Nigel Farage’s Resignation Still Leaves Him Controlling UKip – As Ever! The defacto leader for 20 years is blocking those he doesn’t want and setting up the front runners!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Farage may have stepped down, but his supporters still dominate the UKIP machine
The old joke in UKIP circles is that there is one rule of the party’s perennial bouts of in-fighting: Nigel always wins.
It was ever thus. Ask Alan Sked (if you want to hear the same denunciation he issues biannually), or Kilroy-Silk, or any of the dozens of former “senior UKIPers” who have fallen, tattered and bruised, in the wake of the People’s Army’s undisputed Generalissimo over the years. In 20-odd years of UKIP, there’s been so much internal knifing that their HQ may as well install blood-coloured carpets just to keep down cleaning costs.
Farage’s dominance rested on a number of factors: his status as his party’s pre-eminent star, his charm, his coterie of utterly dedicated supporters, his ruthlessness and, time and again, his ability to deploy the UKIP rulebook to devastating (if often controversial) effect.
The man himself has stepped down, but the Faragistes show no sign of abandoning his approach. The suspension of Suzanne Evans was just in time to prevent her running for the London Assembly, but has also proved useful to ban her from standing in the leadership contest.
Quite why this should be desirable if, as her opponents claim, she is loathed by the membership is unclear – even Arron Banks now wants to let her stand, on the basis that “she would be crushed”. That would probably be a more sustainable solution to her ongoing status as a thorn in the side of the party’s dominant faction, but it simply isn’t the way things have been done in UKIP historically. If the rulebook can be used to close someone out entirely, without all the hassle of an open contest, that’s what they’ll choose.
Farage was also routinely helped by the blunders of his opponents. Sked was unworldly, and allowed his academic mindset to obscure questions of practical politics. Kilroy-Silk weakened his position by declaring that UKIP wanted to “kill” the Conservative Party – something Farage would happily say in modern times, but which back then caused a lot of disquiet in the grassroots.
While his party’s success has made it harder to dislodge his enemies entirely – Neil Hamilton has secured himself in the Welsh Assembly, and Carswell provided a Westminster refuge for Evans – it seems the familiar story still holds true. This morning’s press conference, called by Evans, was billed as a “significant statement”. Speculation ran rife. Would she be declaring her candidacy, having found some way round the suspension? Might she defect back to the Conservatives?
In fact, it was rather less exciting. Evans said she had “given up hope” of being allowed to stand for the leadership, said she would be sticking with the party and threw her support behind Lisa Duffy.
Lisa who? Well, quite. Duffy is a councillor, chief of staff to Patrick O’Flynn and the former head of UKIP’s by-election campaigns. I haven’t met her, and from what I hear she is capable and nice, but she isn’t a heavyweight contender in the race to find a successor to the defining personality of the party.
In short, while Farage has stepped down, his team continue his dominance. Not only has Evans been excluded from the leadership race, through a classic rulebook manoeuvre, but she has made an error by backing a candidate who is unlikely to trouble Steven Woolfe, the odds-on favourite.
It may not always be that way, of course. Farage’s ruthlessness and occasional brutality were softened by his charm and skill – and various of his followers lack the latter redeeming qualities. Nor are some of those who now find themselves in charge of UKIP as capable in a faction fight as he was. Plus, if he does win, Woolfe is neither Farage reborn nor a simple puppet – he has a somewhat different set of principles, and a very different manner. If gets the room to be his own man, he could yet build a powerbase that allows him to define his party for himself. Though those who would lose out in such a circumstance will presumably be keen to prevent that happening.
Nigel Farage & John Ison – Evidence Of Their Collusion In Criminal Activity has been very clearly shown in Court in what seems to be the mallicious and questionable prosecution of Nikki Sinclaire!
A statement of opinion written and added by myself G.L-W. Sat-09-Jul-2016:
There may well have been a statement from the defence that:
There is no suggestion of any wrong-doing by Mr Farage or any other party official.
However it is clear that at very least John Ison would seem to be in breech of his employment contract and in breech of ‘The Computer Misuse Act’ and Nigel Farage is very clearly colluding with John Ison in criminal activity – thus it would seem clear that Nigel Farage and John Ison are involved together in criminal behaviour!
It also seems very clear that Nigel Farage, John Ison and possibly others conspired together on numerous occassions in criminal activity, including unlawfull entry, and breech of ‘The Data Protection Act’ involving confidential Government information and confidential data, and in breech of ‘The Computer Misuse Act’.
As this information has been in the hands of the Police and the CPS for some years it is hard to understand on what grounds they have persecuted Nikki Sinclaire over so many years when all they seem to have by way of evidence is some 10 receipts that seem to be administrative errors yet they had very clear evidence & proof of criminality, it would seem, involving and undenied by Nigel Farage and John Ison.
It would seem that this entire farago has been to frame Nikki Sinclaire with the collusion of the Police and CPS unless one can readily accept that both the Police and CPS are both incredibly gullible and very stupid!
Nikki Sinclaire has clearly misplaced her trust in John Ison and has been betrayed by him in a criminal manner; Nigel Farage’s mallicious behaviour is seemingly equally as criminal in that he colluded in criminality of a period of time with John Ison. Steve Morson was also clearly informed of the criminal behaviour but in obvious mittigation supplied what seem to be true and honest evidence of the criminality to the Police making it irrefutable that John Ison and Nigel Farage had acted and colluded in criminality together.
End of G.L-W comment added Sat-09-Jul-2016
.
Regards,
Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
Nikki Sinclaire COURT CASE Exposes Nigel Farage’s Involvement in what seems to be his plot with John Ison to corrupt information to ‘frame’ her for fraud – Described in Court by John Ison as ‘Plan B’
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
11:40hrs. Monday 11-Jul-2016
NOT GUILTY VERDICT
returned by the jury.
UNANIMOUSLY
Hi,
I am privy to a considerable amount of factual information regarding the trial, which I shall NOT be including until it has been brought to public attention in the Court.
That said I will be commenting, with due consideration of the law, and to assist I have drawn heavily on the reporting of the trial by The Express & Star (CLICK HERE) as of all the reports I have read they seem to have provided the most accurate and competent coverage available in the public domain. As is my style throughout this web site I have included all ‘quoted’ material in blue to differentiate between facts I have provided and my views and the comments of others.
This case pertaining to alleged crimes commited 7 years ago in 2009 and amounting to only £2,465 at most and an investigation and arrest not made until 2012, this after Nikki Sinclaire had spoken with the EU payments office, OLAF & British Police reporting that she was not happy about events in her constituency office, where the now proven duplicitous and dishonest liar John Ison worked, and she was eventually charged in 2014 without ever being questioned regarding the charges!
WHATEVER THE Jury’s decision is this is a travesty and clearly illustrates the utter irresponsibility of the Police, when one considers the facts and the paultry amount involved, even if she was guilty which she strenuously denies and the trial is likely to have to relly on desperation to prove, has cost the British tax payers, in a period of austerity, somewhere between £1,000,000 & £1,500,000 – a huge amount of Police and Judiciary time that should have been better spent.
Further: WHATEVER THE OUTCOME this is a classic example of ‘Justice delayed is Justice denied’, which has already sentenced Nikki Sinclaire to 4 years of punishment since her arrest, including the loss of her job and her carreer in politics, created huge stress for her, her elderly parents and wider family and friends since 2012, and precluded her from any meaningfull employment since she lost office as an MEP, as she was under threat of pending Court action.
How can this not be classified as an abuse of Justice, WHATEVER THE OUTCOME?
