Bristol school apologise for describing UKIP as racist

A school in Bristol have apologised after including UKIP in a list of racist organisations which they were likening to Hitler and the Nazis.

Pupils at the Bridge Learning Campus were being taught about racism and the teacher had prepared a presentation for them. One of the slides listed UKIP alongside the BNP, English Defence League, National Front and Neo Nazis whilst telling the children that people who are members of those organisations are racists.

This isn't the first time teachers have let their personal prejudices spill over into the classroom and it's unlikely to be the last. The education system has a distinct left wing bias and it's not uncommon to find Che Guevara posters in schools where some teachers consider the mass murdering communist terrorist to be a role model. However, it's not acceptable for teachers to inflict their extremist views on children and it's good to see the school recognise that and issue an apology.

Leader of Slough Conservatives defects to UKIP

The Leader of Slough Conservatives has defected to UKIP.

Cllr Diana Coad has been the Conservative councillor for Langley St Mary's since 2006 but says that under David Cameron the Conservative Party has lost its traditional beliefs.

Bradford Conservative councillor defects to UKIP

A Conservative councillor in Bradford has defected to UKIP.

Cllr Michael McCabe has been a Conservative councillor for Thornton & Allerton ward for 10 years. His defection means there are now two UKIP councillors in Bradford.

Green Party's citizens income policy "unworkable"

The Green Party's "citizens income" policy that would see everyone in the country guaranteed a minimum income of £72 per week has been described as "unworkable" by an economic think tank.

The Citizen's Income Trust said that the policy would cost the British Treasury about £280bn and would leave the poorest in society worse off than they currently are. After nearly four years under a Tory government, making poor people poorer is quite an achievement.

Looks like this is another one to add to the growing list of deluded and dangerous Green policies.

Conservative councillor in Bracknell defects to UKIP

A Conservative councillor in Bracknell has defected to UKIP.

Cllr Will Davison, who represents Hanworth ward on Bracknell Forest Council, had become "increasingly disenchanted" with the Tories and announced his defection at a public meeting last night.

Cllr Davison's defection will make the UKIP group the second largest on the council, making UKIP the official opposition.

Yellow Belly Dave finds another excuse to bottle out of TV debates

Yellow Belly Cameron is still trying to bottle out of the televised leaders' debates by demanding the TV companies invite more party leaders to take part.

Cameron's first excuse for bottling it was that the Greens weren't invited. He said that you can't invite some "minor parties" like UKIP and the Lib Dems (two of the four parties that OFCOM have ruled are major parties) and not others and he wouldn't take part because it wasn't fair.

So the TV companies hedged their bets and invited not only the Green Party but the SNP and Plaid Cymru as well to the first two debates which made a slightly farcical 7 parties involved in the TV debates, two of which only contest elections in Scotland and Wales. Now he's demanding that the DUP be invited to represent Northern Ireland because it's not fair that Scotland and Wales will be represented in the debates but not Northern Ireland.

He's got a point about it being unfair but the answer isn't to drag an eighth party in to make sure Northern Ireland is represented, the answer is to include only the parties that have a chance of winning a seat in the British parliament and are contesting elections in at least three of the member states of the UK. There is already a separate Scottish leaders' debate planned so do the same for Wales and Northern Ireland with the parties that have a chance of winning seats there and then there's no need for the UK leaders' debate to descend into farce.

Cameron isn't interested in what's "fair", he doesn't want the debates to take place. If he has no way of squirming out of taking part he wants to get as many parties into the first two debates as possible so hardly anyone gets a chance to say anything and half of what is said is irrelevant because of devolution. He wants the SNP and Plaid and the Greens involved to saturate the left wing representation on the debates. The DUP will make no difference to any of the other parties because Northern Irish politics is so completely alien to English, Scottish and Welsh politics and only UKIP contest elections in Northern Ireland (the NI and Scottish Green Parties are separate parties to the Green Party of England & Wales).

Demanding the DUP be involved is just Cameron making unreasonable demands on the TV companies so he can try and get out of the debates. The TV companies should go back to the original plan of just the four major parties (or the four major parties plus the Greens) and  empty chair Cameron if he doesn't turn up. If he wants an excuse not to take part then give him an excuse.

Survation predicts 16 seats for UKIP

UKIP could win 16 seats in May according to a Survation poll for the Mirror.

The poll puts the Conservatives on 31%, Labour on 30% and UKIP on 23%. The Lib Dems lead the minor parties on 7%, the SNP are on 5% and the Greens are on 3%.

