UKIP win back majority in South Thanet by-elections

UKIP candidates took another two seats on South Thanet District Council in by-elections yesterday to secure a working majority again.

The council has been UKIP-controlled since last year's local elections although infighting over Manston Airport saw some UKIP councillors form an independent group, losing UKIP's overall majority. Last night's victories means 29 out of 56 councillors are UKIP, giving the party back its working majority.

As well as the district council wins, UKIP candidates won two vacant seats on UKIP-controlled Ramsgate Town Council which now has 11 UKIP councillors out of a total of 16.

Latest unemployment figures prove Project Fear wrong AGAIN

Figures out today show that unemployment is down, the number of people out of work and not looking for work is down and the percentage of working age people in work is at a record high since records began in 1971.

Project Fear told us that the economy would tank if we voted to the leave the EU, that millions of jobs would be lost and that companies would abandon the UK in droves. Instead, we see fewer people out of work, companies making big investments in the UK and investors putting their faith in our future prosperity.

If things are going this well during a period of economic instability and political uncertainty caused by David Cameron's refusal to plan for Brexit then just imagine what it's going to be like when there's an actual plan and some firm answers on our relationship with the EU and the rest of the world.

Sorry George, did you have something to say?

Nathan Gill resigns UKIP whip in the Welsh Assembly

Nathan Gill has resigned from the UKIP group in Welsh Assembly and will sit as an independent AM.

He made the decision to resign from the group after weeks of infighting which almost resulted in him being expelled from the party but group leader Neil Hamilton's reaction points to the root of the problem.

We'll have to do our best to survive without him - we don't see him much in the assembly so I don't think well notice much difference

There is a time and a place for hardballing rebellious members and this is neither the time nor is the Sennedd the place. Having won the EU referendum, we need to be showing voters that we are the party that can make Brexit happen and happen right. With the pointless infighting in Wales, the shambolic leadership election and a string of ridiculous decisions by the NEC we appear to be anything but competent.

Labour avoided tax on £4.3m profits last year

Today's personal attack on Bill Etheridge MEP is unacceptable

The invasion of +Bill Etheridge MEP's privacy by his ex-girlfriend today is not acceptable.

Lorraine Chew posted a picture of Viagra with a box showing that it had been prescribed to Etheridge on Twitter, accusing him of having an affair. She later deleted the picture along with tweets endorsing his rivals in the leadership campaign.

Bill is thick skinned but it was a very personal attack on him and goes far beyond what elements of their personal life a public figure should be expected to accept being made public. No matter how upset you are with someone, this sort of behaviour is unacceptable and the press should certainly have recognised that this simply was not a matter of public interest and shouldn't have been given the oxygen of publicity.

Jonathan Arnott withdraws from leadership election

Jonathan Arnott has withdrawn from the leadership election, saying that he could only finish second at best and urged fellow candidates to step down and reduce the number of candidates to help maintain some unity in the party.

Arnott's withdrawal leaves Bill Etheridge, Diane James, Elizabeth Jones, Lisa Duffy and Phillip Broughton still in the running.

Despite failing to attend any of the leadership hustings events organised by the party and listing her own leadership tour, Diane James remains the favourite to replace Nigel Farage. Her decision to go it alone with the hustings has attracted some criticism from members who have described it as disrespectful.

FTSE 100 & 250 approaching record highs

The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 share indices are racing towards record highs, demonstrating strong investor confidence in the UK.

Despite the Bank of England's best efforts to derail the post-referendum boom, the FTSE 100 finished up 25.17 points at 6,941, fast approaching its record high of 7,089 points in April last year. Similarly, the FTSE 250 finished up 7.89 points at 17,929 which saw a record high in May last year of 18,192.

In a further show of confidence in the economy, the Bank of England failed to meet the bond buyback target it set itself because investors don't want to sell them. The BoE's latest intervention was to create £1.17bn of free money and use it to buy back bonds but they didn't bank on investors being reluctant to sell their bonds and ended up more than £50m short of their target.