Here is some background media coverage:
Ex-MEP Nikki Sinclaire charged with money laundering
14:17, 23 Jul 2014
Updated 18:42, 23 Jul 2014
By Brett GibbonsMs Sinclaire faces allegations that she made false and dishonest submissions for travelling expenses
Nikki Sinclaire
Former West Midlands MEP Nikki Sinclaire is set to appear in court accused of making false expenses claims and money laundering following a lengthy police investigation.
Ms Sinclaire is due to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on 17 September to face allegations that she made false and dishonest submissions for travelling expenses and transferred the proceeds of fraud through a bank account in her name.
The offences are alleged to have taken place between October 2009 and July 2010 when Ms Sinclaire was a serving Member of the European Parliament.
The 45-year-old, of Velsheda Road, Shirley, was originally arrested on in February 2012 and has since been on police bail. Three other members of the public were also arrested but will face no further action.
Throughout the investigation West Midlands Police has been working jointly with officers from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Simon Orme, lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, said: “The CPS has authorised West Midlands Police to charge Ms Nicole Sinclaire, former MEP for the West Midlands, with the offences of money laundering and misconduct in public office.
“It is alleged that between October 2009 and July 2010, whilst serving as an MEP, Ms Sinclaire used funds paid into her bank account by the European Parliament in respect of false travelling expenses claims.
“Ms Sinclaire has also been charged with Misconduct in a Public Office with regard to her actions.
“The decision to prosecute was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. We have determined that there is a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.
“Criminal proceedings have now commenced and Ms Sinclaire has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
The ex-MEP lost her seat in the May elections for the European parliament. Update:
Ms Sinclaire has claimed that police have not questioned her during a two-and-a-half year probe into allegations of money laundering and misconduct in public office.
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed today that the former UKIP politician would be facing charges relating to the claiming of travel expenses while she was serving in the European parliament. She lost her seat during the elections in May.
Sinclaire, pledged to fight the charges.
She said: “‘I am disappointed that the police have chosen to charge me with the above offences without questioning me on them, after a two-and-a-half-year investigation.
“The charges relate to my time as a UKIP MEP when I was under the guidance and oversight by the party in the Parliament. This will prove pivotal in resolving the matter.
“‘During my time as an MEP I put in more than £120,000 of my salary into the cost of my work activities.
“‘It was also me, who in 2010, drew the attention of the West Midlands Police, to irregularities I discovered had taken place, without my knowledge, in my UKIP office.
“‘I strongly refute these charges and will be firmly defending myself. I am certain I shall be found innocent of these ludicrous and unfounded accusations.”
As shown in Court this entire case, which must have cost the public purse (Tax Payers) over £1,000,000 and possibly around £1,599,000 to bring and conducy, is in reality nothing more than allegations more suited to the Small Claims Courts:
Sinclaire’s lawyers have claimed that the amount actually overpaid was about 3,000 euro (£2,465), but deny any wrong-doing on her part.
a sum which has not been challenged by the prosecution and which it does seem Sinclaire and her lawyer have shown was in no way a willfull attempt by Sinclaire to defraud the EU.
Further EU officials (or as described by The E&S: Mandarins) was not considered sufficiently significant for OLAF (The EU official investigators) to investigate as they did not believe the matter to be fraud – in the light of evidence presented in Court which the prosecution has accepted the amount they claim Sinclaire benefitted by is £2,465 which relative to over £90,000 of her own money which she personally paid in to doing her job as an MEP is rather put in perspective!
It has been made clear in Court, and not contested by the prosecution or Ison, that Ison was employed by Sinclaire and that part of his job was to manage her receipts and expenses claims – Further it is known that in his contract of employment it is clearly stated that his employment is dependent on his undertaking to act in Nikki Sinclaire’s best interest and keep confidentiality – Wyhich part of acting as a spy and a mole in her office and plotting to destroy her does this little man of clearly no integrity and questionable honesty consider was her best interests or a confidential action as he fed information to others such as Nigel Farage, Mike Nattrass & Steve Morson, which he has admitted!
Further it is clear from the tape recordings presented in Court that Nigel Farage and John Ison are seeking to damage Sinclaire in a manner which will lead to her removal. John Ison has admitted he was acting as a spy/mole for Nigel Farage, speaking with him once or twice a week, and has also admitted that he had sent a text message, having failed apparently to ‘stitch her up’ by one method that he needed to move to ‘Plan B – Fraud’:
Mr Ison agreed that he also sent a message to another Ukip party member during a conversation about the MEP, saying: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”
I and many others can attest to the night of the election count, a night on which I spoke to Nigel Farage several times, when Nigel Farage openly stated that ‘… although he had 13 MEPs elected he wished it was only 12‘ and it was clear that he wished Sinclaire had not been elected.
That Farage had fallen out with one of his MEPs was hardly news as in the previous parliament he lost the support of almost half of those that were elected!
There seems to be clear evidence as led in Court that there is every possibility that the dishonest and corrupt John Ison was falsifying documents with the aim to oust Nikki Sinclaire and that Mike Nattrass and Nigel Farage were colluding with him so to do, though carefully ensuring their own deniability. Steve Morson having been more competently groomed by John Ison would seem to have been aware of these facts and thus involved but his only crime would seem to be as a witness of the facts, all be it a somewhat naive witness.
PUBLISHED: June 27, 2016 12:59 pm LAST UPDATED: June 27, 2016 9:01 pm
Nikki Sinclaire money laundering trial: Former West Midlands Ukip MEP ‘claimed thousands in car costs despite flying more cheaply’
A former Ukip MEP wrongly claimed thousands of euros in travel expenses for journeys to the European Parliament by car when she had actually flown more cheaply, a court has heard.
Nikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, signed and submitted “significant” expenses “in excess of the flight costs”, according to the prosecution.
The jury was told that in one case Sinclaire would have needed a car that could “travel back in time”, based on the receipts she is accused of submitting.
Antonie Muller, prosecuting, said Sinclaire submitted 10 false claims through “dishonesty and deception” rather than in error.
Mr Muller said that in another claim, from October 10 2009, Sinclaire claimed she had driven from Solihull to Stoke-on-Trent when she was in Cyprus.
The prosecution produced a Hilton hotel receipt from Nicosia alleged to show Sinclaire buying a Kit-Kat, a drink, and later “some hairdressing” the same day.
Mr Muller said: “She claimed she travelled 127 miles (to Stoke) when you know she hadn’t even been in the country.”
Former MEP Nikki Sinclaire
Documents seized by police allegedly show Sinclaire received a Greek parking ticket for 25 euros while on the island.
He added that investigation of the UK’s automatic number plate recognition cameras found Sinclaire never made the trip to Staffordshire, as she claimed.
Opening the prosecution’s case in what is scheduled to be a three-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Muller said: “In short, this is a case about a member of the European Parliament, an elected official, making false and dishonest claims for travel expenses during her office.
“Specifically, during the period in the latter part of 2009 to the summer of 2010.
“The Crown rely on a series of claims for travel expenses made by Miss Sinclaire.
“We contend – and I believe it is not really disputed – these claims are probably false and do not reflect the travel expenses that were actually incurred.
“Neither do they they represent the forms of travel actually taken.
“We allege Miss Sinclaire made false claims broadly of two different varieties.
“On some occasions she would claim for travel which she had not undertaken at all.
“On other occasions she made false claims for travel which enabled her to claim significantly higher sums than if she had correctly stated travel she’d actually undertaken.”
He told the jurors it may “seem odd” that travelling by car could be more financially advantageous than going by plane, but not when including the Brussels parliament’s “travel time” allowances.
