Marta finally jumps ship to the Tories

It comes as no surprise to learn that Marta Andreasen has defected from UKIP to the Tories.

Marta was bumped up the MEP list as she was a high profile candidate at the time, promising to fix UKIP's finances and expose the fraud and corruption in the EU.  The membership put her at the top of the regional list for the south east of England, second only to Nigel Farage.  As a bean counter she did a great job but as an MEP she was a disappointment.

The main problem with Marta is that she's not a eurosceptic.  She is wholeheartedly opposed to the fraud and corruption that is endemic in the EU but she favours reform, not withdrawal.  She will fit right in with the Tories in that respect but I'm not sure how her new-found love of the financially illiterate, europhile Tories can be reconciled with this quote from just a few weeks ago:

I joined UKIP because the Tories wanted to reform the EU and in my experience I thought that the EU could not be reformed. In the course of my years as an MEP, I have only grown more convinced of this.

Marta has, to be blunt, been a pain in the arse for quite some time now.  She has been increasingly off message, ignorant and disruptive.  She has aired her dirty laundry in public on many an occasion and lost the respect and support of the membership in doing so.  It's frankly astounding that Marta didn't resign sooner but the timing was obviously chosen to try and get UKIP negative publicity just before voters go to the polls in Eastleigh.  After all, it's UKIP that are going to prevent the Tories from winning there, not the Lib Dems and certainly not Labour.  This defection has clearly been planned for some time.

Like David Campbell Bannerman, Marta was a nobody before UKIP propelled her into the limelight and like David Campbell Bannerman, Marta will once again disappear into obscurity after the next election.  She's been behaving like an opposition MEP for some time, at least she's finally had the decency to make it official and stop wasting our time.  If she thought she was going to be sorely missed, she's going to be a little disappointed:

"Conservative Party deserve what's coming to them. The woman is impossible."
- Nigel Farage

And if she thinks she's going to be welcomed with open arms by the Tory faithful she's going to be even more disappointed:

To say Andreasen’s behaviour is flaky would be an understatement. My experience of her is that she is also not to be trusted, and the Tories should be very wary of her.
- Iain Dale

I think I speak for most UKIP members when I say goodbye and good riddance.

Lewes Cllr Donna Edmunds defects to UKIP

Cllr Donna Edmunds has defected from the Conservatives to UKIP.

Cllr Edmunds said that aside from their stance on the EU, she left because the Tories have "abandoned their conservative values and no longer speak for the aspirational".

Cllr Edmunds is now the UKIP councillor for Barcombe & Hamsey ward of Lewes District Council.

Thoughts of a Young Independence member #1 The Neville Scandal.

An Observer Opinium poll has recently revealed Ukip to be beating the Tories in the North West, (http://politicsuk.eu/archives/12950). I'm not one to boast, (especially after those tiring London elections), but this does not only amplify the increasing momentum of Ukip support, but the sheer enthusiasm for - a Ukip. This already defeats the pinnacle of public enthusiasm for the Lib-Dems, in that epoch when it was ok to blabber on elusive policies - frankly, because it was cool being the political bench warmer. Nonetheless, I'm not digging into pre-2010 politics today.

Bluntly, Young Independence, the, (before all this to the least), rapidly growing Youth Wing of Ukip, is now in limbo after facing a leadership crisis soon after a November by-election. A very upset Olly Neville - and right to be - was revoked of his Chairmanship of YI in an NEC decision. This was followed by the voluntary resignation of Christina Marian Annesley, as Deputy Chair of YI Yorkshire, Gareth Shanks, as YI Elections Officer, and Allrik Birch, as YI Treasurer, in protest to the NEC's decision. A 'decision' made merely because his Libertarian values were a couple steps ahead to that of the NEC.

