Who says turkeys don't vote for Christmas?

Labour have won the contest to replace disgraced former Police & Commissioner, Shaun Wright, who was forced to resign for his part in covering up the sexual abuse of 1,400 vulnerable children in Rotherham.

The Labour-run council covered up the child abuse because they didn't want to be accused of racism and Shaun Wright was in charge of social services at the time. He resigned to become Police & Crime Commissioner where the police continued to ignore the repeated reports of organised paedophile gangs and the criminal negligence of the council under his watch.

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	Alan Billings	74,060	50.02%
UKIP	Jack Clarkson	46,883	31.66%
Conservative	Ian Walker	18,536	12.52%
English Democrat	David Allen	8,583	5.80%

Dudley Conservatives defect to Labour

Two Conservative Councillors in Dudley have defected to the Labour Party.

Cllrs Glenis Simms and Cheryl Billingham have both resigned from the Conservative Party and joined Labour, claiming that the Tories are only interested in the elite and are out of touch with ordinary residents.

There have been a few defections from Conservatives to Labour recently which shows what a leap to the left the Tories have taken and Labour to the right. Pretty soon they'll meet each other in the middle and be as vague and wishy washy as the Lib Dems!

Lib Dem Mayor of Watford accused of abusing her position

The Lib Dem Mayor of Watford has been accused by Labour of abusing her post to promote her MP election campaign.

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill has included a personal message and link to her campaign website on a council leaflet that was sent to every household. She says that her personal message was sent with the leaflet to save the council money and that most people probably won't visit the website.

Cameron's EU Referendum Bill fails again

The Lib Dems have refused to support David Cameron's EU Referendum Bill through parliament meaning that it's been scuppered for the second time.

The Tories are trying to act disappointed about it but a Lib Dem source said that the Tories "folded like a cheap deckchair" and wanted the Lib Dems to scupper it so they'd have someone else to blame for not having a referendum they don't want to happen.

David Cameron's EU Referendum Bill would have enabled a referendum on our membership of the EU to be held in 2017. Contrary to the spin put out by the Conservatives, it wouldn't have forced a referendum to be held because any law can be repealed by parliament and an EU Referendum Act would would almost certainly be one of the first to go after the next election, regardless of who comes to power (unless it's UKIP of course).

There are three important points to remember about this whole sham EU Referendum Bill:

David Cameron is admitting to being dishonest. He doesn't trust himself to keep his own promise of an EU referendum so he's trying to pass a law to force himself to keep his own promise. With his track record it's understandable that he wouldn't trust himself but it's quite an astonishing admission from a politician.

An EU Referendum law wouldn't force the next parliament to hold a referendum. No parliament may bind its successor, This is the most fundamental principal of parliamentary sovereignty. It means that this lot in power now can't stop the next lot who take over from repealing or amending any of the laws that have been passed at any time in the history of law making. In fact, that only thing that parliament can't change is the fact that they can't stop parliament from changing anything. If Labour get into power net year a law requiring a referendum on our membership of the EU will be one of the first to go. If the Tories manage to salvage the ConDem coalition it will still be one of the first to go. Even if the Tories somehow managed to scrape together a majority they'd find a reason to repeal it because they don't want a referendum.

The Tories wanted the EU Referendum Bill to fail. A Lib Dem source said that the Tories deliberately put in "ridiculous conditions" that the Lib Dems would never agree to and then "folded like a cheap deckchair" so they could blame the Lib Dems for it not passing. The source said "The only logical conclusion that can be reached is that the Tories don’t really want their Bill to pass and are trying to set the Lib Dems up as the scapegoats".

Comedian Andrew Lawrence criticises "moronic liberal" comedians attacking UKIP

Comedian Andrew Lawrence has ruined his chances of ever working for the BBC again by criticising BBC political comedians for ripping into UKIP all the time.

He posted an article on his blog ripping into "moronic liberal" comedians who think it makes them look "enlightened" if they attack UKIP. Mock the Week is obviously the programme that particularly riled him because he describes the show as "aging, balding, fat men, ethnic comedians and women-posing-as-comedians, sit congratulating themselves on how enlightened they are about the fact that UKIP are ridiculous and pathetic".

Lawrence says he wouldn't describe himself as a UKIP supporter but hits the nail on the head with this comment:

The reason UKIP have resonated with voters is because all the other parties are too spineless to tackle the issue of immigration.

For every wonderful, welcome skilled worker our open borders bring into this country, there are also benefit tourists and criminals … Can’t say that I’m a UKIP supporter, but I can see why other people are, and I don’t disrespect them for it.

Dara Ó Briain, the ageing, balding, fat, Irish presenter of Mock the Week tried his hand at humour in his response on Twitter:

Hey Andrew, sorry I’m so aging, bald and fat, but as an an immigrant I’ll retain my disdain for anti-immigrant politics.

Spends days researching for a show, can't be
bothered to spend 5 minutes reading
UKIP's immigration policy

As an Irish citizen Dara would have had an automatic right to live in the UK thanks to the Common Travel Area that's been in place since Irish independence. Assuming that agreement (which UKIP has never indicated it intends to do away with) wasn't in place, under UKIP's immigration system - a system in place in the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand that somehow manages to avoid being described as racist - Dara would have no trouble coming to live in the UK. He has a job and the means to support himself.