The pound will increase in value as time goes on but at the moment the weak pound is a good thing. The Bank of England is pursuing a policy of devaluing the pound (hence it magicking £1.17bn out of thin air) to drive up exports and attract foreign investment. What we sell costs about 10% less to buy in the major currencies since the referendum which increases demand. This in turn creates jobs and new businesses as well as increasing the profile of UK goods and services around the world. Higher prices for imported goods means that it becomes cheaper to buy domestically produced goods and services which again creates jobs and new businesses. The weaker pound is putting us on a much stronger footing for when we eventually leave and the uncertainty of Brexit negotiations is behind us.

British government guarantees funding for farming and science

The British government have announced a funding guarantee for science and agriculture to protect organisations and businesses in receipt of funding via the EU after we leave.

The EU makes money available to farmers and landowners via the EU Common Agricultural Policy. It pays them to farm certain things, not farm certain things and sometimes not to farm at all. They pay out about £3bn a year in susbsidies with the big money going to the largest and wealthiest landowners who can claim more than £1m each for their extensive land holdings.

Scientists and researchers can apply for funding from a pot of money called Horizon 2020 which mainly funds scientific research. Again, the big money goes to the large multinational corporations, pharmaceutical companies and prestigious universities.

The Treasury says it will guarantee to match and continue funding secured via the EU for the duration of the funding agreement as if we were still EU members for applications made before the autumn statement. Plans for future funding going forward will presumably be included in the autumn statement.

Because the EU redistributes more than half of what we pay in to its budget to other countries, the Treasury is able to guarantee current funding levels with a surplus that could be used to improve public services, reduce taxes or provide state aid to protect strategically important industries which is illegal under EU law. All the Leave campaigns - UKIP included - said that this sort of arrangement should be expected once we'd voted to leave and here it is. The Remainiacs said that farmers and scientists would be abandoned and driven to bankruptcy without EU handing our money out to them. They were wrong.

Welsh members will decide Nathan Gill's fate

Nathan Gill has been given a temporary reprieve by the NEC over his double jobbing as an AM and MEP. He will be allowed to keep both jobs until the membership in Wales are given an opportunity to vote on the matter.

The NEC had previously issued an ultimatum to Gill, instructing him to stand down from either the Welsh Assembly or the EU Parliament or face expulsion from the party. He refused as the only person left on the UKIP list who isn't now an AM resigned from UKIP to campaign against the Welsh Assembly meaning that his replacement as an MEP would either be someone who isn't a UKIP member any more or would have to be chosen in a by-election at a cost of about £5m to the taxpayer.

In deciding to refer the decision to the membership it would appear that the NEC want to be seen to be addressing complaints that they aren't involving the membership in the decision making process. It's a shame that it's taken a campaign to remove them all from office to remind them that they're working for the members and not the other way round.

I have every confidence that Welsh members will back Nathan Gill and appreciate the value that being an MEP can bring to Brexit planning in the Welsh Assembly in a way that the NEC apparently can't.

Deadline day for Nathan Gill to resign as an AM or MEP

Today is the deadline the NEC have set for Nathan Gill to resign as either an MEP or AM and he has made it clear he intends to do neither.

At the time of the Welsh Assembly elections earlier this year Gill agreed that he would stand down as an MEP if he was elected as an AM but since the referendum has declined to do so.

Gill was the face of UKIP in Wales during the Assembly elections and is leader of UKIP Wales. He has a huge following in the grassroots Welsh party but Neil Hamilton controls the political side of things.

Neil Hamilton, who is leader of the UKIP delegation at the Welsh Assembly, says that the two jobs are not compatible and that Gill can't represent Wales when he's in Brussels. However, it appears that Hamilton can not only represent Wales but lead UKIP's AMs from his mansion in Wiltshire.

If the jobs of AM and MEP were incompatible then it would be illegal to hold both positions. As a former MP, Hamilton will be aware that there is a legal bar to sitting as both an MP and MEP due to the two roles being considered incompatible. No such bar exists for members of the devolved governments who can not only sit as MEPs but as MPs in addition to their role in the Sennedd, Scottish Parliament or Stormont.

There is nobody left on the UKIP party list who is still a member and not an AM to take Gill's place as an MEP if he resigned from that position. The NEC believe that a by-election would be held to replace him but the relevant regulations say that the next person on the list as at the last election will be invited to take the vacant seat with no requirement for them to still be a member of the party whose list they appeared on. That means UKIP's vacant seat would go to a former member who resigned from the party to stand against UKIP in the last election.