 The decision was inane; not even deserving 'insane'. He was elected by a landslide majority and had great intentions for YI, as any bloke believing in a future Ukip force should; hence I have started to question the NEC's long-term vision of Ukip. They must comprehend the fact that Ukip actually does have a gleam in the eye which does steadily entice Lady Britannia; something which the Lib-Dems never enjoyed and the Conservatives have lost in the North West.

I don't necessarily agree with Neville. Moreover, I was strongly cognizant of his views on issues such as prostitution and drugs - when I voted for him. Voted for him.

Gay marriage? I wasn't surprised. He's a pure Libertarian; I'm not. Although, I do possess sympathy for the drugs argument, particularly on cannabis reform. But that's the beauty of YI, isn't it? We either have yellow, purple or striped tied YouthKipers working together in harmony in efforts establish ground in the social fabric. Neville was an opportunity to enhance this relationship and get it working on the doorstep.

Nevertheless, I believe in YI - we will find our way, hopefully starting to replicate Ukip's momentum with the youth, already with a redoubling platform in universities and just starting to pierce into the bigger youth picture. A brilliant bunch indeed.

Fabricant calls for a Tory/UKIP pact

Tory MP, Michael Fabricant. has told David Cameron that the Tories should form a pact with UKIP before the next election to stop them losing members and votes to the party.

Fabricant estimates that UKIP could cost the Tories 20-40 marginal constituencies but dismisses UKIP's chances of actually winning a Westminster seat.  He suggests promising an EU referendum in the run up to the election in return for which UKIP wouldn't stand against Conservative MPs.

What Fabricant fails to understand - and for an advisor on grassroots campaigns this should be quite worrying for the Tories - is that UKIP isn't just about the EU.  A Cameron promise is worthless anyway as we've already seen but even assuming he could be trusted to hold a referendum if he promised one, what would be in this deal for UKIP?  A referendum on the EU?  Great, so how does that reduce taxes and simplify the tax system, protect civil liberties, provide adequate funding for the armed forces, reduce NHS bureaucracy, control immigration, bring down electricity prices and establish energy security, establish a Commonwealth free trade area, put the justice back into the criminal justice system or restore democracy to England?  If UKIP was a single-issue pressure group then it might be tempting but leaving the EU is only one piece in a big purple and yellow jigsaw.

Nigel Farage has already told Fabricant that there will be no deal with the Tories and that after Cameron's refusal, in the wake of the Rotherham child catcher scandal, to retract his 2006 comment that UKIP are fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists "it's war".  Fabricant responded by saying it would be a couple of years away and he never says never.  Well, we can say it for him: there will NEVER be a deal with the Tories.

Considering UKIP isn't a threat to the Tories, an awful lot of Tories seem to be worried enough to want to do a deal with us.

Tory MEP's briefing on UKIP is a dishonest rehash

An anti-UKIP briefing by Tory MEP, Dr Charles Tannock, for their London region activists has been "leaked" to Guido Fawkes blogger Harry Cole.

The briefing starts with a lie, claiming that two UKIP MEPs were sent to prison in the last parliament for fraud.  Tom Wise was elected as a UKIP MEP and had the whip withdrawn in 2007 when he was charged with fraud by the EU's anti-fraud investigators, OLAF.  Ashley Mote was elected as a UKIP MEP after failing to declare that he was awaiting trial for benefit fraud which would have disqualified him from selection and had the whip withdrawn when a newspaper made the party aware of his trial.  All this is public information but serial gong collector Dr Tannock doesn't let facts get in the way of a good lie.

Dr Tannock goes on to set out what he believes is the threat posed by UKIP.  It's the usual "split the vote and let Labour in" rubbish, reflecting the arrogant belief that any non-Labour votes rightfully belong to the Tories.