The Crown’s barrister said six of the 10 claims saw Sinclaire claim for car and ferry travel when she had flown via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Basel in Switzerland or Brussels.
Mr Muller said EU expenses files showed she had submitted Brussels Airlines boarding passes – with a request for “extra leg room” – for a return flight on October 9 2009, when she was in Cyprus.
On another occasion, she claimed a 1,271-mile round trip from her Solihull home to Strasbourg, by car, he said, but she allegedly flew from London Heathrow to Basel, returning on January 21 2010, where she booked herself into a Hilton Metropole hotel in London.
He said: “The air fares cost £130. The 1,200-odd miles of vehicle travel was worth in excess of 900 euros (£750).”
The Crown said Sinclaire submitted that claim – with a ferry booking made three hours before travel – supported by French toll road tickets and a petrol station receipt from 11.32am on January 18 2010.
Mr Muller said: “The ferry was only supposed to arrive at Dunkirk at 1pm, so unless that car can travel back in time, it is impossible for that to have happened.”
He added that similar allegedly false expense claims were submitted for October 19-23 2009, and then November 23-26.
Mr Muller said Sinclaire then put in a claim “just shy of 400 euros” for a 484-mile round trip from Solihull to Chester-le-Street on January 8 2010.
The court heard the MEP’s colleague had travelled to County Durham by train to collect a £6,000 Mercedes Vito for Sinclaire, while she was having lunch with an NFU official in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The 47-year-old, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, is accused of misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.
She is further charged of fraudulently transferring criminal property into her bank account between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010.
At the start of the trial, Judge Stephen Eyre QC told the jury: “This is not a trial about politics, but about particular events in a particular time and about the intention of which certain things were done.
“Whether you agree or disagree with the defendant’s politics is irrelevant to this trial.”
Sinclaire, on bail, denies all the charges and the trial continued.
Nikki Sinclaire fraud trial: Former MEP told bureaucrats expenses claims had been “deliberately corrupted”
A former Ukip MEP told Brussels bureaucrats a member of her staff had “deliberately corrupted” her travel expenses claims, a court has heard.
Former MEP Nikki Sinclaire
Nikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, signed and submitted “significant” expenses “in excess of the flight costs”, according to the prosecution.
On Wednesday, it emerged in court Sinclaire had gone to the European Parliament’s MEPs’ expenses chief to raise concerns about irregularities in her own claims.
Francisco Estela Burriel told Birmingham Crown Court that Sinclaire “told me that she is not sure, but probably the (expenses claims) declaration has been made by another person, a member of her staff”.
Her barrister Sean Hammond asked if he recalled the meeting in Mr Estela Burriel’s office, from late August 2010, over a year before her arrest by West Midlands Police in February 2012.
Addressing the EU mandarin, he said: “The concern she raised was she believed because of a document she had seen in her office in Birmingham, that a member of staff had deliberately corrupted expenses claims submitted to your office.”
The 56-year-old bureaucrat replied: “Yes, absolutely.”
He advised Sinclaire to contact the travel companies involved to trace the paperwork, but she later told him she was “unable to find the flights she flew and which company she took to travel” as she tried to trace and correct the errors.
Earlier, Sinclaire’s barrister had asked whether newly elected MEPs’ staff received any formal training on expenses.
The EU civil servant replied that there had been a three-week information drive at the European Parliament, and that all the information was “made public”.
Sinclaire’s lawyers have claimed that the amount actually overpaid was about 3,000 euro (£2,465), but deny any wrong-doing on her part.
But the Crown has alleged Sinclaire deliberately submitted 10 travel expense claims for road travel, which she actually undertook more cheaply by flying from Birmingham Airport to the heart of EU government.
Antonie Muller, opening the prosecution case on Monday, told jurors it was a quirk of the Brussels expenses system that an elected member could claim for their journey time “duration”, which would be longer for road trips than for a flight.
In six out of the 10 claims, the Crown has alleged that is what Sinclaire did, including one occasion where she claimed to have driven to Stoke-on-Trent when in fact she was in Cyprus.
In his evidence, Mr Estela Burriel revealed some of the inner workings of the MEPs’ expenses bureaucracy, including the fact elected members can claim for up to 800 kilometres (497 miles) of road travel within their home country without submitting receipts.
As he left the court, the Spaniard covered his face with his bag after spotting media photographers outside.
Opening the case on Monday, Mr Muller said: “In short this is a case about a member of the European Parliament thereafter, an elected official making false and dishonest claims for travel expenses during her office.”
Sinclaire, 47, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, is accused of misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.
She is further charged between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010 of fraudulently transferring criminal property into her bank account.
At the start of the trial Judge Stephen Eyre QC told the jury: “This is not a trial about politics, but about particular events in a particular time and about the intention of which certain things were done.
“Whether you agree or disagree with the defendant’s politics is irrelevant to this trial.”
Sinclaire, on bail, denies all the charges and the trial continues.
PUBLISHED: July 1, 2016 5:00 pm LAST UPDATED: July 1, 2016 5:02 pm
Nikki Sinclaire fraud trial: ‘Spy aide’ passed on info to Nigel Farage, court hears
A former aide to an ex-Ukip MEP has told a court he gave regular updates about his employer to Nigel Farage, saying he did so “to protect the party”.
Former UKIP MEP Nikki Sinclaire is on trial for expenses fraud
John Ison was accused of allegedly stealing documents, installing computer spyware and making secret recordings while working for Nikki Sinclaire, to ingratiate himself with the party leadership.
His old boss, Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, is currently on trial for allegedly submitting “significant” expenses claims she knew to be false, according to the prosecution.
The defence’s case is that prosecution witness Mr Ison first tried to “undermine” Sinclaire, and when that appeared to fail he took advantage of the confusion around the Brussels members’ expenses system to set up his employer.
Mr Ison denied that accusation in court, and also said he never stole documents.
A Birmingham Crown Court jury hearing evidence against Sinclaire on Friday was told by her barrister Sean Hammond there was “a background of hostility” between Mr Farage and the MEP.
In a short phone call to Mr Farage – covertly recorded by Mr Ison in January 2010 – the former aide told the politician it was likely Sinclaire would have the party whip restored.
Mr Farage is heard to reply: “Mad.”
Later, jurors heard how Sinclaire lost the party whip in 2010 over an internal disagreement, but was seeking to rejoin through an appeal to its national executive committee.
Mr Hammond claimed that during the period Sinclaire treated Mr Ison as a “confidante”.
However, in a text conversation about Sinclaire with a local party colleague in February 2010, he accepted replying: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”
At one stage during proceedings Mr Ison used his right not to incriminate himself, by declining to answer whether he had breached the Computer Misuse Act, after being presented with evidence he hacked Sinclaire’s personal laptop.
Sinclaire’s barrister asked Mr Ison if he had installed spyware on an office computer, before bragging to a party colleague about the information he had gathered as a result.
In a message in January 2010 to Steve Morson, described in court as then chairman of the Ukip regional office, Mr Ison wrote “I have just captured the entire data from Nikki’s laptop”, ending the message with a smiley face.
A reply allegedly sent by Mr Morson read “lmao”, which the court heard was shorthand for “laughing my a**e off”.
Asked by Mr Hammond if he sent the laptop message, Mr Ison replied: “Yes.”
Mr Hammond put it to him: “Had you just done that (to the laptop)?”
Choosing to invoke legal privilege against incriminating himself, Mr Ison replied: “I decline to answer.”
When Mr Ison was asked by Mr Hammond if he was acting as a “spy or a mole”, he replied: “If you want to put it that way.”
Later, a message alleged to have been sent in reply by Mr Morson read: “I’ll see if I can get you an Oscar.”
