Leicestershire Labour councillor paid £2,750 per meeting

A Labour councillor convicted of firearms offences earlier this year has been paid over £5,500 in allowances despite attending just 2 meetings this year out of an expected 14.

Leicester City Councillor, Robert Wann, told the Leicester Mercury "I have been to way more than that. I missed mayor-making but it's more than two". The minutes of the meetings he was supposed to have attended show that he was absent from all but two of them. He has been paid over £2,750 per meeting which is pretty good going when you consider that that's at least £1,000 per hour for the average council meeting.

Cllr Neil Clayton, the leader of the Labour group on Leicester City Council, said there was no point taking the whip off Cllr Wann because he has already said he's going to step down at next year's elections.

UKIP Eastbourne donate £345 to local food bank

UKIP's Eastbourne branch has raised £345 for the local food bank through its regular quiz nights.

The branch holds a monthly quiz night and raises funds throughout the year for a chosen charity. Last year's charity was the Eastleigh Food Bank and they presented them with a cheque this week.

The branch is now looking for suggestions for a local charity to support for the coming year. If you live in the Eastbourne area you can email your suggestions to thornton.act@gmail.com.

Leicester Tory Councillor charged with assault

A Conservative County Councillor in Leicestershire has been charged with assaulting a woman just before the elections in May.

Cllr Tony Kershaw allegedly assaulted the woman in Anstey on May 2nd, an allegation he denies. His court hearing yesterday was adjourned to ensure that police and medical witnesses would be available.

UKIP Councillor tells residents not to be hostile toward Muslim school

Cllr Paul Godier

A UKIP Councillor in Portsmouth has welcomed an open day being organised by a new Muslim school in the city and said that people shouldn't be hostile towards it.

Cllr Paul Godier said:

No-one has the right to be hostile. I think we need a bit more education about what is going to be put there and what will be on offer. What I see of it is that it’s a school, an educational establishment. There’s news all over the place that these type of schools are struggling, but that’s the same with any school now. If it’s offering something a bit more than we should be welcoming it, as long as it fits in with the community.

Last year saw protests by the EDL and a pig's head left on a spike outside the school's back gates. The school lists disgraced Lib Dem MP, Mike Hancock, as one of its patrons although they may have ditched him since he admitted having an "inappropriate and unprofessional" relationship with a mentally ill teenager.

Surrey Conservative Councillor convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend

A Conservative Councillor on Spelthorne Borough Council and wannabe MP has been convicted on 5 counts of assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

Cllr Asif Ayub claimed that his pint-sized ex-girlfriend was the one abusing him but after hearing evidence to the contrary, including pictures he posted of himself on the Conservative Muslim Forum, the judge found him guilty on all 5 counts. Ayub had already been subject to a non-molestation order taken out by his ex-wife after he assaulted her in 2011.

EU Commission rules against Spain in Gibraltar reef dispute

The EU Commission has dismissed all of Spain's complaints about the artificial reef created in Gibraltarian waters which the Spanish government used as justification for a number of illegal incursions into Gibraltarian waters by Guardia Civil gunboats.

In the last 2 and a half years there have been over 600 illegal incursions into Gibraltarian waters by Spanish ships and the EU has stood by and let it happen. When the Spanish government stepped up border controls earlier this year in retaliation for refusing to stop construction of the artificial reef the EU insisted on sending inspectors to see what was going on - pre-announced of course - despite pictures of the huge queues and Spanish and Gibraltarian personal accounts being widely publicised all over the world. They of course saw nothing wrong when they turned up on the pre-arranged date so there were no consequences for the Spanish government.

It's refreshing to see the EU Commission actually side with the people of Gibraltar for once when it comes to Spanish harassment instead of just letting them get away with infringing on their sovereignty and damaging their economy. Now it's time the British government did their bit to protect Gibraltarian sovereignty and ordered the Royal Navy to board any Spanish ship in Gibraltar's waters and confiscate it, including Guardia Civil vessels.

You appear to be parked on our lawn

UKIP win Doncaster by-election

UKIP candidate Paul Bissett has taken a second seat on Doncaster Council in a by-election yesterday, beating the Labour candidate by 94 votes.

Paul joins UKIP councillor Fred Gee in representing the Edenthorpe, Kirk Sandall & Barnby Dun on Doncaster Council.

The Doncaster Branch of UKIP criticised the Labour Party for playing silly political games that have caused unnecessary expense for the taxpayers of Doncaster. The outgoing Labour councillor said they wanted to resign in January but stayed on for another 6 months to avoid losing the seat to UKIP in the May elections.

More Front Bench appointments

Another five new appointments have been made to the front bench with six previous spokesmen confirmed as keeping their portfolio.