He then moves on to what he thinks voters should hear about UKIP.  They should apparently be told that UKIP has failed to act in the UK's national interest because Nigel Farage rarely turned up to meetings of the EU Parliament Economic Committee between 1999 and 2002.  He says that Godfrey Bloom failed to vote on an amendment to stop the EU financial transaction tax in the same committee recently.  The vote was 6 months ago and was passed by 30 votes to 11. He then follows with what is no doubt meant to be a criticism of UKIP totally opposing the EU Arrest Warrant which he claims would mean long delays in deporting criminals on legal aid ignoring the fact that if UKIP were in a position to withdraw from the EU Arrest Warrant they'd be running the country and the criminals either wouldn't be here or would be simply put on the first plane home when they committed a crime.

Tannock finishes off with a list of what rubbish voters should be fed about an EU referendum and some meaningless guff we've all heard so many times before about Tory euroscepticism.  He says that voters should be told that Cameron will give "an explicit manifesto guarantee for a referendum" on a new treaty that they think will probably be on the table at around the time of the next election.  Not a referendum on our membership of the EU but a referendum on a treaty that may not even exist and of course there was "an explicit manifesto guarantee for a referendum" on the Lisbon Treaty at the last election which turned out to be worthless.  An in/out referendum "right now, during the Eurozone crisis, would be utterly pointless" according to Dr Tannock.  Cameron says that there will be no in/out referendum at all because he doesn't want one which makes Dr Tannock's suggestion that there might be one in future completely dishonest.  Much like most of his briefing.

Dr Tannock's examples of Tory euro-realism are Cameron being "determined to be tough on EU issues" such as freezing the EU's 2014-2020 €1tr budget, vetoing an EU banking union unless the City of London get voting rights in it and opting out of some justice and home affairs legislation.  That's a €1tr budget when half of the EU is literally insolvent, a banking union that was conceived to socialise the financial sector and directly attacks the City of London and existing opt outs that the British government have already secured.  Yep, "tough".

This briefing is a dishonest and rather lazy rehash of tired old Tory propaganda and smoke and mirrors.  It's being billed as a "leak" but in all likelihood it was deliberately passed on to Harry Cole for the wider audience it would give them.

Kings Lynn Tory defects to UKIP

A former Conservative councillor and Deputy Mayor in Kings Lynn has defected from the Tories to UKIP after 46 years in the Conservative Party.

Bill Daws is the latest in a string of defections from the Tories who cite a blatant disregard for selection rules and nepotism in their branches amongst their reasons for leaving.

Tory fantasists reveal plans to deal with threat of UKIP

Ten senior Tories have told ConservativeHome their fantastical ideas for dealing with the threat to their party from UKIP ... which of course doesn't exist according to David Cameron who told his party last month that UKIP are "a complete waste of time".

Angie Bray MP says they should repatriate powers from the EU whilst outgoing Corby MP Louise Mensch has this hilarious contribution:

Then the referendum should offer three choices. (Can you see UKIP's fox cowering in the corner? We're about to shoot it.) 1. Leave the EU altogether. 2. Demand new membership terms (as listed) and leave if we don't get them. 3. Remain as we are. Can anybody doubt a massive victory for point two?

I could make a comment about dogs hunting foxes but that would be rude.  Has anyone figured out yet why the SNP's referendum on Scottish Independence must have only In/Out and no "renegotiation" option because that's too unequivocal and confusing for voters but an EU referendum must have a "renegotiation" option?

Head of Progressive Conservatism Project, Max Wind-Cowie, says that the Tories aren't divided over "Europe" (he means the EU) and says that UKIP has "wildly opposed conservative and libertarian instincts".  An interesting choice of phrase considering the Conservatives are generally supposed to be ... well, conservative, as the name suggests.

Failed wannabe MP Dominic Schofield says they should renegotiate our relationship with the EU and fight UKIP on the ground with the message "vote purple, get red".

"Giving attention to self harmers merely
gives them justification for their abuse"

This might work with people who don't think the Tories are equally as bad as Labour and who are naive enough to think that voting for someone you don't want to stop someone else you don't want from winning is preferable to voting for the person you want.  Dominic Schofield's clearly doesn't think much of his prospective constituents.