Mr Ison replied “Nikki (Sinclaire) is going to get me a ‘foxtrot oscar’ when she finds out”, referring to a slang term meaning f*** off.
On the day when Sinclaire was due to make her case to the party’s national executive committee, a message was sent to Mr Ison allegedly from Mr Morson.
The text suggested Ukip, then led by Baron Pearson of Rannoch – known as Lord Pearson – had “backed down under the threat of legal action, which Lord P said we would lose”.
Mr Ison replied in his message: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”
Asked in court whether he sent that message, he replied: “Yes, I did.”
He added “obviously that comment looks very bad”, but denied any wrong-doing.
Earlier, asked by Mr Hammond how often he spoke to Mr Farage about Sinclaire, Mr Ison replied it was at least “once a week” by January 2010.
The ex-MEP’s barrister then asked: “You would regularly brief him and give him sensitive information from your employer?”
Mr Ison replied: “Yes I would.”
When Mr Hammond then asked if he did so to “undermine” Sinclaire, Mr Ison said: “It was to protect the party, sir.”
There is no suggestion of any wrong-doing by Mr Farage or any other party official.
Sinclaire, 47, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, denies misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.
She further denies a charge that between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010 she fraudulently transferred criminal property into her bank account.
The trial continues, with Sinclaire herself expected to give evidence next week.
A statement of opinion written and added by myself G.L-W. Sat-09-Jul-2016:
There may well have been a statement from the defence that:
There is no suggestion of any wrong-doing by Mr Farage or any other party official.
However it is clear that at very least John Ison would seem to be in breech of his employment contract and in breech of ‘The Computer Misuse Act’ and Nigel Farage is very clearly colluding with John Ison in criminal activity – thus it would seem clear that Nigel Farage and John Ison are involved together in criminal behaviour!
It also seems very clear that Nigel Farage, John Ison and possibly others conspired together on numerous occassions in criminal activity, including unlawfull entry, and breech of ‘The Data Protection Act’ involving confidential Government information and confidential data, and in breech of ‘The Computer Misuse Act’.
As this information has been in the hands of the Police and the CPS for some years it is hard to understand on what grounds they have persecuted Nikki Sinclaire over so many years when all they seem to have by way of evidence is some 10 receipts that seem to be administrative errors yet they had very clear evidence & proof of criminality, it would seem, involving and undenied by Nigel Farage and John Ison.
It would seem that this entire farago has been to frame Nikki Sinclaire with the collusion of the Police and CPS unless one can readily accept that both the Police and CPS are both incredibly gullible and very stupid!
Nikki Sinclaire has clearly misplaced her trust in John Ison and has been betrayed by him in a criminal manner; Nigel Farage’s mallicious behaviour is seemingly equally as criminal in that he colluded in criminality of a period of time with John Ison. Steve Morson was also clearly informed of the criminal behaviour but in obvious mittigation supplied what seem to be true and honest evidence of the criminality to the Police making it irrefutable that John Ison and Nigel Farage had acted and colluded in criminality together.
End of G.L-W comment added Sat-09-Jul-2016
PUBLISHED: July 4, 2016 4:42 pm
Nikki Sinclaire fraud trial: Former Ukip MEP’s staff ‘knew passwords’
An ex Ukip MEP accused of filing dodgy expenses claims told a court her staff knew her passwords and credit card numbers to make travel bookings. Former MEP Nikki Sinclaire
Nikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, is on trial for allegedly submitting “significant” expenses claims that prosecutors say she knew to be false.
Giving evidence for the first time at her Birmingham Crown Court trial on Monday, she said: “Staff had access to the office credit card and also my other credit card – they knew the numbers.”
She added that her “immense workload”, representing five million constituents, meant she probably gave “mundane” queries about her travel arrangements from her own staff short shrift and “did not know” what they did with her receipts once handed over
The 47-year-old said she had “so many objectives to achieve” politically, she expected her expenses to be dealt with by her office.
Sinclaire also told how she had sought “clarification” from the Brussels’ parliamentary expenses officials on how to make claims, after being handed a “foot-and-a-half”-high pile of EU paperwork.
Describing her background, she told the jury she was born in 1968, one of four children to a lorry driver father and a nurse mother, and grew up in south London.
She charted how she knew from the age of four of her issues regarding her gender identity and had gender reassignment surgery in 1995.
In emotional testimony, she described how she saw herself as “the first person ever to be in that situation to be elected”.
She said: “I wanted to show that somebody like me could do that job.”
Recalling her rise within the party, the former MEP added that throughout her time with Ukip from 1997, there was hostility and distrust between her and Nigel Farage.
But she said: “There was also an element of respect – we were two different wings of the same party.”
Asked by her barrister Sean Hammond if she had dishonestly submitted 10 claims, she battled tears as she replied: “No.
“I wanted to be different, I wanted to show it was possible to positively represent people.”
Sinclaire herself went to the EU anti-fraud unit and the police when she claimed to have realised all was not right with her claims.
She claimed her approach to making expenses claims was to empty out a handbag full of receipts and leave them on desk of her office staff to deal with, as it was “not really my skillset”.
Instead, she left the task was down to her UK office administration assistant Paula Murray, or her political aide and later office manager John Ison to sort them.
Sinclaire said: “On a Friday afternoon, I would empty my handbag of all receipts, and put it by John’s (Ison’s) desk.
“After employing Paula, it would be on her desk.”
Sinclaire also claimed that new MEPs were not shown the ropes of the parliamentary expenses system and instead relied on a “fresher’s fair” held in Brussels, and a huge bundle of documentation.
Having to set up her office from scratch, she recruited West Midlands regional party worker and Ukip campaigner Mr Ison to help her with setting up the rules and procedures of her administration.
In August, 2009, seeking clarification about the expenses paperwork, she went with Mr Ison to the parliamentary cash office in Brussels to speak with the bureaucrat in charge.
Mr Hammond asked: “So at that stage in terms of physically pulling together of expenses claims and the paperwork, things like that, who took over the administration work?
Sinclaire replied it was Mr Ison who set up the system and he who supervised its function.
Sinclaire said: “The time I spent in my office, the workload I had, I spent so little time in the Birmingham office.
“There were many pressures because of my position.
“I probably wouldn’t have reacted well to being asked a mundane question about my claims.”
Asked by Mr Hammond how travel bookings were arranged, she said these were dealt with by her staff who had access to her email account, credit cards and passwords.
Sinclaire claimed she was actually attempting to highlight what she alleged was the wastefulness of the EU bureaucracy and expenses system, during her tenure, which ended in 2014 when she failed to get re-elected.
Sinclaire, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, denies misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.
She further denies a charge that between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010 she fraudulently transferred criminal property into her bank account.
Nikki Sinclaire fraud trial: Former Ukip MEP questions why she would have started making allegedly dodgy expenses claims
An ex-Ukip MEP has urged a trial jury to consider why she would have started making allegedly dodgy expenses claims in the same month she was warned about a British colleague later jailed for a similar claims fiddle.
Nikki Sinclaire
Nikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, is currently on trial for allegedly submitting “significant” expenses claims she knew to be false, according to the prosecution.
Sinclaire has alleged her expenses were submitted by her staff, and at least one claim was “deliberately corrupted” by a former aide, who was acting as a spy in her camp for the Ukip hierarchy.
Today, she told Birmingham Crown Court that in October 2009 Ukip called all its elected members together and briefed them about wrong-doing by then-MEP Tom Wise.
Wise admitted fiddling £36,000 of his Brussels travel expenses at his trial the following month.
