Deputy Leader of Sandwell Council and another Labour councillor resign over corruption allegations

The Deputy Leader of Sandwell Council, Mahboob Hussain, has resigned from his post and suspended himself from the Labour Party over continued allegations of impropriety relating over the sale of council properties. The cabinet member for regeneration, Ian Jones, has also resigned and suspended his membership of the Labour Party.

UKIP councillor Phillip Garrett and two other councillors asked for an investigation into the sale of the former HM Coroners Office in Smethwick to Mahboob Hussain's son for £80k which he then sold at auction seven months later for £120k.

Hussain also failed to declare that he and his wife between them owned half the shares in a taxi and minibus firm that was awarded a multi-million pound contract by Sandwell Council and accusations of vote rigging have also been made.

Sandwell is starting to look like another Tower Hamlets ...

Survation has Nigel Farage 11% clear in South Thanet

Constituency polling by Survation in South Thanet puts Nigel Farage 11% in front of Labour, 12% in front of the Conservatives and on course to win the seat in May.

Survation has the best record of predicting UKIP success (or otherwise) in elections which is presumably why Alan Bown chose them to perform all his constituency polling. If Survation are calling it for Farage then Labour and the Tories should be very worried.

The Tories are going into the election with a respectable 6.6% majority which translates into what should be a comfortable 7,617 votes clear of the opposition but UKIP is decimating the Tory vote and taking chunks out of Labour too.

Voting Conservative in South Thanet will only split the UKIP vote and let Labour win.

Nigel Farage requests police protection for general election

Nigel Farage has been forced to request police protection for the general election campaign in response to the escalating campaign of violence and intimidation from left wing anti-democracy campaigners.

The Home Office normally only authorises police protection for the prime minister, deputy prime minister and leader of the opposition but the police have had to give him protection at public events several times and one left wing extremist with links to the Green Party was convicted of assaulting Farage during last year's election campaign.

As well as providing personal protection, Special Branch also gather intelligence on threats towards the VIPs that they provide protection for.

EU court rules that mobility scooters and lawnmowers must be insured

The EU Court of Injustice has ruled that all motor vehicles should be insured, even if they are never used on public land.

EU judges ruled that a tractor that knocked a Slovenian man off a ladder should have been insured even though it was an agricultural vehicle that was only ever used on private land. The ruling means that member states must now force citizens to insure anything classed as a motor vehicle, including sit on lawnmowers, golf buggies and mobility scooters.

Jill Seymour MEP, UKIP's spokesman on transport, said:

This ruling by the European Court of Justice is absurd.

This is yet another example of the way an EU court filled with foreign judges can overturn established and democratically-enacted British law.

These judges legislate from the bench, in this case by digging up an obscure clause in a 1972 directive to force us to change our laws to suit their philosophy of relentless interference in British law and British private property.

The Conservative transport minister, Robert Goodwill, said he was "disappointed" at the ruling whilst a Tory spokesman said "Two legs bad, four legs good only with David Cameron as Prime Minister will British people get a referendum on our membership of the EU". Clearly the only way to stop this nonsense is to get out of the EU, remove the EU courts from our justice system and take back control of our country. The only way that will happen is with a UKIP government,

Labour PPC for Truro forced to stand down for overclaiming benefits

The Labour PPC for Truro has been forced to stand down after accidentally claiming too much housing and other related benefits.

Hanna Toms says she thought that telling HMRC of changes to her income (presumably for tax credits) would filter down to her local council who administer housing benefit. Such joined up thinking is unheard of in the public sector, Ignorance is no defence, Toms should have known better.

Conservative councillor in Lancing defects to UKIP

A Conservative councillor on Lancing Parish Council has defected to UKIP, losing the Conservatives their wafer thin majority.

Cllr Leslie Sampson's defection means that the Conservatives and UKIP both have 7 councillors each on the council whilst the Lib Dems have two, paving the way for a challenge to the Conservative Party's leadership of the council.

The current Chairman of Lancing Parish Council, Conservative councillor James Butcher, said that Cllr Sampson should resign and stand for election as a UKIP candidate. Both of UKIP's MPs resigned after defecting and were re-elected under a UKIP banner. None of the UKIP councillors or MEPs who have defected to the Conservatives have ever resigned.

David Cameron's porn adviser charged with possessing child porn

David Cameron's former chief adviser on internet porn filters has been charged with making and possessing child porn. The pictures of children as young as 10 were found on his iPad last year.

Patrick Rock was the British government's chief adviser on online porn filters until he was caught with the porn on his iPad. He didn't resign until 3 weeks after being caught and the Daily Mail had found out.

Oxford-educated lifelong Conservative and a member of the Norman aristocracy, Patrick Rock de Besombes was widely expected to be given a peerage before his arrest.

Flo Lewis voted in as new chairman of LGBTQ* in UKIP group

Brighton & Hove member, Flo Lewis, has been voted in as chairman of the LGBTQ* in UKIP group after the previous chairman, Tom Booker, stepped down from the role.

Flo has stepped down as campaign director for the LGBTQ* group to take on the role of chairman. She will be ably assisted by the current vice chairman of the LGBTQ* group and PPC for Normanton, Pontefract & Castleford, Nathan Garbutt.