Former Labour, now Tory, social media "expert" Luke Bozier says there should be no referendum on the EU and tax cuts will neutralise UKIP whilst Andrew Boff (Conservative London Assembly member) has this delightful comment:

Giving attention to self-harmers merely gives them justification for their abuse. We should offer a referendum (tomorrow, preferably) because it's the right thing to do, not because we want to deal with attention seekers.

Insulting 19,000 UKIP members and making light of mental health issues in the process.  We have one of the highest rates of self harming in Europe.  Way to go Mr Boff.

Tory-supporting "think tank" Centre for Policy Studies wonk, Ryan Bourne, says they should renegotiate our membership after the next election and David Nuttall MP, Chairman of the Better Off Out group of MPs and Peers, is the only one that has something vaguely sensible to say but still doesn't think we should have a referendum until after the next election.

Syed Kamall MEP says they should "show how UKIP never engage seriously in the European Parliament" whilst Tory researcher Paul Abbott displays a disturbing lack of understanding about the EU, talking about the European Court of Justice and Human Rights even though they're not actually EU institutions and claiming that last year's EU Act means that EU law only has primacy if Parliament wants it to despite it being a treaty obligation which is governed by international law.

It's pretty clear that the Tories refuse to listen to the majority of their membership or voters and that they hold the electorate in contempt.  It's amusing to see them simultaneously dismissing UKIP as being no threat and enough of a threat to have a masterplan for dealing with the UKIP threat to their party.

Desperate Tories call for desperate measures

A "rebel" Tory conference has been organised by Windsor Conservatives in association with ConservativeHome editor Tim Montgomerie on the same day as the UKIP Conference in Birmingham.

The "Conservative Renewal Conference" is being billed as a grassroots initiative but the speakers list is a who's who of media-friendly establishment Tories and of course the chair of the conference, Tim Montgomerie, is paid to work for the Tories.  Six Tory MPs, three Tory MEPs, a Tory AM and assorted Tory councillors, staffers and hangers-on is less grassroots and more gooseberry bush.

A cynical person might think that Montgomerie had organised the conference to coincide with the UKIP conference to try and attract disaffected Tories who might otherwise go to the UKIP conference and see first hand why so many Tories are defecting.

1.4m Tory voters switch allegiances to UKIP

The Sun reports that up to 1.4m Tory voters have switched allegiances to UKIP according to the YouGov/Sunday Times poll that has UKIP on 10% ahead of the elections on Thursday.

As we've already said, the data behind the results isn't available but the Sun have obviously got their hands on it because they also predict up to 300 Lib Dem councillors losing their seats, 400 lost seats for the Tories and for Red Ken to lose the London mayor election.

The Sun says that if the 1.4m people who said they'll vote UKIP do so then UKIP will be the largest UK party in the EU Parliament after the 2014 EU elections.  More importantly, if the half a million or so that are due to vote in elections on Thursday go through with their intention of voting UKIP we could see a vote of no confidence in this useless coalition and a vote of no confidence in the whole establishment in the ensuing general election.

Chorley Tories running scared of UKIP

Desperate Tories in Chorley have put out a leaflet trying to scare people off voting for UKIP by claiming that a vote for UKIP is a vote for Labour.

The leaflet makes no mention of policy at all and the only "positive" message is that their MP voted for a referendum on "Europe" a few months ago, referring to the vote on a referendum on membership of the EU (geography isn't negotiable) in which their leader whipped his MPs to vote against holding a referendum.

According to the leaflet "UKIP can't win here" which is probably what the Tory, Labour and Lib Dem candidates in East Sussex thought, right up until the results of the Seaford Town Council by-election were announced on Thursday night.

Remember, if you vote Conservative in Chorley, there is a very real risk you will end up with another Conservative or Labour council.  UKIP candidates for Chorley and the rest of the north west of England are listed on the UKIP website.