Diane James MEP	Jane Collins MEP	Amjid Bashir MEP	Margot Parker MEP
Justice & Home Affairs	Employment	Communities	Small Business

Ray Finch MEP	Stuart Agnew MEP	Peter Whittle	Roger Helmer MEP
Fisheries	Agriculture	Culture	Energy

Andrew Charalambous	Cllr Peter Reeve	William Dartmouth MEP
Housing	Local Government	Trade

First six UKIP front bench appointments

UKIP have made 6 appointments so far to the new front bench team that is being put together ahead of next year's general election.

The team is looking good so far. Paul Nuttall's passion for education and its positive contribution to social mobility is well known and Mike Hookem served in the RAF and is still a Commando Engineer Reservist. Patrick O'Flynn wrote extensively on the economy during his tenure as political editor at the Daily Express, Steve Woolfe had a career providing legal advise to hedge funds before entering into politics and Jill Seymour has a wealth of experience in logistics from the manufacturing business she owns with her husband. Louise Bours' credentials on health are unclear but she is an extremely intelligent and sensible woman and will be a hugely valuable addition to the front bench team.

Paul Nuttall MEP	Louise Bours MEP	Mike Hookem MEP	Jill Seymour MEP
Education, Skills & Training	Health	Defence	Transport

Patrick O'Flynn MEP	Steven Woolfe MEP
Economy	Immigration & Financial Affairs

Labour MEP says people from white, rural backgrounds are racists

I came across a video today of a speech by UKIP MEP Louise Bours in the EU Parliament and the rather bad-tempered reaction to it from Labour's Julie Ward MEP.

Normally I would just chuckle to myself at the silly reaction of the Labour MEP but one thing that she said actually offended me. After listening to the video again I felt compelled to send her a message.

Dear Julie,

In the interests of full disclosure I will first tell you that I am a UKIP councillor in Shropshire but I hope you won't use this as a reason to avoid addressing my concerns about your comments in the EU Parliament about the artists co-operative you are involved with.

It works every summer with young people from across Europe using arts and culture as a means of bringing young people together so that they will understand why it's important that we are together, not apart and the young people who take part in these things have come from a white, rural monoculture you might think that they would be racist, that they would have opinions about their neighbours which are negative.

I grew up in Much Wenlock. You may have heard of it as the birthplace of the modern Olympics and it lent its name to one of the London 2012 mascots. Much Wenlock is a white, middle class rural town. There were two half caste girls who went to my school and for most of my childhood they were the sum total of my exposure to other cultures. When I was 14 or 15 a black family moved in to our street. They weren't there for long but we got on well with them while they lived there. This was the first black person I had ever spoken to. When I started working at the age of 17 whilst at college I had my first encounters with Asian people. This was my white, rural, monocultural upbringing.

When I was first able to vote I voted Labour like my parents. I helped Tony Blair sweep to power in 1997. I have never voted Conservative in my life and don't see myself ever doing so. I have some great black and Asian friends and have never felt a prejudice against anyone because of their colour, religion or ethnicity (not even the French). I resent the implication that because I had a white, rural, monocultural upbringing that I would be expected to be racist. I have encountered far more racism and prejudice since moving to an urban area with people who grew up with ethnic minorities in urban areas than I ever did in Much Wenlock. I find your comments offensive and I would like you to take back what you said.

Election promises turn to painful reality

Re-posted from our UKIP Hillingdon site, Labour campaigned extensively in Heathrow Villages and put out smear leaflets against our two candidates - Candidates who really do have a track record of campaigning for local issues and actually live in the ward that houses the UK's busiest airport.


Last Saturday (12th July) saw one of the first important Resident’s meetings in Heathrow Villages after the local elections on 22nd May, which returned sitting Councillor June Nelson in Heathrow Villages and saw Peter Money and Manjit Khatra join her as Labour took all three council seats.
UKIP ward representatives Bryan Tomlinson and Christine Taylor both regularly attend Resident’s meetings, and turned out on Saturday to see what ideas the new councillors would bring to the area. Below are their reports, which contrast the campaigning we saw before the elections with the reality we see now

Christine’s View
After being exposed as totally ignorant of important local issues, Heathrow Villages Councillor Manjit Khatra has offered to resign saying, “I’ll go away if you wish and you can get someone who knows.”

Cllr Khatra showed she was out of her depth at a public meeting on Saturday 12th July that she co-hosted with fellow newly-elected Labour Councillor, Peter Money.  The third Labour councillor, June Nelson, had booked St Mary’s Church Hall in Harmondsworth but did not turn up.

The congenial gathering turned into a Baptism of Fire when it became apparent that neither councillor could answer any of the residents’ questions.  The councillors’ responses left residents open-mouthed with disbelief.

Harmondsworth is one of the villages that would be destroyed if a third runway were built and the Labour councillors had been elected after their Heathrow-focused campaign  described them as “proven campaigners” and “Your Labour team lead fight for better not bigger Heathrow”, yet neither councillor could explain what these statements meant.  They were also clueless about basic information on the impact of Heathrow expansion.

