Stopping the BNP is something to be very proud of.

The old establishment has warned people simply to vote to stop them. The Greens have tried to put themselves forward as the party that can stop them in their tracks. The non-racist far-left who actually share many socialist policies with their fascist equivalent, are represented by the coalition No2EU, are screaming about the threat of elected BNP MEPs. Yet if the BNP are denied seats next week, it will be by and large thanks to UKIP.

It is not Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems or the Greens who are going to sway those who are so disgusted with politics and politicians that they will consider voting BNP, not to do so. None of these parties dare mention the word immigration, the issue that the BNP have disgustingly yet effectively built support on. Not because it is such a touchy subject anymore. Opinion polls now reguarly shown the issue of who is entering and living in Britain to be in at least the top three of voters worries. Their hushed tone instead derives from their fear of two simple words: European Union.

As you have probably heard Nigel Farage say, it was only UKIP who voted against open borders with the whole of Eastern Europe. It was only UKIP who foresaw and challenged the flood of uncontrolled immigration into the UK. Millions came and as a result, those parties now feveriously trying to stop the BNP gaining seats - and at times doing so to an extent that over-exaggerates their chances of doing so - are the very ones to blame for the BNP's increase in support the past few years as a tide of immigration has hit communities. Hard workers, nice people, but in too vaster numbers for the local infrastructure to cope.

It is encouraging to see that the latest eruption of corruption in Westminster has seen UKIP's support balloon. It is rightfully and richly deserved. It was UKIP that dealt with its misbehaving politicians so very harshly before it was fashionable to do so. Yet apart from gaining many seats ourselves and ramming the issue of the EU down every Westminster MPs throats on June 7th when the results come out, let us hope that the BNP do not gain a single seat. They would be a stain on our country and our cause of calling from the UK to withdraw from the European Union. If they are stopped, as I believe they will be, it will be because a moderate, non-racist party has been there championing patriotism and not prejudice. And that is something to be very proud of indeed.

Michael is Chairman of Young Independence and has his own blog which can be found here.

Times poll puts UKIP on 19% 2nd only to Tories !

UKIP is on track for a an historic result at the June 4 Euro elections after the latest Populus poll for The Times newspaper released today put support for the party at 19%.

That shows a rise of 13% in three weeks. Most observers are putting the surge in popularity down to growing voter disgust at the MP expenses scandal and the way the three major parties are dealing with the main culprits.

Polling experts estimate that 19% of the European elections vote would translate into 15 MEP seats for UKIP but with momentum building, they reckon the party could now be looking at support of more than 20% come June 4. At a similar stage before the 2004 Euro elections, UKIP was commanding 10% of the vote and ulitmately took 16%.

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage told the BBC not so long ago UKIP was on course to beat Labour in the Euro elections and the result would topple Gordon Brown. This now looks more than likely and even bookmakers William Hill have shortened the odds to even money that UKIP will out-perform Labour in Europe.

The actual figures for European voting intention were CON 30%(-4), LAB 16%(-9), LDEM 12%(-8), UKIP 19%(+13!), Green 10%(+5), BNP 5%(+3),

BNP illegally harvesting mobile phone numbers

A colleague of mine has received a text message from the BNP telling him to vote for them and asking for a £3 donation by text message. But how did they get his number?

The other day he had a BNP leaflet through the post and was so disgusted with the content he phoned them up and left a message on their answerphone to complain. But rather than respond to the complaint, they have instead recorded his mobile phone number and sent him a text message asking for money!

Let's see what the Information Commissioner, Electoral Commission and OFCOM might have to say about this ...

Dial "U" for UKIP

With the entire country seemingly blanketed by UKIP billboards and posters, there was bound to be the odd one that fell foul of some rule or other.

The London Evening Standard reports UKIPs apparent embarrassment over some advertising hoardings erected by an advertising company in London. Infolines Public Network have put up some phone booths, sans telephone, and put UKIP posters on them without getting planning permission. City of London Corporation says that the posters aren't allowed because they're political and that they have refused permission for the phone booths while Infolines says that the planning rejection wasn't issued within the statutory 56 days so they have "deemed consent".

Either way, someone has cocked up and it's either Infoline or City of London Corporation. There's certainly nothing for UKIP to be embarrassed about, it's got the party some free publicity and a photo of the poster in the London Evening Standard.

And the posters are still there!

Lord Stoddart of Swindon Says VOTE UKIP

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Gordon Brown got this ...

THE PRESS OFFICE OF
The Lord Stoddart of Swindon

(Independent Labour)

News Release

26.5.09

Lord Stoddart of Swindon Says VOTE UKIP

Lord Stoddart of Swindon, the Independent Labour Peer and former Labour MP for Swindon, who usually spurns European Parliamentary elections, has decided to use his vote on 4th June for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and has encouraged other Labour voters to do the same.

In a statement confirming his voting intention Lord Stoddart said: “I am appalled at the refusal of the Government to tell the public the truth about the extent to which the United Kingdom is now governed by the European Union and that vital decisions affecting our interests are being taken by a gaggle of twenty six other nations, whose interests are often inimical to those of Britain.

“The only way to save our country from complete absorption into a single centralised European state is to leave the EU and, since not one of the major political parties supports this policy, UKIP is the only realistic alternative.

“Those Labour voters who value democracy and self-government can, by voting UKIP on 4th June, send a clear message to their own and the other traditional parties that the hand-over of powers has to stop and be reversed.”

Ends Note 1

Lord Stoddart was a member of the Labour Party for fifty four years and served as a councillor, leader of a county borough council, MP, Housing PPS and a government whip, a Front Bench spokesman and whip in the House of Lords and an active trade unionist at local, regional and national level. He was expelled from the Labour party in 2001 for his actions in protest at the imposition of Tory defector Shaun Woodward on the safe Labour seat of St. Helens South. Woodward had been a Labour Party member for less than two years.

Note 2

The Labour Party (as opposed to Labour Governments) had opposed Britain joining the EEC (Common Market) and were in favour of withdrawal until 1985, when the then Leader of the Labour Party, Neil Kinnock succeeded in altering that policy to one of support. He, cynically, believed that by doing so he would win the following election in 1987. He didn't win that election or the subsequent one in 1992.

Tory youth chairman tells Tories to vote UKIP ... kind of

The Chairman of University of York Conswervatives has been expelled from the Conswervatives for suggesting that eurosceptic conservatives might want to consider voting for UKIP.

In an article written by Ralph Buckle for the University of York's student newspaper, he says:

This leaves you with the Conservatives and UKIP as viable options. Both have well spoken representatives such as Dan Hannan and Nigel Farage. As for image it depends whether you favour a vaguely eurosceptic position and want to suggest that it might be time for a new government or if you want to tell your MPs that you think it's time the UK left the undemocratic, illiberal and wasteful EU behind. As you may have guessed, I favour the latter and would encourage you to do the same, but the decision is up to you.

Like Norman Tebbit, he doesn't actually tell you to vote UKIP, but the implication is so clear he may as well have come out and said it. However, what Buckle actually says is that he favours telling MPs that it's time we left the European Empire rather than being vaguely eurosceptic when there's an election on.

I imagine someone from Young Independence will be on the case soon pretty soon.

Motorcycle Madness

Some time ago the European Empire issued a directive on the content of motorcycle riding tests which the British government meekly accepted despite it costing millions of pounds to implement.

The directive dictated the speeds at which emergency stops and emergency manoeuvres must be carried out in kph rather than mph, meaning that the tests could no longer be legally taken on the roads and requiring millions to be spent on special motorcycle test tracks.

As if this wasn't bad enough, it now appears that despite warnings from the Motorcycle Action Group, the British government has allowed an emergency swerving manoeuvre to be added to the test which has resulted in 15 "incidents" in 3 and half weeks, leaving one rider with broken bones. The manoeuvre involves swerving around an object at 31.2mph (50kph) which the deputy chairman of the Driving Instructors Democratic Union says is dangerous and not something he would want to do even after 30 years of riding.

Utter madness.

Putting the £2m cost of an MEP in context

Since Nigel Farage told British Liebour MP, Denis MacShane, that he had had about £2m in expenses and allowances, the eurofederalist parties and their pet newspapers and websites have been giving Farage and UKIP in general a bit of a bashing.