The LGBTQ* in UKIP group aims to ...

1. To operate as a social and support Society for all Members, and to provide these services.
2. To provide a welcoming safe space, encouraging all Members to feel comfortable with their sexuality and/or gender identity.
3. To promote the policies of UKIP to the wider LGBT Community and to encourage LGBT people to join UKIP.
4. To represent the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (etc.) members of UKIP within the Party.
5. To organise meetings, speakers and social events which promote both the Society and highlight issues facing the LGBT Community.
6. To act, if requested by the NEC or the Policy groups, as an advisory body or to provide an opinion on a policy proposal that involves the specific interests of the LGBT Community.
7. To function in accordance with and abide by the UKIP Constitution, and to support UKIP in its aims.

Tory MP for Bosworth says NHS should use astrology

The Conservative MP for Bosworth, David Tredinnick, has told the Astrological Journal that he thinks astrology and homeopathy could solve the problem of overcrowding and underfunding in the NHS.

Tredinnick says that he has done astrological charts for his fellow MPs and that doctors could use astrology to tell them what patients' weaknesses are to help with diagnosis. In 2011 he said that cancer drug money should be given to aromatherapists and distance healers.

Remember, this is one of the 650 men and women running the country!

Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind suspended over cash for access

Former Conservative minister, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and former Labour minister, Jack Straw - both sitting MPs - have been suspended by their respective parties after being caught in a sting by the Telegraph offering to sell contacts and lobby foreign governments.

Both MPs have insisted that they've done nothing wrong and have referred themselves to the Parliamentary Standards Committee.

Jack Straw, who has already announced that he is standing down as an MP this year, bragged to undercover reporters about securing a change in the law on commodities in Ukraine for a company paying him £60k a year and changing EU sugar regulations.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind bragged that he could put the undercover reporters in touch with any British ambassador in the world and has now decided to step down as both chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence & Security Committee and as an MP.

Nigel Farage said "MPs should not and must not act as lobbyists for any commercial interests whatsoever".

Whitby Labour councillor claims aliens are guiding Putin in Ukraine

A Labour councillor in Whitby has claimed that aliens are telling Vladimir Putin what to do in Ukraine.

Cllr Simon Parkes made the claim in a talk in Wallsend, naming the aliens as "Nordics". Cllr Parkes says that he has had hundreds of alien encounters during his life, that his father is a reptile and that he lost his virginity to an alien.

Putin had been part of a group advised by reptiles. Nordics made a counter offer to Putin. The technology the Nordics are giving to Putin is on a par with America. The Nordics have told Putin he no longer has to toe the American line, hence his resistance.

Channel 4's anti-UKIP mockumentary breaks record for most complaints

The Channel 4 mockumentary UKIP: The first 100 Days has smashed all records for the most complained about programme, attracting over 6,500 complaints to OFCOM and Channel 4.

The previous record was held by Big Brother which attracted 3,784 complaints. Last week's Channel 4 hatchet job attracted 5,262 to OFCOM and over 1,300 complaints to Channel 4 itself making it the most complained about programme of all time.

OFCOM has announced that it is launching an official investigation into Channel 4 to determine whether they have broken the rules on "offensive material, misleadingness and due impartiality" and "also considering fairness and privacy complaints",

Home Office unable to deport Nigerian drug dealer under EU laws

The Home Office has failed in its attempt to deport convicted Nigerian drug dealer, Cletus Okpala, because he has a Latvian wife.

Okpala was caught with nearly half a million quid's worth of cocaine in 2012 and was jailed for 4 years and 4 months. He was told that he would be deported once he'd served his sentence (or half of it as is usually the case) but he appealed the deportation and a tribunal found in his favour because EU laws say that he has the same right to live in the UK as his Latvian wife.

A spokesman for the Home Office said:

We firmly believe that foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be deported

Perhaps someone should tell the Home Secretary, Theresa May, because she's opposed to us leaving the EU and has introduced countless measures that increase EU interference in the justice system.

Labour appoint Two Jags as climate change advisor

With absolutely no sense of irony whatsoever, the Labour Party have appointed John "Two Jags" Prescott as climate change advisor to Ed Miliband.

Millionaire class warrior, Baron Prescott of Kingston upon Hull in the County of Yorkshire, was the EU's lead negotiator at Kyoto where the global warming scam went global and has a wealth of experience of impoverishing millions in the name of changing the weather.

Lord Prescott is best remembered for punching a reporter in the face, having two chauffeur driven Jags and somehow managing to convince someone other than his wife to have sex with him.

Meet the UKIPpers on BBC 2 tonight

The BBC documentary, Meet the UKIPpers, is airing on BBC 2 at 10pm.

Although this is unlikely to be a hatchet job on the scale of the EU-funded Channel 4 mockumentary it's the BBC so it will of course focus on the negatives and the main thing it will be concentrating on is the comments made by former UKIP councillor, Rozanne Duncan, who said she has a problem with "negroes".

The only people I do have problems with are negroes. And I don't know why.

I don't know whether there is something in my psyche or whether it's karma from a previous life or whether something happened to me as a very, very young person and I've drawn a veil over it - because that sometimes happens, doesn't it?