Another Tory defects to UKIP

South Oxfordshire District Councillor, Christopher Quinton, has defected from the Tories to UKIP in protest at their stance on same sex marriage and the wearing of crucifixes in the workplace.

Councillor Quinton owns technology investment company Quincom and represents the Woodcote ward in the Chilterns.

Two more Tories defect to UKIP

Councillors Tom and Catherine Bursnall defected from the Tories to UKIP on Wednesday.

Catherine is a former Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

Although UKIP's policy of leaving the EU was important to them, they both said "The Conservative party is no longer the party for the aspirational 'go getter'; no longer the moral crusader for a lower taxed nation; and no longer the party that trumps meritocracy over political gesture".

People are increasingly turning to UKIP because they see the party as the true opposition to the LibLabCon circus.  They're attracted to all the party's policies, not just the one for getting us out of the EU.

72 year old UKIP candidate assaulted by Tory councillor

A UKIP member was assaulted by a Tory councillor at an election count in Lymington last month.

Cllr Penny Jackman:
beat up a pensioner

The surprising attack on 72 year old UKIP candidate, Mike Beggs, by Councillor Penny Jackman has just been made public by the Southern Daily Echo.  Councillor Jackman has apologised and it would appear that Beggs has accepted the apology and isn't taking it any further.

Councillor Jackman took exception to an election leaflet that Beggs had produced criticising the Tories in Lymington - and Councillor Jackman in particular, who is quoted as saying "let's shut the buggers down" - for trying to evict their local cricket club from the cricket ground it's called home for the last 175 years.  Jackman verbally abused Beggs and then slapped him in the face, breaking his false teeth.

It looks like the Tories are still the nasty party ... at least in Lymington.

Tory "Mainstream Euroscepticism" means ever closer union

A group of 14 recently elected Conservative MPs have written to the Financial Times to set out what Conservative Home calls "mainstream euroscepticism" which basically amounts to continuing membership of the EU, ever-closer union and a refusal to listen to the majority of the general public when they say they want out of the corrupt EUSSR.

We have to rely on the Tory chief apologist, Tim Montogerie, for snippets of the letter as it's behind the Financial Times paywall (according to the Chair of the Propaganda Committee Montgomerie the letter was sent to the FT to show how important it was) but from what he says their "mainstream euroscepticism" can be summed up as:

• We must take the taxpayers’ side in resisting further bail-outs;
• Liberalisation of trade;
• The principle of subsidiarity;
• Wholesale reduction of the waste for which the European Commission is responsible;
• Above all we must start getting some value in return for the significant sums that UK taxpayers contribute to the EU’s budget

You just couldn't make this up.  This "mainstream euroscepticism" is more eurosceptic than the party line remember but it's basically a re-hash of Wee Willy Vague's "in Europe, not run by Europe" rhetoric that means bugger all, as evidenced by the string of EU power-grabs since the ConDem's came to power.

There is a suggestion that this group - who claim they could have got 100 MPs to sign the letter if it wasn't for those pesky kids they weren't too worried about their jobs as private secretaries to other MPs and they'd had more time - are in some way risking the wrath of David Cameron which is, of course, a nonsense.  They're toeing the party line, refusing to even contemplate leaving the EU as most voters want.  Tim Montgomerie also seems quite impressed (relieved?) that up to 100 Tory MPs could be sympathetic to the idea of "mainstream euroscepticism".  Which is all well and good but why do they think 100 Tory MPs putting their names to a letter calling for the UK to remain a member of the EU despite a large majority of the electorate wanting out is any better than 14 of them signing one?

There is only one party espousing "mainstream euroscepticism" and it's certainly not the Tories.  Having the view that we should leave the EU is apparently "impossibilism" (another "Montgomerieism") and not something that has a place in the europhile Conservative Party.  There's only one way we will every get out of the EU and that's with UKIP MPs fighting for withdrawal in Westminster.

How's that votey changey thing going for ya?

So, anyone wondering what rank and file Tories think of Cast Iron Dave's premature capitulation on the EU budget and breaking yet another promise to hold a referendum on EU treaties?