Let's put the £2m into context and into perspective ...

The £2m is an estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of an MEP. It includes a salary, personal expenses, travel expenses, office costs and staff costs.

Staff are employed and paid directly by the European Empire. MEPs don't employ their wives, brothers and sisters and then claim back whatever they can get away with after the event.

MEPs have to travel from the UK to Brussels or Strasbourg a few times a month to sit in their sham Parliament.

The £2m figure was an estimated total for the last 5 years.

Let's compare this to Mark Field, the Conswervative MP for Westminster. I choose him purely because he is the MP for the same constituency the British Paliament is in and should, therefore, have the lowest expenses. He is one of the cheapest British MPs, ranking 527th out of 645.

In the last 5 years, Mark Field has had £566,671 in expenses. This is on top of his salary of around £300,000 for the last 5 years. So one of the cheapest British MPs - the MP for the Westminster constituency - cost the taxpayer about £867k over 5 years. The most expensive MP - Claire Curtis-Thomas - claimed £773,966 in expenses over the last 5 years which means, with a salary of about £300k for the same period, she cost the taxpayer almost £1.1m.

A British MP makes a quarter of laws in the UK, the other three quarters are made by the European Empire.

I'd rather that £2m of our taxes went to an MEP that was responsible for scrutinising 75% of our laws and that was actively trying to get us out of the European Empire. UKIP MEPs are the only ones that represent the majority view of the UK electorate. It's a small price to pay if the end result is the UK leaving the European Empire.

If it proves anything, the estimated £2m cost of an MEP for 5 years proves that we just can't afford to be in the European Empire.

Royal Navy sees off Spaniards again

The Royal Navy saw off an armed Spanish boat from Gibraltarian waters on Saturday.

Spain has been encroaching on Gibraltar's territorial waters far too often of late, even going as far as registering Gibraltar's waters as a Spanish environmental protection zone which the European Empire were more than happy to allow them to do and the British government were stupidly negligent enough to allow them to do.

Last week a Royal Navy warship forced a Spanish paramilitary police launch out of Gibraltarian waters and on Saturday, another warship was dispatched to remove another Spanish boat that had been given instructions by the Spanish government to board fishing boats in Gibraltar's waters and carry out inspections.

Spain thinks it has the right to control Gibraltar's waters because the European Empire has allowed it to register the sea around Gibraltar as Spanish under EU environmental legislation. The British and Gibraltar governments both failed to notice so Spain was given responsibility for the environment in Gibraltarian territorial waters.

The facts around Gibraltar are quite simple - under the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain ceded Gibraltar to the UK in 1713 and under international law, the British government can claim up to 12 miles of sea from the Gibraltar coast. As it happens, the British government have claimed only 3 miles but the Spanish claim that Gibraltar has no territorial waters outside of the Port of Gibraltar.

Spain's actions are a deliberate provocation and the British government needs to buck its ideas up where Gibraltar is concerned. Spain's use of the European Empire as a tool in its illegitimate claim to Gibraltar and the European Empire's willingness to support Spain's campaign speaks volumes. We are in a political union with a country that is committing acts of war against us, aided and abetted by the collective will of that same political union.

Nigel Farage told Bloggers4UKIP:

UKIP fully supports the Gibraltarian right to self-determination. As of course we fully support the UK's right to such self-determination.

This means of course a rigorous adherence to the sovereignty and rights that Spain has already agreed with both Gibraltar and the UK. Which is what the Royal Navy was doing, chasing off Spanish ships from Gibraltar waters.

If only the government in Westminster were as assiduous in protecting our rights from their encroachment by Brussels.

UKIP played a key part in resisting the British government's plan to share sovereignty of Gibraltar with Spain, in defiance of the express wishes of the people of Gibraltar who voted in a referendum in 2002 to remain a British Overseas Territory and further re-iterated by a referendum on a new constitution that clearly set out Gibraltar's status in 2006.

Gibraltarians have the chance to vote for a party on June 4th that will fight for Gibraltar's right to self-determination and to free the territory from the treacherous European union that the British government has signed us all up to against our wishes. The only party that will protect Gibraltar's interests - and the interests of the UK as a whole - in the face of European imperialism is UKIP.

Sunday Public Meeting Success!

On Sunday 17th May, The Royal Station Hotel in Newcastle Upon Tyne saw UKIP Leader, Nigel Farage and Chairman Paul Nuttall.

UKIP North East's Lead Candidate, Gordon Parkin also made a speech outlining the reasons why we should vote for UKIP on June 4th. The meeting itself was a success with about 50 attending and the event being covered by BBC Look North. The day was chaired by UKIP No3 Candidate, John Tennant.

Paul Nuttall, Party Chairman, opened the proceedings with a talk on UKIP's professional Campaign in 2009. The first time UKIP has ever run a completely professional Campaign with the backing of two National Newspapers and a Nationwide Billboard Campaign. Paul also outlined the possibility of UKIP defeating the Governing Labour Party in these EU Elections.

Following on, Nigel Farage made a half-hour speech about his experiences in the European Parliament, and the hard work UKIP has put in to be a voice of opposition. For the last Ten years, UKIP has been the sole voice of Opposition, and that is important in a democratic system. Something the EU Commission fails to understand.

Gordon Parkin rounded off the day with a speech about what he would do if elected to the EU Parliament. To make sure that UKIP's voice is heard and that we actively seek Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.

The day was enjoyable, and the lively questions from the audience were welcomed indeed. There was also opportunity for the audience to speak to the panellists and there was a general feeling of support for UKIP on June 4th.

UKIPS Michael McManus tours North West Universities

Euro MP candidate Michael McManus has completed five debates in six days at universities and sixth form colleges across the North West of England.

27-year-old McManus is second on the list in the North West region for UKIP, and the youngest UKIP candidate in the region. Mr McManus represented UKIP in a succession of hustings meetings against candidates from other parties. He was the only candidate of any party to attend all the meetings.

Debates were held at Manchester University, Liverpool University, University of Central Lancashire, Blackburn College and Cheadle Hulme School. “Many of the students at the meetings will be voting for the first time on June 4th” said Mr McManus. “It is clear that having a young candidate represent UKIP, we were able to speak to them in a way the other parties couldn’t”.

Mr McManus said he was especially pleased by the debate at the University of Central Lancashire, where he graduated with a Masters degree in Social Psychology in 2006. “I was still studying there when I represented UKIP in the 2005 General Election. I am sure plenty of students will be considering UKIP for their vote on June 4th”.

UKIP Launch Taxi Campaign

The UK Independence Party today launched a campaign to protect British taxi drivers from crazy EU proposals which will force all vehicles in the UK to drive with their headlights on 24 hours a day.

The European Union claims that forcing ‘daytime running headlights’ on member states will cut the amount of accidents on Europe’s roads - but this has been challenged by the British government and motoring groups.

Paul Nuttall, chairman of UKIP, said “the EU will force this proposal on us by 2011 and although it will affect all drivers, it will particularly hit those whose work revolves around their vehicle.

Motoring groups claim that this move will increase fuel consumption by 3%.

“At a time when fuel is already overpriced, the actions of the EU will particularly hit taxi drivers and their customers and that is why we are launching our campaign.

“It may make some sense for places like Sweden or Finland where they have very few daylight hours during the winter months, but it is nonsensical for the UK," said Mr. Nuttall, who also UKIP’s number one candidate in the North West for the European Election on 4 June.

Ook

Brilliant quote from Welsh Assembly member, Peter Black AM, justifying the Lib Dims in Westminster breaking their manifesto pledge and abstaining on the vote for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty:

The Lib Dems promised a referendum on the constitution not the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty is not the constitution.

[...]

Monkeys and humans have 95% of their DNA in common but that does not make us monkeys.

Nice try Peter but ...

In addition to the great apes, the family Hominidae includes our species, Homo sapiens. In the past, there also were other species of humans as well as hominids more similar to us than the chimpanzees and bonobos today.

If it looks like a fish and moves like a fish, it's probably not a cow.

Just in case you were wondering ...

Stuart Wheeler is quite unequivocal in his support for UKIP in the June elections ...