But I really do have a problem with people with negroid features.

Duncan says she wasn't being racist when she made the comments and actually she's right. Racism is the belief in superior or inferior qualities based on a person's race or prejudice or discrimination against somebody because you believe that your own race is superior which is clearly not the reason she has "a problem" with black people. But she used language that has been considered offensive for decades and can't be trusted to represent everyone equally so it was right to expel her from the party and I would hope that she would do the right thing and resign as a councillor to make way for someone who doesn't have "a problem" with 1 in 50 of the population.

Anti-UKIP campaigners will ignore the fact that Duncan was immediately expelled from the party and use the footage to attack the other 42,000 UKIP members and the thousands of UKIP councillors who don't share her views. Election candidates are now vetted by the party for anything above town and parish council level but what questions would you have to ask to identify that kind of irrational phobia? There is nothing that could realistically have been done to identify Duncan's unsuitability for public office in advance but the important thing is that she was removed from the party as soon as it became apparent.

Desperate London Evening Standard try to link Nigel Farage with racist Chelsea fan

Desperate to associate UKIP and Nigel Farage with any unsavoury behaviour, the anti-UKIP London Evening Standard is headlining a picture of one of the Chelsea fans responsible for a racist attack on a man in Parish taken with Nigel Farage.

A UKIP spokesman said:

Neither Mr Parsons nor his brother are members of UKIP, and we have never heard of him.

This photograph was taken outside a London pub. Mr Farage is photographed with and by dozens of people, both by supporters and opponents on a daily basis.

When David Cameron, Ed Miliband or Nick Clegg go and meet the "public" it's a carefully selected group of party officials and loyal supporters who have been vetted well in advance to ensure everything goes to script and pictures with the plebs are reserved for photo ops with the press or sold to the highest bidder. When Nigel Farage goes out to meet the public it's usually a bunch of strangers and he'll stop and talk to anyone and happily have his photo taken with them. Some of those people might be UKIP members, some of them might be Labour ot Conservatives, some of them might be members of organisations that UKIP proscribes like the BNP or EDL and some of them might be racist scum.

In trying to associate Nigel Farage with this moron, all they've done is emphasise the fact that he's not an elitist politician scared of mixing with the proles.

Peterborough Labour Party official jailed for child sex offences

A Labour Party official in Peterborough has been jailed for breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and a Community Order.

Convicted paedophile, Andrew Palmer, is an election agent for Peterborough Labour Party. He was banned from having any unsupervised contact with children and from carrying out certain activities on the internet. He has twice breached the orders - one breach was related to some deleted WhatsApp messages on his phone which are presumed to be of children and the other was for having unsupervised contact with a child - and has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Palmer has 7 previous convictions for 13 offences starting in 1979 with a conviction for indecent assault. The police have given him the highest risk rating and the judge described him as "a real danger to the public".

The Labour Party refused to tell the Peterborough Telegraph whether they knew about Palmer's convictions but confirmed that they will be excluding him from the party.

Labour and Conservative Winchester Councillors resign over High Court judgement

The Conservative leader of Winchester City Council, Cllr Robert Humby, has resigned after the High Court found the council guilty of acting unlawfully over a redevelopment contract.

The judge ruled that Winchester City Council had broken EU public procurement laws by materially altering the development without putting it back out to tender across the EU. The revised development agreement replaced affordable housing with more retail units.

The Labour chair of the council's Overview & Scrutiny Committee which scrutinised the unlawful decision, Cllr Chris Pines, resigned from his position last week.

Labour councillor in Leicester convicted of perverting the course of justice

A Leicester Labour councillor has been convicted of intending to pervert the course of justice.

Cllr Barbara Potter was convicted yesterday of lying about her ex partner spitting on her car windscreen. At the time she alleged that he had spat on the car he was working away in Birmingham. DNA evidence showed that it was in fact one of her ex partner's friends who had spat on the car, he claims unintentionally. Potter claimed that her ex partner had spat at the car and then smirked at her before driving off.

A prison sentence is usual for perverting the course of justice and Potter will be sentenced next month.

Tim Fenton gets it wrong again

Tim, Tim, not very nice but dim

Left wing blogger and UKIP-hating Huffington Post writer, Tim Fenton, has apparently "busted" Bloggers4UKIP which he describes as UKIP's "propaganda arm".

Fenton has some history of making wild assumptions and getting them wildly wrong, leading to the editors of the Spectator to publicly debunk one of his nonsense blog posts and demand an apology. He's been accused of being a troll and stalker (amongst other things) and it appears that he's known to the police for harassing people online. His claim that Bloggers4UKIP is the party's propaganda arm is almost as laughable as the series of incorrect "corrections" that he's "busted" us with.

The scale of this dishonesty is staggering; to lie on this scale suggests a combination of blind faith and disregard for reality far beyond even the worst excesses of the Fourth Estate.

He then goes on to reproduce most of this blog post on the Channel 4 mockumentary attacking UKIP with some "corrections". But little Timmy hasn't done his homework.

