Derby Conservative jailed for election fraud

A Conservative councillor in Derby has been jailed for two months for giving a false address to fraudulently stand in a local election.

Cllr Richard Smalley successfully stood in last year's local elections for Derby City Council but resigned 10 days later after rumours appeared on social media about his fraudulent declaration.

His solicitor claimed that he was driven to commit the fraud because he was stressed.

Calling Cllr Banwait ....

Some of UKIP's local election candidates in Derby have got a question for the Labour leader of Derby City Council, Cllr Ranjit Banwait ...

Cllr Banwait accused the leader of the UKIP group, Cllr Alan Graves, of being "borderline racist" for arguing that it's not unreasonable to expect an immigrant to learn English before coming here rather than expecting the taxpayer to fund English lessons or translation services for them once they've arrived.

UKIP Derby steps in to carry out rubbish collections over Christmas

UKIPpers in Derby have collected over 300 bags of rubbish from households after Derby City Council cancelled Christmas refuse collections for the second year running.

The leader of the UKIP group in Derby, Cllr Alan Graves, received complaints from some residents that they would have to wait until at least 4th January before their Christmas rubbish was taken away and organised a group of volunteers to do the collections between Christmas and New Year.

Labour councillor, Paul Bayliss, dismissed UKIP's volunteering efforts as "daft" and said it was just a cynical ploy to attract votes. The next elections in the wards in question are in 2018 so there's very little electoral gain to be had this far in advance of an election. Cllr Bayliss was the leader of the council last year when Christmas waste collections were cancelled.

Over 100 households benefited from the UKIP's free waste collection this week.

UKIP Derby group leader criticises decision to pay more councillor allowances

The leader of the UKIP group on Derby City Council has criticised the decision to pay more money out in councillors' expenses.

Cllr Alan Graves says that the council is spending money that it hasn't got at a time that it is sacking staff to cut costs.

I don't understand how a personnel committee chair can sit in front of our staff, knowing they are going to sack them, knowing they are getting extra money

The decision was made to create two new cabinet positions on the council with a special responsibility allowance and to award a special responsibility allowance to the chair of the personnel committee responsible for cutting staff.

Whenever they are able to, UKIP councillors abolish the cabinet system in councils that allow decisions such as this to be taken undemocratically and replace it with the committee system that gives all councillors an equal say on decisions.

Cllr Graves attempted to reduce the number of councillors by a third last year which would have saved a quarter of a million pounds but was thwarted when his motion to the council was illegally amended by members of the ruling Labour cabinet to remove references to cutting the number of councillors and turn it into an attack on government cuts.

Conservative candidate suspended over anti-semitic comment

A Conservative candidate in Derby has been suspended for referring to Ed Miliband as "the Jew".

Gulzabeen Afsar said on Facebook that she couldn't take Ed Miliband seriously. A friend jokingly responded that she should have some respect for "the future PM" to which she replied:

Nah bro! never ever will I drop that low and support the Al Yahud! Lol

"Lol" indeed. Al Yahud is Jew in Arabic and she has now been suspended and will face a disciplinary panel.

Derby Labour attack UKIP councillor for missing meeting after suffering stroke

The Labour Party in Derby are putting out a leaflet claiming credit for UKIP's hard work tackling parking problems Chaddesden and criticising the UKIP councillor who's actually been doing the work for not attending a meeting when he was recovering from a stroke.

UKIP councillor, Bill Wright, has been visiting shops on Sussex Circus and talking to council officers to get action on parking problems. He missed a recent meeting regarding the parking issues after suffering from a stroke but it seems that isn't a valid excuse for the dirty tricks department of the local Labour Party.

Lib Dem ex-councillor sacked as magistrate

A Lib Dem former councillor in Derby has been sacked as a magistrate for bringing the magistracy into disrepute.

Ajit Atwal was a Lib Dem Councillor on Derby City Council until he lost his seat in May. He hit the headlines earlier in the year after the Sun newspaper discovered his Twitter profile with a picture of Atwal posing with an assault rifle in India. He has been sacked as a magistrate over the incident.

Dirty tricks by Derby Labour

UKIP's Cllr Alan Graves proposed a motion to reduce the number of councillors on Derby City Council by a third, saving at least £250k a year that could be put back into vital public services. The ruling Labour administration didn't agree so they voted through an amendment to turn his motion into an attack on "government cuts" and take out the proposal to cut the number of councillors so the record wouldn't show them voting against saving money.

By law, amendments to a motion must be to improve or correct the motion without altering the meaning of it. Cllr Graves' motion made no reference to criticising "government cuts" and was clearly about cutting the number of councillors so the meaning of the motion was altered. Cllr Graves pointed this out so the council's legal officer, already prepared for the objection, stepped in and said "the amendment does take away slightly the point regarding cuts to councillor numbers" but it's still about "government cuts" so it's legal.

Watch the whole outrageous exchange on video below ...

Two defections to UKIP in Derby

The defections are coming in thick and fast as people of all political persuasions are becoming more and more disillusioned with the LibLabCon.

UKIP Derby has claimed its second scalp in a week with former leader of the Tory group in Derby City Council, Martin du Sautoy, on Tuesday and former Labour, then independent, Councillor Alan Graves today.

The current leader of the Labour group has declared Graves a traitor for "betraying" his constituents in 2009 when he ditched Labour and went independent.  The leader of the Tories don't seem particularly interested but the Lib Dem leader really deserves an award for her comment:

I'm surprised Alan Graves has gone to UKIP because that is quite right wing and I wouldn't expect that from someone who was a Labour councillor.

UKIP is a centre right party with the emphasis on centre.  There's something for everyone in UKIP, that's why Labour and Tory councillors and members are leaving their old parties and joining UKIP.