What Dara wouldn't get is the unconditional, uncontrolled right to move here as an EU citizen regardless of whether he would be making a positive or negative contribution to the country. UKIP's policy on immigration is to treat everyone wanting to live and work here equally rather than discriminating against Indian doctors or African nurses in favour of Polish plumbers or Romanian fruit pickers exercising the EU's right to free movement. Far from being discriminatory, UKIP's immigration policy treats everyone exactly the same and seeks only to manage immigration to keep it sustainable, not ban it.

Conservative councillor who suggested executing travellers resigns

A Conservative councillor who suggested executing travellers as a way of removing them from the area has resigned.

Cllr Alan Mellins apologised and said that his comments didn't reflect his views but his local Conservative Party suspended him. He has decided that under the circumstances it's best if he resigns.

Lib Dem campaigning in Botswana at taxpayer's expense

While the Lib Dems are haemorrhaging support at home, it's great to see they haven't had to cut back on spreading their peculiar brand of wishy washy, flip flopping politics abroad.

The Lib Dem Voice website has a lovely report on how Lib Dem "campaigns guru" (stop sniggering) Victoria Marsom has been in Botswana courtesy of UK taxpayers to support their "sister party", the Botswana Movement for Democracy.

Your taxes paying for Lib Dem party political campaigning in Botswana

Let's stop the tail wagging the dog and switch timezones

Every year when the clocks go back we talk about jumping forward an hour to get more light in the evenings to reduce accidents and every year nothing changes.

Attempts have been made in the past to switch to the same timezone as the continent but have always failed because it doesn't suit Scotland. Experts say that accidents are reduced when it's lighter in the evening when people are tired and inattentive but a relatively small number of people in the north of Scotland would be inconvenienced by it being dark for most of the morning. Unfortunately, the increased safety of 95% of the population has always come second to the convenience of the 5% who live in northern Scotland.

The nationalist myth that changing the timezone would cause more deaths or injuries in Scotland is just that: a myth. It was tried in the

The solution is quite simple. Scotland has its own government to take care of Scottish matters. If England, Wales and Northern Ireland want a different timezone to Scotland then devolve it to the Scottish government and let them decide what timezone they want to be in. There is nothing impractical about a country having more than one timezone - Russia spans 9 timezones whilst the USA and Canada span 6, for instance. If that's what it takes to stop the 10% increase in accidents that occurs from turning the clocks back every autumn then let's get it done now in time for the clocks going forward in the spring.

Watch the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' video on the myths and politics around changing the timezone:

Opinium have UKIP on 18%, YouGov on 16% and Mark Reckless is bookies favourite for Rochester

An opinion poll conducted by Opinium for the Observer newspaper puts Labour and the Conservatives level pegging on 33% each with UKIP on 18%.

The poll also found that 31% of people would consider voting UKIP in their constituency if they thought UKIP could win.

Opinium didn't get the ComRes memo and put UKIP in the "other" section again which, as ComRes showed a week ago, results in an artificially low projected vote share for UKIP.

Party	%
Conservative	33%
Labour	33%
UKIP	18%
Lib Dems	6%
Green	4%

A YouGov poll for the Sunday Times also finds the Conservatives and Labour level pegging on 33% with UKIP at 16%.

Party	%
Conservative	33%
Labour	33%
UKIP	16%
Lib Dems	7%
Green	6%

UKIP are currently favourites to win the Rochester & Strood by-election with bookies offering odds of 1/5 for Mark Reckless against 11/2 for the second favourite Conservative and the waste of space Lib Dems 1/10 to lose their deposit.

Russell Brand says he would die for a communist revolution

Russell Brand seems to be treading a fine line between madness and sanity, declaring that he would be prepared to die for his communist revolution.

Brand turned up to an interview with Financial Times reporter, Lucy Kellaway, in a chauffeur driven Mercedes and told her that he would be prepared to die or go to prison for his revolution and will probably give up his millions. He gripped her arms and legs repeatedly during the interview and when she questioned his politics he told her to shut up. She said that it made her feel uncomfortable.

He angered a lot of Americans after suggesting that 9/11 was an inside job during a Newsnight interview this week before saying that he didn't want to talk about daft conspiracy theories. He also did the arm and leg gripping thing on Newsnight and was so erratic and nonsensical that presenter Evan Davis told him that he was trying to take him seriously.

Brand seems to be trying to reinvent himself as a cross between Che Guevara and Osama Bin Laden and that's quite worrying. Millionaires with a tenuous grip on sanity and an extremist left wing ideology aren't generally remembered for making a positive contribution to society.

Highland Lib Dem councillor forced to resign for sharing anti-Muslim propaganda

A Lib Dem councillor in Skye who shared anti-Muslim pictures from Britain First on Facebook has been forced to resign as Chair of the Highland Council's Community Safety, Public Engagement & Equalities Committee and from his party.

Cllr Drew Millar says that he doesn't think the pictures were from Britain First and that he was treated unfairly by the panel investigating him. He believes that the status he shared describing Nick Clegg as a cretin is more likely to have got him into trouble. His support for Scottish independence probably didn't help his case either.

Scottish Labour leader resigns calling party "dinosaurs"

The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Johann Lamont, has resigned from the post describing both the British Labour Party and the SNP as "dinosaurs".

I firmly believe that Scotland's place is in the UK and I do not believe in powers for power's sake.

For example, I think power should be devolved from Holyrood to communities. But colleagues need to realise that the focus of Scottish politics is now Holyrood, not Westminster.

There is a danger of Scottish politics being between two sets of dinosaurs … the Nationalists who can’t accept they were rejected by the people, and some colleagues at Westminster who think nothing has changed.