He claims that Channel 4 haven't openly admitted the programme was biased. Channel 4's head of documentaries, Nick Mirsky, told the Daily Mail that the programme didn't have to be politically balanced because it wasn't inside the election restricted period. If something isn't balanced then it's biased.

He claims that Channel 4 isn't funded by the taxpayer at all. Channel 4 get money from Creative Europe, an EU Commission quango. Where does that money come from? The taxpayer. In last year's Department for Culture, Media & Sport annual report and statement of accounts there is a list of "Arms Length Bodies" that DCMS sponsor. Three broadcasters are on the list: BBC, S4C and Channel 4.

He claims that Channel 4 aren't funded by the EU. Fenton's old adversary, the Spectator, says differently. Channel 4 financed Slumdog Millionaire with money it got from an EU research and development grant.

He claims that the European Broadcasting Union has nothing to do with the EU. The EBU and the EU are inextricably linked, just like the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Central Bank. They are nominally independant but the reality is that all of these pan-European bodies are so enmeshed into the EU that they are merely extensions of the European Union and the machinery of the state.

He claims that there is no evidence that RAW Productions get money from Creative Europe, one of the EU Commission's quangos. This fact is widely reported in the press and one commentator on the David Icke forum (yes, I'm well aware he's a crank but it's not him saying it) reports that she called RAW Productions herself and they confirmed that yes, they do get funding from Creative Europe.

He claims that there is no such thing as the EU Commission. This is just semantics - "European Commission" and "EU Commission" are used interchangeably. Reuters today refers to the EU Commission in an article about Greece and even the "European Commission" refers to itself as the EU Commission on Twitter (@EU_Commission).

He claims that Nigel Farage was invited to watch the programme and be interviewed about it afterwards. He was invited, accepted and then they cancelled, only offering an alternative slot after he was booked to speak at a public meeting.

He claims that Channel 4 doesn't receive any of the BBC licence fee. Channel 4's digital switchover costs are met from the BBC licence fee.

The only "corrections" that are ... well, correct ... are two typos. I'm not one for threats of defamation suits, having successfully defended a vexatious suit myself so I'll just accept an apology for falsely describing me as dishonest and a liar at the top of your original blog post and we'll leave it at that, Tim.

Harriet Yeo resigns from Labour, now backing UKIP

The former chairman of the Labour Party's ruling National Executive Council, Harriet Yeo, has resigned from the party and is backing UKIP in the upcoming election.

Whilst she is not thought to have joined the party at this time, she is publicly supporting UKIP in May.

Harriet Yeo was chairman of Labour's NEC between 2012 and 2013 and is a life long trade unionist, having served as president of the TSSA union for some time.

Several Labour MPs are rumoured to have been in talks with UKIP about defecting, staying true to the Labour Party's traditional stance of opposing EU membership and mass immigration because of the harm it causes to employment prospects and wages.

Over 1,600 complaints made to OFCOM over anti-UKIP Channel 4 mockmentary

OFCOM received more than 1,600 complaints about last night's anti-UKIP Channel 4 mockumentary by half past 4 this afternoon and Channel 4 received 250 complaints themselves. OFCOM are reviewing the complaints to decide whether they need to conduct an investigation.

A change.org petition calling for Channel 4 to apologise for the programme had attracted 2,500 signatures by the same time and Channel 4's Facebook page has had hundreds of comments complaining about the programme.

Both Channel 4 and RAW Productions receive considerable funding from the EU.

Remember: if you were outraged by Channel 4's mockumentary, don't get mad get even and donate to help UKIP's election campaign.

Don't get mad, get even

Outraged by Channel 4's anti-UKIP propaganda?

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Donate now to help UKIP win in May

Greek government rejects EU bailout offer

The Greek government have rejected the EU's bailout offer, describing it as "unreasonable" and warning that anyone who thinks Greece will continue with the bailout is "wasting their time".

The EU's opening gambit involved Greece agreeing to see through the EU-imposed austerity that has devastated the country despite new prime minister, Alex Tsipras, making it very clear that the EU and IMF no longer run Greece.

Greece's current bailout deal expires on 28th February.

Channel 4 showing anti-UKIP "mockumentary" tonight

Channel 4 are broadcasting a "mockumentary" tonight showing a distopian vision of the first 100 days of a UKIP government.

The programme has been produced for Channel 4 by RAW Productions and includes race riots, forced repatriations, businesses collapsing and of course the realisation of UKIP's fictional first female Asian MP that the party had it all wrong and doesn't represent people like her.

Channel 4 have openly admitted to the programme being biased and says that they have no obligation - even as a taxpayer-funded public service broadcaster - to show balance until the restricted period for the election starts in May. Not that balance is anything Channel 4 could be accused of, of course - they aren't just funded by the UK taxpayer, they're also funded by the EU and an active member of the European Broadcasting Union, the EU quango responsible for the farcical Eurovision Song Contest. Nor could you expect balance from RAW who are funded by Creative Europe, part of the EU Commission.

It is usual for a company or political party to have advance screenings of programmes like this that aim to utterly destroy their reputation or prospects but Channel 4 refused to let UKIP see this programme in advance. The party isn't too bothered about the programme given that it's only on Channel 4 and previous attacks on UKIP have had the opposite effect but it's still a worrying development in the propaganda war being waged against UKIP by vested interests when taxpayer funded public service broadcasters can be openly biased against a political party 3 months before an election and the conflict of interest over their EU funding is dismissed or just ignored.