ConservativeHome has the answer ...

Sarah Palin's amusing anti-Obama "how's that hopey changey thing going for ya?" quip was well received by ConservativeHome who called her the "Queen of America's anti-government protesters".

Does anyone know how that "votey changey thing" is going for the Tories?

Osborne’s speech, even though it was spoken on the floor of the House, seemed aimed at pleasing the Conservative Party alone. When he sat down, many Tory back-benchers rose to their feet and cheered and I suddenly felt rather ashamed that I voted Tory at the last election.
- Peter Oborne, Daily Telegraph's chief political commentator

when Michael Gove backed out of his promise to come and apologise to the parents, pupils and staff he had so badly let down, I felt ashamed to be a Conservative
- Councillor Elaine Costigan, Sandwell MBC

But, after today, I will, briefly, but for the first time since I joined, be ashamed to call myself a Conservative.
- Alan William Collins, Conservative blogger and party activist

It's going well then ...

Scum Sucking Tories

Scum Sucking Tories

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  My MP (until May if he manages to hang on that long) David Wright has landed himself in a spot of bother with his inappropriate use of Twitter.  It was inevitable really, he’s been at it for some time now.

There’s been a bit of a tweetmeme going on throughout the day with people explaining why they’ve never voted Tory/Labour using #ivenevervotedtory and #ivenevervotedlabour hashtags.

But David Wright, a junior minister in the Treasury for a few years now, had to take it too far with the comment “#ivenevervotedtory because you can put lipstick on a scum-sucking pig, but it’s still a scum-sucking pig. And cos they would ruin Britain”.

I noticed the tweet earlier but I was out with my kids and so I didn’t make anything of it but it’s ok because Tory Radio noticed it and took a screenshot (above) and then Iain Dale picked up on it.

David deleted the tweet an hour after it was posted and apologised but then, bizarrely, subsequently claimed that his Twitter account had been tinkered with!  But here’s the funny thing: it’s exactly his normal style and exactly the sort of juvenile insult he comes out with aimed at the Tories all the time.

I’ve started favouriting some of his more interesting tweets such as this inciteful comment on George Osbourne in Parliament:

Georgey Porgey looks like he is holding in a big fart

Whether he looked like he was holding in a big fart I don’t know but is this an appropriate comment from an MP, let alone a Minister in the British government?  Since December he’s drunk-tweeted me, insulted me and even tried to intimidate me to stop me from asking him questions about Labour laundering taxpayers money through the unions to get state funding for the party and whether he’s a union-sponsored MP (he refuses to tell say).

But rather than take it on the chin after apologising, he quickly changed his story and said his Twitter account had been hacked.  Absolute nonsense if you ask me!  Iain Dale is now calling for support for the Tory PPC for David’s Telford constituency, Tom Biggins who already has a big advantage over David Wright in that he’s not Labour and he’s not David Wright but David does have some support still in the sinkhole housing estates that make up the bulk of his constituency.  I want David Wright out of office as much as the Tories do but I won’t be voting for Tom Biggins who’s been parachuted in from Whitchurch, still in the county but a good hours drive away.  I will be voting for – and actively supporting – the UKIP candidate, Councillor Denis Allen who has lived in Telford for years, has been a councillor in Telford for years, has served as Mayor of Wellington in Telford and is currently Deputy Mayor of Telford & Wrekin Borough.

I have a great deal of respect for David Wright for being an early adopter of Twitter amongst MPs and the fact that despite a mutual loathing he still talks to me on Twitter, even if trying to get him to answer a question is like trying to nail jelly to the wall.  But he really doesn’t help himself with his failure to understand what is and isn’t an acceptable thing to say and do as an MP.  Every day he tweets he says something inappropriate and people have warned him about his tweeting activities but he plods on regardless writing gaffe after gaffe and inevitably has attracted the attentions of the rabid Tory Twitterati and bloggers, some of whom have regular slots on national news channels and columns in newspapers, who will doubtless hound him until he resigns or something more exciting comes along.