St Helens Labour PPC to stand trial for assault

The Labour Party candidate for St Helens South & Whiston, Marie Rimmer, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a woman outside a polling station in Glasgow during the Scottish independence referendum.

Rimmer pleaded not guilty at Glasgow Sheriff's Court and will stand trial in March, less than two months before the general election.

SNP Councillor charged with homophobic assault

The SNP Deputy Leader of Glasgow City Council, Billy McAllister, has been charged with a homophobic assault.

McAllister, who has a previous conviction for using threatening behaviour towards a disabled person, is alleged to have assaulted a gay councillor along with another man who has also been charged.

Budget busting Tory primary in Rochester flops with less than 1 in 10 taking part

The "primary" to select the Conservative candidate for the Rochester & Strood by-election has flopped with just 5,688 people taking part in the budget-busting publicity stunt out of a possible 75,000.

Not only did they get a turnout of less than 1 in 10, those that actually bothered to take part couldn't make their mind up which of the two candidates to vote for with the result that the "winner" beat her opponent by just 0.88%.

At least three lawyers specialising in electoral law have said that this Tory publicity stunt should be classed as election spending and they've almost certainly exceeded the £100k election spending limit already just with this publicity stunt.

Conservative candidate Kelly Tolhurst ... never seen in the same room as Nikki Sinclaire. Just saying!

Cameron talks tough but he will have to pay the EU's £1.7bn bill

David Cameron has promised not to pay an extra £1.7bn backdated membership fee the EU has demanded because the UK economy limped along at a slightly better rate than most of the EU.

While France is being given an £800m rebate, Germany £614m and Poland £250m, the UK is being told to pay £1.7bn extra whilst the Dutch and Italians are being told to pay £500m and £270m extra and bizarrely the bankrupt Greeks and Cypriots are being landed with a bill for £70m and £33m.

The EU has decided to recalculate EU membership fees since 1995 to take into account the effect things like drugs and prostitution have on the economy and have decided that the UK economy has been stronger than most of the EU as a result and we've therefore been underpaying. Sitcom writers get paid a small fortune to make stuff like this up - they just need a ticket to Brussels!

Nigel Farage told listeners on his LBC radio slot this morning that David Cameron can say what he likes about the £1.7bn bill but he can't do a thing about it. The cost of being a vassal of the EU superstate is partly based on the relative performance of the economy against the rest of the EU so if the UK economy has outperformed the disastrous eurozone then we have no choice but to pay.

Labour left with egg on their face after accusing Nathan Gill MEP of wasting taxpayers' money

The Welsh Labour Party have been left with egg on their face after trying and failing to accuse UKIP MEP Nathan Gill of wasting taxpayers' money for driving to Strasbourg and Brussels.

A Labour Party source told Wales Online that Nathan Gill is costing the taxpayer more money by driving and that UKIP are like highwaymen being "caught out going to great lengths to squeeze as much money out of the expenses system as possible".

But Nathan says that he has to drive because of where he lives as if he goes by train he would have to leave Strasbourg an hour before voting starts which would be a complete waste of taxpayers' money and when he drives he takes his assistant with him which means he only incurs one lot of costs instead of two.

Former Lib Dem Mayor of Milton Keynes implicated in fake visa scam

The former Lib Dem Mayor of Milton Keynes who was forced to resign from his post after personally vouching for known sex offenders to help them get taxi licences has been implicated in a visa scam.

Cllr Subhan Shafiq allegedly arranges fake English language certificates for visa applicants for £500 according to the Milton Keynes Citizen. The newspaper has passed on details from their undercover investigation to the police.

Chukka Umunna accepts donation from tax dodge advisors

Labour's millionaire lawyer Shadow Employment Minister, Chuka Umunna, has accepted a donation from a company that helps rich people avoid paying tax and conceal their wealth abroad. The £2,500 donation is to go towards the running costs of his office.

Chuka has been vocal in his criticism of the kind of people who use Signature Tax's services despite purchasing his home through a tax avoiding trust in Jersey. Like all good socialists, Chuka doesn't think the ideology he promotes so aggressively should actually apply to him.

UK would be 'isolated' outside the EU? Fog in the Channel - Continent cut off!

Another cut out and keep refutation of more common pro-EU nonsense.

1) Outside the EU, the UK would be isolated.

If non-members of the EU are 'isolated' that applies to the entire rest of the world! Little old USA, Canada, Australia, Africa, China, India, South America, etc all 'isolated' outside the EU...

Saying the rest of the world are isolated outside the EU, is like that old joke 'There is fog in the Channel, the Continent is isolated'. This is the call of the 'Little EUer'.

2) We can't leave, the EU are the UK's biggest trading partners.

Well, even if true,  we buy more from the EU than they do from us - we are the net 'customer' they need us more than we need them.

If they want to upset EU/UK trade it will be their loss, we can go elsewhere if we choose to. We can source products from elsewhere in the world, or re-start manufacturing in the UK and create those products ourselves - there is no down side.

3) We can't leave, it would damage our economy.

Well, as we are members of the EU, it is not surprising we do a lot of trade with them - and as an exclusive, protectionist club it is not surprising our trade with the rest of the world has been suppressed.

However, despite our membership for all these years the UK has still kept trade open with many of its old partners - imagine the boost our 'rest of the world' trade could get from the freedom for the UK to cut its own deals directly with them, without the dead weight of EU vested interests trying to maximise their profits at our expense.

Leaving the EU would most likely result in an economic boom.