EU: a black hole of money and accountability

• £40 million, our contribution to the EU budget, leaves our coffers daily, disappearing into a European black hole. But total costs of EU membership are many times that, representing two-thirds of the £175 billion the UK will borrow this year.
• 14 years of un-audited accounts and a massive culture of greed and corruption.
• The dismissal of the auditor hired to investigate fraud.

These are a few of the facts that lead me to demand the referendum on the EU promised by both Labour and the Conservatives – promised but not delivered.

So how does the average UK voter, denied a chance to voice his protest, get the message through to Eurocrats who spend but don’t listen?

You do what I’ll be doing on June 4th: voting UKIP.

UK To Pay For Phantom MEPS

The Telegraph reports that, due to the fact that the Lisbon Treaty has not been ratified, 18 MEPs elected in June's European elections will receive normal MEPs' salaries despite the fact that they will not be able to take up full political office for at least two years. The article notes that amid confusion over when and how they will take up their seats, the European Parliament has decided to give the MEPs only "observer" status from next year.

These 'observer members' will receive a normal MEPs' salary, and collectively account for a £6m bill, including their salary, assistant and office allowances, as well as tax-free allowances on a daily basis.

The Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty means that after June's election 736 instead of 754 MEPs will take office. However, 18 further MEPs will be elected under the Lisbon rules, despite the fact that the Lisbon Treaty is yet to be ratified.

Spain's Europe Minister Diego López Garrido has said that Spain will propose a protocol that would give the 'phantom' MEPs the right to take up full office with immediate effect should the Lisbon Treaty be ratified after a second referendum in Ireland.

Labour MEP Richard Corbett defended the arrangement saying "this is straightforward and there is no need to make a fuss. They can do all the work of an MEP except taking part in votes. This is a way of making a smooth transition and has been done before."

Questions In The Wrong Order!

Charles Moore, writing in the Telegraph, recalls the question of Edward Heath, when as Prime Minister he called the 70's election on the matter of 'Who Governs Britain'; and then suggests that the question now should be 'How to Govern Britain'.

Moore misses the point; the important question is 'Who Governs Britain' - viz-a-viz Britain's membership of the European Union. It is generally acknowledged that our system of democracy needs radical overhaul together with our parliamentary system. Until we have recovered our ability to govern ourselves we obviously cannot begin to discuss the question he poses of 'How To Govern Britain'.

West Mids Conservative election leaflet

West Midlands Conswervatives have sent out a lovely shiny leaflet urging people to "vote for change". An interesting choice of slogan given that they're currently the largest UK party in the European Empire and a vote for change would mean not voting for them!

The front of the leaflet has a picture of David Camoron in the traditional action pose - in the middle of a word, leaning over his lectern with his hand out in front of him in what was undoubtedly a sincere gesture.

The inside has some newspaper headlines about the recession and Liebour's mismanagement of the economy. At the bottom it says "Tell Labour you want the referendum they promised. Vote Conservative on 4th June." Does this mean that if you vote for the Conservatives they'll stop funding the "Yes" campaign that has been dilligently promoting the EU not-a-constitution and pressing for its ratification in the Republic of Ireland without another referendum, through the European People's Party (EPP)?

Also on the inside is a table that shows the voting history of Tory, Liebour and Lib Dim MEPs on key issues. The fact that they've left out UKIP, the third pargest UK party in the European Empire, and put in the Lib Dims instead is amusing - they know that putting in a UKIP column showing that they've consistently voted against every major interference from the EU would only show potential Tory voters that UKIP is the real voice of opposition to the European Empire.

The policies the Tories claim to have voted against don't even stand up to scrutiny. They claim to have voted against the EU constitution but through their eurofederalist EPP grouping in the EU Parliament, they funded the "yes" vote in the Republic of Ireland. They claim to have voted against a bigger, more expensive EU budget - a vote for UKIP is a vote against any UK contribution to the EU budget. Voting to keep the opt-out to the Working Time Directive, against an EU army, against more EU control over our legal system and against the EU's fraudulent accounts - all very tenuous claims. The Tories are in favour of ever closer union, with the ultimate objective of abolishing European nations and replacing them with a single European super-state. And when it comes to the EU's consistently fraudulent accounts - who has a better claim to be tackling them than UKIP, with the auditor that the EU (former Liebour leader, Neil Kinnock, to be exact) sacked for exposing their fraudulent accounts standing as a candidate for the party in the south east euroregion?

On the back of the leaflet there's a "personal" message from call-me-Dave telling us to vote Conservative because they'll give us a referendum on the EU not-a-constitution. This isa lie - William Hague said they may give us a referendum if it hadn't already been ratified.

Finally, there's a special section just for Shropshire saying the they will work for British business by cutting EU red tape. The simple fact of the matter is that they can't cut EU red tape because the UK is a tiny voice in the EU Parliament and 75% of our laws are made there. They say they will help local farmers by making sure that EU directives on pesticides don't damage farmers' food production. They won't oppose the EU's bans on perfectly safe products like UKIP have but they will try and paper over the cracks. Not good enough. They say they will fight against plans to electronically tag sheep but they are powerless to stop them if the EU's commissioner for agriculture - who comes from Greece, which isn't exactly well known for its sheep trade - issues a directive. They say they will secure EU funding for the Ironbridge Gorge world heritage site which is suffering badly from landslides and de-stablisation. If we weren't spending £40m per day net on being in the European Empire then we could fund the several million pounds worth of stablisation work needed from our own taxes and the whole are wouldn't have to be blighted with huge signs telling us how generous the EU have been with our money. The Ironbridge Gorge needs about 12 hours worth of our net contribution to the EU to fix all the problems permanently.

The Conservatives leaflet is full of half-truths, outright lies and false promises. Nothing they have promised can be achieved without leaving the European Empire and as David Cameron told his party last year, there is no way the Conswervatives will be taking the UK out of the EU.

So take the Tories' advice and vote for change - vote for UKIP.

Liebour wins Salford by-election

There was a by-election in the Irwell Riverside ward of Salford Council in the north west of England yesterday, which Liebour won convincingly.

The ward is in expenses fraudster, Hazel Blears', constituency and should have been a key target for all parties but the local branch of UKIP only put up a paper candidate. As a consequence - in defiance of all polling putting UKIP as the second party in both European and domestic elections - Liebour won the by-election convincingly and UKIP came last.

The media and the LibLabCon and BNP have only been able to make half-hearted snide remarks at UKIP - fringe party, protest vote - but this gives them a real opportunity to ignore the fact that UKIP will, without any reasonable doubt, at the very least come second in the June elections and start playing down the massive support the party has.

It was a real mistake to allow a branch to put up a paper candidate in an important by-election so close to the EU Parliament elections. It gives ammunition to the media and the establishment who are desperate for some credible reason to portray UKIP in a bad light.

The results were as follows:

Liebour - 606
Lib Dim - 293
BNP - 276
Conswervative - 189
Green - 125
UKIP - 123

As you can see, the ward is hideously left wing. The left wing extremists - Liebour and the BNP - took nearly 55% of the vote between them with the wishy-washy left - the Lib Dims and Greens - taking another 26%. A proper by-election campaign would have been an up-hill struggle but as the result shows, a paper candidate is going to be a white-wash.

A lesson learnt for future elections.

UKIP to spend £2m on European elections to target Labour voters

The UK Independence Party will spend £2 million over the next fortnight to target Labour supporters for the first time at the European elections, The Times has learnt.

The Eurosceptic party is hoping to match on June 4 its performance in the 2004 European elections when it seized 16 per cent of the votes, beating the Liberal Democrats and taking more than half of those received by Labour and the Conservatives.

This week UKIP, which is led by Nigel Farage, began its national MEP campaign with 1,200 billboards across the country. It has also beefed up its advisory unit for the Euro elections with the recent hiring of David Cracknell, the former Sunday Times journalist.

According to a Populus poll conducted two weeks ago, just after the MPs’ expenses scandal broke, UKIP supporters accounted for 6 per cent of the 1,500 surveyed. A few days later, a YouGov poll showed a sharp bounce to 16 per cent — the same level of support for UKIP as at the elections five years ago.

Andrew Cooper, a Populus director, said: “This is a long-established pattern where voters in the UK don’t really understand what the European elections are for, so they are an easy way for the electorate to register a ‘plague on all your houses’ vote and go with UKIP.”

Mr Farage said yesterday: “Of the recent inquiries we have had from our first-time buyers [new supporters], around 60 per cent of them have come from Labour. We’re going to throw the kitchen sink in for this campaign. We used to be seen as old, male and a bit like the rugby club on a day out. But we’ve tried to make ourselves a much younger party.”

Are you scared?

In the last few days I've seen UKIP and its members being described as xenophobic and europhobic.

I like languages so here's a bit of education for any journalists or bloggers out there looking for a single word - other than "winning" - to describe UKIP.

Phobia comes from the Greek word phobos which means "fear". Xeno comes from the Greek word xénos which means "stranger" or "foreign". Xenophobia is a compound of xénos and phobos and means a fear of strangers or a fear of foreigners.

Euro comes from the word Europe which, again, is Greek. Europe is a compound of the Greek words eurys and ops , meaning "broad" and "face" respectively. Europhobia would be a fear of broad faces.

So, a question for any UKIP members or supporters (ie. one fifth of the population) reading this - are any of you scared of foreigners, strangers or broad faces?

Stuart Wheeler in the Spectator

The Spectator magazine has a three page article from Stuart Wheeler on why he's voting UKIP. Here are a few extracts:

Why do we do this? Because the Conservative party is failing the nation. I was at the Tory conference when David Cameron made the ghastly statement that the Conservatives were not going to continue ‘banging on about Europe’.

Do we want a European army? Do we want a semi-permanent president and foreign minister of the EU? Do we want the EU in charge of our criminal courts? Do we want to continue the Common Fisheries Policy which has destroyed our once-great fishing industry? Do we want to continue the inordinately expensive Common Agricultural Policy?

And the borrowing will not go on for ever, but, unless there is a radical change, the cost of being in the EU will go up and up for ever. Putting the cost another way, it amounts to £2,000 per man, woman, child and baby. So an average family of four with one breadwinner would be £8,000 better off out of the EU. And that average family has an after-tax income of only £17,000.

Yet as the unimpeachable Marta Andreasen, the EU’s chief accountant, sacked for exposing incompetence and fraud in the EU, has pointed out, our own scandal here is nothing compared to the EU gravy train. She is now the treasurer of Ukip, and one of many reasons for voting for them.

Their reaction, which has unfortunately been rather successful so far, is for William Hague to use carefully chosen weasel words to give the impression that the Tories are getting tough about the EU. The exact reverse is the truth.

Good stuff from Stuart Wheeler, apart from the end bit where he urges the Conswervatives to win the election at a trot.

David Cameron Running Scared of UKIP ?

Tom Wise, the formerly UKIP but now Independent MEP as Cameron well knows, has been charged with one offence of money laundering and is currently awaiting trial. For the Leader of the Oppposition to claim on national radio yesterday that he has already been convicted could jeopardise his right to a fair trial. And, of course, the public's right to a fair trial on the issue.

"David Cameron seems to be wallowing in his own incompetence. He starts to talk about law and order on BBC national radio and then immediately manages to risk a criminal trial." said Nigel Farage, UKIP Leader. "By declaring that an MEP had been found guilty of money laundering he could affect the trail which has not yet started."

"How can any man put themselves forward to lead the country when they show such ignorance of the law? Announcing the verdict before the trial just isn't the way we do things here, whatever Cameron might wish to do to us in the future.

"He also talked about a fourth MEP who had left UKIP: this has to refer to the well respected Graham Booth who retired in order to care for his cancer stricken wife. To use such an event as a political football is the wallowing in the gutter." Farage continued.

"Cameron really does have to grow up and raise his eyes above the kerb and start to talk about policy. If he can come up with any policies of course, if he's actually managed to find any on Europe."

He also cited the description of UKIP by one of its former MEPs, Robert Kilroy-Silk, as a "bunch of nutters".

Nigel Farage, UKIP leader, hit back by calling the "nutters" epithet a bad start for a prospective prime minister: "Fifty-five per cent of the country think we ought to leave the EU and a seasoned politician would probably hesitate before insinuating that over half of the country he hopes to lead is insane."

David Campbell Bannerman on Radio Essex Today

David Campbell Bannerman., Deputy Leader of the UK Independence Party and lead candidate in the Eastern Counties will be taking part in a BBC Essex Radio European Election debate today (20.5.09) at 1.00pm - 2.00pm.

Tune in to BBC Essex at 95.3 or 103.5 FM. Also available on DAB or listen live via the BBC Essex website at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/

UKIP and Taxpayers' Alliance share platform at Public meeting in Peterborough 26.5.09

European Parliamentary candidate, Stuart Gulleford, who is standing for the UK Independence Party in the Eastern Counties is speaking at a public meeting in Peterborough on Tuesday 26th May (7.00pm) at the Longthorpe Village Hall, Thorpe Road , Peterborough . He will be sharing the platform with Mark Wallace, Campaign Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance and Frances Fox, UKIP’s PPC for Peterborough .

Mr Gulleford, who has been Political Advisor to UKIP’s retiring MEP, Jeffrey Titford since 2001, will be explaining why membership of the European Union has been so damaging to British interests and Mr Wallace will be explaining how the EU wastes taxpayers’ money and why Brussels has such a huge influence over local issues. Frances Fox will be explaining why it is vital for UKIP candidates to be elected to Westminster at the General Election, next year.

Commenting ahead of the meeting Stuart Gulleford said: “I’m very pleased to be back in Peterborough and to have the opportunity to talk to local people about what is now becoming a crucial issue. It is quite clear that Britain can no longer afford to remain in the EU, with its huge £40 million a day cost, the serious erosion of our democracy and the uncontrolled immigration problem that comes with it. UKIP is the only major Party offering voters a genuine choice at this election, the opportunity to vote for freedom from the EU.”

The meeting is organised by the Peterborough Branch of the UK Independence Party and is open to the public.

Farage as Shadow PM?

A Sky News poll of nearly 3,000 people shows that if there was a general election tomorrow UKIP would be the second largest party in Westminster!

According to the poll, the make-up of the Commons would be:

Conswervatives 31%
UKIP 19.7%
Liebour 11.5%
BNP 9.5%
Lib Dims 8.5%
Greens 7.6%

This shows that UKIP has shed its reputation as a single issue party and is now considered by the general public, not only to be part of mainstream politics, but as a credible future national government for the UK.

You can sign a petition calling for an immediate general election on the Prime Mentalists website here.

Update:
Nigel Farage has given the following exclusive comment to Bloggers4UKIP:

Of course this is welcome news but we do have to take it with a pinch of salt.
The Sky News e-panel is, as they themselves admit, not a representative sample
of the electorate. It's online, so weighted heavily in favour of us with our
large online presence. But it is still very cheering news for it shows that our
message is getting through and the groundswell of support is in our favour. So
two minutes joy and then back to work on the election!

UKIP has gone from relative obscurity to a credible political force in the UK under Nigel Farage's leadership. I hope he's allowed himself at least a small pat on the back.

Wise Words ! - Letter From David Sullivan

Guido, Hitchens and Tebbit are wrong ...

... and Wheeler and 19% of the electorate. According to ConservativeHome they are, anyway.

The first prominent Tory to tell people not to vote Tory was Stuart Wheeler who not only told people to vote UKIP instead but donated £100k to the election effort at the same time.

Then Lord Tebbit told people not to vote for the LibLabCon in what is widely accepted to be a thinly veiled message to vote UKIP.

Next up is blogging legend, Guido Fawkes, who has encouraged right wingers (ie. Tories) to vote UKIP. Strangely, he also suggested wasting votes on the eurofederalist Greens and Libertas if you're left wing or centrist which is a shame because UKIP is a centre-right party but a positive message still from Guido.

Peter Hitchens, the Daily Mail's attack dog, has also told people not to vote Tory.

And finally there's the electorate, which Conservative Home seems to hold in as much contempt as the party it supports. Currently the polls have UKIP on 19%, the same level of support as Liebour and the Lib Dims. One fifth of the electorate are wrong? I don't think so.