Despite polling less than a third of UKIP's projected share of the vote, the analysis suggests that the Lib Dems would win 27 seats compared to 16. The first past the post system really should have been thrown out by now and replaced with a system that reflects how people actually vote.

The seats they predict turning purple are:

• Waveney
• Wyre Forest
• Rother Valley
• Plymouth Moor View
• Walsall North
• St Austell and Newquay
• Dudley North
• Camborne and Redruth
• Cannock Chase
• Great Grimsby
• Great Yarmouth
• Heywood and Middleton
• Thanet South
• Rochester and Strood
• Thurrock
• Clacton

The polling analysis shows that UKIP threatens Labour and the Conservatives in equal measures. UKIP are predicted to take 7 seats off the Conservatives, 6 off Labour, 1 off the Lib Dems and hold the 2 seats that already have UKIP MPs.

Victory for Syriza in Greek elections

The anti-austerity Syriza party looks to have won the Greek elections by a sizeable margin.

Exit polls suggest that Syriza got between 36% and 38% of the vote with second placed New Democracy trailing by 10%. Syriza's vote share means they will secure between 149 and 151 seats and they need the 151 for an outright majority. Just over 40% of the votes have been counted so far.

Syriza is a soft eurosceptic party, opposed to EU austerity and the German takeover of the EU. They support continued membership of the €uro but not at the expense of Greek sovereignty.

There are going to be some sleepless nights in presidential palaces across Europe tonight.

Hinkley Conservative councillor sent racist and sexist jokes

A Conservative councillor in Leicestershire has been forced to apologise for emailing racist and sexist jokes to colleagues.

Cllr Peter Batty, a Hinckley & Bosworth borough and Groby parish councillor, forwarded "funny" emails about Indian taxi drivers, Jews and Irish people to his colleagues. One of the emails contained the word "nigger". Cllr Batty is leader of the Conservative group on the borough council.

Independent Powys councillor, Myfanwy Alexander, resigned as deputy leader of the council after using the same word in a council meeting. Cllr Batty should take a leaf out of her book and do the honourable thing.

Putting the Queen in a council house, legalising terrorism and abolishing the army - the delusional and dangerous Green manifesto

The leader of the Green Party, Natalie Bennett, says that if her party was in government they would abolish the monarchy and move the Queen into a council house.

The Australian republican leader of the Greens, who has never won an election, goes on to say that they would embark on a programme of wealth redistribution and want to "restructure society". Bennett says that they will force companies like Amazon to pay more tax even though they are absolutely committed to staying in the EU who made the laws that the likes of Amazon use to avoid paying tax. Bennett has also said that they would decriminalise membership of terrorist organisations, the number of prison sentences given out would be "significantly reduced" and the armed forces will be disbanded and their bases turned into nature reserves.

This is why it's a good thing that the Greens are going to be on the televised debates in the run up to the election because as soon as you scratch away at the environmentalist surface, you uncover a manifesto that is as insane as something the Monster Raving Loony Party would come up with. It's funny when the Loony's do it though because they don't expect it to be taken seriously and don't fool voters into thinking they're not a bunch of schizophrenic, far left control freaks.

The Greens aren't just deluded, they're dangerous.

Amjad Bashir MEP defects back to the Tories

Yorkshire & Humber MEP, Amjad Bashir, has resigned from UKIP and gone back to the Conservatives after being suspended over serious concerns about alleged financial and employment law offences.

David Cameron has said that he is "delighted" to welcome Bashir to the party but he might not be delighted for much longer if the allegations against him are true. The party have forwarded evidence from its investigation into Bashir to the police, It is unknown whether the alleged employment law offences relate to the immigration raid on one of his restaurants in 2013 which resulted in the arrest of 7 people.

Bashir isn't expected to honour the pledge he signed before the election to resign as an MEP if he resigned from the party.

Here are some of Bashir's recent comments about his new boss:

The public is angry with his party’s commitment to give 0.7% of our gross national income in foreign aid but Cameron stubbornly won’t back down on it, unusually for a man who has happily reneged on pledges on other issues.

David Cameron set the target to show the Conservatives are not the ‘nasty party’ but instead it shows they are the short sighted party.

David Cameron’s plans for countering British jihadis are like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

David Cameron has thrown a number of options into the air in a desperate bid to save his own skin but like so many spinning plates they will all come crashing to the ground in pieces.

David Cameron still bottling out of TV debates

David Cameron has told the BBC, Sky, Channel 4 and ITV that he won't be "bounced" into televised election debates by them agreeing to do what he said they had to do for him to appear in the televised election debates.

