Ukip-vs-EUkip

Dear Mr Farage,

I read with great interest the open letter to you of Ralitsa Behar, a Bulgarian woman whom having studied in the UK has now returned to her home country. I wish to inform you that as a British man living in Bulgaria I must strongly disagree with her. I do not disagree in any way with her comments and statements and totally support her. But I must disagree with Ralitsa on one fundamental point that she raises – Ralitsa openly invites you to come to Bulgaria and to meet with her and her family. I write to ask you not to come. Personally as a British man I find you remarks so offensive that I would have you stopped at the border. Sadly under European Law I can no longer have you shot in front of your family!

The UK has 78 representatives in the European parliament. UKIP itself has 11 MEPs in the European Parliament. One of which, Roger Helmer was elected as a Conservative MEP but defected to UKIP in March 2012. If we wish to talk about representative percentages, UKIP only has the electoral support of 7.8 percent of British opinion. If we take into consideration the dishonest election of Roher Helmer, call it ‘corrupt’ shall we? A word you like to use in reference to the Bulgarian Parliament – then of that 7.8% of UKIP representation 0.90% are dishonest (That’s one in ten as near as damn it.)

You’re anti- Bulgarian comments have caused great insult so I think what is needed here is to explain to Bulgaria that you most certainly do not represent the political will of the British people. And you most certainly and categorically do not represent me.

During your recent visit to Sofia – accompanied by the tabloid press (the gutter press as they are known) with their average reading age ability of just 11 years you deliberately posed for photographs in the poorest and most impoverished area of the city. The area you chose to focus on in no way represents the reality of this wonderful capital city. You deliberately misrepresented Bulgaria for your own political gain. Without doubt if the Bulgarian press had acted in the same manner, focusing only on the deprivation of British inner-cities – You, Yes you Mr Farage would be most outraged. Let’s take a closer look a Britain, a place where there are 3.6 million British children living in poverty today. That’s 27 per cent of our own children, or more than one in four. Bulgaria’s official poverty statistic ‘for all’ equates to what we have just for children!

And of Bulgarian political corruption, other than of course your own elected MP lying to his electorate and switching party afterward. Have we really and conveniently already forgotten that on 20th May 2009, Harriet Harman announced the creation of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, this intended to manage Members’ expenses ending the historical self-policing by MPs of their expenses.

Below just some examples of British parliamentary corruption that I’m sure the Bulgarian population will find most amusing:

The Crown Prosecution Service announced on 19 May 2010 that Labour MP Eric Illsley would be charged with three counts of false accounting; he was also suspended from the Labour Party. It was revealed Lord Taylor of Warwick, a Conservative peer, had been charged with six counts of false accounting. On 13 October 2010 it was also announced that former Labour MP Margaret Moran would also be charged with false accounting, while on 14 October 2010 former Minister of State for Europe and Labour MP Denis MacShane was also referred to the Police – as a consequence of which he was also suspended from the Labour Party. Three Labour Peers were suspended on 18 October 2010 due to their expenses claims: Lord Bhatia was suspended from the House of Lords for eight months and told to repay GBP 27,446; Lord Paul suspended from the House of Lords for four months and ordered to pay back GBP 41,982 and Baroness Uddin faced a police investigation for alleged fraud for claiming at least GBP 180,000 in expenses by designating an empty flat, and previously an allegedly non existent property as her main residence. She was suspended from the House of Lords until the end of 2012 and required to repay GBP 125,349.

In reference to these ‘Bulgarian Hordes’ whom you claim will swamp our country. In actual fact more people are leaving than arriving and within this number I include myself. I have left Britain and have no intention of ever returning. I would not trade in my new life here in Bulgaria for anything Britain could now offer. It doesn’t have anything to offer. The only jobs that the majority of immigrant EU workers do are the worst and lowest paid on offer – the jobs that the British themselves will not do. The same jobs that you and your right of centre buddies like to claim do not exist – but are now somehow suddenly found and stolen by ‘foreigners’.

Britain is a much greater country because of the historical and essential input of our ethnic minorities and foreign labour. Since Bulgaria’s EU membership in 2006 over 30,000 British nationals have purchased property in Bulgaria – Sorry to contradict you but actually we’re all leaving Britain – and I left because of people like you.

Bulgaria is an amazing country, it is full of the most welcoming and beautiful people that I have ever met and you clearly know nothing about it. We ‘The West’ throughout the Cold War undermined Bulgaria and other socialist countries at every opportunity and now that the wall has fallen it is not without just cause (as one of the so called ‘richest countries’ in the world) that we help its people to build a better brighter future.

In protest at your remarks I was going to organise a boycott of British goods but sadly I couldn’t find any to boycott.