Cllr Money said that “Better not Bigger” meant “more efficient”.  He is an airport worker and member of UNITE, which supports a third runway, but could not elaborate.  Neither councillor had ever heard of the 60-year-old Cranford Agreement, the ending of which is likely to significantly increase aircraft noise in the villages next year.

One resident had sent an informative letter to the councillors but this must have been ignored as both were mystified by the simplest questions on a topic such as pollution.

When asked what the councillors would do to help residents if a third runway was given the go-ahead, Cllr Khatra said there was nothing they could do as the decision is made higher up.  So much for being proven campaigners!

Cllr Khatra insisted she had attended a recent anti-runway meeting.  In fact, the confused councillor had actually attended a Neighbourhood Planning event that had nothing to do with runways.  Later, Cllr Khatra boasted that she is on a Hillingdon Council Planning committee, even though she cannot recognise a planning meeting even when she is sitting in one!

Uxbridge resident Cllr Khatra offered no explanation for her total lack of knowledge or interest in the area and became defensive, making derogatory comments about the residents.  Her fellow Councillor attempted to subdue her but, after losing all credibility,  Cllr Khatra offered to stand down to make way for someone who understands the issues.

At a crucial time when Heathrow Villages face the threat of mass destruction, it is vital that residents have representatives who can speak up for them.  After Cllr Khatra’s disgraceful performance at this meeting, residents should take up her offer to go – The sooner the better.

Bryan’s View
The new Labour councillors received a baptism of fire at their first residents meeting at St. Mary’s Church Hall in Harmondsworth . June Nelson did not turn up as usual and left Peter Money and Manjit Khatra to take all the flak.
The stormy meeting started amicably but descended into farce when residents questioned the Labour councillors’ support of Heathrow expansion and possible increased jobs at the expense of 950 homes in Harmondsworth, Longford and Sipson. *
After intense but fair questioning, the new Labour councillors admitted that they knew nothing about the effect on our community by Heathrow expansion. This caused uproar as the Labour councillors had been elected as “proven campaigners that will stand up for local residents”.

As pressure on the Labour councillors increased, Manjit Khatra offered her resignation as a councillor. Manjit Khatra accepted her lack of local knowledge was a hindrance to real No Third Runway campaigners and agreed we need better representation on the council. . We support Manjit’s resignation but her immediate promotion on to a Planning Committee sums up her priorities. No one ever got to live in a gated community in North Uxbridge by helping Heathrow Villagers.
I guarantee that Manjit Khatra and her Labour Party insist she stays on her Planning Committee and continues to alienate herself from half of the Heathrow Villages ward.

Peter Money admitted that he was a member of Unite and that he wanted to get on the Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee. Christine asked Peter some easy questions concerning pollution levels and it was obvious that Peter isn’t qualified to represent Heathrow Villagers on HACC.
Unite openly support Heathrow expansion and a third runway so Peter Money will be representing the airport and not representing his constituents. No thanks Peter.

Manjit and Peter have been asked to clarify their position on Heathrow expansion and report to us next month. Are they representing Heathrow Airport or representing Heathrow Villagers ?
Will Manjit disappear back to Uxbridge and will Peter resign from Unite ? Will June Nelson turn up or accept £200 in allowances for nothing ?
The first residents/councillors meeting offered more questions than answers.

* The official Heathrow figure is that 750 would go immediately. (By cutting the number by 200 and therefore “saving them”  they are saving the cost of giving them the top rate of “compensation”) In reality it would be 950 or more as you can’t reasonably expect to leave people in streets cut in half or without usable facilities.  Ultimately, many of those remaining would find it impossible to live between the two runways but might only qualify for assistance in moving – at best.  Many more people would feel forced to leave the area than is being estimated.  Many of these will have jobs in the area but they are not being considered.  There is no point having an airport-related job if there is nowhere to live.  

Common EU car number plates proposed

The EU Commission is considering proposals by a Dutch MEP to harmonise car numberplates across the EU and include ID tags on them.

The leader of the eurofederalist Tories, Syed Kamall, said that he will oppose the plans:

We aim to keep our number plates just as they are, thank you.

You can bet your life the common design would incorporate the EU flag. The eurocrats have failed to force us to put their symbol on our sports shirts or to fly it above our public buildings...now they are trying make it compulsory on our cars.

The Tories have shown how ineffectual they are in the EU, no matter how much grandstanding they do. Jean Claude Juncker has just been appointed president of the EU Commission despite David Cameron promising to block his appointment. David Cameron is telling the public that he's negotiating "reform" of the EU and will take back powers but in November 43 national vetoes will be abolished and the Home Secretary recently opted back in to 35 common justice and police measures.