Cameron bottled out of going head to head with Nigel Farage live on TV using the excuse that the Greens weren't invited to take part. He said if one minor party was invited then all the minor parties should be invited to take part. He specifically named the Lib Dems and UKIP as minor parties despite OFCOM ruling that both are major parties and should have the same amount of regulated media time as the Tories and Labour.

The four broadcasters responsible for the televised debates have announced changes to the format of the debates to accommodate David Cameron's diva demands and have invited the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party to the first two debates with a third one reserved just for him and David Miliband's brother. But despite caving in to demands, Yellow Dave is still trying to bottle out of the debates.

If Yellow Dave doesn't turn up, the broadcaster have said they will replace him with an empty chair.

Lib Dem councillor defects to UKIP

Earlier this week we reported that Shepshed Lib Dem town councillor, Diane Horn, had defected to UKIP. She has now spoken to the press to explain her reasons.

Cllr Horn said she was "no longer sure what the Lib Dems represent" and said had become so disillusioned with the party she had lost all her energy. Her disappointment with the party she had represented for the last 8 and a half years is obvious in her comments to the Loughborough Echo.

Many moons ago Britain managed on its own without the EU and they want to make sure the people of England are put first. I did think about standing down altogether but when I got speaking to UKIP, I thought "why waste the nine and a half years you have put into this."

I was tired and had lost all my energy and was frustrated by what was going on and it has given me a new lease of life.

Cllr Horn will be standing for UKIP in the upcoming elections in May.

UKIP MPs cast deciding votes on bill to outlaw wind turbine subsidies

UKIP's two MPs cast the deciding votes in a 10 minute rule bill yesterday to outlaw state subsidies for wind turbines.

Had it not been for Douglas Carswell and Mark Reckless, the bill would have been rejected and an opportunity to stop the wasteful subsidy of windmills for rich landowners and big multi-national corporations would have been missed. The bill passed by 59 votes to 57.

10 minute rule bills are heard after PMQs when most MPs are in the Commons but only 116 MPs remained. Mark Reckless had to try 5 times yesterday during PMQs to ask David Cameron why he wouldn't take part in TV debates because MPs were noisily groaning to drown him out. It would appear that MPs are worried about UKIP upsetting their cosy consensus and this is their childish response.

Daily Mirror ramps up its smearfest against UKIP

In the Mirror today a poor and shoddy journalist by the name of Jack Blanchard has run a story entitled:

Nigel Farage admits Ukip is NOT a credible party and has not been honest with voters

In this article, he is claiming he has got hold of leaked minutes which state Nigel is in a panic and other manure of that nature.

Here is a couple of excerpts:

He told UKIP chums the party had a “problem” due to a raft of unaffordable pledges including tax cuts, and extra cash for police.
“We are not passing the credibility test as a party,” said Mr Farage, who has repeatedly claimed UKIP is always honest with voters.
UKIP deputy chairman Neil Hamilton – the disgraced ex-Tory MP – warned colleagues:
“This is the last time we can get away with this.
 "We can say anything on the doorstep. “But on television we will have some pretty searching questions to answer.”

 At the meeting, in April 2013, a panicking Mr Farage agreed voters are starting to see through UKIP’s endless unfunded promises.

Then went on to state:

The minutes state: “NF (Nigel Farage) thinks we cannot talk about council tax cuts and spending more on policing etc all at the same time.

“We are setting ourselves up for a fall.

“His problem is that we are promising the earth to everybody.”

The minutes go on: “NF feels we are not passing the credibility test as a party."

UKIP claimed it had “taken on board” Mr Farage’s warnings and changed its ways.

Labour MP Sarah Champion said the damaging leak lays bare the truth behind UKIP’s public charade.

“This is absolutely typical of UKIP politicians who say one thing on the telly but have entirely different views in private,” she blasted.

Well, I am so sorry to have to tell you Labour/Lib/Con/Green types 

UKIP and Nigel Farage publicly disowned that manifesto from 2010 last year (20140 claiming it was rubbish and not fit for purpose.

Whoever is your supposed leak needs to get a life and stop with the sour grapes after being either expelled or deselected for not passing the stringent tests our candidates have to take to stand for UKIP

Another poor journalistic piece from a Left-leaning rag whose poor and shoddy journalists are digging through piles of manure and bull faeces for any story they can use to TRY and smear UKIP.

Sorry chaps, it is not working.