But I will say this: You achieve nothing by your racist xenophobic comments other than to further isolate what was a great nation into a ‘backwater has been.’ We need Europe and we need immigrant labour, without which many British industries would and will economically fail. I am a Federalist, I would like to see a borderless and united Europe built upon firm Socialist principles and monetary union.

We agree on one thing, this that you and I could not be further apart on the political spectrum. Please stop claiming that you represent the ‘will’ of the British people – you do not.

Yours,

Jonathan Taylor

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has renewed with a vengeance his criticism of Bulgaria in a bid to fuel fears over new immigrants, coming as of 2014.

Speaking last week on BBC’s Question Time, Nigel Farage slammed Bulgaria as a country in a terrible state, where the judiciary is not independent and the mafia basically runs the economy.

On Monday Ralitsa Behar, a young Bulgarian lady, who lived and studied in the UK and chose to go back to Bulgaria and build a career here instead of the UK, circulated to the media an Open Letter to Nigel Farage.

Following is the full text of the letter:

Dear Mr. Farage,

My name is Ralitsa Behar and I am a Bulgarian.

I decided to write to you, because I was surprised by your comments on the BBC1’s Question Time on January 17, 2013. As a person who is Bulgarian, lived and studied in the UK and chose to go back to Bulgaria and build a career here instead of the UK, I wanted to take a stand on your statement regarding Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants and explain why I chose to go back to my home country.

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself and explain my reasoning behind this letter. When I was 18 years-old and was finishing high-school, I decided to continue my education abroad and applied to several universities throughout the UK. I got offers from 4 universities, but finally decided to take upon the offer from the University of Edinburgh, studying BSc (Hons) Mathematics and Business Studies at the School of Mathematics. It was a very proud moment for me and my family, as at it was, and still is, one of the most elite universities, ranked number 20 in the world at that time.

I lived in Edinburgh for 4 years and finished my studies successfully, gaining a 2:1. I can say that I was one of the active students and tried to get the best out of my time in university. I was participating in university societies and their committees, I volunteered in a charity, raising funds for cancer research; I also spend 2 months interning in firm in London, and was later on offered a job position.

I have always appreciated everything that the UK has given me. Firstly, as an EU citizen, I was supported by the Scottish government and did not pay any tuition fee. This was a huge financial relief for me and my family, although we still spent over GBP 50,000 for living expenses. As a student, I was also entitled to free healthcare service, although thankfully I never needed it as much. I also appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to live and study in one of the best places in the world – I find Edinburgh an incredibly charming and beautiful city with great atmosphere; and the University of Edinburgh – a truly astonishing institution with almost 500 years of history, with great teachers and amazing state-of-the-art facilities.

My strong connection to the UK is the reason why I decided to write this letter. Although I try and understand your immigration concerns, I must admit that I found your comments on Bulgaria untrue and somewhat insulting. In fact, they are only reaffirming my opinion of the wrongful idea that people in the UK and around the world have about countries in Eastern Europe.

I want to clarify, that I am far away from thinking that Bulgaria is doing as well as I hope it would be. I do not live in a bubble where I think that everything here is perfect – I understand our problems with our government, our law system, our education and healthcare systems. Living in the UK for so long only made me realise how much more we need to do, to learn and to grow to make our country better. Nevertheless, I have to disagree with some of the false information that you shared during your appearance on the show.

Firstly, the data that you stated on Bulgaria is untrue:

You said that the average monthly salary in Bulgaria is 200 Euro. According to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, the average monthly salary in the country for the last quarter of 2012 is 754 Levs, which is 385.5 Euro, almost double the number that you said.

You said that the average monthly pension in Bulgaria is 100 Euro. The average monthly pension for 2012 is actually 138 Euro.

You said that almost 50% of the people in Bulgaria live in poverty, however, the number is untrue; it is about 27%, almost two times less.

I was very surprised to hear such false data as I was thinking that a politician as yourself would take the time to check this information, as it is easily accessible online in English.

Nevertheless, I must say that not only the untrue data that you stated on national television bothered me. I believe that statements such as “If I was a Bulgarian, I would be packing my bags now, wanting to come to Britain“ are bold and somewhat inappropriate. And since you were focusing on the problems in our country and why we would choose to come live in your country, let me tell you why I chose to “pack my bags, wanting to go back to Bulgaria”.

Firstly, Bulgaria is a country with great potential. I am a firm believer that young people, who study abroad should come back to Bulgaria to pursue their career goals. Having a degree from a foreign university, I realised that my know-how would be much more needed here, than in the UK. After all, we are the future of our country and I believe that we are the ones who can bring this country forward.