The jury in Sinclaire’s case has already heard how the first of what the Crown alleges were 10 dodgy claims date from October 2009 – the month of the Wise briefing.
Sinclaire, in the witness box, told jurors it would have defied sense for her to start filing false claims straight after being informed that Mr Wise, who represented the UK’s East region, was being prosecuted.
She said: “All Ukip MEPs were called to either Brussels of Strasbourg, I don’t remember which.
“We were briefed about Tom Wise, who was charged over expenses fraud – and what to say to the media if we were asked about it.
“The reason I say that is because the first claims of the allegations against me were right at this time.”
She added: “Why would that be the time I would decide to start fiddling my expenses?”
Sinclaire’s lawyers have claimed she did not deliberately sign off incorrect claims to gain financially, saying the total amount she could have made was “about 3,000 euro” – £2,465.
Sinclaire has also claimed at least one of her claims was “deliberately corrupted” by her former aide, John Ison – though he has denied any wrong-doing.
Jurors have also heard of several examples where she could have made genuine claims, including parliamentary trips to Cyprus and Cuba, which were never submitted.
The court has already heard about a background of party infighting, with “hostility” between Sinclaire and Nigel Farage.
Sinclaire lost the party whip as a result of internal disagreements in January 2010.
Jurors have also heard evidence from key prosecution witness Mr Ison.
Under cross-examination from her barrister Sean Hammond last week, Mr Ison accepted being a “spy or a mole” in her office, and he admitted passing information about the MEP to Nigel Farage in 2009-10.
Mr Ison also accepted making 30-40 hours of covert recordings of Sinclaire, but said he only acted “for the good of the party” during the period.
Mr Ison agreed that he also sent a message to another Ukip party member during a conversation about the MEP, saying: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”
On Tuesday, jurors heard that despite Sinclaire herself telling the EU anti-fraud unit of her suspicions about Mr Ison, no investigation was launched.
Sinclaire also contacted British police about her fears in September 2010, but was herself arrested in February 2012.
Unknown to her at the time, Mr Ison had reported her to the police in May 2010.
Asked by Mr Hammond why she made no comment in both her police interviews in February and October 2012, Sinclaire claimed she was just following her solicitor’s advice.
She said that her arrest by West Midlands Police blocked her from rejoining Ukip – which she claimed had already been agreed. She then failed to get re-elected in 2014.
The 47-year-old, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, denies misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.
She further denies a charge that between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010 she fraudulently transferred criminal property into her bank account.
On the strength of the evidence to date there is no doubt that the Jury would be perverse to find Nikki Sinclaire Guilty as there is absolutely no way that the prosecution has proved its case let alone beyond reasonable doubt.
That the EU official the expert witness Mr. Burriel confirmed all that Nikki Sinclaire had said and that it was confirmed by the EU official that Sinclaire had reported her suspicions regarding her expenses long before the Police even claim to have been involved and there was no evidence from the prosecution that Burriel or Sinclaire were disbelieved on this point makes the prosecution evidence clearly unsound it would seem.
That the prosecution evidence was unsound, as a display of criminal behaviour by Sinclaire seems clearly to be the case as no intent was shown, nor is there any sign that it is other than a clerical error or even a criminal action by John Ison designed to damage Sinclaire for Nigel Farage, as it has been undeniably shown by tape recordings played in court that Nigel Farage and John Ison were colluding. If John Ison at very least is not prosecuted it would be clearly perverse as he has admitted that he has lied under oath and the Judge has officially cautioned him relative to the risks of his dishonesty – that Nigel Farage may also be prosecuted may well also be a possibility!
It does seem that the most concrete evidence of criminality brought by the prosecution was, as the prosecution barrister stated in his summing up (closing argument), merely ‘coincidence’!
That the sum total of the allegations revolve around £2.1/2K when it has been proven in Court, and accepted by the prosecution, that Sinclaire not only did not claim for trips to Cyprus and also a trip to Cuba – all as a legitimate part of her work as an MEP nor did she draw down all of her budget in the 2 years concerned leaving over £40K unclaimed and further that in her first 3 years as an MEP Sinclaire paid from her own moniey over £90K into her work as an MEP – this case seems to me to be little more than vexatious and seemingly by a malicious action that duped an incompetent or corrupt police force!
Bear in mind neither the EU payments office nor The EU’s fraud department were remotely interested in the claims, even when told about them and had they been Sinclaire had long before informed them and the Police that she had concerns that someone was acting unlawfully in her office but she had neither the time, due to pressure of duties as an MEP, nor the skills required to investigate the problem she had reported!
That Nikki Sinclaire was able to call an independent forensic accountant to substantiate her every claim and verify the details of her account yet the police prosecution were unable to present any corroborated evidence or lead any evidence of consequence after spending a sum approaching £1.1/2Million (estimate) of public money trying to build a case out of errors amounting to £2.1/2K speaks volumes!
Fri-08-Jul-2016
We have now heard all the evidence for both the prosecution and the defence also the closing arguments of first the prosecution barrister Antonie Muller and the barrister for the defence Sean Hammond.
Today Judge Stephen Eyre QC has informed the Court he will be summing up the case for the jury, which he estimates will take upto 3 hours, in that the Court will sit from 10am that implies that by 1pm the trial will be over at which time it will be a matter for the judge to decide whether to ajourn the court until Monday or to immediately send out the jury for deliberation. We shall see!
12:00hrs. Fri-08-2016
I have just been notified that the Judge’s summing up has been completed and was reasonable and balanced and neutral in tone. The Judge has sent the jury out to deliberate and based on the facts it is my opinion that for the jury to find guilty would be a perverse decision. The jury will take as long as they wish/need to deliberate before returning to court later today or on Monday to deliver their verdict. We shall see!
I have been surprised that Simon Timothy Orme Specialist Lawyer in the CPS Special Crime Division, their London office I believe, sat in through more than half the trial as dis at least 2 police officers each day and on some days as many as 3 police – the reason for their presence at such a cost is concerning!
15:40hrs. Fri-08-2016
I have just heard that the jury has been sent home for the weekend, as having not reached a verdict yet.
11:30hrs. Monday 11-Jul-2016
Court has reconvened and the jury is still out continuing its deliberations after 2.1/2hrs. failing to come to a verdict on Friday.
11:40hrs. Monday 11-Jul-2016
NOT GUILTY VERDICT
returned by the jury.
UNANIMOUSLY
PUBLISHED: July 11, 2016 11:40 am LAST UPDATED: July 11, 2016 11:51 am
Nikki Sinclaire fraud trial: Former Ukip MEP found not guilty over expenses claims
A former Ukip MEP has been found not guilty of fiddling £3,250 in European parliamentary expenses claims and laundering the cash.
Nikki SinclaireNikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands region in Brussels and Strasbourg until 2014, had denied deliberately submitting 10 dishonest claims for road travel she never made when she had flown more cheaply.The 47-year-old and her lawyers maintained that instead the expenses had been “deliberately corrupted” by her former office aide, John Ison.Mr Ison had admitted in court sending a message to another party about the 47-year-old, which read: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”The jury at Birmingham Crown Court heard there had been at atmosphere of “hostility” between Ms Sinclaire and Ukip leader Nigel Farage, and that Mr Ison had passed information about her to the senior party figure.Sinclaire of Shirley, Solihull, had denied misconduct in a public office between October 1 2009 and July 31 2010 while a serving member of the European Parliament by making or causing to be made false or dishonest claims for travel expenses.She further denied a charge that between October 14 2009 and December 31 2010 she fraudulently transferred criminal property into her bank account.Jurors spent just three-and-a-half hours in deliberations before clearing Sinclaire of both charges.Sitting in the dock wearing a white jacket and blue top, Sinclaire looked relieved as the verdicts were read out and hugged tearful supporters in the public gallery.
Sinclaire had always admitted the claims on which the Crown’s case rested were in “error”, but told jurors she “paid no attention” to travel expenses as it was her office staff’s job.
She told the jury: “I was negligent – I am embarrassed about it” – however, she denied any deliberate wrong-doing.
Sinclaire said the expenses were either mistakes by staff, or in at least one claim were “deliberately corrupted” by her former aide Mr Ison.
In his evidence, Mr Ison admitted before the jury acting as a spy in her camp for senior Ukip figures.
The ex-MEP’s lawyers instructed a forensic accountant who found she would have made just over £3,000 from the claims, while the Crown only placed the figure in “the thousands of pounds”.
But Sinclaire, speaking during her trial, said: “I’d just achieved a lifetime ambition to become an MEP and what, I’d throw it away for £3,000, when there was ample budget in the (parliamentary) allowances which I could just take?”
Jurors also heard of several examples where she could have made genuine claims, including parliamentary trips to Cyprus and Cuba, and staff costs, which were never submitted, and effectively left her out of pocket.
Sinclaire alleged that compiling expenses claims was dealt with by her Birmingham office staff, while she just copied information supplied by her assistants onto the forms, before signing them off.
The jury had also heard about a background of Ukip infighting and how Sinclaire lost the party whip as a result of internal disagreements in January 2010.
Jurors heard evidence from key prosecution witness Mr Ison.
Under cross examination from Sinclaire’s barrister Sean Hammond, Mr Ison accepted being a “spy or a mole” in her office, and admitted passing information about the MEP to Nigel Farage in 2009-10.
Mr Ison also accepted making 30-40 hours of covert recordings of Sinclaire, and sending a message to another Ukip colleague claiming he had hacked her laptop.
He said he had only acted “for the good of the party” and when asked in court, denied any wrongdoing.
Sinclaire told the EU anti-fraud unit she suspected Mr Ison had filed bogus claims in her name, but no investigation was launched.
She contacted British police in September 2010, but was herself arrested in February 2012.
Unknown to her at the time, Mr Ison had reported her to the police in May 2010.
She said that her subsequent arrest by West Midlands Police, blocked her from re-joining Ukip. She then failed to get re-elected in 2014.
Nikki Sinclaire cleared: Expenses probe was ‘vanity’ case
Image caption Nikki Sinclaire represented the West Midlands as an MEP until 2014
A former UKIP MEP cleared of expenses fraud has criticised police for leading a “vanity case” against her.
Nikki Sinclaire, who represented the West Midlands until 2014, had denied deliberately submitting 10 dishonest claims for road travel she never made.
She said her expenses were “deliberately corrupted” by ex-office aide John Ison. The court heard he gave details to UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
West Midlands Police said it had acted in a “diligent and professional” way.
Ms Sinclaire, of Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, had been accused of fiddling £3,250 in European parliamentary expenses claims and laundering the cash.
Mr Ison had admitted in court sending a message to another party about Ms Sinclaire, which read: “Ok, Plan B – fraud.”
The jury at Birmingham Crown Court also heard there had been at atmosphere of “hostility” between Ms Sinclaire and Mr Farage.
‘Unnecessary’ case
Speaking outside court, Ms Sinclaire, 47, said: “In times of police cutbacks I find it incredible that on the say-so of one embittered man, West Midlands (Police) spent, I believe, in the region of £1.5 million chasing a vanity case of £3,200.”
She had said the expenses were either mistakes by staff, or in at least one case were “deliberately corrupted” by her former aide.
She admitted being negligent and said she was “embarrassed” by her errors, but denied any deliberate wrong-doing, saying she “paid no attention” to travel expenses as it was her office staff’s job.
Following the verdict, Ms Sinclaire – the first ever transgender parliamentarian in the UK – spoke of her relief, saying her acquittal was “the only just verdict”.
“I was arrested more than four years ago, and that unnecessary event had blighted my political career and, more importantly, my life,” she said.
“I now welcome the opportunity to move forward.”
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the force “acknowledged” the verdict, but defended the investigation.
“Our criminal justice system quite rightly demands a very high standard of proof,” he said.
Nikki Sinclaire: ‘I have this thing about injustice’
Share
Image copyrightAFPImage captionNikki Sinclaire became interested in politics aged just eight
The UK’s first transgender parliamentary politician Nikki Sinclaire has spent much of her life fighting battles – personal and professional.
As she is cleared of misconduct in a public office and fraud charges the BBC looks at her political and private life.
The title of Nikki Sinclaire’s second book, Never Give Up, is a clear indication of her determination.
“Because of the things that have happened to me, I have this thing about injustice. I feel I have to stand up whether it’s myself, or other people,” she told the BBC following its launch.
“I hate it when authorities put down ordinary people and I feel the need to stand up for them.”
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe court heard Nikkie Sinclaire had a “poor” relationship with then UKIP leader Nigel Farage
Her resolve emerged at a very young age. She was just eight years old when she became interested in politics while watching the news after school.
But it was a couple of years later, during the Winter of Discontent, that her interest really peaked.
“My father supported the unions and I would question him – why this conflict? I thought the unions were supposed to be for the working man, and also the Labour Party?
“He could never answer that satisfactorily to me. Coming from a very poor, working-class council estate, I began to think ‘why don’t we have these things?’
Her “very working class” father was “perturbed” when he learned of her admiration for Margaret Thatcher.
As her political obsession intensified in her teens, so did a very private struggle.
Since the age of three, she believed she was trapped in the wrong body.
It wasn’t until she reached 16 that Ms Sinclaire confided her feelings to a doctor, spilling out “16 years of hurt”, only to be told it was a “fantasy”.
Undeterred, she eventually underwent gender reassignment surgery at 23.
A staunch Eurosceptic, she became an active member of UKIP and held many positions within the party. After 10 years – and two defeats in UK general elections – she was successfully voted in as the party’s MEP for the West Midlands in June 2009.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionSinclaire gathered 100,000 signatures on a petition calling for an EU referendum
But her success within UKIP was short-lived. Just nine months later, in March 2010, Ms Sinclaire was expelled from the party after refusing to take part in a multi-national group it had joined in the European Parliament, citing some members “homophobic views”.
It was a blow she was not going to accept easily. In December that year, having taken her former bosses to a tribunal, a judge found in her favour when UKIP failed to file a defence in time.
As an independent MEP, Ms Sinclaire continued her tireless campaign for a referendum on Europe.
In 2011, she gathered 100,000 names to a petition, which led to a Conservative rebellion of about 70 MPs, and “forced David Cameron to the despatch box”, a proud Ms Sinclaire later told the BBC.
Again, the joy was short-lived. By February 2012, West Midlands Police had begun their fraud investigation and arrested Ms Sinclaire on suspicion of defrauding the European Parliament.
Image copyrightPAImage captionNikki Sinclaire arriving at court for her trial. She said the expenses were either mistakes by staff or, in at least one claim, were “deliberately corrupted”.
“The allegations at hand are old allegations from a disgruntled ex-employee”, Ms Sinclaire said in a statement, adding she had “nothing to hide”.
The following year, Ms Sinclaire decided to reveal her gender reassignment secret, which she said was the result of threats from UKIP and journalists.
She later went on to say she had been “overwhelmed” by the support from members of the public.
In June 2014, Ms Sinclaire lost her seat to Labour’s Neena Gill and a month later, more than two years after her first police interview, she was charged with money laundering and misconduct in public office.