David will be desperate for a proper politician to do something daft in the next day or two to take the heat off him, let’s hope they’re all on their best behaviour at least until the end of the week!

Cross-posted: Wonko's World

Camoron surrounds himself with europhiles

A senior Tory has leaked details of David Camoron's foreign policy advisors:

• Micheal Heseltine
• Douglas Hurd
• Chris Patten
• Ken Clarke
• Malcolm Rifkind
• Lady Neville-Jones

Is it any wonder the Tories have such a pro-EU agenda when Camoron surrounds himself with europhile foreign policy advisors?

EU contributions to rise by 60%

The net contribution paid by the UK to the European Empire is rising by 60% in April to £6.4bn.

This figure isn't the actual cost of EU membership, it's merely the amount on the books with "EU contribution" next to it. The true cost, with the 60% increase in direct contributions, is closer to £900 per person, per year.

The Treasury said it is right that we "share the burden of membership with new accession countries" even though we weren't asked if we wanted them, weren't asked if we wanted to pay for them and certainly can't afford to pay for them.

The Treasury also said:

The prime minister has made clear our belief is that it is right for us to share the burden of membership of the European Union with the new accession countries so that every part of the European Union can look forward to prosperity in the future.

If only that were the case but of course it's not. This is soviet-style socialism we're talking about here, the objective is to bring everyone down to the same level of deprivation and misery. The European Empire is making prosperous countries poorer and destitute countries richer with the aim of getting to whole continent just above the poverty line, too poor to trade with countries outside of the EU and most citizens dependent on the state to feed and clothe them.

The hypocritical Tories have criticised the increased bill, saying that it's not a particularly good idea to be handing over more cash to the EU in the middle of a recession. But the Tories have no solution - they support continued membership of the European Empire and all the costs and harmful directives that are associated with it. David Camoron is committed to keeping the UK as a member of the European Empire in defiance of logic and public opinion.

Tories want to try their hand at prohibition

Tory MP, James Brokenshire, has confirmed that David Camoron intends to ban the below-cost sale of alcohol and review "the round the clock availability of very cheap drink". James Brokenshire says "he is right to do so".

A few years ago, the thought of banning sales of cheap booze wouldn't have crossed the mind of 99% or Tories. A few years ago the Tories were the party of individual freedom and low taxation. Not any more. Now they're a party of prohibition, punishment, punitive taxation and the nanny state.

I used to be a binge drinker in my younger days. Except it wasn't called binge drinking then, it was called going to the pub and getting pissed on a regular basis. At one point I was going out 3 or 4 nights a week and drinking an average of about 25 pints a week. My liver is intact, I don't have a criminal record, I've never been involved in a brawl and I've never sexually assaulted someone (although I once pinched a woman's bottom when drunk which would probably get me a night in the cells nowadays). In the end I succumed to the realisation - as most people do - that drinking 25 pints of Caffreys in a week really isn't good for your health or bank balance and stopped.

The point is, it's up to the individual to decide how much they drink and when and if they stop. The more you tell people that something is wrong, the more they will do it. The Americans tried prohibition and it was swiftly repealed when they realised it caused more problems than it solved. If you try and ban alcohol - even partially - people will put in enormous effort to beat the ban and they will always succeed.

The Tories, under David Camoron, have metamorphosed into Blue Labour. Like New Labour, they are neither one thing nor the other. They are authoritarian, environmentalist, control freaks. If, as expected, the Tories win the next general election it won't be the sweeping change we're used to seeing following a change of regime but more a case of "the king is dead, long live the king".

Ken Clarke lets the cat out of the bag

Oh dear, Ken Clarke has let the cat out of the bag. Dave won't be happy.


Like UKIP has been saying all along, the Tories cannot and will not do anything about the EU not-a-constitution.