Voters have a simple choice when they go to the polls on June the 4th - they can vote for the LibLabCon or the Greens or Libertas and they'll be voting for ever-closer political union, to continue wasting £106k per second on the EU, for 75% of our laws being made by the EU and to hand over what's left of our tattered sovereignty to the European Empire. Or they can vote for UKIP, a vote to withdraw from the political union with the EU, to retain a free trade agreement like the one that this country voted for in the 1975 referendum and to return control of our country back to our own parliament.

The Tories say they want to reform the European Empire from the inside but we all know that it is unreformable. The only question that remains is do you want more or less of the EU? If you want to lose your country to the European Empire then vote for the Tories, if you want your children to grow up British/English/Scottish/Welsh/Northern Irish (or Gibraltarian of course) then you have to vote for UKIP. Nobidy else is committed to ending our damaging relationship with the European Empire.

Hampshire UKIP Public Meeting - Winchester

Hampshire-wide public meeting and rally with speakers Nigel Farage, Marta Andreason and Christopher Gill.

Tuesday, 26th May 2009 at 7.30pm

Winchester Guildhall, High Street, Winchester, SO23 9GH - in the Main Conference Chamber.

Democracy - What Future?

Musings prompted by an article on Independence Home and a post on EUReferendum and which also ties in with an earlier post of mine.

To take the Independence Home article first, is there any constitutional bar on HM Queen dissolving Parliament as suggested? This would allow time for a new 'expenses and allowances' scheme to be produced. It would also allow time for other, immediate, problems to be addressed such as whether there should be a 're-call system' introduced for MPs, whether parties should have the sole responsibility of candidate selection, whether such selection procedures should be by means of 'open primaries'. Where I differ with the opinion of Independence Home is that I believe it wrong for Parliament to be the sole instigator/arbitrator of any new system. By all means let the MPs and Sir Christopher Kelly's committee come up with what they consider a 'viable and fair' system, however no-one seems to have remembered that Parliament is our, the people's, Parliament and that we pay for it. Therefore perhaps this system should be put to a referendum for the people to decide? Let the Parliamentarians sell/justify their ideas to us. On the basis that MPs twitter endlessly about democracy - without in most cases even understanding the meaning of the word - would that not be 'democracy in action'?

Turning to Richard North's post on EUReferendum, he states:

"Arguably, we need to adopt the US system, where the head of the executive – the prime minister, in this country – is elected separately and appoints his own cabinet, from outside parliament, and is held collectively and individually to account by a wholly independent parliament......Their [the media] picture of a perfect democracy, it seems, is MPs posting their expenses on the internet." and ".....as Booker observes, part of the dynamic which has led us to our current sorry state is the process by which Parliament has allowed itself to be stripped of its powers, with much of our legislation being outsourced to Brussels."

The merits of Richard North's first suggestion are many and, if coupled with ideas from The Plan by Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan, a system devised whereby House of Commons Select Committees are elected by secret ballot, whereby any non-governmental body (Quango/Fake Charity) has an agreed budget and that budget and expenditure is open to monitoring by the Select Committees and Parliament, whereby any 'programme' put forward by a Prime Minister is debated in the Commons, disected and questions answered and the proposal defended by the Prime Minister. By this means it is possible a 'hung parliament' is elected,and in so happening, might just introduce a system which allows for 'consensual' government.

The point raised about the attitude of the media to the expenses problem is well made - the subjects of Britain's membership of the European Union and the European election are both of equal importance to that of 'Expensegate'. The silence by the media on those latter two points does beg the question, to cynics such as me, as to whether we do indeed have a free press.

On the subject of the European Union, perhaps it should be explained that with withdrawal Britain would have the ability to introduce any form of 'democracy' it wished. This could include, for example, scrapping of vat and introducing a 'flat tax' system, of restoring the right of making planning decisions without 'outside' interference to local authorities, of allowing local authorities full control over their police, education and health systems, to scrapping the 'Cabinet System' of local government and restoring the principle of enfranchisement to all local councillors.

The reforms needed to our 'democracy' are many and if MPs and, more importantly, party leaders wished to show their worth they could use the time, until the date of the Queen's dissolution of Parliament, to propose a new system of democracy for this country. Now that would be something!

A letter to UKIP from a eurofederalist

A student by the name of Jamie McConkey has written a letter to Nigel Farage on the CafeBabel website.

For those who haven't encountered CafeBabel, it is a website that hosts blogs written by all sorts of people with the aim of stimulating and developing European public opinion and claims to be the voice of the "euro-generation". In reality, it is a network of eurofederalists who write navel-gazing articles on how great the European Empire is. There is no voice of dissent on CafeBabel - I asked if I could write a eurosceptic blog on CafeBabel more than once when CafeBabel was newly launched and was ignored.

You can read McConkey's rambling propaganda piece on the CafeBabel website and my comment (which I expect to be deleted soon) is copied below:

Roughly a fifth of the population of the UK is currently unemployed and the cost of paying social security benefits to unemployed people far outweighs the "benefit" of an immigrant from the EU doing a job that a current unemployed resident of the UK could be doing.

The simple fact of the matter is that UKIP represents the views of the majority. In the most recent opinion poll on the subject of the UK's membership of the European Empire, 55% of those polled wanted the UK to leave. The other 45% were taken up with people who wanted a looser relationship, those who don't know, those who don't care and the minority that believe the propaganda that we benefit from being members of the the European Empire.

Xenophobia is a fear of foreigners - a political party cannot be afraid of anything and being sceptic about the "benefits" of being in the European Empire isn't a fear of European people. If you are inferring that Farage is afraid of foreigners, how do you explain him having a German wife and spending a few days out of every month in France or Belgium? I have a phobia of dentists and to see a dentist I have to be sedated. That's a phobia. Not believing eurofederalist propaganda isn't a phobia.

UKIP wants to withdraw the UK from a political union with the European Empire and maintain a free trade agreement as agreed in the only referendum ever held in the UK on what is now the EU. This is what the majority of people in the UK want. Eurofederalists that spread traitorous propaganda are poisonous anglophobes and a national disgrace.

A Little Known Statistic From The Polls

Politics Home has some details on their recent poll which can be read here.

28%? - Wow!

Methinks the message may be getting through

Full List of MPs Expense Claims

Trouser presses, pouffes, moats and Maltesers – you name it, our MPs have claimed for it. Here is a run down of the expenses claims published so far:

THE EYE-WATERING CLAIMS

Douglas Hogg
Former Agriculture minister Mr Hogg has been paid more than £20,000 a year between 2004 and 2008 in second home allowances, it has been revealed.

Among the costs itemised were £2,115 for having a moat cleared, £646.25 for “general repairs, stable etc” and £40 for piano tuning, the Telegraph said.

Hazel Blears
The Communities Secretary claimed for three different properties in a single year, spending almost £5,000 of taxpayers’ money on furniture in three months.

She also avoided capital gains tax on her £45,000 profit when she sold a London flat by telling Inland Revenue it was her main home, and thus exempt - despite its being registered with the Commons as her second home.

On Tuesday night Ms Blears said she would voluntarily pay £13,332 to the taxman

Sir Michael Spicer
Sir Michael, who is chairman of the influential Conservative 1922 Committee of back bench MPs, has claimed £620 for the installation of a chandelier and rewiring work and more than £1,000 for servicing an oven, The Daily Telegraph said.

He also claimed more than £5,650 for gardening work at his Worcestershire manor house, as well as £4,000 for council tax on two homes.

Other items reportedly claimed included £3,000 for roof repairs and £2,350 for work on his chimney.

John Prescott
The taxpayer paid for the former deputy prime minister to fit the front of his home in Hull with mock Tudor boards and for his toilet seat to be repaired twice in two years.

David Heathcoat-Amory
The Tory MP for Wells in Somerset reportedly claimed £388.80 for horse manure between 2004 and 2007.

He also submitted a bill of £986.17 for heating oil in January 2008, and between July and September 2007 Mr Heathcoat-Amory also claimed £1,792.50 worth of invoices from a gardening firm.

David Miliband
The Foreign Secretary claimed almost £30,000 for doing up his £120,000 constituency home over five years, it was reported.

He spent up to £180 every three months on the garden at the property in South Shields.

At the bottom of one receipt for £132.96 in April 2008, his gardener wrote a note questioning whether some of the work was necessary.