Carswell dismisses rift rumours as "mischief making"

Douglas Carswell has told the media to stop "mischief making" about his relationship with Nigel Farage.

Rumours were circulating yesterday (almost certainly from the anti-UKIP "research" team in CCHQ who have been running the dirty campaign against UKIP since 2013) that there is a rift between Douglas Carswell and Nigel Farage. The rumours were dismissed yesterday by Farage and then again last night by Carswell. Even their families have been spending time together apparently.

We can expect more of this sort of thing as the election gets closer and the Tories and Labour become increasingly desperate.

Daily Express: 80% want to quit the EU

Labour mayor of Bishop Auckland defects to UKIP

The Labour mayor of Bishop Auckland has defected to UKIP.

Cllr Colin Race announced his defection at a meeting of Bishop Auckland Town Council today and heaped criticism on his former colleagues in the Labour Party.

Year-on-year it has become increasingly clear that Labour are neglecting voters and taking us all for granted.

The Labour Party that I once knew – the party that stuck up for the working families, is no more. We have a cosy consensus of politicians in Westminster who spend more time patting each other on the back, than representing the people who pay their wages at the end of the month.

Here in the North East we have the highest rates of unemployment in the country, how are my kids meant to get a job when our political class support open door mass immigration from 27 other EU member states?

Corby Conservatives expel councillor for defying London

Corby Conservatives have expelled one of their councillors from the Conservative group on the borough council for defying an order from London to vote against fire service cuts.

Cllr Stan Heggs chose to vote in favour of replacing a fire engine with a smaller Cobra appliance when he had been instructed to vote against it. The Conservatives - like Labour and the Lib Dems - have a whipping system that means even town and parish councillors are told how to vote by their party's head office in London and by the whips in their own constituency association. Cllr Heggs has defied orders to vote against any perceived cuts in emergency services after being forced to sign a "blue light promise" along with every other Conservative who wants to stand for election anywhere in the country.

UKIP has no whipping system and all elected UKIP representatives at any level are encouraged to vote according to their conscience and what is right for the people they represent rather than what the party thinks they should do.

Guardian validates UKIP's concerns over immigrant benefits

The Guardian have helpfully verified that the UK is keeping far more than our fair share of people on benefits.

Research by the Guardian has found that 29k UK nationals are claiming unemployment benefits in other EU countries but almost 69k EU immigrants are claiming unemployment benefits here. The Guardian have tried to spin the statistics to support unlimited immigration by cherry picking the facts they want readers to pay attention to and ignoring the inconvenient truths.

According to the Guardian's figures, there are 29,095 UK nationals claiming unemployment benefits in other EU member states. That's an average of 1.078 unemployment benefit claimants for each of the other 27 EU member states. At the same time, there were 64,830 EU immigrants claiming unemployment benefits in the UK. That's 6000% more unemployment benefit claimants from the EU claiming in the UK than unemployment benefit claimants from the UK claiming in the EU. There are more people from Portugal and Poland claiming unemployment benefits in the UK than there are people from the UK claiming unemployment benefits in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden combined.

Of course, unemployment benefits are just a small part of the problem. There are no statistics on people claiming child benefits and tax credits but we know that £600k a week is being paid out in child benefit to people living in other EU member states with three quarters of that going to people living in Poland. There are also no statistics on how many people who already live in the UK are claiming unemployment benefits because they can't find a job because most new jobs go to newly arrived immigrants.

Uncontrolled immigration from the EU has been bad for the economy and bad for society. There have apparently been 2m private sector jobs created in the last 4 years. A lot of those are part time jobs but it's still hundreds of thousands of full time equivalent jobs. There are 1.9m unemployed people living in the UK and there shouldn't be. Jobs are being created but most of them aren't taken by unemployed people already living here, they're being taken by newly arrived immigrants. The more people there are on benefits, the higher taxes need to be to pay for them and the less money people have to spend stimulating the economy and creating more jobs.

Brighton Greens trying to depose leader

The end of Brighton & Hove Green Party's brief but disastrous reign in the twin city is being marked by a coup against leader, Jason Kitcat.

Several Green councillors have stood down in the face of electoral oblivion in May, including their leader. The Spectator subsequently described Brighton as "an object lesson in why it is a disaster to vote Green".

The local weirdy beardies got together for a glass or two of Victory Gin and urged their leader to take a break and hand over the reins to someone who "has a stake in the election".

Spelthorne Borough Council vote to keep councillor who lives in India

Spelthorne Borough Council have voted to allow a Conservative councillor to keep his seat even though he has lived in India for the last 6 months.

