNN (UKIP) Born 1965, Cambridge. Educated at Kings College London. Daily Express journalist.
2

STUART AGNEW (UKIP) Born 1949, Norwich. Educated at Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. Farmer. Contested Mid Norfolk 2001, Norfolk North 2005, Broadland 2010. MEP for East of England since 2009.
3

TIM AKER (UKIP) Born in Aveley. Educated at Nottingham University. Head of UKIP policy unit.
4

MICHAEL HEAVER (UKIP) Educated at Coleridge Community College and University of East Anglia. Head of online engagement for UKIP.

5. Mick McGough 
6. Andy Monk
7. Mark Hughes


1

RUPERT READ (Green) Educated at Oxford University. Academic. Norwich councillor 2004-2011. Contested Eastern region 2009 European elections, Norwich North 2009 by-election.
2

MARK EREIRA (Green) Born 1962. Educated at Kings School, Ely and Kent University. Consultant. Suffolk county councillor since 2009. Former St Edmundsbury councillor.Contested Bury St Edmunds 1997 for Labour, 2010 for the Green party.

3. Jill Mills 
4. Ash Haynes
5. Marc Scheimann 
6. Robert Lindsay
7. Fiona Radic


1

RICHARD PERRY (BNP) hotelier.
2

CHRISTOPHER LIVINGSTONE (BNP)

3. Mark Burmby 
4. Paul Hooks
5. Stephen Smith 
6. Philip Howell
7. Michael Braun


1

ROBIN TILBROOK (English Democrat) Born 1958, Kuala Lumpur. Solicitor. Founder of Chairman of the English Democrats. First elected as MP for 1 in Eastern region 2009 European elections, Brentwood and Ongar 2010, Essex Police Commissioner elections 2012.

2. Charles Vickers 
3. Stephen Goldspink
4. Maria Situmbeko 
5. Bridget Cowan
6. Don Whitbread 
7. Jeremy Moss


1

CARL CLARK (CPA) Educated at Earlham Comprehensive. Sports coach. Breckland councillor since 2011, originally elected for Labour.

2. Mark Clamp 
3. Chris Olley
4. Stephen Todd 
5. Jane Clamp
6. Kirsty Evans 
7. Kevin Austin


1

PAUL WIFFEN (An Independence from Europe) Educated at King's School, Worcester and Oxford University. Musician and film maker. Contested West Central 2008 London Assembly elections, Scotland 2009 European election for UKIP.

2. Karl Davies 
3. Raymond Spalding
4. Edmond Rosenthal 
5. Rupert Smith
6. Dennis Wiffen 
7. Betty Wiffen


1

BRIAN DENNY (No2EU) RMT officer. Contested East of England region 2009 European election.

2. Eleanor Donne 
3. Stephen Glennon
4. David Goode 
5. Leonardo Impett
6. Teresa MacKay 
7. Emily Thompson-Golding