Former Labour mayor of Blackburn defects to UKIP

The former mayor of Blackburn, Michael Madigan, has defected to UKIP.

Madigan was a Labour councillor for 25 years and has been a Labour Party member for over 40 years. He has explained his reasons for defecting in some detail:

The leadership of the party has been reacting to policies promoted by the coalition government and not leading with clear alternatives.

The Labour Party’s outright opposition to welfare reform, has not in my opinion, done them any credit.

Also we cannot indefinitely continue to support with tax payers money those who do not make, and have never made, any contribution to the public coffers or to society generally. This is not congruent with the Beveridge principles (Social Security based on contribution and service) which have been diluted to a great extent, particularly by the Labour government.

The Labour Party has created an environment that has caused the development of parallel communities by the promotion of multiculturalism.

Their policies have contributed to the radicalisation of young Muslims with the increase of non-EU immigration, the imposition of political correctness, the relaxation of border controls, an illegal war in Iraq and importantly the issue of too many work permits for clerics from the Indian sub-continent.

The Labour Party promoted postal votes on demand which in my opinion has opened the door for abuse on a very large scale witnessed in Blackburn, East Lancashire and Birmingham in particular.

I have given many thousands of hours to the Labour Party but it has changed dramatically and no longer represents my views and the views of many other former loyal supporters.

I believe that UKIP is now the party of the working class and is the only one that will fight for our interests and not just act for the benefit of the out of touch Westminster elite.

UKIP candidate stabbed in face

A UKIP candidate in Blackburn has been stabbed in the face in an apparent hate crime.

Bobby Anwar says that he, his wife and children have been subjected to racial abuse from their Muslim neighbours who call them "Kafir" and "N**ger" for about 5 years and it has culminated in this attack at the weekend.

Anwar believes the attack to be politically motivated as the neighbours are Labour supporters. His eye socket has been fractured and he has had surgery to insert a metal plate. If the attack was politically motivated then the media and trade union funded hate groups have some serious questions to answer. Their campaign against UKIP started with insults on social media, then it was stealing and defacing posters, then it escalated to screaming abuse in the faces of candidates and then one MEP having a brick thrown through his window and another MEP having to call the police when an intruder entered their property. It was only a matter of time before the hate campaign resulted in someone being seriously injured.

The police are investigating the assault on Anwar and a man has been bailed on suspicion of causing Grevous Bodily Harm with intent. But the investigation that we do need is into the appalling behaviour of trade union funded anti-democracy groups like Hope not Hate and Unite Against Fascism who have encouraged, facilitated and funded a campaign of criminal activism against UKIP and its candidates. They have lied, cheated, stolen and abused UKIP candidates and gone far beyond what any reasonable person would consider to be simply exercising democratic rights. This is organised crime and it needs to be stopped before this kind of violent, criminal behaviour becomes the norm and the only people who are safe in elections are those who have the backing of violent groups of left wing fascists.

How UKIP could overtake the Tories in the North

An excellent article appeared on IndHome by Lee Jenkins  about how UKIP is actually doing better in Northern Labour strongholds rather than the True Blue Tory Shires which is the rather lazy stereotype held by the media. Opinion polls on Northern voting intentions consistently show us wiping the floor with the Lib Dems and being not too distant from catching up the Tories. To do so would be a major coup for us and a major psychological blow to the Tory party.

But can we do it?

As a Northener myself (though unlike Lee from the White Rose side of the Pennines) I would say we certainly can, as long as we take the trouble to understand the North's political culture: - something no other party has bothered to do for a long time, regarding the region as an impregnable Labour Party fiefdom.

Firstly to expand on Lee's observations, it is true that in terms of it's economic culture, the North, or at least the industrial North, would appear to be barren terrain for UKIP. Previously dominated by large manufacturing concerns employing mass labour, the small trader, individual entrepreneur culture which is most likely to identify with UKIP's broadly Libertarian economic policies has always been much weaker there.  (It's no accident that TV's most famous sitcom entrepreneurs, Del Trotter and Arthur Daley, are Londoner's, and Nigel Farage could have played a hilarious cameo role in either series.) In recent year's things have got even worse, with Gordon Brown's 'sovietisation' of much of the region: in most areas government generates most of the GDP. Consequently, much of the North is economically depressed and remains deeply suspicious of capitalism.

Sadly, the issue which most Northerner's are most likely to identify with UKIP is immigration. It can not be emphasised strongly enough that the immigration patterns observed by the Metropolitan elite - broadly speaking the migration to London of a high-skilled, middle class, truly multi-cultural workforce who come to London for their careers - is totally different from the low skilled and often Islamic migration channelled by arranged or forced marriages experienced in many Northern cities. The effect is no less than the en masse transfer of rural, deeply conservative Southern Asian cultures into these areas, and it is no surprise that this is causing the rise of dangerous sectarian tensions in places like Dewsbury and Blackburn. Cracking down on this type of immigration is vital if social stability is to be maintained.

But there is another, more generic factor to UKIP's appeal: authenticity. Whether or not they agree with aspects of UKIP's policy portfolio, they at least respect the direct style of politicians such as Nigel Farage or Paul Nuttall. Northerner's are well known for their love of straight-talking and have always disliked what they see as the dishonest, cowardly and hypocritical avoidance of hard truths they associate with the Southern manner of speech in general and the Political Class in particular.

Lastly, there is also another very painful truth we must acknowledge, and one that no political party has really got to grips with: the rise and rise of the London City State at the expense of the rest of the UK. I heard a remark yesterday that encapsulated the issue perfectly:

"London is an international,  multicultural city tacked onto an increasingly irrelevant country."

It hurt so much because it is largely true. Economically, of course, most of the the UK has lagged behind growth in the South East for several decades. The fact that is that people feel ignored by and irrelevant  to an arrogant, effete, self-regarding Metropolitan over-class that now dominates the LibLabCon parties and seems almost colonial in it's attitudes to the rest of the country rubs salt into the wounds.  The powerful, festering resentments this has created are exhibited by the rise in nationalist sentiment in Scotland and Wales, which is reality a reaction to Metropolitan rule rather than English rule.

Not having nationalism to fall back on as a political outlet, the North is currently trapped, with no party currently articulating its intense frustrations. What is needed are true localist policies that give the North  a large measure of independence from Metropolitan rule. (Though a fine policy in itself, an English parliament really doesn't address the issue, and in some ways it could even amplify London's dominance.) Instead, we must continue to build up our party strength locally on a campaign theme of independence from London. (Obviously such a campaign should be couched in positive, constructive terms rather than falling back on the all too common bitter prejudices about t'bloody Sutherners.) Having consistently failed to deliver on localism despite repeated promises, none of the other parties will ever be believed on this issue, but there is chance that UKIP, with it's reputation for honesty, will be.

With the Lib Dems in seemingly permanent eclipse and the Tory Party is steep decline, the prize of UKIP becoming the second party in the North of England is truly within sight.

Let us now take it.