Alan Duncan
The shadow leader of the Commons claimed thousands of pounds for his garden before agreeing with the fees office that the spending “could be considered excessive”.

Millionaire Mr Duncan recouped £4,000 over three years. However, a £3,194 bill for gardening in March 2007 was not paid after officials responded suggesting that the claim might not be “within the spirit” of the rules, according to the Daily Telegraph.

In a letter to the MP for Rutland and Melton, the fees office said that it expected gardening costs “to cover only basic essentials such as grass cutting”.

In March 2007, Mr Duncan claimed £598 to overhaul a ride-on lawn-mower and then a further £41 to fix a puncture a month later.

Mr Duncan is also said to have claimed £1,400 a month for mortgage interest on his home in Rutland.

On Tuesday Mr Duncan refunded £4,704.86 of his gardening claims

Margaret Beckett
The Housing Minister found herself in trouble with the Fees Office after attempting to claim £600 for hanging baskets and pot plants.

Michael Gove
Mr Gove - the Shadow School Secretary and a close ally of Mr Cameron - spent more than £7,000 in five months furnishing a London property in 2006 before “flipping” his second home designation to a new property he bought in Surrey.

He then apparently claimed more than £13,000 in stamp duty and other fees from his Parliamentary expenses for this property.

On Tuesday Mr Gove repaid £7,000 of furniture costs and £500 he claimed for nights staying at the Garrick club in London

Ken Clarke
The former Chancellor’s book-keeping skills “leave much to be desired” according to the newspaper.

Mr Clarke, now Shadow Business Secretary, was apparently asked repeatedly to submit receipts for thousands of pounds in claims for security and cleaning at his second home in London.

The records also revealed he does not claim a council tax discount of up to 10% to which he should be entitled having designated the property as his second home.

On Tuesday Mr Clarke repaid £600 relating to council tax

Margaret Moran
The Labour MP for Luton switched her second home to the house she shares with her partner, 100 miles from her constituency - just days before spending £22,500 on treating dry rot at the seafront property.

On Tuesday Ms Moran promised to repay the £22,500

Francis Maude
The Shadow Cabinet Office minister claimed almost £35,000 over two years for a mortgage on a London flat a few minutes walk from a house he already owned and then rented out.

The taxpayer footed the £387.50 bill for moving his effects down the road.

He also tried to claim mortgage interest on his family home in Sussex, but the arrangement was reportedly rejected by the Fees Office.

On Tuesday party leader David Cameron banned Mr Maude from claiming the second homes allowance in future

Stephen Byers
The former Labour Trade Secretary used the expenses system to claim more than £125,000 for the London flat owned by his partner.

Over the past five years, Mr Byers spent more than £27,000 on redecoration, maintenance and appliances at the flat in Camden, north London.

The claims included extensive renovations to the outside of the entire building, which consists of four flats.

Documents showed Mr Byers put the entire £12,000 bill for the work - including his partner’s share - on expenses.

David Willetts
The shadow innovation, universities and skills secretary claimed £115 plus VAT to replace 25 light bulbs at his second home in west London.

On the same claim - part of a £2,191 invoice for odd jobs that included cleaning a shower head - Mr Willetts charged another £80 to “change light bulbs in bathroom”.

But parliamentary authorities pared the bill back by more than £1,000, refusing to refund £175 for a dog enclosure and £750 for a shed base.

According to the Telegraph, the fees office frequently cut his claims because of errors or overclaims.

On Tuesday Mr Willetts repaid the £115 plus VAT for fitting the light bulbs

John Reid
According to leaked receipts, the former Home Secretary appears to enjoy his creature comforts when in his Scottish constituency.

Mr Reid’s claims included a £199 pouffe, a £370 armchair, an £899 sofa and a £29.99 a “black glitter toilet seat”.

James Arbuthnot
Mr Arbuthnot claimed £1,471 for “grass, trim, pool, fuel” costs associated with the garden of his property in Hampshire.

During the period May to October 2007, he also submitted a claim for £2,433 “for the expense of our housekeeper”. Furnishing he asked to be reimbursed included £728 for a new television and £100 for a sign at his new home.

In total, the chairman of the Defence Select Committee has claimed £108,062 over the past five years - the maximum amount possible according to the paper.

On Sunday he said he would be repaying the swimming pool work claims

Cheryl Gillan
The shadow Welsh Secretary spent £4.47 of taxpayers’ money on dog food. The fees office also reduced a claim for a gas bill because the statement showed Ms Gillan’s account was in credit.

On Sunday Ms Gillan said she would repay the £4.47 she had claimed by mistake

Oliver Letwin
Mr Letwin, who is in charge of drawing up the Conservative general election manifesto, claimed more than £2,000 to replace a leaking pipe under his tennis court.

He said he had been ordered to mend the pipe by the local water company and did not make any improvements to the court or his garden.

The taxpayer also picked up the tab for regular services to his Aga cooker.

On Tuesday Mr Letwin repaid the £2,000

Chris Huhne
The Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman regularly submits claims for food and groceries including pints of milk, fluffy dusters and chocolate biscuits.

Millionaire Mr Huhne, who is MP for Eastleigh in Hampshire, also expensed a £119 trouser press which was delivered to his main London home.

On Monday Mr Huhne said he had repaid the cost of the press

Lembit Opik
The Liberal Democrat housing spokesman billed a £40 summons for the non-payment of council tax on a flat to his second home expenses.

On Monday Mr Opik said he will pay back the £40

Andrew George
The Liberal Democrat MP has claimed £847 a month for a riverside flat in London used by his student daughter, according to the Telegraph.

Mr George, who is MP for St Ives in Cornwall, said his daughter Morvah, 21, had access to the property in Rotherhithe but was not the sole user.

Sir Menzies Campbell
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies spent nearly £10,000 of taxpayer funds refurbishing his central London flat.

Among the items claimed were a new king-size bed worth £1,024, bed linen worth £373 and five cushions costing £176.25. He also claimed thousands of pounds of food over the summer recess.

On Wednesday Sir Menzies said he would repay the £1,490.66 fee to the interior designer who oversaw the work on his flat

Julia Goldsworthy
The Liberal Democrat local government spokesman spent thousands of pounds on furniture just days before the deadline for using up parliamentary allowances, it was reported.

She bought a £999 TV, £1,500 of furniture in House of Fraser and a £1,200 leather rocking chair from upmarket furniture store Heal’s on March 28 and 29, 2006.

The House of Commons financial year ends at the beginning of April, after which expenses incurred must be set against a new allowance. Ms Goldsworthy said that she had claimed “reasonable” costs for furnishings.

On Wednesday Ms Goldsworthy said she would repay £1,005 she claimed for the chair

THE LEADERS

Gordon Brown
Mr Brown used his expenses to pay his brother Andrew £6,577 for cleaning work at his Westminster flat between 2004 and 2006.

The brothers shared the cleaner at their two flats. Under the arrangement, Andrew Brown paid the cleaner and the Prime Minister reimbursed his share of the cost.

David Cameron
The Tory leader claimed a total of £82,450 on his second home allowance over five years.

The majority of Mr Cameron’s claims were for mortgage interest and utility bills for his Oxfordshire constituency home.

One exception was a £680 bill for repairs to the property, which included clearing wisteria and vines from a chimney, replacing outside lights and resealing his conservatory’s roof.

The newspaper reported Mr Cameron’s expenses appeared relatively straightforward compared to other members of the shadow cabinet.

On Tuesday Mr Cameron repaid the £680 maintenance bill

Nick Clegg
The Liberal Democrat leader reportedly had his second home allowance docked last year after exceeding the £23,083 maximum by more than £100.

Other claims made included £1,657.32 for food, and phone bills which included calls to Colombia and Vietnam.

He said that when he sells his second home, any profit will go back to the taxpayer.

On Tuesday Mr Clegg said he had paid back the £80.20 cost of the international calls

CABINET AND SHADOW CABINET

Alistair Darling
The Chancellor “switched” the location of his second home four times in four years, allowing him to claim thousands of pounds towards the cost of his Edinburgh home and for the London flat, it was reported.

The taxpayer contributed almost £10,000 towards the cost of furnishing the Chancellor’s London flat, including £2,074 for furniture and £2,339 for “magnolia” carpets.

