Burka ban? What burka ban?

The media have been falling over themselves to condemn UKIP's proposed burka ban. There's just one problem: it's not a burka ban.

The party revealed its integration policy a few days ago which called for a ban on covering your face in public, mandatory checks for FGM on at-risk girls, an end to Sharia courts, abolishing postal voting on demand and making the "honour" in honour killings and the race or religion of grooming gangs (if different to the victims) an aggravating factor.

The policy that has caused most controversy is the proposed ban on covering your face in public. Clearly the burka is one of the face coverings that would be affected by such a ban but so too would masks, scarves and bandannas that are a common sight at violent protests. The reason for the proposed ban is partly to promote integration and partly for security reasons. Only this week a burka-wearing terrorist suspect was shot by police during a raid. Face coverings are banned in Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and in some parts of Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain. UKIP's policy would require everyone to ensure that their faces can be seen in public.

Female Genital Mutilation has been illegal in the UK since 1987 yet there has been just one attempted prosecution and that failed because the doctor in question hadn't actually performed the FGM. In France girls who are at risk of FGM are checked by doctors to ensure they haven't been mutilated. The zero tolerance approach in France has seen more than 100 people go to prison for mutilating girls and a small number of prosecutions have also been secured in the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark. UKIP's policy would not only introduce medical checks for at risk girls but it would place a legal obligation on all adults report FGM if they are aware of it and introduce a presumption of prosecution of parents, putting an end to the unacceptable blind eye the police turn to it.

Sharia courts and tribunals have no place in our legal system. They are discriminatory toward women and undermine the principle of us all being equal before the law. Despite many attempts by politicians and academics to portray Sharia courts as benign organisations advising the faithful on religious matters, they have remained stubbornly problematic and a government report is due to be published this year on the misuse of Sharia courts and their incompatibility with English law.

Postal voting on demand has caused a fraud epidemic that seriously undermines the democratic process and it nearly always involves Muslim communities and is usually for the benefit of the Labour Party. There have been numerous prosecutions for postal vote fraud, including the infamous Lutfur Rahman seeing his mayoralty of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets annulled by a special election court and his party banned. People involved in elections all over the country will have their own stories of blatant postal vote fraud yet the system remains open to abuse. UKIP's policy is to return to the previous system of only issuing postal votes to those who need them because they are unable to attend a polling station.

Between 2010 and 2014 there were 11,000 "honour crimes" reported to the police in the UK and an estimated 12-15 "honour killings" every year. Yet when prosecutions are pursued the fact that it has been done in the name of religion has no bearing on the punishment. Sexual grooming of young girls is an increasing problem and again, one that most commonly involves Muslim communities but disproportionately targets young white girls as their victims. UKIP's policy would require the courts to treat the racial and/or religious aspect of these crimes as an aggravating factor and increase the punishments accordingly.

Back in 2011 an army recruitment video was broadcast on TV showing an irate man facing up to a soldier. He calms down when the soldier removes his sunglasses because "army officers worldwide have learnt that eye contact is crucial in gaining trust".

Allowing the facial covering policy to be wrongly portrayed as a ban on the burka was clumsy and unhelpful. People should be free to wear what they choose but it is sometimes necessary to curtail such liberties when the risk of domestic and international terrorism is so high. Whether there should even be such a thing as an "integration policy" rather than rolling these rather sensible policies into more conventional policy areas like communities and local government or justice and home affairs is debatable. It certainly doesn't need to be a flagship policy in a snap general election when there is next to no time to correct the mistruths and deliberate misrepresentations before polling day. But despite all that, they are (on the whole) sensible policies designed to make the country safer and to promote community cohesion.

Paul Nuttall will stand in Boston & Skegness

Paul Nuttall has announced that he will be contesting the staunchly eurosceptic seat of Boston & Skegness in the upcoming general election.

Boston & Skegness returned the highest Brexit vote in the referendum with 75.6% of voters voting to leave the EU. In theory this is a perfect seat for UKIP to contest with most voters backing the party's stance on the EU, a Remain-supporting MP and UKIP's 10 councillors forming the official opposition on Boston Borough Council. But the two parliamentary by-elections that followed the referendum have shown that a Leave vote doesn't equal a UKIP vote and whilst a strong presence on local councils clearly translates into more votes in parliamentary elections it isn't enough. It will be an uphill battle for Paul Nuttall despite UKIP's relatively strong presence in the constituency.

Video: UKIP's general election campaign launch

Paul Nuttall will stand in general election but where?

Paul Nuttall has ended several days of media speculation and confirmed that he will be standing in the impending general election.

Nuttall told journalists on Monday that he hadn't decided whether to stand or not which led many to believe that the disappointing result in Stoke in February had put him off trying to become an MP. However, he has confirmed that he will be standing but has not yet revealed which seat he will contest.

Boston & Skegness seems to be the popular choice with the pundits and with UKIP's former PPC for the seat, Robin Hunter-Clarke, opting to stand in Pontypridd this time round (he's Chief of Staff to the UKIP group in the Welsh Assembly) there would appear to be a vacancy in a seat that produced a very strong UKIP vote in 2015. However, Paul Nuttall is due in Hartlepool on Saturday morning where the unveiling of UKIP's candidate for the seat has been promised. Could Nuttall be the mystery PPC?

Aaron Banks barred from rejoining UKIP

Aaron Banks has been blocked from re-joining UKIP pending the outcome of a meeting with the party's NEC later this month.

Banks' membership was up in January but he failed to renew. He refused to accept Paul Nuttall's landslide victory in the leadership election and when things went badly in Stoke he went full Kilroy and saw it as an opportunity to try and seize power.

Banks wrote an open letter to the NEC pledging to put money into the party and recruit new members but only if he was given the Chairman's job. As chairman he would throw out disruptive influences and anyone briefing against the party. Then he started being disruptive and briefing against the party which prompted the following from Paul Nuttall:

Many of you will have seen the contents of a letter written to me by Arron Banks in February so I feel it is right to share with you my reply to him that was sent earlier this morning. You can read the full letter here:

Dear Arron

I write in reply to your letter to me of 26th February, which has been made public.

As you will know, at the end of November I secured the largest mandate ever given to a Leader of UKIP. This mandate was based on my call for unity within the party, as well as my proposals for reform.

I entirely agree that our party needs to look closely at our brand and how we operate, how we interface with our membership and how we communicate with voters. These are all things I promised to pursue if elected as Leader and I remain committed to those aims.

During the last week I have consulted with several significant supporters and donors who, in addition to our grassroots members, have helped to sustain UKIP’s financial position in recent years. I am pleased to say that they have pledged to continue to support the party going forward as we work to make the changes that are needed.

On Friday, I met with the NEC to discuss the contents of your letter. The NEC resolved to keep open their invitation to you to meet them on 27th March in London to discuss the ideas outlined in your letter. Any and all contributions to our work are welcome. However, I should make clear that, whilst I am open to working with you on improving and enhancing our party, the Party Chairmanship is not on offer.

In addition, whilst the NEC are keen to discuss and examine your ideas, they are concerned about continuing negative and damaging publicity flowing from this matter. Mindful of their primary responsibility to safeguard the reputation of UKIP, they have asked me to tell you that should you choose to further criticise UKIP, its leadership or the elected representatives in either the media or on social media, they will withdraw their invitation.

Finally, I’m also aware that you recently applied to re-join UKIP. The NEC have asked me to make clear that this application will not be processed until you have met with the committee on the 27th.

You have been a great supporter of the Party over the past two and a half years, and a major force in helping to achieve the Leave vote. For this we continue to be grateful and remain hopeful that you will look to work constructively with us as we move towards building UKIP into a real force for change in British politics.

Yours sincerely,


Paul Nuttall MEP
Party Leader

Paul made it very clear that his leadership would be about unity. Aaron Banks is only interested in Aaron Banks. He hasn't got behind the leader or the party and has no intention of doing so. The party is better off without his disruptive influence.

Labour hold Stoke and Tories win Copeland

Labour retained Stoke Central and the Conservatives gained Copeland in yesterday's by-elections.

The Labour vote held up despite a low turnout for postal votes and their candidate being a misogynistic Remoaner with anger issues. The illegal religious campaigning by muslim Labour supporters will have helped no end, as will the campaigning by the trade unions who have offices in Stoke. But the biggest two factors are probably the terrible weather discouraging voters from turning out on the day and the dirty tricks campaign waged through the left wing media against Paul Nuttall. His response to the dirty ticks campaign - or more likely his staff's response - did him no favours but there's really very little anyone can do to counter the likes of the Guardian, the Independent and the Huffington Post when they're prepared to lie and deceive to undermine the democratic process.

In Copeland UKIP were pushed into fourth place after the Conservatives pulled off a historic win to become the first incumbent government in nearly 40 years to win a parliamentary by-election. In Copeland the Labour Party's negative campaigning was directed at the Conservatives rather than UKIP with one leaflet claiming that children would die if the Conservatives won.

The Electoral Commission surely has to act soon to regulate partisan political campaigning by these organisations to prevent them having such undue influence over elections. It's one thing to endorse a candidate or party and another thing entirely to engage in dishonest negative campaigning against a rival.

The results were both disappointing but it's worth remembering that Stoke Central was 72nd on UKIP's target seat list. If it wasn't for the size of the Leave vote in Stoke it would have been written off as a dead loss. What we've learnt from these two by-elections is that a Leave vote doesn't equate to a UKIP vote. These were the first by-elections UKIP contested following the referendum and it's something to be reflected on. What it absolutely doesn't mean is that Paul Nuttall is a failure as either a candidate or the leader of the party.

If you don't vote UKIP in Copeland and Stoke Central then nothing will change

Voters are going to the polls today in Stoke Central and Copeland in two hugely important Westminster by-elections.

Stoke Central is, of course, the big one where 7 out of 10 people voted to leave the EU and the Labour Party have decided to stand a sexist, potty mouthed, Remain-supporting councillor from Suffolk as their candidate. UKIP's new leader, Paul Nuttall, is the UKIP candidate to replace Labour's Tristram Hunt as MP Stoke Central.

But let's not forget Copeland where UKIP's Fiona Mills is hoping to cause an upset in a seat that has been held by the Labour Party for almost a century. Contesting a by-election on the same day as the UKIP leader means you're never going to get the publicity or resources but a strong third is expected nonetheless.

As Einstein may or may not have said, insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Voting for the same people and parties means nothing will ever change and every election they win is an endorsement for their failed policies. Labour and the Conservatives have been letting down Stoke, Copeland and the whole country for more than a century, it's time for change.

Paul Nuttall forced out of his Stoke home by Labour activists

Paul Nuttall has been forced to move out of his Stoke home for safety reasons after being targeted by warm and cuddly Labour supporters trying to break into his house, wandering around his garden, taking pictures through the windows and posting hate mail through his letterbox.

The police have taken their usual stance toward the safety of UKIP representatives targeted by fascists which is to pretend there isn't a problem. Nigel Farage asked for a police security detail after a series of physical and verbal attacks on him, his family and his home but was refused. Now Paul Nuttall is being threatened the police won't even step up patrols in the area.

It's sad that Labour supporters are so intolerant and predisposed to violence and harassment but until they learn how to behave like decent human beings, the police need to step up and protect their victims.

Desperate Labour wasting police time in Stoke over Paul Nuttall's nomination papers

Desperate Labour campaigners have reported Paul Nuttall to the police and the Electoral Commission, claiming that he has lied on his nomination papers for the Stoke Central by-election by putting a house in Stoke as his address.

Paul has rented a property in Stoke which he is living in for the duration of the election campaign and beyond. He has made it clear that when he is Stoke Central's new MP it will continue to be his home. But Labour are claiming that because he hadn't spent the night or got furniture in the house it couldn't be his home and have made a complaint.

Paul moved into the house in Stoke on the day he submitted his nomination papers and has released a photograph showing that he spent that night in the house, sleeping on a mattress in one of the bedrooms. The council certainly won't be pro-rating his council tax to the hour he went to bed, he will be deemed to have moved in to that house that day so why should it be any different for his nomination papers? Your birthday doesn't start at the time you were born, your phone line rental doesn't start from the hour your phone is connected, your car tax isn't calculated from the minute you click the button on the DVLA website and your permanent address doesn't only become your permanent address when you've had a sofa delivered.

There is nothing in the Representation of the People Act that defines what a permanent address is for a candidate which is what the police and Electoral Commission will be interested in and Labour will know this (they've had plenty of experience of candidates breaking electoral law, after all). They are wasting police time and the Electoral Commission's time with a vexatious complaint for political gain.

Paul Nuttall at his house in Stoke on the day his nomination papers were submitted, courtesy of Guido

Labour's "local man" in Stoke Central is "still a Suffolk-boy at heart"

Labour's "local" candidate in the Stoke Central by-election is actually from Stowmarket in Suffolk - about 4 or 5 times the distance from Stoke as UKIP leader Paul Nuttall who Labour are trying to discredit as an outsider.

Guido has been digging around the internet and found a tweet from 6 years ago in which Labour's "local man" Gareth Snell describes himself as "still a Suffolk-boy at heart". There's also a letter in the Stoke Sentinal a year later hypothesising that Snell was double jobbing in Tristram Hunt's office in Stoke whilst leading Newcastle Borough Council (as he was at the time) because he was after what would have been a safe Labour seat there at the time.