This is another fight that the NEC has started that didn't need to be. We will likely lose an MEP and AM today because Gill is determined not to stand down. There is no benefit to the party from Gill resigning one of his roles but there is considerable damage from losing a high profile elected representative and the collateral damage that will cause. It is the latest in a string of poor decisions that show that the NEC is not fit for purpose and that a fresh election is needed for existing members to seek a mandate from the membership or for new members to come on board.

The Race for the Leader'kip.

Keep up with developments in the UKIP Leadership competiton with www.radiofreeuk.org.

But it is very exciting - maybe a trial run for the democratisation of the UK? Sweeping in to remove an unrepresentative elected body NEC/Parliament and put in place a mechanism for the public to exert direct democracy!

For direct democracy the missing link on the practical side is electronic voting. The recent referendum shows the time, effort and cost of using our traditional, reliable and trustworthy (postal votes not withstanding) system. I have long opposed all the electronic voting systems I have seen, having been a candidate I would not trust them over our existing system.

However, I have since created a method of running electronic voting that is simple to use, and allows voters to verify the result of the vote as complete and accurate without having to trust anyone else on the collation and counting of votes (not even the vote organisers!).

So the battle lines have been drawn following the retirement of the revered emperor Nigel Farage who for many years, somehow, successfully herded cats while coping with deafening heckling and barracking from opposing spectators, and often from his own. Being cats, they could not be commanded to the level required for one man and his dog, but they were managed well enough to get into the pen marked brexit, which stunned everyone. Although, in practice the game is not technically over until they exit the other side, via the gate marked Article 50 (or through the tunnel marked 1972 Act).

But the emperor having now retired and the machinery to replace him having been dusted down (and wire brushed to remove the rust), two opposing generals have emerged, one Douglas Carswell MP and one Mr Arron Banks. They each have their loyal staff, but the warlords and foot soldiers of UKIP are free to choose which side (if any to join). Their battle is for control of a the UKIP party infrastructure - which may or may not include some or all of its current members/supporters, as they are always free to come or go as they please - as are officers and electees.

While the generals are not themselves competing to replace the emperor, they each have declared favourites in the race, alongside some independents and other contenders for the crown.

First, Douglas Carswell MP (UKIP). Douglas is a contentious figure in UKIP, as UKIP's only MP he gets a lot of media coverage, even though he has made clear he only represents the people of Clacton, and despite a large (winning) vote for him in the General Election, how many of those voters are UKIP'pers rather than his own personal following or just anti-EU'ers is not clear (I wonder if the local party membership figures are available?).

Douglas's set includes core members such as Suzanne Evans (former temporary leader, currently suspended) and Patrick O'Flynn MEP (UKIP), his team includes others who may (or may not) be on his side more to oppose Arron Banks and co, than to actively support Douglas - such as Neil Hamilton WAM (UKIP).

Douglas has several books to his name, produced over the years, often with co-authors, setting out a vision for a new structure for politics in the UK - one recent book, with many co-authors, Direct Democracy 'A New Model Party' is available as a free download on his website. He certainly appears to know what he wants from politics and from UKIP and for the country, unfortunately substantial parts of it don't match what many existing UKIP supporters want - particularly as Brexit is now seen as a fait accomplis.

His champion in the competition would almost certainly have been Suzanne Evans who he employs as 'UKIP Head of Commiciations - Westminster', but due to her suspension from the party cannot run. She was suspended for bringing the party into disrepute, and like Douglas himself has a record of attacking the UKIP party leadership and UKIP members who supported it.

So their champion is Cllr Lisa Duffy - while she is relatively (totally?) unknown nationally/generally she is part of UKIP history as the leader of the first UKIP group to lead a council in the UK - any UKIP'per who didn't know this should be ashamed!

On the opposing hill, astride his horse, binoculars out is Mr Arron Banks - a man who made his fortune in insurance (founding major companies, not just gambling!), and who now collects diamond mines as a hobby.

Arron's main notoriety in UKIP is as a major donor, friend of Nigel Farage and founder of Leave.EU which headed Grassroots Out the 'other' leave campaigners in the EU referendum campaign - and as an activist(!).

Arron's likely preferred champion, Steven Woolfe MEP, like Douglas's preferred champion, is not in the competition. In Stevens case he was excluded because the application forms for his candidacy were logged as being received by UKIP after the (well publicised) deadline.

It is thought Woolf  had been the most likely candidate to win the leadership (but who trusts polls nowadays?) with his hard core supporters having said they would leave UKIP if he was excluded from the race, which he now has been.

This has caused a lot of friction in the party - with one member of the NEC finally issueing a public statement on Steven's exclusion. This account is particularly interesting as it says that in the closing minutes between Steven's successful payment of his deposit and late submission of his papers, another candidate got their papers in(!). So he was not the only candidate to leave it to the last minute...

However, the dissatisfied supporters, rather then leaving the party are now in a move to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), a move strongly backed by Mr Banks. The broad plan for which seems to replace the existing UKIP constitution with a new one - which would remove the NEC (who ruled that Woolf's late entry was grounds for exclusion - as per the UKIP rule book) and put in place mechanisms to give members a more direct, hands on say in the running/position of the party, rater than relying on the elected representatives of the NEC.

Getting an EGM is a huge task - with many, many members needing to want it and get their branch to ask for it - but Mr Banks, has contact with a very large section of the UK membership via his Leave.EU organisation so has put this in train.

The timings around Steven Woolf's application are most odd - that a last minute entry came in, and then his application was late... could it be he was effectively bowing out and handing on the baton? The only real surprise candidate in the competition is Diane James - while she is well qualified to run, she showed no inclination to do so before hand, so one wonders if she is the late entry? It would also be interesting to see which 50 members proposed each candidate, and when! But I doubt that will be publicly available...

As I see it, people should have the leader they want - UKIP members should have the leader they want, if UKIP doesn't have the right leader, maybe they need a new party to have a different leader?

But it is very exciting - maybe a trial run for the democratisation of the UK? Sweeping in to remove an unrepresentative elected body NEC/Parliament and put in place a mechanism for the public to exert direct democracy!

For direct democracy the missing link on the practical side is electronic voting. The recent referendum shows the time, effort and cost of using our traditional, reliable and trustworthy (postal votes not withstanding) system. I have long opposed all the electronic voting systems I have seen, having been a candidate I would not trust them over our existing system. However, I have since created a method of running electronic voting that is simple to use, and allows voters to verify the result of the vote as complete and accurate without having to trust anyone else on the collation and counting of votes (not even the vote organisers!).

[First published at http://free-english-people.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/the-race-for-leaderkip.html]

Why the UKIP leadership debacle is a sign of the party’s strength, not its weakness

This week would appear, to the casual observer, to have been a pretty disastrous one for UKIP. The power vacuum opening up in the wake of the colossal personality of Nigel Farage is sucking in the best and the worst that the party has to offer. The results have been explosive already, and the leadership race has technically only just begun.

Steven Woolfe’s rejection by the party’s NEC as a result of his late submission of nomination papers has sparked fury among the membership. Polling before the event showed he was the clear front-runner and the favoured candidate for a substantial portion of the party’s grassroots. The move has been seen as an example of cynical manoeuvring by those at the top of the party with personal agendas.

We now face the prospect of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). This stems from a provision in the UKIP Constitution whereby if 20% of UKIP branches sign a letter requesting such a meeting, it must be held. It’s likely that the topic of discussion will be a substantial restructure to the NEC, and perhaps the party itself.

There is much talk in the media of rivalling factions within the party, and it’s been widely reported that UKIP, as a result of this dispute, may split or crumble. Aaron Banks has spoken freely on the topic of starting a new party and there has been open debate on how many members would join him in such an endeavour.

In reality, the current situation is unlikely to be caused by warring factions. It’s actually altogether simpler than that, and it boils down to the sort of person that typically joins UKIP.

I’ve often heard UKIP referred to (sometimes disparagingly) as The People’s Army. Perhaps unintentionally, there is an inference with this branding towards the militant nature of your average ‘Kipper. UKIP has always strongly promoted individual liberty, shunned the nanny state, and demanded transparency and accountability from our elected representatives.