[first published at http://free-english-people.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/uk-would-be-outside-eu-fog-in-channel.html ]

ComRes poll puts UKIP 13% ahead in Rochester & Strood

A ComRes constituency poll in Rochester & Strood puts UKIP 13% clear of the Conservatives in next month's by-election caused by the defection to UKIP and subsequent resignation of Mark Reckless.

The key statistic that will send Labour into panic mode and proves Cameron's "vote UKIP, get Labour" propaganda to be absolute nonsense is that 39% of people who voted Conservative last election will be voting UKIP, 39% of people who voted Lib Dem last election will be voting UKIP and 30% of people who voted Labour last time will be voting UKIP. We are taking votes off all three of the old parties.

Like we saw in the Heywood & Middleton by-election earlier this month, a vote for the Conservatives is a vote for Labour and don't let David Cameron or the Tory propaganda machine con you into thinking otherwise.

Party	%
UKIP	43%
Conservative	30%
Labour	21%
Green	3%
Lib Dem	3%

Maidenhead Conservative councillor apologises for saying travellers should be executed

A Conservative councillor in Maidenhead has apologised after suggesting that executing travellers as a way of moving them on more quickly.

Cllr Alan Mellins says that he didn't mean for his comments to be taken seriously and that it doesn't reflect his views.

Imagine if he was a UKIP councillor ...

Green Party Peer arrested over illegal protest in London

Green Party peer and London Assembly member, Jenny Jones, has been arrested for obstructing police trying to break up an illegal camp in Parliament Square.

The police were enforcing the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act which bans people from setting up camp in Parliament Square. Protesters had come armed with gear to set up an overnight camp which is illegal. Jenny Jones says she had joined the protesters to investigate claims of disproportionate police response to the illegal protest. She was dearrested after giving her details for a summons and could now be prosecuted.

Former leader of the Green Party and their only MP, Caroline Lucas, was arrested last year for public order offences at an anti-fracking protest and Nigel Farage was assaulted in Brighton at an anti-democracy protest organised by left wing extremists, including Green Party councillor Ian Driver. It seems that the Green Party think that laws are only there for other people,

Lawyers advise Channel 4 that Conservative "primary" in Rochester is election spending

Two specialist election lawyers have told Channel 4 that the Conservatives' election primary in Rochester should be considered election spending and come out of the £100k spending limit for election campaigns.

David Cameron is believed to have helped come up with the publicity stunt of putting forward two candidates and holding a postal ballot of residents of Rochester & Strood to choose which one should become the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the by-election caused by Mark Reckless' resignation when he defected to UKIP. The Conservative Party claims to have been given advice by the Electoral Commission that the money they spend on the primary doesn't count as election spending but UKIP's own legal advice and the advice of these two lawyers contradicts that advice and Channel 4 reckon that the Tories will illegally overspend on the campaign by 100%.

The idea that a party can spend an unlimited amount of money on publicity stunts involving the person who will be adopted as their candidate weeks before an election is just ridiculous. It would mean that Labour could spend millions promoting a union-sponsored candidate whilst the Conservatives could spend Ashcroft's millions doing the same for his sockpuppets.

That's within neither the letter nor the spirit of the law which clearly limits the amount of money that can be spent to stop elections from being bought. Rotten boroughs were abolished in 1832, it's time the Tories entered the 21st Century.

Former Coventry Labour councillor defects to UKIP

A community volunteer and former Labour councillor in Coventry has defected to UKIP.

Harjinder Singh Sehmi was a councillor for Cheylesmore on Coventry City Council until he lost his seat in the local elections this year. He was attracted to UKIP because of our immigration policy and because the party stands up for everyone

I agree with UKIP over border control. If you have a three bedroom house you can’t have five or six guests because it’s too crowded – it is the same with the country. The Labour Party is only for Labour, the Conservatives are only for rich people but UKIP is for the whole of Britain.

Harjinder hopes to stand for election in future under the UKIP banner.

Picture: Coventry Telegraph

Polish MEP saves EFDD group

The Europe of Freedom & Direct Democracy (EFDD) Group has been saved by Polish MEP, Robert Iwaszkiewicz.

Iwaszkiewicz is a member of the KNP, a right wing conservative libertarian party. The EFDD group are arguing that Iwaszkiewicz joined the group before Iveta Grigule was bribed to leave the group by Martin Schultz so the group was never legitimately disbanded. The powers that be disagree of course and are going to drag out reconstituting the group as long as possible.

Further complaint to BBC about Panorama bias

The BBC received over 800 complaints about bias related to the Panorama hatchet job on UKIP and Nigel Farage. Their response to those complaints is that they believe the programme was balanced and that they were just submitting UKIP to the same scrutiny other parties have been subjected to for the last two or three decades. So they'll be happy to provide evidence, right?

Like over 800 other people I complained about the BBC's hatchet job on UKIP and Nigel Farage. The programme was entirely one-sided and Farage's refusal to cooperate with a programme that he had warned months ago was a hatchet job clearly riled the producer and presenter. The programme was almost entirely critical and any positive comments about UKIP's performance were right at the start so the programme came across as "UKIP are getting popular but look at what they're really like ..."


The BBC's excuse is that they are putting UKIP under the same scrutiny as the LibLabCon parties or other parties of government. I don't believe this is the case and would like evidence. I would like details of similar BBC programming where one of those parties has been subjected to the same kind of negative reporting a month before a Westminster by-election and less than 8 months before a general election at which they are expected to make a breakthrough or significant gain.