In this respect, I would also add that my knowledge was much more valued in Bulgaria. One cannot deny that there is fierce competition in the UK labour market and it is incredibly hard, even for young people with good education, to get jobs which will allow them to be financially independent.

Furthermore, I believe that Bulgaria provides much more opportunities for businesses. When in university, I wrote my dissertation on family businesses in Bulgaria since the fall of communism in 1989. One of the conclusions from my research was that there was, and still is great demand for the creation of small and medium enterprises in Bulgaria and one of the great benefits of doing this is the fact that we have the lowest flat tax of 10% in Europe and only a 5% dividend tax rate. Additionally, it is easy to quickly launch a nеw company in Bulgaria as the founding capital required is only 1 Euro.

I would like to say that with this letter I wanted not only to correct the false information that you stated on television; I also wanted to explain that not all Bulgarians and Romanians that come to the UK are “unskilled workers”; and even if they are, they also contribute to your economy. I also wanted to take this opportunity to invite you to visit Bulgaria as a guest of me and my family, so that we can explain to you how much our country has changed over the past 20 years and see for yourself the potential that we have to grow even more in the future.

Finally, I want to clarify that this letter was written with good intentions. I hope that it shed some light on the issues that you discussed regarding Bulgarian immigrants and I would be very thankful if I receive a reply from your behalf.

Yours sincerely,

Ralitsa Behar

UKIP MEP Visit to Sofia Incites Bulgarian Politicians Clash

British MEP Paul Nuttall, deputy leader of the UK Independence Party, gave a press conference in Sofia which turned into a clash between two Bulgarian nationalist politicians….

Farage Responds to Ralitsa Behar: You Are Right to Love Your Country as I love Mine

“I am pleased my comments have helped create a debate in Bulgaria,” writes British politician, Nigel Farage in a response to an open letter from young Bulgarian woman, Ralitsa Behar….

Farage Replies to Ralitsa: “I Want to See Bulgaria Prosperous and Free”

UK Independence Party leader, MEP Nigel Farage has submitted to Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg a reply to the open letter sent to him by a young Bulgarian woman, Ralitsa Behar…

MP: UK Derides Bulgarians

Bulgarian independent Member of the Parliament, Kiril Gumnerov, voiced indignation about Bulgarian politicians keeping silent all while another EU Member State is deriding Bulgaria….

EC: UK Can’t Ban Bulgarians, Romanians from Labor Market after Jan 1

The United Kingdom cannot unilaterally ban Bulgarians and Romanians from working there after January 1, 2014, Jonathan Todd, Spokesperson for EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor told Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) and Novinite.bg….

Bulgarians React with Dismay to British Anti-immigration Campaign

From The Guardian…

Bulgarians Brush Off UK Fears on Migration

From The Financial Times…

UKIP Leader Lashes Out at Bulgaria, Triggers Controversy

The UK Independence Party leader has renewed with a vengeance his criticism of Bulgaria in a bid to fuel fears over new immigrants, coming as of 2014….

Mr. Farage, Come to Bulgaria to See You Are Wrong

Dear Mr. Farage, My name is Ralitsa Behar and I am a Bulgarian. I decided to write to you, because I was surprised by your comments on the BBC1’s Question Time on January 17, 2013….

As a final point it is worth reitterating the comments of one of the most detailed and meticulous researchers when it comes to UKIP – Barbara Booker, who like myself is an avid supporter of the basic principles of UKIP, back in the days when it had principles rather than a gaggle of largely anonymous low lifes too ashamed of their antics to put their names to their playground style of ya boo bullying and the low grade riff raff that is UKIP’s current staff and leadership team of corrupt ne’er do wells:

This item was published on a corrupt open forum managed under the control of UKIP to whom they respond even when UKIP supporters are repeatedly shown to be liars!

Expose the truth to assist Nigel Farage before:

Nigel Farage walks into any more europhile traps. Didn’t anyone on his staff check out Ralitsa Behar before banging out a response to her open letter that’s given the Sofia News Agency the excuse it wanted to publish a federalist attack on Britain and British euroscepticism? All Farage has done is provide material for any number of ‘Jonathan Taylor’ type replies.

Publication of the Ralitsa/Farage/Taylor letters originated on http://www.novinite.com/ (Sofia News Agency). Novinite was founded by the Bulgarian journalist and public relations expert Maxim Behar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_Behar who, “In 1995, according to his love of journalism, he founded the National Association of Journalists for the EU, which he served as vice president and then president until 2001” http://elec.digitalseye.com/maxim-be…l-of-bulgaria/. Not difficult to see where he’s coming from, then!

Ralitsa Behar is his daughter.

Why on earth doesn’t Nigel Farage shell out some of his lavish expenses on employing a half competent PR team to protect him from this sort of thing?

Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins