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Consider the facts put forward by Barbara Booker on a UKIP controlled Forum.
Barbara Booker is a long standing and very well informed supporter of UKIP & resolute campaigner for cleaning up UKIP to make it fit for purpose and a party individuals of integrity and morality would be proud to support – rather than a burgeoning support group of lower and lower caliber and ethics.
The accusation is that for many years UKIP passed itself off to voters as a party that excluded from positions of influence anyone who had belonged to an ‘extremist’ organisation, but that this was in fact a sham with former members of the National Front allowed to become branch officers and candidates.
This concerns not just Martyn Heale, who informed the UKIP regional organiser of his previous NF membership on joining the party, but who then became branch chairman in 2004, press officer and election agent to Nigel Farage in 2005, and local election candidate in 2007. There was also a UKIP branch officer in the midlands who in 2004 hit the headlines of his local paper as a former NF candidate, with the party secretary of the time quoted saying he didn’t think it a problem. There was a UKIP candidate who featured as such in his local paper in 2001 and again in 2005, stating on both occasions that he had formerly been in the NF, and who was again placed on the Approved List of Candidates in 2008, despite having told UKIP of his former NF membership when first he joined. I understand also that in 2003 it was revealed on the front page of a north east paper that a local UKIP press officer was a former NF activist. He had apparently informed UKIP on joining the party of his previous affiliation, yet was allowed to stand as a candidate in 2009.
If it is true that ten years ago UKIP had no blanket ban on former NF members becoming party officers and candidates, then UKIP was lying in this official statement on its website:
quote
“In order to protect the party from infiltration by extremists, all party members must sign a membership form supporting the party’s principles, which must also be respected by conference. All prospective candidates and constituency office bearers must sign declarations confirming that they have no criminal record, no record of serious mental illness and no previous association with extremist political groups of right and left”.
ends
Note ‘ALL’ prospective candidates and officers ‘MUST’ sign to say they had ‘NO PREVIOUS ASSOCIATION’ with extremist political groups.
It is clearly a matter of legitimate public interest if by this statement UKIP was attracting votes under false pretences. The ‘UKIP History’ page of the website, on which the above appeared, was frequently updated to record the party’s progress in elections, and changes of leader – Holmes, Titford, Knapman and Farage all featured on it between 2000 and 2009 – yet the wording “All prospective candidates and constituency office bearers must sign declarations confirming that they have . . . . no previous association with extremist political groups of right and left” remained on the page unchanged.
As detailed above, former NF members did in fact serve as candidates and officers during this time.
If it is true that there was no ban on them doing so the statement was a blatant lie, and if there was such a ban then it was broken time and again and shows that UKIP assurances on having no extremist associations are worthless.
I would not wish to see any curtailment of the rights of freedom of speech within the paramaters of legitimate and democratically valid law – however the unbridled duplicity of UKIP in its hypocrisy and dishonesty is staggering for a party aspiring to be taken seriously and working towards Governance – fortunately they arte currently not taken seriously nor have they adequate ethics or intellectual basis to be considered of any gravitas and hold somewhere around 30 elected seats in domestic politics beyond the status of Town & Parish Councillors who have no value or status in Governance.
Were UKIP to clean up its act and erradicate its sneering bullies and racist links I would welcome their rise to positions of influence but as they now stand they are beneath contempt – despite the cheeky chappy appeal of their only recognisable public figure Nigel Farage who for all his showmanship has sadly proved to be a catastrophic leader – as I predicted over 15 years ago.
Yes it is true the membership numbers are climbing towards the level at which he took over the party after the destruction of his early years as leader but it is clear the party has had a dramatic collapse in etjhics and activists one could hold in any regard. Rather more a case of how high can one pile the refuse of politics to give their one popinjay performer a dung heap from which to crow!
To quote a UKIP Branch Chairman:
“To see for myself what was going on in London on 3rd September, and to see if free speech is still a right for all of our community, I joined my friends from March for England to tag along on the EDL Tower Hamlets demonstration.”
UKIP officials expresses sympathy for far-Right EDL
Evidence has emerged that a senior UKIP figure, the Chairman of UKIP Hillingdon Branch, Cliff Dixon has links to the English Defence League (EDL), a far-Right group with a long history of attacking Muslims.