Until the BBC provide the evidence or admit to their bias, I'm going to keep the complaint going.

Basildon Labour councillor storms out of meeting shouting racist at UKIP councillor

A Labour councillor in Basildon stormed out of a council meeting on housing on Thursday night after accusing UKIP councillors of being racist.

The meeting was looking at housing shortages and UKIP councillor Linda Allport-Hodge pointed out that we only need to build such high numbers of new houses because of mass immigration. Labour councillor Pat Rackley stood up and accused UKIP of being racist and then stormed out of the meeting.

Cllr Rackley could have just been playing political games but it's quite likely that she actually believes the Labour Party's propaganda that immigration doesn't cause housing shortages, unemployment and strain on public services. It's hard to believe such people exist let alone manage to get elected.

EU Commission risks bankrupting the North Devon fishing fleet

The Marine Management Organisation has removed nearly all fishing rights from the Bristol Channel over fears that the EU will fine them if they continue to allow fishing of Skate and Rays.

The ban will bankrupt the North Devon fleet which relies on Skate and Ray fishing in the channel and will cost hundreds of jobs. Belgian and French fishing boats are continuing to fish for Skate and Rays outside the 6 mile inland fisheries boundary where the British government has given up its sovereignty to the EU.

UKIP's Fisheries spokesman, Ray Finch MEP, has requested a meeting with the EU Fisheries Commissioner to demand action be taken to save the North Devon fleet and stop Belgian and French fishermen from exploiting fish stocks.

Barroso throws Tory plans in the trash

Tory lies and spin laid to bare on the Marr show this morning 19/10/2014.
When will people wake up and realise that the government and opposition parties are pro EU and can not change anything so are happy to go against the will of the people rather than listen to the taxpaying voters.

They need to remember they work for us not the EU machine.

"Freedom of movement is a fundamental principle of the EU"

David Cameron can not negotiate an immigration cap. End of story.

ComRes poll puts UKIP on 24%

UKIP is on 24% in the latest ComRes opinion poll which is a great result but what makes it so interesting is that it's a survey where UKIP is prompted alongside the LibLabCon parties and the difference that makes is quite startling.

Here's what the opinion polls say when UKIP is in the "Others" section ...

UKIP in "Others"
Party	%
Labour	34%
Conservative	31%
UKIP	19%
Lib Dems	7%
Greens	4%

... and here's how it looks when UKIP is prompted alongside the LibLabCon parties ...

UKIP Prompted
Party	%
Labour	31%
Conservative	29%
UKIP	24%
Lib Dems	7%
Greens	5%

That's a whole 5% difference and at the expense of both Labour and the Tories.

These polls are just a snapshot of public opinion and vary by a couple of percent from week to week but they're important because they aren't just a snapshot of public opinion, they influence public opinion as well. When a party does well in opinion polls it gives the public more confidence in them but when a party does badly in opinion polls it perpetuates the "wasted vote" myth (no vote is wasted, whoever you vote for). Success breeds success.

Some of the polling companies - and YouGov in particular - like to use this influence to further their agenda (YouGov's CEO is Baroness Ashtray's husband) and protect their business. Polling companies get paid to predict elections and the last thing they want is an interloper like UKIP upsetting the status quo and making their lives difficult so they do what they can to undermine voter confidence in the party by suppressing voting intention.

Contrast YouGov, who don't have a very good record at predicting UKIP's performance, with relative newcomers Survation, who do. Survation don't have an axe to grind and being a new polling company they're more interested in predicting results rather than influencing them. They've always prompted for UKIP and as a result, they've had a degree of success in predicting UKIP's performance. It's time the other pollsters - YouGov, Opinium, ICM, ComRes - followed suit and concentrated on making predictions that reflect reality instead of trying to make reality fit their predictions.

Second attempt at passing an EU referendum bill looks set to fail

David Cameron is trying for a second time to get a law through parliament to force himself to keep his own promise of an EU referendum.

We all know Dave has problems keeping promises so he wants to pass a law that he can pretend forces him to hold a referendum on our membership of the EU. The first attempt was voted down by his own peers as well as Labour and the Lib Dems and this second attempt is almost certainly going to go the same way.

Because no parliament can bind its successor, passing a law requiring a referendum to be held is completely meaningless. There is no law that can't be repealed and if by some miracle this latest EU referendum bill became law it would be repealed by Labour if they come to power and if Cameron manages to hold on to power he'll find an excuse to repeal it as well.

Labour Mayor of Hartlepool survives suspension vote

The Mayor of Hartlepool, Cllr Stephen Akers-Belcher, has survived a vote to suspend him after he was sacked for gross misconduct from his council day job.

Cllr Akers-Belcher was sacked from his job as a team leader in Newcastle City Council's social services department for gross misconduct and then went on holiday with his partner, council leader Cllr Christopher Akers-Belcher when it hit the headlines. The local radio station also called in the police after he allegedly tried to exert undue influence over their reporting of the situation.

The vote to suspend him fell by 19 votes to 11.

St Albans Conservative councillor assault trial date set

A St Albans Conservative councillor charged with common assault of a council employee has pleaded innocent.

Cllr Salih Gaygusuz was released on conditional bail and will stand trial on December 19th.

Cameron bottles leaders' debates

David Cameron is trying to bottle out of appearing on leaders' debates with Nigel Farage before next year's elections.

Cameron is using the excuse that it's not fair that the leader of the third largest party in the UK that won this year's EU elections and has elected representatives in all four home nations and at every level of government should get a place in the debates when the leader of the Green Party doesn't.