Gareth Snell is neither local, nor does he "understand Stoke-on-Trent". He is a committed Remainer who has described Brexit as a "massive pile of sh*t" and supports EU membership for Turkey. The Stoke Central constituency voted to Leave the EU by a whopping 69.4%, making it one of the most eurosceptic places in the country.

UKIP's Paul Nuttall is the bookies' favourite to win the Stoke Central by-election

Good news for Paul Nuttall, not so good for anyone hoping to make a bit of cash out of the Stoke Central by-election.

Fake news: Attempts to link Paul Nuttall with EDL after supporter posts selfie with him on Facebook

The left wing media are beside themselves with excitement after finding a picture of an EDL supporter standing next to Paul Nuttall on Facebook.

Nuttall is mobbed by supporters wherever he goes looking for selfies and a party spokesman has explained that hundreds of people queued to have their picture taken with him in Stoke and nobody had a clue who the EDL supporter was.

That hasn't stopped left wing rags including the Liverpool Echo, Guardian and Mirror from trying to associate him with the group that UKIP proscribed many years ago.

Nor did it stop the Labour MP for Wirral South, Alison McGovern, from trying to make political capital out of it which is a pretty stupid thing to do when her own leader has been pictured with despots and terrorists many times over the years. There is a world of difference between posing for a selfie with a racist who you don't know is a racist and posing for pictures with convicted IRA terrorists whilst describing them as freedom fighters and campaigning to get them released from prison so they can go out murdering again.

Tories have given up on Stoke and expect a UKIP win

Far left rag, the Huffington Post, is reporting Tory sources saying that they have conceded Stoke Central and are putting all their resources into Copeland instead.

Apparently, the Tories believe that it is "inconceivable" that they could take Stoke Central from Labour and "UKIP will win Stoke". They are reportedly concerned about "the embarrassment factor" of putting the effort in in Stoke and losing the seat to UKIP.

Labour's tax dodging trade union-funded hate campaign, Hate not Hope, has been distributing leaflets in Stoke making false claims about UKIP. They're scared that they're going to lose the election so they're using some of the money they got from the memorial fund for murdered MP, Jo Cox that was intended to promote community cohesion and fight fascism to produce political material for the Labour Party.

The bookies still have Labour as odds on favourite to win Stoke Central but well over half the bets placed through the Odds Checker website have been for UKIP. The longest odds you're going to get for a UKIP win is 8/5 at the moment which is good news for the election campaign but not so good if you were hoping to make a killing at the bookies!

Paul Nuttall will contest Stoke Central for UKIP

Paul Nuttall has been selected as UKIP's candidate for the Stoke Central by-election, putting him smack in the middle of the biggest test of his leadership so far.

Stoke is one of UKIP's strongest areas and one of the most eurosceptic parts of the country. This is a real opportunity to gain a seat.

In his acceptance speech, Paul said that Labour will be telling lies about UKIP wanting to privatise the NHS. He said that in 2011 he said he wanted to bring some privatisation to the NHS but after seeing the effects of Labour's part privatisation of the NHS he had changed his mind. He then said something that very few politicians ever have: "I was wrong".

The Lib Dems have selected Dr Zulfiqar Ali as their candidate, pretty much guaranteeing the weaponisation of the NHS in this election. Ali is an anti-Brexit candidate (obviously) which isn't going to endear him to the almost 70% of voters in Stoke who voted to leave the EU.

Labour and the Tory vote-splitters have yet to announce their candidates for this by-election but Labour have already been out on the streets telling people that UKIP want to privatise the NHS so it looks like we can expect a dirty campaign from them.

Life after Nigel: Nuttall or Woolfe?

When the dust settles on Nigel Farage's resignation the big question will be who will take his place as leader of the UK's third largest party.

With Suzanne Evans currently serving a suspension she is unable to stand which leaves it as a two horse race between Paul Nuttall and Steven Woolfe.

Paul Nuttall is the current deputy leader and leader of the UKIP delegation in the EU Parliament. The working class boy from Bootle has done well for himself, working his way up through the ranks to be Party Chairman, Deputy Leader and getting elected as MEP for the north west of England. Paul is from an old Labour background, supports an English Parliament and campaigns for stronger ties with the Commonwealth.

Steven Woolfe is UKIP's economics spokesman and a criminal law barrister. Steven was born in the notorious Moss Side estate in Manchester and brought up not far away in Burnage. He was introduced to the party by Lord Pearson in 2010 and was quickly appointed economics spokesman by Nigel Farage. Steven is UKIP's highest ranking ethnic minority official and a campaigner for an ethical immigration policy based on merit.

Whoever takes over will have big shoes to fill. Nigel Farage took a single issue protest party and turned it into the UK's third largest party with elected representatives at all levels of government, the largest group of UK MEPs and made an EU referendum a reality.

Treasury expose Lib Dem lies about 3m EU jobs

The Treasury have exposed the Lib Dems for lying about 3m jobs being lost if we leave the EU.

During the EU election campaign and the televised debates between Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage the Lib Dems repeated the lie that the latest Treasury analysis said that 3m jobs would be put at risk if we left the EU. The Treasury has now belatedly said that the analysis says no such thing and uses a 10 year old methodology.

UKIP's Deputy Leader, Paul Nuttall MEP, said:

There is no doubt that UK would continue to export to the EU after withdrawal from it and the alleged 3 million jobs loss bandied around by Europhiles such as the Lib Dems is nothing more than inaccurate scaremongering.

We live in a global market, and no one believes that if we left the EU companies like Renault would stop selling their cars here and sack the dealership staff, yet that is what Clegg's figures assume. Likewise, France's population aren't going to stop buying our goods and services.

Cleggy's told another porky!

Billboards attacked in Oldham again

Someone in Oldham is scared of UKIP judging by the two attacks on UKIP billboards in less than a week.

The first set of billboards and posters with the slogan "Against Unlimited Immigration" were vandalised last week and posters have been vandalised again overnight.  Local BNP activists are believed to be behind the latest vandalism based on the illiteracy and incoherence of the messages written on the posters.

Both attacks have been reported to the police.

Nuttall appointed Deputy Leader

Nigel Farage's new team has been confirmed by the NEC today and by far the most pleasing and important appointment is Paul Nuttall as Deputy Leader.

The only person who could have really given Farage a run for his money in the leadership election (had he decided to stand) was Paul Nuttall.  He's an excellent speaker, politically astute, down to earth and approachable.

It's not clear whether Lord Monckton is remaining vice-deputy leader or not.  Having two leaders is unusual and not really necessary.  The deputy leader has a clear role - to deputise for the leader - and I don't see why we would ever need two deputies.  Nigel's a hard act to follow but it doesn't take two people!

Steve Crowther is the new Chairman, the Secretary is Michael Greaves and Lord Pearson is head of fundraising with Stephen Woolfe assisting.

Congratulations to all of Nigel's new team.

UKIP won't be forming pan-EU party ... yet

Paul Nuttall has issued a statement on the question of UKIP forming a pan-EU party.

In connection with the possibility of the UK Independence Party becoming part of a pan-European Party, the following decision has been taken today.

It has been decided that because of the concern of the membership and the complexity surrounding this matter, no decision will be made in 2010 on membership.

As the final deadline for joining this year is 15th November, this means that there would not be sufficient time for a full and frank debate on this most important matter.

If left till next year, the party can properly debate and consider the ramifications of this issue before the November 2011 deadline.

This subject came up some time ago and marked the beginning of Nikki Sinclaire's open warfare with the party and Nigel Farage in particular.

The European Empire has a £10m slush fund for funding parties that don't have MEPs and bringing them under the vassalage of those that do through the pan-EU party scheme which sees parties in the EU Parliament form alliances with other parties that don't.  In UKIP's case this would have been an opportunity to put money intended to promote the eurofederalist cause to good use helping smaller eurosceptic parties build their profile in other countries.

With lingering disquiet amongst the membership about the possibility of UKIP forming a pan-EU party, it's the right decision to defer this until next year but it's going to be a difficult job trying to convince the members that it's a good idea or even just putting across the facts in a way that members will understand.  I hope that next year UKIP is able to take advantage of this money because at the moment the whole £10m is going to pro-EU parties who will be using it to promote the eurofederalist cause.

Nuttall announces resignation as Chairman

Paul Nuttall announced, a couple of days ago, that he is standing down as Chairman of UKIP.

This is a shame because Nuttall is a real asset to the party but he is an MEP and has a young family and wants to commit more time to improving UKIP's fortunes in the north east euroregion of England.

Nuttall would make an excellent replacement for Lord Pearson as Leader but has already ruled himself out of the contest.  Perhaps he'll be able to stand as Leader now he's resigned as Chairman?