This libertarian cocktail is particularly alluring to the sort of voter who isn’t afraid to speak their own mind, who wants their opinion to be heard and who is willing to put in the effort to make sure that it is. The result is that in comparison to members of the other main political parties in the UK, the wider UKIP membership is significantly less tolerant towards any perceived slight from those above them in the party hierarchy.

This upcoming EGM - or even its threat - is a demonstration of exactly the sort of accountability that UKIP wants for the whole of the UK, where if a large enough portion of the population disagrees with a decision made by anyone in a position of seniority, the decision can be overturned.

The media are reporting on a party in chaos. I disagree. This is UKIP showing that it really is the party of the ordinary people. The party members have a voice, and currently they are using it to tell the NEC exactly what they think of their decision. I hope that one day we will be able to hold a UK government to account with such fervour.

Police say no evidence of terrorist link in Russell Square attack but deploy counter-terrorism squad in response

The Metropolitan Police are downplaying any suggested link between last night's knife attack in London and terrorism, saying that it was probably "triggered by mental illness".

This is what police said in France and Germany after terrorist attacks there last month. Mental illness seems to be the new official excuse for terrorism to deflect attention away from the fact that the terrorist is a Muslim.

The man responsible for last night's attack has been identified as a Somalian who has been living in the UK for 14 years on a Norwegian passport.

If there is no evidence of a link to terrorism why are these counter-terrorism officers on the streets in response to the attack?

Suspected terrorist knife attack in London

A man has stabbed 6 people in Russell Square in London leaving one of them dead.

The identity of the attacker hasn't been released but counter-terrorism officers are involved and the police have already mentioned mental health issues which follows the same pattern as French and German police after recent terrorist attacks there. We will no doubt soon learn that the attacker shouted Allahu Akbar while he was doing it and is probably a "refugee".

No amount of tooled up anti-terrorist police on the streets are going to prevent terrorist attacks. The authorities have allowed terrorists and extremists into the country, failed to deport those who preach hatred and intolerance and allowed a parallel Islamic state to establish itself within these shores. Policies of appeasement, multiculturalism and mass immigration have created this situation and a hard line is needed to end it. Anyone who puts their religion before their country - whatever that religion - doesn't belong here.

Barring Steven Woolfe from standing for leader is the last straw

Steven Woolfe has been ruled out of the party leadership election after computer problems prevented him from submitting his application on time.

Woolfe paid his £5,000 deposit well before the deadline and but was unable to submit his application until after the deadline had passed due to computer problems. He provided evidence before the deadline to someone in the party that he was trying to submit his application and that it wasn't working but the NEC have ruled that he is ineligible to stand.

If the NEC had ruled him out for failing to declare a conviction for drink driving a decade ago then that would be understandable but it is clear that Woolfe submitted his application before the deadline and technical problems prevented it from being processed. In the absence of any evidence to prove that the fault lay on either side he should have been given the benefit of the doubt and his application allowed.

Attempts were made to bar Steven Woolfe, Jonathan Arnott and Bill Etheridge from standing last week which appear to have proven fruitless. Meanwhile, Nathan Gill has been threatened with expulsion from the party if he doesn't resign as either an MEP or Welsh Assembly Member despite there being no ban in law or the party rule book for holding both offices at the same time.

Three members of the NEC - Ray Finch, Victoria Ayling and Mike McGough - have resigned from the NEC in protest, accusing the remaining NEC members of jealousy and megalomania. Three resignations aren't enough, we need to sweep out the current NEC members and hold fresh elections. Most members don't bother voting in NEC elections and this is the result - a group of politicians and hangers on more interested in furthering their own ambitions than what's right for the party.

Branches that feel strongly that the NEC is damaging the party may wish to forward a motion of no confidence in the NEC, forcing an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at which they can be sacked. According to the party rules an EGM can be called to debate a motion of no confidence in the NEC if 20% of branches and constituency associations drawn from at least 4 regions forward a motion to the party chairman, accompanied by a payment of £100 toward the cost of holding the meeting. At the EGM 250 members must attend for the meeting to be quorate. It's too late to affect this leadership election but by purging the NEC and starting again we can at least point the party back in the right direction.