Cllr Dipak Gohil hasn't attended a council meeting for 6 months and should have been removed as a councillor under the Local Government Act but the council voted to grant him a leave of absence which allows him to keep his seat. His Tory colleagues said that he can be contacted by phone, fax and email in India so residents are still getting adequate representation.

Last month the Conservative leader of Spelthorne Borough Council hit the headlines after he was challenged by the father of a boy killed during the 2013 floods for laughing whilst he was addressing the council about his son's death. In July last year another Conservative Spelthorne councillor was convicted of five counts of assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

Spelthorne Conservatives have a serious credibility problem at the moment and voting to keep one of their councillors on the payroll when he's living 5,000 miles away isn't going to do them any favours.

Two councillors resign over filming of council meetings

Two Stapleford town councillors have resigned from the council after a residents group started filming their council meetings.

Cllrs Caroline Bartliff and Mark Elvin both said they had no option to resign because of the filming but don't appear to have explained what the impact on their lives that the filming causes actually is. They haven't attended council meetings for six months since the filming started and have left it too late to resign for a by-election to be called as fresh elections will be held in May. Presumably they continued to claim their allowances whilst taking this stand against democracy,

Council meetings are public meetings and anyone is entitled to attend. Prior to a legislation change last year, councils were allowed to refuse permission to record meetings but they are no longer allowed to ban recording of council meetings. The rules allowing members of the public and press to be excluded from a meeting where confidential matters are being discussed remain in place do there are no privacy issues.

There is no reasonable argument against the filming of a council meeting. Residents can attend council meetings and filming them just means they are accessible to more residents than those that are able to get to the meeting when it happens.

Inverness councillor makes anti-Jewish comments in council meeting

An independent Inverness councillor has been called on to resign after making inappropriate comments against Jews in a debate about a Tesco store closing in Holm.

During the council meeting Cllr Norrie Donald said:

I’ve heard Tesco is owned by a Jewish family who live in the lap of luxury in Switzerland.

I’m not concerned about Tesco closing down in the slightest. I’d be quite happy to see stores close down all over the country.

When he was challenged by the Inverness Courier he made further inappropriate comments about Jews and said that they were off the record because he didn't want to come across as anti-Jewish.

Labour Councillors' law firm paid employee less than minimum wage

A law firm owned by two Labour councillors in Coventry has been taken to a tribunal for paying an employee just £2.97 per hour.

Deputy leader of Coventry City Council, Cllr Phil Townshend and fellow councillor, Abdul Khan, paid a litigation assistant just £20 a day for two years through their law firm, The Law Partnership Solicitors LLP. They agreed to pay him £4,000 following a preliminary hearing last year but Aaron Matthews claims they owe him £9,995 in unpaid wages.

Cllr Townshend's previous law firm, Townshends LLP, went into liquidation two years ago owing £339k to the taxman so he joined Khan's firm as a partner. One of the key pledges of his Labour administration is to tackle poverty caused by low wages.

Lib Dem councillor in Leicestershire defects to UKIP

Leicestershire Lib Dem councillor, Diane Horn, has defected to UKIP.

NTU Student Union bans UKIP society

Nottingham Trent University Student Union has banned Young Independence members from forming a UKIP society in the university.

Despite meeting all the rules for forming the society, the Student Union - a million pound business - has refused permission to set up the society and has so far declined to give a reason. They talk a lot about democracy on their website but the democratic process doesn't apply to UKIP, just the prejudices of the board of the student union.

Nigel Farage's letter to yellow belly Dave

Nigel Farage has written an open letter to David Cameron telling him to stop trying to chicken out of the televised leaders' debates and that if he does chicken out the other leaders will be pressing the media to continue without him.

Dear David

In 2010 the televised leaders’ debates provided an unprecedented opportunity for voters to see the party leaders debate the critical issues facing our country. The debates were watched by more than 20 million people and enthusiastically endorsed by all those who took part, including yourself.

In recent days, you have announced that you are unwilling to take part in debates as proposed by the main broadcasters for the 2015 General Election. I believe it would be a major setback to our democratic processes if these debates were not repeated in 2015 because of one politician’s unwillingness to participate.

I hope you will agree that the decision as to who should take part in the televised debates should not be in the hands of any party leader, each of whom inevitably has their own political interests to defend. It must be a decision independently and objectively arrived at.

As you know, the broadcasters, who have strict obligations of political impartiality under the BBC Charter or their Ofcom licences, have together made such an objective determination. While each of the other parties invited to take part in the debates has their own views on the proposal and the levels of participation offered and will continue to make their case in this regard, we all accept the independence and impartiality of the broadcasters and have committed to take part in the debates.

It would be unacceptable if the political self-interest of one party leader were to deny the public the opportunity to see their leaders debate in public. Therefore, if you are unwilling to reconsider, the three party leaders who have committed to participate will ask the broadcasters to press ahead with the debates and provide an empty podium should you have a last minute change of heart.

These debates are not the property of the politicians and I do not believe the public will accept lightly the prospect of any politician seeking to block them.

Yours sincerely

Nigel Farage Leader, United Kingdom Independence Party

UKIP MEP subjected to racial abuse

UKIP MEP for the West Midlands, Jim Carver, has been subjected to racial abuse on Twitter.

Carver, who has Roma heritage, has been called a "pikey" in relation to his Roma background. West Mercia Police are investigating.

As well as questioning my parentage, the word 'pikey', which is deeply offensive to members of Roma, gypsy and traveller communities, was used against me.

The public must comprehend that the everyday use of this word only serves to further stigmatise these forgotten communities. It is as offensive as racist expletives that are used against other minorities.

New allegations against Lutfur Rahman in Tower Hamlets election fraud investigation

The net is closing in on Tower Hamlets mayor, Lutfur Rahman and the Tower Hamlets First Party.

Police have been investigating elections in Tower Hamlets since at least 2010 because of allegations of fraud and corruption. The allegations of electoral fraud were historically made against Labour but when Lutfur Rahman left Labour to set up his own party, the alleged fraud followed him to Tower Hamlets First.

An investigation by auditors PwC found evidence of widespread cronyism and dubious business decisions benefiting Rahman's supporters, prompting the Department for Culture & Local Government to appoint a Chief Executive and commissioners to run the council.

New allegations have been made against Rahman and other Tower Hamlets First councillors and officials that 30 council employees were taken to a meeting at a Bangladeshi restaurant and threatened to sack them if they didn't collect 100 fraudulent postal votes for Lutfur Rahman. These will be heard along with the existing allegations of vote rigging, fraudulent vote counting, ballot stuffing, voter intimidation and exercising spiritual influence.

New EU VAT regulations are putting companies out of businesses

More than 200 companies have told the EU VAT Action website that they've been forced to close because of new regulations that require anyone selling digital products such as music or eBooks to register for VAT.

The new EU regulations that were supposed to stop big companies like Amazon and Google exploiting existing EU regulations that allow them to pass on cost savings from low VAT regimes in other EU countries to consumers has only mildly inconvenienced the likes of Amazon whilst putting a number of micro businesses out of business.

It looks like the Napoleons have finally found a way of defeating this nation of shopkeepers.

SNP says Labour is committed to £20bn of cuts and NHS privatisation

EU Commission bankrupts Cyprus Airways

The EU competition commissioner has forced Cyprus Airways out of business by telling it to repay £50m she considers to be illegal state aid.

Cyprus Airways is 93% owned by the Cypriot government and has struggled to stem losses in recent years. The EU Commission will only allow a government to bail out a company - even one it is majority shareholder in - once in 10 years and ruled that Cyprus Airways has to pay back the money it got in the last financial year, bankrupting the company.

Only in the EU could the person responsible for increasing competition deliberately bankrupt a business, putting more than 1,200 out of a job and reducing competition and still be doing their job.

Chick chick chick chick Cameron

The UK has almost 70% of Europe's fishing grounds but only 13% of the quota

North East Conference - 7th February at Hartlepool Borough Hall

Hartlepool’s Borough Hall will play host to the most exciting North East conference to date, with many high profile speakers lined up to take part in the days events.

Some of the confirmed speakers include Party Leader Nigel Farage MEP, Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall MEP and UKIP's Communities spokesman Amjad Bashir.

Parliamentary candidates from across the North East region, along with the North East MEP, will be available for all delegates to speak with and ask their questions. A buffet lunch with drinks will be provided for all delegates at lunch time and the licensed bar will be available during the day.

Click here for more details.

EU withdrawal: Facts not fiction at Macron Stadium, Horwich

LibDemVoice likens Charlie Hebdo victims to KKK and EDL

While people all over the world came together to express their solidarity with the victims of the fatal attack on the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo and Parisians in general who were living in fear of further attacks, LibDemVoice got on with the important business of likening the murdered Charlie Hebdo writers to the KKK and the EDL.

Charlie Hebdo was, and is, a racist, xenophobic and bigoted  publication. Sometimes it attacked powerful targets like the Catholic Church but it was largely white men attacking powerless, marginalised and oppressed groups in France, especially Muslims who face horrific levels of discrimination. That’s not "satire", it’s bullying.

[...]

Imagine if something similar, god forbid, had happened to the EDL or Anjem Choudary’s group who protest the funerals of dead soldiers. Imagine if a KKK organisation in the US had been bombed. Would people really be saying, without even thinking about who they’re endorsing, “I am the EDL”, “I am Choudary” or “I am KKK”?

Charlie Hebdo published things that they knew would incense some Muslims. They did it expecting to offend people and expecting a backlash. They also published things that they knew would incense some Christians and Jews, white and black people, politicians and public figures. They did it because they can and because it's important in a healthy democracy that someone is pushing the boundaries. What they wouldn't have expected is for a small group of Muslim extremists to walk into their offices and start shooting people and then lay siege to a factory full of people demanding to get away with it.

You'd have thought that even the most limp lefty liberal would find it impossible to attack the dead victims of religious extremists but it would appear that nothing is beyond the pale for hand-wringing Lib Dems.

Hat-tip: Guido

OFCOM consulting on proposal to designate UKIP as major party for 2015 elections

OFCOM is consulting on proposals to designate UKIP as a major party for the 2015 general election and the local elections in England.

The LibLabCon parties will be working together to try and prevent this and deprive UKIP of the same level of media coverage that they will get in the run up to May so it's important that as many people as possible respond to the consultation to give their views. The evidence for UKIP's designation as a major party is overwhelming - we have won Westminster by-elections in 2014, came first in the EU elections in 2014 and over the last two or three years have made significant gains at all levels of local government, forming the official opposition in a number of primary local authorities. UKIP has representation at all levels of government - local, devolved and national - and in all four member states of the UK.

Click here to respond to the consultation.

Lib Dems have only selected 266 general election candidates

Senior Lib Dems are concerned that they have only managed to select 266 candidates for the general election this year, making them look like they're no longer a national party.

Last time round the Lib Dems managed to field what passes for a full slate of candidates for the old parties - 631 candidates in England, Scotland and Wales. This time round and with only 4 months until the election, they've selected just over two fifths of that figure. Even the Greens have managed to scrape together 310 candidates and they struggle to find candidates for by-elections, let alone general elections.

UKIP have selected 358 candidates so far - 55% of the party's 650 target which would see a UKIP candidate stand in every constituency in the UK. The Conservatives have selected 471 candidates and Labour have selected 606.

Stratford Conservative councillor defects to UKIP

Stratford Conservative councillor, Paul Oakley, has defected to UKIP.

Cllr Oakley, who represents Tanworth-in-Arden on Stratford District Council, says that he has been finding it increasingly difficult to represent his constituents whilst being forced to toe the party line.

Increasingly, the people of the district and county need a fresh alternative voice with some possibility of building coherent and sensible policies.

I want to represent the views of the silent majority. Close to 70 per cent of people in the district do not live in Stratford town or a large market town.

But this majority from the small villages and hamlets, the green belt and areas of outstanding natural beauty will bear the brunt of much development with little say. 

Tories select Tolhurst to lose against Mark Reckless again

The Conservatives have selected Kelly Tolhurst to fight Mark Reckless MP for the Rochester & Strood seat in May.

The Rochester & Strood by-election was UKIP's second by-election victory in 2014 and Tolhurst threw away a 21% Tory majority to lose by almost 3,000 votes, or 7.3%. This is one the Tories will be desperate to take back because Mark Reckless has nothing like the personal vote Douglas Carswell had in Clacton so they'll see it as Conservative -v- UKIP rather than Tolhurst -v- Reckless.

Devon County Council release critical child abuse report on Christmas eve

Devon County Council has tried to bury a report criticising their failures to tackle child abuse by publishing it on Christmas eve.

The report says that children are being abused on a daily basis in Devon but the police and the council have an unsatisfactory lack of information on it.

The Lib Dems say they were given verbal assurances that the conservative leadership of the council wouldn't try to bury the report by releasing it over Christmas.

Labour councillor suspended for retweeting doctored Auschwitz propaganda poster

Labour councillor, Rosemary Healey, has been suspended for retweeting a doctored Tory propaganda poster featuring an image of Auschwitz.

The original poster was released by the Conservative Party a couple of days ago featuring the slogan "Let's stay on the road to a stronger economy". They were widely mocked when it transpired that the road they used in their poster is actually in German, not the UK but one left wing activist took it too far, doctoring the poster to replace the road with the entrance to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Cllr Healey thought it most amusing and decided to retweet it, prompting the Labour Party to suspend her.

David Cameron and Angela Merkel reiterate their commitment to unlimited immigration

David Cameron and Angela Merkel have made a joint statement today reiterating their commitment to unlimited immigration from EU countries and ruling out the treaty changes needed to carry out Cameron's promised repatriation of powers.

Just three months ago David Cameron told the Conservative Party conference that ending unlimited immigration from the EU was "at the very heart" of his renegotiation deal, Today he's committed to keeping it going. He has promised to repatriate powers back from the EU on employment and social policy, including benefits but today he and Angela Merkel agreed that the EU treaty changes needed to make it happen aren't going to happen.

All this talk of renegotiation has just been a diversion to keep Conservative Party activists and voters clinging to the vain hope that David Cameron will suddenly reveal himself as a secret eurosceptic and deliver them from the evil EU empire. It's not going to happen.

Theresa May's student repatriation plans dropped

Theresa May's plans to repatriate foreign students when they finish at university and force them to apply for a visa to come back have been dropped.

The Times of India says that UK universities have already seen a drop in applications from foreign students since the announcement was made and experts have warned that the UK could lose out on those lucrative fee-paying foreign students to Canada and Australia.

May has defended the plans, saying that on current figures there would be 600k foreign students living in the UK. Obviously something has to be done about immigration but these foreign students who stay are highly educated and qualified and almost certainly in a subject that is useful, given the cost involved. The Tories want to discourage highly educated foreign students with degrees from UK universities who have already been living here for two or three years, speak English and have made a home here from staying on and working in the UK to mitigate some of the impact of uncontrolled immigration from unskilled, poorly educated EU economic migrants.

Just like benefit "reforms" such as the bedroom tax and fitness for work assessments for disabled people, the Tories see the problem but get the solution completely wrong.

Merkel tells Cameron he can't talk about capping EU immigration

A "government source" says that David Cameron has dropped plans for a cap on EU immigration after being told by Germany that it's not going to happen.

Angela Merkel has allowed Cameron to include restricting benefits for EU immigrants - something that is illegal under EU law - in a speech but she has told him that unlimited immigration from the EU is a red line and he's not allowed to suggest it. She is also reported to have told him that she would rather the UK left the EU than end unlimited immigration.

Surely even the most blinkered Tory supporter must realise by now that every "reform" David Cameron promises is shot down in flames by Angela Merkel?

Iceland to withdraw EU membership application

The Icelandic government intends to officially withdraw its application for EU membership.

Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, the Icelandic Prime Minister, said that "Participating in EU talks isn't really valid anymore" and that it is his party's policy to withdraw Iceland's EU membership application.

Iceland is a member of the EEA, EFTA and Schengen - all without surrendering its sovereignty to the EU.

Londonderry councillor given conditional discharge over vandalism

A dissident republican councillor in Londonderry has had his 6 month prison sentence for criminal damage replaced with a conditional discharge after money was made available to the magistrate's court to pay the costs of cleaning up after him.

Cllr Gary Donnelly was sentenced to 6 months in prison along with William Brogan and Terry Porter for daubing anti-internment slogans on the city walls. After £2,600 was paid into the court to cover the costs, the judge gave the three a conditional discharge and ordered the money be split between the NI Environment Agency and Foyle Search & Rescue.

Former Lib Dem councillor in Wisbech defects to UKIP

A former Lib Dem councillor in Wisbech has defected to UKIP.

Cllr David Patrick resigned from the Lib Dems last year along with fellow councillor Rob McLaren saying that "a chasm has developed between us and the Liberal Democrats". Cllr McLaren has since joined the Tories but Cllr Patrick has decided to join UKIP.

There has been no love lost in the past between Cllr Patrick and UKIP county councillor and chairman of UKIP Wisbech, Cllr Alan Ley, but he got a warm welcome from Cllr Ley regardless:

He has shown how committed he is to serving his residents and we believe he will be an invaluable hard-working member and dedicated councillor,

Labour ex-councillor jailed for defrauding Wigan Council

A Labour councillor charged with defrauding Wigan Council over fake child care expenses has been jailed for 8 months.

Former councillor Emma McGurrin denied the charges but one of her accomplices admitted the fraud and she was convicted of defrauding the council out of £1,700. The judge said that she must serve at least 4 months of her sentence.