Channel 4 is part funded by the BBC television tax and like the BBC is liberal left wing to the core. We aren't their sort of people (public school education, Guardian reading vegans) so they see UKIP as a fair target. There are regular sneering attacks on UKIP from Channel 4 which should be incompatible with their status as a public service broadcaster. Perhaps UKIP needs to extend its scrutiny of the BBC to Channel 4 when formulating policy on the TV licence and the future of state broadcasters.

Did someone mention tax dodgers?

Hope not Hate selling leaflets saying that UKIP want to "get rid of the NHS"

Hope not Hate, the Labour Party's propaganda arm paid for by the trades unions, is trying to raise £3k to print 150,000 leaflets telling lies about UKIP wanting to privatise the NHS.

Nick Lowles, the former Communist Party of Great Britain and Socialist Workers Party activist, has sent an email out to supporters telling them that UKIP wants to "get rid of the NHS" because Nigel Farage said we will need to think about private health care in the future, because Paul Nuttall said the NHS stifles competition, because Matthew Richardson said the NHS wastes money and because Neil Hamilton said the NHS is a more effective killing machine than the Taliban. He doesn't say that none of this is party policy because the membership doesn't want it and UKIP is a democracy, instead he repeats Labour's lies that UKIP wants to abolish the NHS.

Hope not Hate is funded almost entirely by the unions and by selling Labour Party propaganda to ignorant people who are too dim to realise they're being conned by confidence tricksters.

Arron Banks responds to tax dodger accusation

Scottish-Italian comedian, Armando Ianucci, accused UKIP donor Arron Banks of being a tax dodger using companies based in Belize on Question Time. Here's Arron Banks' response:

Dear Mr Ianucci,

I understand you mentioned me on question time in connection with the use of Belizean/ overseas companies to reduce my tax bill including a company in Belize and a service company .

I do not own any companies in Belize so this comment is clearly defamatory.

I believe it is recycling an old guardian story which was incorrect - I have made charitable donations to the Belize children's hospital and hosted a function for them . This was for a cancer charity .

Meanwhile the service company mentioned is in respect of mainly UK staff and expenses incurred and does not save any UK tax . The company does not produce revenue .

I have created over 5000 local jobs in South Gloucestershire and donated over a million pounds to charity including , local churches , facilities for schools , scouts, Cubs , cricket and hockey clubs and local sports clubs in the area.

I paid 2m pounds in tax , over the last two years - probably more than most Italians one imagines.

Particularly funny ones .

I do not own any Belizean companies or seek to avoid UK tax via any device - I expect an apology within 7 days or proceedings will follow .

Best regards

Arron
Ps love the thick of it !

Your move Signor Iannuci.

Amjad Bashir report to police for "systematic financial fraud"

Amjad Bashir, the Yorkshire MEP who scurried back to the Tories after being suspended by UKIP over allegations of financial irregularities, has been reported to the police for "systematic financial fraud".

A number of claims have been levelled against Bashir including submitting false claims for travel tickets, hotel rooms and hire cars using a firm of consultants based in his office that his dodgy associates are involved with.

You can get the full details on Breitbart London.

Diane James responds to EU Court of Human Rights ruling that prisoners must be given the vote

Diane James has criticised the EU Court of Human Rights' decision to uphold an earlier judgement that says not allowing prisoners to vote is a breach of their human rights.

This case highlights that a foreign court with inexperienced judges has final say over the British justice system. The ECHR has not pulled back one inch in demanding its right to be the final judge.

UKIP believes that it should be the British parliament which should have the final decision on which laws are implemented in the Britain.

There should be no unwarranted interference in a national issue.

This European court has a history of giving succour to murderers and terrorists. The only way to escape the intervention of this court is the leave the EU itself. David Cameron is deluding people when he says he will try to curb the power of the ECHR without leaving the EU.

Farage rules out coalition with LibLabCon parties

Nigel Farage has ruled out entering into a coalition with Labour, the Lib Dems or the Conservatives in May.

For some time now Farage has been playing games with Labour and the Tories, hinting that he could do a deal with one or the other and sparking constant media speculation about possible coalition partners. A coalition was never on the cards. Nick Clegg might have the political nouse of a 12 year old but Farage isn't stupid. Why would the man who has invested so much personally and professionally to take UKIP from being a single issue Tory pressure group to be the third party in British politics with representation at all levels of government and in all four member states of the UK and going on to become the first party since 1906 to beat the Tories and the Labour Party in a national election throw it all away for a brief encounter with the illusion of power that is the British government within the EU?

The membership has made its views on coalition very clear. There is to be nothing more than a confidence and supply agreement which would see UKIP support the formation of a minority government if the Tories or Labour get the most MPs again but not support their legislative programme unless it's something UKIP MPs supported.

If the Tories or Labour have to fight for every victory then that's their problem.

Tsipras upsets the apfelkart

The newly-elected prime minister of Greece, Alex Tsipras, is really upsetting the apfelkart by actually honouring his election promises.