Whether the leader of the Green Party should get a place in the debates or not is debatable. They're challenging the Lib Dems for fourth place but that's more of a reflection on the Lib Dems than the Greens.

Cameron is pretending he's standing up for principals but really he's just scared to share a stage with Nigel Farage. We've had Bottler Brown, now we've got Decanter Dave.

Remember when David Cameron accused Gordon Brown of being a bottler in 2009?

Big win in Sheppy Central for UKIP's David Jones

UKIP had a big by-election win yesterday in Swale, taking the Sheppey Central seat off the Conservatives with a big majority.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
David Jones	UKIP	831	58.3%
Tina Booth	Conservative	324	22.7%
Alan Henley	Labour	240	16.8%
"Mad" Mike Young	Monster Raving Loony	24	1.9%

Conspicuously absent are the Lib Dems who presumably didn't want the embarrassment of losing the battle for last place with the Monster Raving Loony Party.

Lord Freud to keep his job despite saying disabled are worth less than able-bodied people

Conservative Welfare Minister, Lord Freud, is to be allowed to keep his job after saying sorry for saying that disabled workers aren't worth as much as able-bodied workers.

Lord Freud was recorded at a Conservative Party conference fringe meeting telling a Conservative councillor:

You make a really good point about the disabled... There is a group – and I know exactly who you mean – where actually, as you say, they're not worth the full wage and actually I'm going to go and think about that particular issue, whether there is something we can do nationally, and without distorting the whole thing, which actually if someone wants to work for £2 an hour, and it's working can we actually...

UKIP has said many times in the past that the minimum wage costs jobs and takes away the individual freedom to choose what wage you are prepared to work for but there's a world of difference between giving people the choice whether or not they want to work for peanuts and targeting disabled people by abolishing the minimum wage just for them.

Disabled people can and do work just as well as able-bodied people and to suggest that they should be paid £2 an hour just because they have a disability is degrading and discriminatory. It's frankly astounding that David Cameron has allowed Lord Freud to keep his job after demonstrating a complete lack of empathy and understanding of the job that he's supposed to be doing.

Belfast UUP councillor defects to UKIP

The former Lord Mayor of Belfast, Cllr Bob Stoker, has defected from the Ulster Unionist Party to UKIP.

UKIP Northern Ireland chairman, David McNarry MLA and Deputy Chairman of the national party, Paul Nuttall, welcomed Bob to the party in Belfast yesterday.

EFDD group dissolved after Schultz bribes member to resign

The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group that UKIP formed in the EU Parliament has been forcibly dissolved after the supposedly-neutral president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schultz, bribed Iveta Grigule MEP to leave the group.

Grigule told EFDD staff that Schultz told her she had to resign from the group to get the presidency of the EU delegation to Kazakhstan.

Dissolving the EFDD group is a big prize for Schultz. UKIP and other EFDD group members have been denied seats on committees that they should have had under the D'Hondt system since the start of the parliament and every effort was made to try and prevent the group from being formed in the first place. Unless another MEP from another country not currently represented in the EFDD group can be convinced to join, Nigel Farage will get less talking time in the EU Parliament and a valuable source of funding for all the members of the EFDD will be lost, along with the jobs it creates.

National Union of Students votes to boycott UKIP and turn a blind eye to ISIS

The National Union of Students have refused to back a motion condemning ISIS terrorists because it's "Islamophobic" but happily passed a motion to email all their students on election day next year telling them not to vote UKIP.

The motion condemning ISIS also condemned American military aggression using ISIS as an excuse, called for support for Muslim unity and a boycott of people who fund ISIS but the hard left leadership of the NUS mobilised a bloc vote against it. They instead voted for a motion to boycott UKIP and email all their students telling them not to vote UKIP on polling day.

So the NUS has decided to use its considerable resources and influence not to help fight against terrorism and extremism but to help the Labour Party at the next election. Good call, comrades.

Conservative's Rochester "postal primary" gimmick is an election expense

UKIP have written to the Conservatives asking how they will keep within spending limits for the Rochester & Strood by-election if they go ahead with their "postal primary" publicity stunt.

The Conservatives are planning to send promotional material out to every household in the constituency inviting them to choose from two Conservative candidates to be the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the by-election. They don't plan on taking the estimated £40k cost of promoting the successful candidate through this gimmick out of the £100k limit on election spending. UKIP have taken legal advice and been advised that the cost of the primary is an election expense.

Rather than answer the question the Conservatives have described it as "yet another media stunt". The Electoral Commission will no doubt be taking an interest in this one.

Three Medway Tories defect to UKIP

The former chairman and deputy chairman of Medway Conservatives and an independent Medway councillor have defected to UKIP.

Cllr Chris Irvine was Mark Reckless' chief of staff until the MP defected to UKIP and resigned to call a by-election. He is acting as Mark Reckless' agent for the Middleton & Heywood by-election and had resigned from the Conservatives on the same day as Mark Reckless but wanted to sit as an independent until he could get feedback from his constituents. It would appear that the feedback was that they want a UKIP councillor to go with their UKIP MP.

Richard Andrews is the former chairman of Rochester & Strood Conservatives and Keith Bamber is the former Conservative group whip and deputy chairman of the local party. They have both defected to UKIP.

UKIP now has two councillors on Medway council.

Labour Mayor of Rochdale apologises for saying she would have rigged by-election result

The Labour Mayor of Rochdale has apologised for saying that she would have declared Labour the winner of the Middleton & Heywood by-election regardless of the actual result.

Cllr Carol Wardle was recorded saying "it would have been that result whatever it said" and the clip was uploaded to YouTube. She has apologised, describing it as "an unfortunate mistake".

This was an unfortunate mistake by me and I wholeheartedly apologise for any concern caused. My only role in the whole proceedings was a ceremonial one, to formally announce the result by reading the declaration.

BBC Panorama hatchet job on Farage and UKIP

The BBC finally aired the Panorama hatchet job last night that Nigel Farage has been warning us about for the last few weeks and what a disgraceful piece of politically-motivated gutter journalism it was too.

The BBC's charter says that the BBC must be impartial and balanced but this programme was anything but. The programme set out to attempt to discredit Nigel Farage and UKIP from the outset, dredging up disaffected former members, defectors and agitators to sling mud.

There was no balance to the programme, just a string of baseless accusations and innuendo. It was like watching a televised version of the anti-UKIP Junius blog and many of the slurs Darragh MacIntyre came out with appeared to be lifted directly from that website.

Panorama spent two years putting together their programme and many of UKIP's opponents were hoping that it would bring down Farage. What's actually happened is that the BBC have been widely criticised for their bias and a large number of complaints have been made. You can add your own complaint via the BBC Complaints website.

Refuting attacks on anti-open-door migration arguments. Cut out and Keep.

Often the same, tired, old arguments are put forward to support EU's Open Door Immigration policy, and to attack opponents of it - so this is a 'cut out and keep' refutation of the usual sequence of challenges.

1) Migrants contribute more than they take.

Well some may well do, but also many don't. Talking about *all* migrants in this way is rather stupid. It assumes that migration must be open door or completely stopped.

Controlled migration/controlled borders would admit migrants who would be of benefit to the UK, and exclude (and deport) those who are not.

2) EU means a Brit can go to 26 other countries - restrict their access, and they will restrict ours.

Well so what? If a particular Brit is of no value to another country, why *should* they let them in? If the Brit is of benefit they will still be admitted!

3) EU 'free movement' means that migrants have free movement, they are the rules.

Yes they are the rules - but stating them doesn't make them desirable! The point of the discussion is to identify what is desirable, not state the rules. No one disputes that they are the current rules!

This line is just a diversion (used when the argument for free-movement is being lost!)

4) You are racist.

Well as there is nothing here about race, just nationality (Brits and Rest of the World) - this line is again just a diversion.

I will add to this list as and when!

[First Published at http://free-english-people.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/refuting-attacks-on-anti-open-door.html ]

Farage offered place in one leaders debate

Nigel Farage has been offered a place on one of the three planned Leaders' debates ahead of next year's general election.

The format agreed by the broadcasters is one debate with the leaders of the four largest parties, another with just the first, second and fourth largest parties (Tories, Labour and Lib Dems) and then a final one just before the election with just Cameron and Miliband to perpetuate the myth of two party politics.

While this is a step in the right direction, this kind of gerrymandering just isn't acceptable. Nigel Farage needs to be in all three debates, not just one.

Douglas Carswell sworn in as UKIP's first MP

UKIP's first MP, Douglas Carswell, was sworn in to the Commons today. The stony silence that greeted him was only broken by the laughter when he gave Conservative Chief Whip, Michael Gove, a bow.

Another Labour peer calls for charges to use the NHS

Another Labour politician has called for patients to be charged to use the NHS.

While the Labour are busy spreading lies about UKIP wanting to charge people to visit their GP (UKIP have never suggested this) their own politicians actually are suggesting the things they're falsely accusing UKIP of!

Earlier this year Labour's Lord Warner called for a £10 per month NHS tax on top of National Insurance to pay for the health service and a £20 per night charge for hospital stays. Now another Labour peer - the TV documentary star Lord Robert Winston - has called for even higher charges for the NHS. Lord Winston says that we should be charged £200 for a GP visit to make us appreciate the cost of the NHS.

Parris, Whips, Hannan and Cameron. #UKIP's perfect storm continues.

I haven't blogged much recently - just tweeted.

I wanted to blog - I want to blog - but... As UKIP's perfect storm has been running its course, 1) I don't want to jinx it and 2) I don't want to help the enemy by analysing their errors.

However, where damage to the enemy has already been done and is irreversible, its too late for them to be helped!

Matthew Parris - what a star!

Matthew Parris, the Gerald Ratner of the Conservative cause. If you don't know what a 'Ratner moment' is, google it...

Matthew Parris, a long time Conservative - once even a Conservative whip(!) - has come out and said that The Conservative party is nasty and crap, and those who vote for it either too rich for it to matter, or too stupid to realise it. Voters/supporters hear this from their opposition all the time - but when you hear it from those you are actually supporting... well that is game over. To say you are a Conservative now marks you out as an over-privileged, sneering, self-important toff, or as an idiot who has been fooled and played for a mug by those over-privileged, sneering, self-important toffs - just as Labour et al have said all along.

Matthew Parris confirmed the worst claims of those who were formerly accused of 'Politics of Envy' - no it wasn't envy, Conservatives really are over-privileged, sneering, self-important toffs who hate those 'below' them.

The Conservative Whips - show us their hands!

More Ratner-esqe moments - as the Conservative Whips declare that they have dirt on evey one of the Conservative MP's and will not hesitate to publish it if any show signs of 'disloyalty' to David Cameron (i.e. should any actually think for themselves, or put their constituents or the country first and think of moving to UKIP).