She was accused of making false and dishonest submissions for travelling expenses and transferring the proceeds of fraud through a bank account – something the politician said she “strongly refuted”.
It took another two years for the case to come to court, ironically, scheduled just days after Ms Sinclaire’s British independence dream came true.
The day after the referendum, there was not a hint of the impending court proceedings on her Twitter account.
Instead, as she celebrated the victory, her doggedness shone through once again.
“We did it Maggie,” she tweeted. “We did it. We got our country back. I never gave up.”
It is worth asking just how widespread was the criminal conspiracy against Nikki Sinclaire – clearly it involved Nigel Farage & John Ison conspiring to pervert the course of justice together possibly with others as was led as evidence in Court including tape recording of a conversation between Nigel Farage and John Ison and the details surrounding that conspiracy between them as shown in evidence.
Conspiracy to pervert the course of justice involving John Ison is indisputable as also shown by the various text messages and his message ‘Plan B – Fraud‘.
However there would seem to be evidence that the conspiracy was more widespread as this Tweet from the odious halfwit Mick McGough of May 2014 shows:
This would seem to show that Ukip officials and leadership were colluding with the Police.
Sadly this would seem not to be as far fetched as it would seem, not only are the police under the spotlight for their activities with regard to the allegedly unsound conviction of Jasna Badzak and I too have experience of the apparent collusion between Police of the Met. and Gerard Batten when the police acted for Gerard Batten on a half baked claim he made against me – fortunately I was beyond the jurisdiction of the Met. in these circumstances and after a 3 hour interview under caution on tape the Met’s. vexatious claims were unsustainable.
It is also worth noting that John Ison has admitted to stealing material from Nikki Sinclaire and gaining unlawful entry to her offices he has also made it abundantly clear that he is criminally in breech of the Misuse of computers Act’ and has put sophisticated spyware on Nikki Sinclaire’s computers together with downloading the entire contents of her laptop. These charges must be prosecuted against John Ison for not only Justice to be seen to be done but also for closure of this obscene chapter in British politics.
Let us also remember that irresponsibly and profligately in a period of National austerity the Police & CPS squandered an estimated £1,500,000 in trying to prove a hard working MEP Nikki Sinclaire who whilst other MEPs cash in on every bit on which they can claim Nikki Sinclaire was proven to have not claimed on numerous costly claims she could have made and in the 3 years in question paid in £91,000 of her own money to support her work as an MEP – yet the police were persuing her for about £3,000 they claimed she had ‘fiddled’ to enrich herself.
The entire case would have come to a juddering halt if the police had rubbed two brain cells together and had asked her about the so called documentary proof they claimed to have – particularly as she had reported problems and discrepancies to the EU Payments Office, OLAF and the British Police long before she had any possible incling that the police were aiding those trying to set her up!
It is also apposite to ask what the hell Simon Orm’s role in all this was on behalf of Ukip or the CPS, minded that it was also he who authorised the prosecution of Jasna Badzak in London was that for the CPS or for Ukip?
May I suggest for further clarification of the corruption in Nigel Farage’s Ukip party that you watch the BBC West Midlands TV clip of another Ukip MEP and past deputy leader of Ukip: CLICK HERE
Do also note:
Speaking outside court, she said: “In times of police cutbacks I find it incredible that on the say-so of one embittered man West Midlands Police spent, I believe in the region of £1.5 million chasing a vanity case of £3,200.”
The force defended its handling of a “diligent and professional” investigation, but has declined to say how much the inquiry cost.
which leads me to believe that it may well have been even more and when you realise, as the BBC confirmed, the Police had at least 27 serving officers working on this case the rate at which they were wasting public money was quite staggering, all on the sayso of one embittered liar seeking to curry favour with his handler Nigel Farage,to whom he was reporting, as he spied on his employer and betrayed her.
Surely the police must have dome a CRB check on John Ison and found out some of the basic facts about him – note what I was able to ascertain about the odious little man with a bit of effort on Google CLICK HERE
.
Regards,
Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
Top of the week’s news for a few nanoseconds is the resignation of Ukip leader Nigel Farage – once again. I suppose we must wait for the statutory ten-day return period before it can be taken as confirmed.
Already, the political eulogies are flooding in, with the media rewriting history – casting Farage as the man who got us the referendum and then proceeded to win it: “the man who got us out of Europe”.
Actually, as regards the referendum, he always opposed the idea – preferring to put his resources into taking Parliament by storm through the election process. When he found he could not block it, he reluctantly supported it, climbing on the bandwagon at the last minute.
However, he made no preparations for the campaign, rejected outright the idea of an exit plan and, when it came to the lead campaigner designation, the submission made on his behalf was so woefully inadequate that Farage ended up consigned to the periphery of the campaign, and us lumbered with Vote Leave.
Having thus done his best to lose us the campaign before it had even started, he then intensified his efforts with an obsessive focus on immigration – failing to distinguish between free movement of persons and the EU asylum policy, culminating in “that” advert, which probably cost us thousands of votes.
The majority of British voters nevertheless opted to leave the EU – for reasons we still do not fully understand. Now, with the political parties in turmoil, never before has clear direction been needed. But clearly, Farage is not the one to provide that,. With nothing useful to contribute to the debate, at least he has the decency to do the appropriate thing and resign.
However, with unconfirmed rumours that his Brussels offices have been raided, believed to be at the behest of Olaf investigating falsified documents in relation to Ukip’s finances, Farage could be jumping before he is pushed. More than a few are suggesting that this “shock” move was not voluntary.
If one was to look for a political legacy, Farage was always a good spokesman and a moderately competent debater – let down by his indifferent grasp of detail, although so often paired with people who knew less, this was not always a handicap.
But he was also rigorous in excluding competition and suppressing fresh talent, so we will never know whether someone better might have emerged to lead Ukip more effectively, making victory more assured.
From a personal perspective, having shared a desk with him in Strasbourg over the four years that I worked for Ukip in the early days of our representation in the European Parliament, I have to say that he is a man best savoured from a distance – the greater the better.
His “boyish charm” is wafer thin and behind the façade he is a liar, a bully and a braggart, who does not know the meaning of the word loyalty. Personally he has done me great harm and, in my view, has held back the development of the party to the extent that he is largely responsible for its current parlous state.
Whether there is anyone of calibre ready to step up and take his place remains to be see but, from past performance, with the dictator gone we can expect a period of bitter in-fighting before a clear victor emerges. But this is a bad time for it to be happening, when we need focus on the EU withdrawal process.
As always, therefore, Farage has put himself before party and himself before country, telling us, “I want my life back”. Well, having blighted many others, he can go and get his life. There will be no regrets over his passing from this quarter.
There is every possibility that Nigel Farage was made an offer he could not refuse, to save his skin, by Murdoch & Fox at Lebedev’s garden party on Sunday. This may be a way for him to leave the skeletons in the cupboard having been given a new lock – we may well see him on Fox News & putting his name to articles in Murdoch’s new creation ‘Heat Street’, based in America for a period.
The wealthy make fortunes from the sort of chaos that puppets create for them and there is no more loyal puppet than a political prostitute with under investigation as aspects of Farage’s UKip is!
It is interesting to note just howmany UKippers are currently jumping ship.
Even Aaron Banks is steering a new course, and he was Farage’s only backer of substance – with his gofer Andy Wigmore at Andrea Leadsom’s launch.
Where better for Farage than as a puppet funded to promote breakup of the EU from a well funded US platform acting to make fortunes for his puppet masters.
That I believe peace and stability would be best served by the re-emergence of the competitive nature of Nation States actively trading with eachother in Europe and beyond as the EU is dismantled, it is the period of uncertainty that suits wealthy gamblers like Murdoch, Soros, Lebedev and their ilk.