Dixon, formerly involved with the English Democrats party, boasted on his blog, in 2011, that he has ”joined my friends from March for England to tag along on the EDL Tower Hamlets demonstration.”
London, Saturday 3rd September
I met up with March for England in a bar in the shadow of The London Eye in the morning, and after a couple of cups of tea with my ED colleague Ben Weald, I broke a rule of mine never to have a drink before 12pm to settle my nerves. Information was coming back that counter protesters were out in force in Whitechapel, and a lot of chatter on the net was that they had a very hostile reception planned for the demonstrators.
We proceeded from here via cab to Liverpool Street, where people were starting to drift in from a number of organisations who were also on the demo alongside the EDL. A selection of pictures are below, and show a mainly peaceful demonstration that was pretty well handled by a combination of the Metropolitan and City of London Police.
The Police formed a line along the front of the station, and we were shepherded in to the Hamilton Inn, which features beautiful fittings and wall paintings from a bygone age.
The pub stopped serving shortly afterwards, and we were held whilst other groups of demonstrators were escorted down from Kings Cross. It was interesting to note that there were many middle aged and female protesters alongside the younger element that the media frequently show when covering marches. There were also attendees from the gay, Jewish and Asian English parts of our community which flies in the face of some of the reports that I regularly read in the press about the far right and racist nature of the EDL.
There were even protesters from north of the border from The Scottish Defence League (SDL) who had travelled down for the day – It was quite surreal for an old English patriot like myself to be happily strolling next to the Saltire of Scotland!
Despite being held for some time, there was also very little in the way of disorder and both protesters and Police were chatting happily.
When the main body had arrived, we were escorted through Liverpool Street Station and out of the side entrance., and then on through the streets to the demo point just outside of Aldgate tube station.
We had been given leaflets explaining what was considered acceptable and what was not under Section 13 and section 60 of the Public Order Act by the Police, and I commented to one of the EDL stewards that section 13(8) of the Public Order act 1986 on the sheet said it was an offence to take part in a prohibited procession yet we had been pretty much marched by the Police in contravention of the order. “Nah”, he smiled, “This isn’t a march, just a quick stroll”
The sound system was fired up, and the first speaker came on. He then introduced ‘Rabbi Benjamin Kidomer’, who came on to stage and removed his beard and wig to reveal himself as EDL Leader ‘Tommy Robinson’ – He explained to the assembled crowd that the disguise had been necessary as he was breaching his bail conditions by being at an EDL event. He then spoke out against stifling of free speech, Islamic hate preachers and the persecution of the gay community in Tower Hamlets. He also said that he is facing a court case which could lead to an ASBO and a three year banning order from the demonstrations, which he said he would not observe as he regards it as an abuse to his right of free speech.
After a few minutes, the Police decided that they could not allow this to continue, so moved in to arrest Mr Robinson. This led to a scuffle as EDL supporters refused to move, and Mr Robinson escaped down a side street. This was the only major mistake I saw the Police make all day, as the mood could have turned ugly and it would surely have been easier just to make the arrest after he had come off of the stage. However, EDL second in command Kevin Carroll came on to the stage and called for order, and things calmed down quite quickly. He then proceeded to give a similar speech calling for equal rights for all and an end to homophobic and anti-semitic behaviour from extremists.
Once the speeches were over, we were held for a while by the Police line, and then we were squeezed up and escorted out. There was some crushing at the front due to the ‘kettling’ tactics, and a few people were pushed and hit with batons but again this was fairly well policed. The line at the back had kept behind them the counter protesters from the UAF and any large scale civil disorder had been averted.
We were then marched out of the demonstration zone, and down through some of the historic parts of London as can be seen by the following images.
Flags and banners were in evidence, and there was some singing from the EDL – Again, this would seem to have been in breach of the banning order but The Police were quite happy and were chatting with the protesters in a relaxed manner as we walked past The Tower of London and across Tower Bridge. A few on the march commented that the Tower would have been useful for any extremists that had turned up at this point, and the general concensus was that the day had gone off really well and a point had been made.
A couple of EDL members said to me that they were disappointed that they had not had the demo further in to Tower Hamlets itself, but the main feedback I got was that the message was more important than where it had been relayed from and that by the Police setting up the stage and demonstration point where they had it had ensured a safe event for all concerned.
To have gone further in to Whitechapel would have been foolhardy, and in my opinion the right call was made by both the Police and the EDL organisers to minimise the risk of violent disorder.
Aftermath
I was interested to see the reports in the press and on line this morning regarding yesterday’s events in Tower Hamlets, and one report stood out to me from the BBC. They reported that a coach carrying 44 EDL members broke down on the Mile End Road in Tower Hamlets, and ‘about 100 Asian teenagers then pelted it with bricks and stones’ according to their reporter on the scene, Paraic O’Brien. He estimated that around 200 Police officers and some riot vans moved in to escort the EDL members to a double decker bus – The Police arrested all 44 of the EDL members. The bus was then blocked by a group of youths who sat down in the middle of the road, forcing it to stop, whilst a large group of Asian men arrived from a nearby estate. The Police then charged the youths, scuffles broke out, and another group standing on a footbridge overlooking the road threw bricks at the bus – Fortunately, Police managed to clear the road so the bus could get through.
In total, including the 44 on the bus, Police reported 60 arrests yesterday from both sections of the demo. I saw no arrests of anybody around me during the EDL demonstration (Apart from the abortive attempt to arrest Tommy Robinson)
The Right to Free Speech also carries a responsibility
Our long held belief in the right to free speech also carries with it a responsibility. That responsibility is to use our rights thoughtfully, and to never abuse them.
I find the outpourings of some of the Islamist element in our society abhorrent, but it is not for me to say what is and is not acceptable for people to say. I would hope that at some point the likes of Anjem Choudhary and his ilk would realise what a gift free speech is, and to use it thoughtfully, but I won’t hold my breath.
What I CAN do is to also use my right to free speech to counter their arguments and put my point of view across, which is why I was dismayed to see the different attitudes towards the two marches above from the powers that be in London.
On Al Quds day, the Police were deployed to stop any hint of a protest getting anywhere near a demonstration that featured anti-semitic, racist and anti-Western sentiments. We were dispersed to the other side of Trafalgar Square, but obeyed all Police instructions and there was no hint of violent disorder. The marchers were allowed to preach their hate in central London at a major landmark, and there was next to no discussion in the British media of the event despite the controversial nature both of the subject of the speeches and the organisations that fund it.
On the EDL march, a massive Police presence was required because of threats made towards the demonstrators by the UAF, SWP and Extremist Islamic organisations. It was made clear that any right to exercise free speech in Tower Hamlets would be opposed with violence as seen in the description from the BBC reporter of what happened to the EDL coach that broke down on the Mile End Road. My last excursion in to Whitechapel ended up in the ridiculous ‘Bromley 15′ episode (Posted 12-07-11 – ‘The Bromley 15 – Proof that we no longer live in a free country), where the Police arrested myself and 14 others from March For England who just happened to be having a pint in The Blind Beggar pub because they ‘suspected’ that we were there to ‘disrupt’ an Islamic Extremist Conference. It is obvious that parts of London have now become areas where free speech is unacceptable due to a combination of the insidious creep of alternative legal systems and the pernicious stench of Political Correctness.
Next Sunday (11th September) marks the 10th anniversary of the atrocity of 9/11, where Islamic extremists crashed passenger aircraft in to the twin towers of the world trade centre in New York, and in to the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft crashed in a field after the passengers fought back to overpower the terrorists.
MAC (Muslims against Crusades) and their vile mouthpiece Anjem Choudhary have posted on their website that they are going to have a party outside the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square to celebrate their ‘victory’ over the infidels, a gross misuse of free speech. Unlike the useless Politicians and the PC high command of the Metropolitan Police, I won’t be throwing my toys out of the pram and demanding a ban or a gagging order as they did to the EDL March – I will be exercising my right to free speech on the other side of the road, and I suggest that all of you who are outraged by the latest MAC sick stunt (They also burnt Poppies in London on Remembrance Day last year) join me and the other English patriots who will proclaim our right to free speech – Loudly, proudly and peacefully!
To view the original & more details of this UKIP Official’s extremist & racist views CLICK HERE
You will find more details of UKIP officials involved with extremism at CLICK HERE including quotes from Stuart Parr who blogs on behalf of UKIP.
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Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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