The important things here are that 1) It suggests that every Conservative MP is dirty 2) It undermines any claim to 'integrity' a Conservative MP may give for remaining in the Conservative party.

Daniel Hannan - why oh why? Now we can surmise, either a phony or the whips bitch!

It used to be that many UKIP supporters wanted Dan Hannan to switch to UKIP, and couldn't understand why he wouldn't. This has changed, and having not made the switch that seems so obvious and clear, he is now generally seen as a nasty siren voice - calling good anti-EU'ers onto the Conservative party rocks where they are neutered for ever.

In light of the Conservative Whips recent statements on enforcing loyalty, it seems the only explanation for Dan to have remained a Conservative is either 1) He is a complete phoney, and never has been anti-EU, and was always a shill, or 2) The Conservative Whips have some dirt on him that is so massively bad that he can never risk it being exposed - what can his secret be?

David Cameron - UK Democracy is a party leaders beauty contest!

'A vote for UKIP is a vote for Miliband, so vote for your Conservative candidate' - wow, just wow. David Cameron is pushing this line, as are his Cabinet and MPs. It shows how much respect they for Conservative candidates as people, individuals, politicians - absolutely no respect whatsoever.

Cameron doesn't care about Conservative candidates/MP's abilities and doesn't think you should worry yourself about them either - the only consideration when you place your mark (according to Dave) is that the cardboard cutout representing the Conservative party is that it won't help Ed Miliband.

The other thing this tells us about Dave, confirming the sneaking suspicion that so many voters have had, is that our political class see General Elections as a vote for a Prime Minister. Party, manifesto, candidate, issues are irrelevant, meaningless - to our political class General Elections are a simple beauty contest between the party leaders - this is what our democracy has been reduced to.

[ first published at http://free-english-people.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/parris-whips-hannan-and-cameron-ukip.html ]

Survation puts UKIP on 25% in post-Clacton poll

A Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday has UKIP on an unbelievable 25% nationally.

The poll results do need to be treated with some caution as it was conducted on Friday whilst UKIP was in every newspaper and on every news programme thanks to Douglas Carswell's historic by-election victory in Clacton but even allowing for that, it is a fantastic showing for the party.

Party	%
Labour	31%
Conservative	31%
UKIP	25%
Other	9%
Lib Dem	8%

Survation's analysis makes grim reading for both Cameron and Miliband who would be unable to secure a majority or even form a workable minority government. As Nigel Farage has rightly ruled out a coalition with any party after the next election we could realistically see a ConLab coalition in 2015 as both parties are so similar nowadays on all the major issues or alternatively a minority Labour government supported by UKIP on a supply and demand basis. Without a UKIP majority the future looks pretty grim for the country but with 25% of the vote we could secure as many as 128 MPs which is a sizeable force for good in Westminster.

York Labour councillor calls Conservative councillors "seriously obese"

A Labour councillor in York has apologised after tweeting that two Conservatives were "seriously obese".

Cllr Anna Semlyen called Lord Mayor Ian Gillies and Conservative Leader Chris Steward "seriously obese" on Twitter whilst congratulating Labour colleagues on their weight loss. She has apologised to the councillors she insulted.

SNP councillor left council meeting to play games

An SNP councillor in Ayrshire is under pressure to resign after disappearing during a council meeting to play a game.

Leader of the opposition on South Ayrshire Council, Cllr Douglas Campbell, left a meeting discussing planning restrictions for a multi-million pound retail development in his ward without telling anyone where he was going and was later discovered in a Games Workshop playing the Dungeons & Dragons-style game, Warhammer.

Malvern Green Party councillor banned from council offices

A Malvern Green Party Councillor has been banned from entering his own council offices and had his council emails blocked.

The Chief Executive of Malvern District Council reportedly "erupted, blew up" at town and district councillor, Clive Smith, over his dealings with a junior employee at the council. Former Lib Dem turned Green, Cllr Smith, has a history of fractious dealings with council staff.

Complaint about Conservative councillor's game playing in meetings

A complaint has been made against a Conservative councillor in Guildford who has been repeatedly playing games during council meetings.

Cllr Marsha Moseley, who sits on both Guildford Borough Council and Surrey County Council, claims that the only thing that keeps her concentration during council meetings is playing Candy Crush on her iPad. Some residents are less than convinced and have made an official complaint.

UKIP take third seat on Rushmoor District Council

A third UKIP councillor was elected to Rushmoor Borough Council on Thursday.

David Bell romped home in a by-election for the West Heath ward with 51% of the vote and more than double the number of votes of the second-placed Conservative. He joins Cllrs Barbara Donaghue and Mark Staplehurst who both also represent West Heath ward.

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Dave Bell	UKIP	662	51%
Brian Parker	Conservative	312	24%
Sue Gadsby	Labour	196	15%
Brian Parker	Lib Dem	130	10%

UKIP councillor calls for investigation into Sandwell Council asset sale

UKIP Sandwell councillor Philip Garrett has asked for an investigation into the sale of a council-owed HM Coroner's office to the son of the council's Asset Management and Land Disposal Committee chairman.

Labour councillor, Mahboob Hussain, chairs the committee which approved recommendations by council officers to sell the HM Coroner's office in Smethwick. It was sold to Hussain's son for £80k and was sold at auction seven months later for £120k.

Cllr Garrett and two former councillors (independent socialist and Conservative) have asked for the investigation into whether the council got the best value from selling the building to Azeen Hafeez.