Earlier this week the Greek government issued a demand for the repayment of a loan the Nazis forced the Bank of Greece to issue during the German occupation of Greece during the second world war. The Greek Treasury has calculated the loan balance to be €162bn without interest.

Greece is in something of a Mexican standoff with the EU and the IMF who are telling Greece that they can't pull back from the devastating austerity imposed on the country by the international loan sharks at the ECB, EU and IMF whilst Greece is telling them they'll do what they damn well like and if they and if they want to save the €uro and the EU then they'd better start dancing to the Greek tune.

Syriza's hard left politics will never drag Greece out of the financial mire it's been in for most of the last century and all of this one but their firm stance with the loan sharks will at least recover their sovereignty and dignity.

UKIP Dudley Councillors refuse pay rise

Dudley's 7 UKIP councillors have rejected a 2.2% pay rise pushed through by the Labour Party and are urging other councillors to follow their lead.

Cllr Paul Brothwood, the leader of the UKIP group on Dudley MBC, said:

With hundreds of staff on zero hour contracts and with council planning to cut £200,000 children's services, we would rather see frontline staff and services prioritised and not councillors' wallets.

The Labour Group has already given massive pay increases to senior management in Dudley Council which only UKIP fought. They now want councillors to have a piece of the pie.

The council is desperately short of money - I just can't believe they're offering a pay rise.

The leader of the Conservative group, Cllr Patrick Harley, showed just how out of touch the Tories are by saying that most councillors wouldn't notice the 2.2% anyway and that UKIP's stance is just a headline seeking gesture. If most councillors wouldn't notice the 2.2% increase in their allowances then why pay it? Why not support UKIP in diverting the extra money from councillors who don't need it and won't even notice it to front line services?

UKIP councillors have asked that the 2.2% increase be paid into the community forum pot to be spent on community projects.

85% support UKIP's stance on banning ritual slaughter

A week ago we ran a poll asking if UKIP should ban ritual slaughter.

There have been efforts to try and force a reversal of the policy - only this evening I've received an email from a lobbyist on the subject - but it looks like public opinion is behind the party once again. There were 125 votes in the poll and over 85% were in favour of banning all ritual slaughter.

Date set for Mark Reckless court case

Rochster & Strood Conservative Association will get their day in court after filing a claim against UKIP MP, Mark Reckless and UKIP councillor, Chris Irvine for the money they've wasted on leaflets promoting Reckless before he defected to UKIP.

The Conservatives are asking a judge to set the very dangerous precedent that a candidate deciding to switch political parties should have to compensate the party they resign from for the money they've spent promoting them prior to their resignation.

This would be a swift 5 minute judgement in favour of Reckless were it not for their argument that approving campaign expenditure on leaflets two days before he defected was calculated to cost them money when he would have known that the leaflets would have been useless before they were even taken out of the box which, on the face of it, sounds reasonable.

However, as I understand it, Mark Reckless was not an officer of Rochester & Strood Conservative Association and as such, his approval for expenditure would only have been required because it impacted on the legal limit on election spending and not to authorise the spending of the association's funds. We don't vote for political parties in Westminster elections, we vote for the person so what Rochester & Strood Conservative Association actually did (rather than what they thought they were doing) was print leaflets to promote the Mark Reckless personally and to put the Conservative Party's brand on those leaflets.

Was it fair for Mark Reckless not to tell the Conservatives not to print the leaflets and save them some money? Probably not. But politics isn't fair and unfair isn't illegal.

UKIP councillors put on free bus for shoppers

UKIP councillors in Cambridgeshire have put on a free mini bus to ferry shoppers between Chatteris and Ramsey after the local Co-op supermarket closed and Tesco shelved plans to open a new supermarket in the town.

Ramsay was your first council in the country controlled by UKIP.

The hate campaign against UKIP is technically an act of terrorism

A UKIP campaign office in Wales has been vandalised for a second time by anti-democracy campaigners.

The office of Nathan Gill MEP in Shotton was vandalised last year when Hitler moustaches were painted onto posters. It was vandalised again on Sunday night when signs from a neighbouring office were used to smash CCTV cameras off the wall which were then stolen.

The sustained propaganda campaign against UKIP has failed to suppress support for the party so anti-democracy campaigners from far left groups supported by the Labour Party, the trades unions and Socialist Workers Party have been turning increasingly to violence, intimidation and criminal damage to try and bully UKIP candidates and supporters. The rampant criminality of the left in their hate campaign against UKIP isn't just an irritant, it's a criminal act for the purpose of advancing a political and ideological cause and that's an act of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000, So why aren't the police and security services intervening?

Former Labour councillor and mayor publicy backs UKIP

A former Labour councillor and three-time mayor of Great Aycliffe has publicly backed UKIP as the only party that can deliver improvements to his town.

Alderman George Gray was a member of the Labour Party for 40 years until he resigned in 2009 after becoming disillusioned. He remains an independent councillor.

Cllr Gray, who hasn't joined UKIP, said:

There have been many promises made along the way by various parties but I firmly believe UKIP are best placed and best motivated to deliver positive results rather than making empty promises.