Kamall and his fellow eurofederalist Conservative MEPs can oppose the plans all they want but they'll go ahead regardless and they'll be implemented by a compliant, nodding dog British government. The only way to stop things like this happening is to leave the EU and with yesterday's appointment of eurofederalist peer, Lord Hill, as EU Commissioner the Tories have jumped even further into the pro-EU camp. The only way we will leave the EU is with UKIP MPs in Westminster.

Farage says pay MPs more if they do more work

Nigel Farage has sparked controversy by telling LBC that he would be happy for MPs to be paid as much as £100k if we leave the EU.

Most of the controversy has arisen from deliberate misrepresentation by the left wing papers who are telling readers that Farage says MPs deserve a pay rise which isn't actually what he said.

What he said was:

Given that 75% of our laws are now made in Brussels and actually apart from the weekly theatre of Prime Minister's questions... I see no argument for increasing MPs' pay at the moment because they haven't got the responsibility.

[...]

If we had a sovereign parliament that actually ran this country and was directly responsible for the rules and regulations that controlled our industries, that determined whether we succeeded or failed in the world, I would have no problem in paying MPs more.

If we paid MPs the same as the local headmaster of the local comprehensive, that would be about right. It would be £90,000 to £100,000.

What he says is absolutely right and certainly not at odds with UKIP's small state, anti-troughing politicians philosophy. Nor is it likely to be linked to Farage's intention to stand as an MP next year given that he has stood in every general election since 1997 with no mention of increasing MPs' salaries. If he was only interested in the money he wouldn't have swapped his well paid city job for the rather more modest salary of an MEP (roughly the same salary as a British MP, not this mythical £2m figure the papers like to throw about) and spent a small fortune on political campaigning and elections. Contrary to the rich banker on the gravy train image that the media like to portray, Farage is actually a very generous man who spends a lot of his own money supporting good causes and UKIP members. He's also never been a banker, incidentally.

What Farage actually says (as you can see for yourself above) is that MPs don't deserve to be paid any more money while the EU makes three quarters of our laws but if we leave the EU and an MP's workload quadruples then he would have no problem with MPs getting a 33k pay rise in return for the 300% increase in the amount of work they do. And who can argue with that logic?

UKIP Rotherham councillor offers to give up allowances to save children's centres

The leader of the UKIP group on Rotherham MBC has offered to give up nearly £12k of his allowances to help save children's centres.

Cllr Cavan Vines said he would give up the £10,723k allowance he gets as leader of the opposition and £1k from his councillor's allowance to help fund the 10 children's centre faced with closure if other councillors would do the same. They all refused.

UKIP committee members in the EU Parliament

One of the reasons why it's so important to form a group in the EU Parliament is that it increases the number of inside men (and women) we have on committees, seeing first hand what is working its way through the bureaucratic mess that passes for a legislative system and having the opportunity to filter out some of the more dangerous and outrageous suggestions before they get to the puppet parliament.

Here are the committee appointments for UKIP members of the EFDD group:

Committee	Member 1	Member 2
Foreign Affairs	Jim Carver
Development	Nathan Gill
International Trade	William Dartmouth
Budgets	Jonathan Arnott
Budgetary Control	Jonathan Arnott
Economic & Monetary Affairs	Patrick O'Flynn	Steve Woolfe
Employment & Social Affairs	Jane Collins
Industry, Research & Energy	Roger Helmer
Internal Market & Consumer Protection	Amjid Bashir	Margot Parker
Transport & Tourism	Jill Seymour
Regional Development	Bill Etheridge	Julia Reid
Agriculture & Rural Development	Stuart Agnew
Fisheries	David Coburn	Ray Finch
Culture & Education	Louise Bours
Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs	Gerard Batten
Women's Rights & Gender Equality	Margot Parker
Petitions	Tim Aker
Human Rights	Amjad Bashir
Security & Defence	Mike Hookem

Green councillor calls soldiers "hired killers"

Green Councillor, Ben Duncan, issued half an apology at the weekend for making offensive comments on Twitter on Armed Forces Day.

On Armed Forces Day on Saturday, Cllr Duncan - a Green Party councillor in Brighton - tweeted:

Armed Forces Day has certainly brought the hired killers onto the streets of Brighton today. Hard to explain to my son!

He apologised after his comments attracted widespread criticism but only for being "insensitive" to families who have lost relatives, not for branding all soldiers "hired killers" which he apparently still stands by.

UKIP MEPs turn their backs on the EU flag and anthem

Whilst MEPs from across the continent stood in reverential silence facing the EU flag while a live orchestra played the EU's national anthem, UKIP MEPs stood with their backs turned in an act of defiance against the corrupt, illegitimate federal superstate.

Conservative MEPs merely sat in silence wishing they had the balls (and permission from Dave) to do something that people would notice.