The public also footed the bills for £765 from Ikea and £768 from Marks and Spencer for a bed.

George Osborne
The parliamentary authorities considered the Shadow Chancellor’s personal website too “political” to be publicly funded, the newspaper said.

After claiming £30 for a private company to host the site, Mr Osborne was told by an official: “I draw your attention to the ’Latest News’ section of your webpage. This includes some articles ... which contain clearly political content and are therefore not acceptable on a publicly funded website.”

He also put a £440.62 bill for a chauffeur company to drive him from Cheshire to London on November 11 2005 on expenses.

While the invoice offered a 5 per cent discount for “prompt settlement”, Mr Osborne received the full amount.

The records showed he also claimed hundreds of pounds for cleaning and remortgaged his second home in Cheshire, increasing his monthly mortgage interest bill from £1,560 a month to nearly £1,900.

On Tuesday Mr Osborne refunded the £440.62 chauffeur's bill

Lord Mandelson
The Business Secretary claimed thousands of pounds for work on his constituency home in Hartlepool shortly after announcing his resignation as an MP, it was reported.

He renovated the terrace house in 2004 and sold it for a £136,000 profit.

Lord Mandelson’s spokesman insisted the expenditure was to repair the property, “not improve it”.

Geoff Hoon
The Transport Secretary was able to switch his second home in a way which allowed him to improve his family home in Derbyshire at taxpayers’ expense before buying a London townhouse.

Chris Grayling
The Shadow Home Secretary received thousands of pounds to renovate a London flat, even though his constituency home in Surrey is only 17 miles from Parliament.

Mr Grayling, who already apparently owned three properties within the M25, bought the flat with loans subsidised by the taxpayer.

In an unusual move, Mr Grayling negotiated an arrangement with the fees office that allowed him to claim £625 a month for mortgages on two separate properties - the main home in Ashtead, Surrey, and the new flat.

An exception to the rules was made for the Epsom and Ewell MP because he was unable to obtain a 100% mortgage on the flat.

He is also alleged to have delayed putting in claims for decorating and refurbishing costs so he could receive the maximum in Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) over consecutive years.

On Tuesday Mr Cameron banned Mr Grayling from claiming the second homes allowance in future

Jack Straw
The Justice Secretary claimed for the full cost of council tax, even though he received a 50% discount from his local authority.

He repaid the money last summer, shortly after a High Court ruling requiring the receipts to be published.

In a note to the fees office he wrote: “Accountancy does not appear to be my strongest suit.”

Nick Herbert
The shadow environment secretary claimed back £10,000 of the £14,700 stamp duty when he bought a home with his partner in his constituency.

He also charged for fees and a survey of the property in Arundel, West Sussex and claimed for the entire monthly mortgage interest even though his partner’s name was on the deeds.

Andy Burnham
The Culture Secretary wrote a note to the fees office in which he pleaded for his expenses to be paid urgently and even wrote he “might be in line for a divorce” if the money did not materialise within days.

Andrew Lansley
The Shadow Health Secretary spent thousands of pounds renovating a thatched Tudor country cottage - and sold it shortly afterwards.

He redecorated with premium paint in some rooms at a cost of £2,000 and spent more than £500 having the driveway re-shingled.

He is then said to have “flipped” his expenses to a Georgian flat in London, and claimed for thousands of pounds in furnishings, including a Laura Ashley sofa.

On Tuesday Mr Lansley repaid £2,600 he claimed for house renovations

Shaun Woodward
Taxpayers contributed almost £100,000 to help pay the mortgage on Mr Woodward’s £1.35 million flat - one of seven properties owned by the multi-millionaire Northern Ireland Secretary.

Caroline Flint
The Europe minister put solicitors’ fees and stamp duty totalling £14,553 on her Parliamentary expenses after buying a central London flat.

Paul Murphy
The Welsh Secretary used his second home allowance to buy the freehold on a flat close to Parliament, putting the arrangement fees and stamp duty on his expenses.

He also claimed for decorating and furnishing costs, including £35 for a toilet roll holder, £537 for an oven, a £605 TV and a £449 sound system.

Douglas Alexander
Mr Alexander’s constituency home was damaged in a house fire in 2007 after he spent more than £30,000 doing it up, the newspaper reported.

The International Development Secretary told the fees office he was “under-insured” and claimed almost £2,000 on items lost in the fire, which he later repaid when his insurers reimbursed him.

Theresa Villiers
The shadow transport secretary claimed nearly £16,000 in stamp duty and fees for a London flat, despite already having another house in the capital only 14 miles from Westminster, it was reported.

On Tuesday Mr Cameron said that Ms Villiers would no longer claim the second homes allowance

BACKBENCHERS AND THE REST

Michael Martin
Mr Martin, who as Commons speaker fought to prevent MPs’ expenses claims entering the public domain, spent more than £1,400 on chauffeurs in his Glasgow constituency.

Phil Hope
The health minister for care services claimed £41,709 over five years on furniture and fittings for his "modest" two-bedroomed flat in south London.

The items claimed included a new kitchen, seven doors, wooden flooring, bedroom furniture, chairs and tables, two bookcases, a television, a £120 barbecue and £61 of gardening materials - despite a Commons ban on claiming for garden equipment.

On Wednesday Mr Hope promised to refund the £41,709 in full

Barry Gardiner
The MP for Brent North made a profit of almost £200,000 from a flat mortgaged and renovated with the help of taxpayers’ cash, it was alleged.

Vera Baird QC
Mrs Baird, who as Solicitor General is one of the Government’s top legal advisers, fell foul of expenses rules after trying to claim for Christmas decorations. Officials rejected the £268 invoice.

Sinn Fein
Five Sinn Fein MPs raked in expenses of almost £500,000 for running a second home, despite not taking up their seats in the Commons.

The party’s two most senior figures, president Gerry Adams and Northern Ireland deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, were said to have jointly claimed £3,600 a month to rent a shared two-bedroom flat in the capital, which a local estate agent suggested would be worth £1,400 a month.

The three other MPs together claimed £5,400 a month to rent a shared town house estimated to be worth around £1,800 a month.

John Gummer
The former Tory cabinet minister claimed £9,000 a year for gardening, charging the taxpayer hundreds of pounds for treating insect “infestations” and removing moles and jackdaw nests from his Suffolk property, and for an annual “rodent service”.

Tony Blair
The former Prime Minister was able to use his parliamentary expenses to remortgage his constituency home for £296,000 - nearly 10 times what he paid for it - just months before buying a west London house for £3.65 million.

The claims, some of which were revealed last year under a Freedom of Information request, showed interest repayments on his constituency home amounted to almost a third of the new mortgage.

The London town house was one of five properties owned by Mr Blair - reportedly worth a total of £10 million, the newspaper reported.

Kevin Brennan
The junior minister was said to have had a £450 widescreen television delivered to his family home in Wales and then claimed it on his allowance for his second home in London.

Kitty Ussher
The Department for Work and Pensions minister drew up a list of renovations she hoped to make to her London house and asked Commons officials to “pay as much as you are able!”

Iain Wright and Tom Watson
Mr Wright, a junior housing minister, asked if he could buy furniture before he had even bought the property he shares with Mr Watson.

He was told it would be better to wait until after the general election in case he lost his seat.

He told the Commons authorities: “It seems stupid to carry it over into next year when a large chunk of my (allowance) would go unused.”

Greg Barker
Mr Barker - the first prominent Tory to be caught up in the expenses row - reportedly made a £320,000 profit on a flat he bought at the taxpayers’ expense.

Stewart Jackson
The Tory communities spokesman has claimed more than £66,000 for his family home in Peterborough, the paper said.

He billed the taxpayer for £304.10 for work on the swimming pool, and more than £11,000 in professional fees and costs incurred with the move to the property in 2005.

According to the report, household items claimed include a £3,000 berber carpet, a £741 king size bed and £775 for plumbing work in his summer room.

He said he would be repaying the money claimed for the swimming pool work.

David Davis
The former shadow Home Secretary spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire, it was disclosed.

He also claimed more than £2,000 for the cost of mowing and rolling two paddocks at his home.