Lib Dem bill for £11bn UK aid commitment passes House of Lords

Tory rebels failed to stop their party's immoral promise to force minimum targets on international aid by law with the passing of a bill requiring the British government to spend 0.7% of GDP (currently £11bn) on international aid.

A Lib Dem private members' bill signing up to the UN's target of all industrialised nations spending 0.7% of GDP on international aid passed through the House of Lords on Thursday despite the futile efforts of Tory rebels led by former Chancellor of the Exchequer, (Lord) Nigel Lawson to scupper it.

Meanwhile, a million people used food banks last year whilst India got £280m in aid from the UK in the same year it launched its own manned space rocket. Priorities?

Anti-UKIP protester: "We're waging a propaganda war"

Bunny La Roche, the Kent International Socialists/Socialist Workers Party/Hope not Hate/Unite Against Fascism/Stand up to UKIP hate campaigner has revealed the secret of the far left's campaign against UKIP: they can tell lies because they're not standing for election themselves.

A rare moment of honesty from Comrade La Roche.

We need you. Second big action day in Thanet.

There are now fewer than 100 days to the May General Election!
It has been so exciting travelling around the country meeting so many of who are playing a key role in this historic election.

As you know, I will be on the ballot paper in what I think is one of the most fantastic places in our country; South Thanet. On Sunday, February 15th, I need your help.

More than 500 people came and helped on my first action day and it was a tremendous success. On Sunday February 15th we need to do this again.

The reaction I am getting locally has so far been fantastic, and this action day is an opportunity for myself and all the excellent council candidates across Thanet to meet so many voters.

So in order for us to make an impact, I need you to do me a personal favour, and come along on the 15th..

Coffee and Tea will be laid on from 10am, and for those helping all day, a hot buffet and drinks has been laid on for us all to enjoy from 3pm – and since it’s no longer Dry January I’ll be able to join you for a pint!
In order for us to make sure we plan effectively for the Sunday, please can you email Martyn Heale and let him know that you’re coming: ukipthanet@ukip.org

The details for the action day are as follows:

Date: 15/02/15
Location: Northwood Club Ramsgate, 55 Northwood Road, Cliftonville, Ramsgate, Kent. CT12 6RS
Meeting time: From 10am

Limited parking available

Many thanks,

I look forward to seeing you on the 15th of Feb, where we'll all be playing a major role in rocking the political establishment.

Regards,

Nigel

Lefties protesting against UKIP in Rotherham

A small group of left wing protesters are milling around outside UKIP's office in Rotherham where Nigel Farage has come to talk to Jane Collins and local councillors about child abuse in Rotherham.

What is it about these people that leads them to help the people who covered up and facilitated child abuse?

NI Green Party councillor resigns after leader says membership of terrorist organisations shouldn't be illegal

A Green councillor in North Down has resigned from the Green Party after the leader of the Northern Irish Green Party said that membership of terrorist organisations shouldn't be illegal.

Cllr Noelle Robinson was elected as a Green councillor less than a year ago and was assistant to Steven Agnew MLA, leader of the Northern Irish Green Party. Cllr Robinson has resigned as "a point of principal" after Agnew said that arresting people for their "political views" was counter-productive.

I was disappointed that Steven went along with the belief that mere membership should not be regarded as a criminal offence.

I disagree strongly with this view.

Terrorism survives where it is supported, and, in my own view, by even joining up to one of these groups, an individual is just as culpable for its activities as those carrying out violent acts.

Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green Party of England & Wales, recently said that being a member of terrorist organisations like Islamic State shouldn't be illegal.

UKIP MEP and Dudley councillor calls for business as usual during EDL/UAF protest

West Midlands MEP and Dudley councillor, Bill Etheridge, has called for business as usual tomorrow as up to 2,000 EDL supporters and anti-fascist thugs descend on the town.

Dudley has been the scene of a number of EDL protests and violent counter protests and the planned mega-mosque in Dudley has attracted widespread criticism, not least from UKIP who have led the peaceful protest against it.

Cllr Etheridge said:

We have asked people not to go to the EDL demonstration as it is just self gratification on the group's part.

Mansfield UKIP shop opening tomorrow

The UKIP shop in Mansfield is being opened by Douglas Carswell MP and Roger Helmer MEP tomorrow. Light refreshments and a buffet will be available.

UKIP campaign office opens in Wolverhampton

UKIP have opened a campaign office in Wolverhampton which will double up as a "satellite office" for Bill Etheridge MEP.

The two story office will house a call centre and will be manned by volunteers helping the UKIP campaign in Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire.

Wolverhampton has suffered badly from a downturn in the retail sector with 17% of shops left empty. Sitting on the north west fringe of the West Midlands conurbation, Wolverhampton struggles to compete with Birmingham and the Merry Hill Centre which are fairly centrally located whilst Telford and Stafford intercept shoppers from the north and east. Wolverhampton city centre needs significant investment to drive regeneration and make the city centre more attractive to shoppers who have no shortage of alternatives and this is one of Wolverhampton UKIP's key policies.

Benefit fraud Staffordshire Labour councillor resigns from Labour Party

A benefit fraudster Labour councillor in Stafford has resigned from his party, ostensibly because of the Stafford hospital scandal and not the benefits fraud.

Cllr Ian Hollinshead, who sits on Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council, failed to declare a change in his circumstances and was overpaid £8k in benefits over a 3 year period. He repaid the money he wasn't entitled to and avoided prosecution.

Hollinshead says that he and his wife have resigned from the Labour Party so they can support efforts to save Stafford hospital from closure and that the publicity around his benefit fraud has nothing to do with the decision.

Conservative election candidate pleads guilty to making false declaration

A Conservative council candidate for Enfield has pleaded guilty to making a false declaration on his nomination papers for last year's local elections.

Michael Fadaka failed to declare a 2011 conviction for benefit fraud which legally barred him from standing in an election until 2016. He will be sentenced on March 18th and could go to prison.

Conservative leader of Hinkley & Bosworth resigns over racist emails

A borough and parish councillor in Leicestershire has resigned as leader of Hinkley & Bosworth Conservatives ahead of a vote of no confidence in him.

Cllr Peter Batty was forced to apologise last month for sending "funny" emails to his colleagues with jokes about Indian taxi drivers, Jews, Irish people and "niggers". Batty has resigned as leader but has "no intention of resigning as a councillor".

Poll: Should UKIP ban ritual slaughter?

UKIP has announced a policy of banning ritual slaughter without stunning, including Jewish shechita where animals are slaughtered by slitting the throat whilst the animal is still fully concious.

Currently, ritual slaughter is exempt from animal cruelty laws but UKIP is proposing a change in the law to require animals to be stunned prior to slaughter. Most Halal meat in the UK is from stunned animals but Kosher forbids stunning and UKIP's new-found opposition to ritual slaughter has attracted criticism from some Jews with some describing it as anti-Semitic which is frankly pathetic and devalues real anti-Semitism.

Whilst Jewish scripture forbids stunning animals, it also requires the murder of non-Jews, gays, people who answer their parents back and adulterers. I haven't heard anything in the news recently about Jews murdering gays or Christians or cheeky kids so clearly some parts of the Torah can be safely ignored to fit in with these more enlightened times. So why not ritual slaughter?

Mass resignation of Labour councillors in Redcar & Cleveland

The Labour Party in Redcar & Cleveland has all but collapsed after after its leader and half the council's Labour cabinet resigned en masse.

The councillors who have resigned are:

• Cllr George Dunning, leader of the council
• Cllr Sheelagh Clarke, deputy leader of the council
• Cllr Carole Simms, mayor of Redcar & Cleveland
• Cllr Steven Goldswain, cabinet member
• Cllr Mark Hannon, cabinet member
• Cllr Olwyn Peters, cabinet member
• Cllr Norman Pickthall, cabinet member and chair of Personnel & General Purposes committee
• Cllr Vic Jeffries, vice chair of the Health & Safety Advisory Group
• Cllr Brian Biggs, chair of Cleveland Fire Authority
• Cllr Wendy Wall, chair of Corporate Parenting Board and vice chair of Peoples Services & Improvement committee

The resignations leave Labour in a very precarious position with just 19 councillors out of a total of 49. If all 10 join the 11-strong Independent group, the independents will be the largest group on the council and in a position to take control of the council. Labour would have to team up with the 11 Lib Dems to hang on to power.

Entire Rotherham council cabinet resigns, DCLG send in administrators

The entire Labour cabinet at Rotherham Council have resigned over a damning report into child sexual exploitation in the town and the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, Eric Pickles, has sent in five administrator to run the council until elections can be held next year.

A report commissioned by the DCLG found that there is a deep-rooted culture of cover-ups and silencing whistle blowers and an unwillingness to accept that there was a problem which resulted in the council's Youth Services team being disbanded because they kept reporting the child abuse. The report found that when child abusers are discovered by the council "little or no action is taken to stop or even disrupt their activities" and that former council leader, Roger Stone, was a bully.

The National Crime Agency, which deals with serious and organised crime, has been passed a file to consider criminal charges which includes a former and current councillor. South Yorkshire Police are also investigating 10 police officers over their handling of child sexual exploitation.

The resignation of the Labour cabinet is a start but all those councillors, council officers and police officers who helped cover up the abuse of over 1,400 children need to face criminal charges.

The leader of the opposition, UKIP councillor Caven Vines, has meanwhile called for immediate elections to enable the people of Rotherham to decide who they want to run the council in the wake of this report.

The whole council needs to be disbanded and the people of Rotherham should be given the immediate opportunity to vote for who they want to lead them moving forward in the wake of the Casey report.

Eric Pickles has announced that elections in the town will not be held until 2016. This is simply too late. It is only by giving the people of Rotherham a full say in the future of the town, that we can build the community support that we will need to move forward. What Mr Pickles is suggesting is that the people of Rotherham cannot be trusted to vote for a better future, it is a dereliction of democracy.

The simple fact is that Rotherham is in desperate need of direct help and support to deal with this crisis, which deepens with each new report. Labour has failed the people of Rotherham in letting the abuse happen in the first place and then failed them again in the wake of the Jay report, as little direct help has been given to victims. Labour must not be allowed to fail the victims and the town again.