Sir Alan Haselhurst
The Deputy Speaker has charged taxpayers almost £12,000 for gardening bills at his Essex farmhouse, the report said.

He told the paper that the gardener “does all the heavy work which I don’t have the opportunity to do when I’m in London.”

Michael Ancram
The former Conservative deputy leader charged the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced to his parliamentary allowances, it was reported.

Records seen by the paper show £98.58 was claimed for the boiler repair, as well as more than £3,000 in cleaning costs and £1,250 of gardening expenses in a single year.

He said none of his items claimed “could be considered extravagant or luxurious”.

Bob Marshall-Andrews
The left wing Labour MP has claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets, The Daily Telegraph said.

In 2006 he claimed £750 on a “multi-room audio system” and £830 on a DVD recorder and other electrical goods.

He has also claimed almost £1,300 for an intercom, brass name plaque and other door adornments.

Mr Marshall-Andrews said the claims for his TV and DVD recorder were “met” from second home allowances “in error”. They were mainly for office use and should have been claimed accordingly, he told the paper.

He added that all other claims were “within the spirit and letter of the law”.

Alan Reid
The Liberal Dem MP for Argyll and Bute in Scotland has claimed more than £1,500 for staying in hotels and bed and breakfasts in his constituency, according to the Telegraph.

The paper said he put in receipts for eight nights in Scottish lodgings during 2005/06, but was told by the Commons fees office that stays in constituency hotels could not be claimed. In 2007/08, he also claimed for three stays in Scottish hotels including one overlooking Loch Etive and one of the Isle of Bute, 38 miles from his designated second home.

Norman Baker
The campaigning Liberal Democrat MP asked the Commons fees office if he could claim for a bicycle for use between his London flat and Parliament. The request was denied.

Good News for UKIP from PoliticalBetting.com

Mike Smithson, author of the famous and intelligent blog politicalbetting.com , has recently given a lot of attention to the upcoming European Elections, and is saying some very encouraging things in regards to UKIP!

After arguing yesterday that UKIP that UKIP were unlikely to perform as well on June 4th as they did in 2004 I’m afraid I’m going to have to eat my words. For while we were all putting the focus on YouGov’s 22% share for Labour in a general election we over-looked the figures from an EU election voting intention question as well.

He predicted a gain in momentum for UKIP after the most recent polls, musing:

What could happen is a repeat of the 2004 campaign when a similar poll from YouGov at about this stage created real traction for the party that wants us out of the EU completely.

He admits the possibility of UKIP reaching their goal of pushing Labour into third place, saying:

The possibility that Labour could end in third place is surely a real one. If that was the outcome it might have a big impact on Mr. Brown’s retirement planning.

In my betting I’ve now got a wager on UKIP to do better than Labour in terms of MEP seats won on the William Hill market.

Read the full article at http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/page/2/

Mike Smithson's website has been very influential and like the rest of the political betting market is a strong indicator of the results in the real world. These good sentiments can only bode well for the United Kingdom Independence Party as they continue to run their strongest campaign ever!

Comedian Carson signs up to UKIP

Belfast-born comedian Frank Carson has today joined the UK Independence Party.

Mr Carson, who now lives in Blackpool, said he took the decision because he was "disgusted with the way politics has gone".

"We need to get out of the EU and ditch the human rights legislation," he said.

"I'm fed up with all the other political parties and think it's time for a change, and so do many others."

Party chairman Paul Nuttall said he was delighted that Mr Carson had joined the UKIP. "He is an excellent comedian, but he has a very serious point," he said.

Message from Head Office to all members

Head Office would like to ask that, unless absolutely necessary, members try not to call Head Office until after the election.

Despite taking on more staff, UKIP's call centre is so inundated with enquiries and new membership applications at the moment that the calls are overflowing to Head Office and tying up the phone lines and staff there.

I'm sure we can all live with the inconvenience for a few weeks!

UKIPs County Council Elections Broadcast Aired Last Night

Support for UKIP surges by 12 points:

As announced on the BBC News at 10 by the BBCs Political Editor Nick Robinson. UKIP is now on 19% in the lastest Euro Elections voting intention poll. The results show UKIPs support has surged by 12 points in just one week and are now neck and neck with Labour. UKIPs campaign hasnt even really started yet. Look out for some suprises next week !

For months, even up until recently, UKIP’s chances have been talked down by the media outlets. “Collapsed”, “destroyed”, finished”. These are some of the terms which have been used to describe the party’s chances in June. Finally, the media will have to start taking us seriously in this election.

Interesting Times ...

A Labour councillor told me today that he would be voting UKIP in June. He said it will be a vote against the EU and a protest at the expenses corruption.

A Tory councillor friend has posted a note on Facebook encouraging people to vote UKIP in June - again, a vote against the EU.

It seems that everyone is voting UKIP in June, no matter which party they normally support.

William Hill say UKIP will thrash Labour and slash odds

It seems William Hill are predicting UKIP to thrash Labour at the Euro Elections.

From William Hill

BOOKMAKERS WILLIAM HILL believe that UKIP will end up with more seats at the forthcoming Euro elections than Labour. And Hills offer Even money that UKIP - who won eleven seats last time - will get mopre than 7/4 shots Labour - who had 19, with a tie between the two offered at 3/1.'The current expenses scandal could hardly have come at a worse time for the major Parties with the Euro elections on the horizon and we believe there will be a strong protest vote against the bigger Parties together with a hefty stay-away percentage of voters' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

The bookie always wins right? They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't seriously think they'd lose a fortune. Would they?

You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.

The mainstream media either have a vendetta against UKIP or a problem accepting the truth about the party.

The papers are constantly peddling the myth that UKIP support has "collapsed" when the polls are showing them that it's not true at all, UKIP's support at the moment is double what it was at the same time last election when we beat the Lib Dems to become the UK's their largest party in the EU Parliament.

The same papers are reporting on predictions that Liebour - the party currently in power in Westminster and the second largest party in the EU Parliament - will come fourth in June yet they still repeat the lies that UKIP has no support.

Then there's the Press Association's press release today:

Some observers even predict the party may finish behind the Liberal Democrats or even the UK Independence Party in the Euro-election.

Or even the UK Independence Party? We beat the Lib Dums last time and we'll beat them again this time. When they have the traditional tri-partate pre-election debates it won't be the Lib Dums sitting with the Tories and Liebour, it will be UKIP.

The Tories' biggest multi-millionaire donor is telling people to vote UKIP. A former Tory Party chairman is telling people to vote UKIP (in a round-about way). People are telling TV news reporters that they're going to vote UKIP. Everyone, it seems, is voting UKIP but the mainstream media just won't accept it!

BNP Party Political Broadcast

Just seen the BNP Party Political Broadcast on ITV.

One word: amateur.

It looked like a school project by 13 year olds. Nick Griffin sounded dull and disinterested, the councillor they interviewed kept forgetting his lines and the activist was reading from an autocue!

I thought the BNP was supposed to be flush with cash?

UKIP Lancashire and Cumbria Elections Launch

Local councils should have a greater degree of independence, said UKIP Euro MP John Whittaker at the launch of the party's Lancashire and Cumbria local election campaign.

"At the moment all local councils do is obey laws from Whitehall. They control 80% of councils budgets and 'he who pays the piper calls the tune'. They are, by and large, simply obeying Whitehall and not taking notice of the ratepayers.

"We believe in real democracy and think councils should answer to those who pay council tax. "Everything people think is controlled by the local authority isn't - they are just obeying orders from Whitehall," said Dr Whittaker.

Referring to the EU climate change agenda he pointed out that UKIP is all in favour of re-cycing but said it should be under the control of local councils and not Brussels dictating to Whitehall who then instruct the local authorities.

Fortnightly bin collections have led to waste management chaos which everyone hates. "And most of our rubbish ends up lumped together and put on a boat to China," said Dr Whittaker.

Dr Whittaker, who is not standing for re-lection as a Euro MP, was accompanied on stage by Paul Nuttall, party chairman, who is the lead candidate to replace Dr Whittaker.

The launch of the campaign took place at The Swan with Two Necks public house in Chorley, part-owned by Nick Hogan, who is standing for Chorley North in the county council elections and Wheelton and Withnell for Chorley Town Council elections.