Peace is best served without Farage who brought to the table the very worst of values with his louche and libertine behaviour, intellectual indollence and bullying self agrandisement – hardly the skills of leadership and most clearly not the skills for negotiation!
With Farage gone there is a greater possibility of a poeacefull dismantling rather than ‘the wars of dissassociation’ of which I have warned for almost half a century, starting in my opposition to membership of the EU in the first place.
That Nigel Farage tries to lay claim to having brought about the Referendum is obscene arrogance – Farage opposed the only way it could be achieved via a debate in the House of Commons and as a professional politician having failed to get elected as an MP on 9 occassions he was never likely to instigate such a debate!
Nikki Sinclaire picked up the batton Farage had tossed aside and despite Farage’s effort to sabotage her, even down to working with a mole in her office to set her up as proven by his tape recorded conversations in Court last week, Sinclaire doggedly ploughed an average of some £30,000 a year of her own money into her constituency duties and raising a petition, as has been led in evidence by forensic accounting.
Cameron had promised that any genuine petition of over 100,000 signatures would trigger a debate – to that end, on top of her constituency work, Sinclaire threw herself into the task gaining 1/4 of a Million signatures which were delivered to Cameron’s door!
The result of the debate Sinclaire obtained for us was Cameron’s first major Commons rebellion – this led to Cameron including the promise of a Referendum in the Tory Manifesto, at a time he believed he would not win a majority and believed a coalition partner could be blamed when he reneged on his promise.
I believe Farage has contributed to BreXit but the damage he has done over the years outweighs his contributions and there is no doubt that we owe our thanks and respect to Nikki Sinclaire for the Referendum.
I would also wish to pay homage to others who have ensured BreXit – not least of whom are Norris McWhirter, Bernard Connolley, Richard North, Christopher Booker, Phillip Day and many more few if any of whom have been tolerated by Nigel Farage and many of whom he actively drove out of UKip treating UKip as not just his private fiefdom but as his bank account over the years in a manner that has seen him rise from failed City trader fired by a French Bank that employed him to a publicly estimated wealth in the £Millions – Yet on scouring the Electoral Commission accounts and those of UKip there seems to be no record of any donations to UKip and indeed it was pointed out in the EU Parliament and widely published he even ensured both his wife and mistress were on the public payroll!
Let us not forget Farage’s proud boast some years ago at a Press Council lunch when he admitted that the EU had over funded his expenses to the tune of about £2Million so far!
I can not disagree with Richard North for one moment in his excorriating judgement of Nigel Farage’s character though there is no doubt Farage shelters behind a totally false facade that does tend to dupe the unwitting and the gullible.
.
Regards,
Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
Nikki Sinclaire’s Solicitor Has Issued A Press Release regarding her Court case which starts today!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Former MEP to present cogent defence to allegations of Misconduct in Public Office.
Nikki Sinclaire is due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday 27th June to answer charges of Misconduct in Public Office and associated Money Laundering – arising from a suggested expenses fraud. The allegations date back to 2009 and 2010, shortly after her election to the European Parliament where she served as an MEP until 2014.
Nikki was arrested four years ago alongside three members of her staff, who were not subsequently charged.
A report from an independent forensic accountant demonstrates that the value of the amount claimed, over that which she was entitled to, was €3,800 (£3000). The prosecution have previously quoted figures for the value of the case which include sums by way of the MEP’s daily subsistence allowance that there can be no question she was entitled to receive.
The lengthy process has taken its toll on Nikki who feels her life has been put on hold “I worked tirelessly in my role as an MEP to serve my constituents and am devastated that I have had to face these allegations. My life has been blighted by the case which, through no fault of my making, has taken far too long to resolve. Thankfully, I finally have the opportunity clear my name and rebuild my life”.
The allegations date back to 2009 and 2010, shortly after her election to the European Parliament where she served as an MEP until 2014.
May I draw your attention to the fact that this was during the period when she waas under the control of UKip and acting as a UKip MEP at the start of her term as an MEP, you will I am sure appreciate that during that time, in accord with the decision of Nigel Farage all UKip MEPs were, as they were untrained in accountancy terms, under the direct control of Nigel Farage and overseen by his nominated accountant Robin Howlett!
.
Any accounting errors should have been noted and corrected by UKip during that period!
.
Personally I hope Nikki Sinclaire gets the justice she deserves and that those who plotted against her for their own gain are brought to book for this risible case which over a matter of some £3,000 of accounting errors would seem to have cost over a £ a Million with ongoing Court costs!
.
Regards,
Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
Some Thoughts On UKip’s Inevitable Coup leave one to speculate whether Nigel Farage will prempt his overthrow by setting up a new party called ‘Grass Roots’ or similar funded and chaired by Aaron Banks – leaving UKip to go bankrupt under Nuttal, Hamilton, O’Flynn & Evans or return to his former life but with Aaron’s money & a substantial EU pension to featherbed his ineptitude, as proven by his last efforts in the city?
It was always going to happen. As UKIP leader Nigel Farage becomes increasingly irrelevant in the Brexit debate, his successor in waiting appears to be kicking at the stable door.
Deputy leader Paul Nuttall, who likes to portray himself as a working class Liverpudlian who has risen through the political ranks, appears to be about to make his move. A former staff member in the European Parliament, he is far better educated than Farage, has more real-life work experience, and enjoys great popularity amongst the UKIP rank and file.
Nuttall is reported to be backed by disgraced former Conservative MP Neil Hamilton. An amusing aspect of this somewhat Quioxtic tale is that it was Farage who appeared to fall over himself to bring Hamilton, and his flamboyant wife Christine into UKIP in the first place: Farage had possibly hoped that Hamilton would bring some money to the UKIP table.
Subsequently, the relationship between the two men has not been good. Farage is alleged to have used his influence to block Hamilton’s rise in the party, and has reportedly stated that Hamilton “may be too old to be a frontline politician.”
However,the most interesting facet of all is the fact that the news of Hamilton’s support for Nuttall’s post-Brexit leadership challenge has been leaked (not very delicately) by UKIP’s own press office. This suggests that the coming coup may enjoy deeper support than the Faragistas had expected. The UKIP press office has traditionally been Farage’s power base, and has been staffed according to his wishes, and generally by those with whom he enjoys close relationships.
As for the Brexit vote, at the time of writing it is impossible to say what will happen. But whatever, it would appear that Nigel Farage will exit stage left, and possibly return to the world of market trading from whence he came.
Ukip Cornwall (South West) Seems As Corrupt As Ever! When it comes to corruption and internal squabbling little changes in Ukip over the years.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Hi,
the story of Ukip in the South West has been an ongoing debacle for a number of years, right back to when Gawain Towler was dumped by the SW Committee as their candidate because of the facts pertaining to his sexual arousal by his own daughter whilst bathing with her – then the total disregard for democracy within Ukip when he was reinstated a couple of days later by Nigel Farage and promoted within the party.
Meanwhile this was the time when Nigel Farage orchestrated – nay invented – a witch hunt to remove Dr. Eric Edmonds who had been elected by the people of the SW both as their representative on the National Ukip NEC as with Dr. David Abbott – they were dishonestly ousted by Nigel Farage and cronies who feared their efforts to make the party both more accountable and more transparent by for the members.
This was also at the time that the scoundrel Malcolm Wood was colluding behind the backs of elected Ukip committees to engineer his own choices for positions within the party to assist the corruption and the continued dominence of Nigel Farage rendering the party as something of a one man band with individuals like Douglas Denny corrupting internal selection processes and elections aided by low lifes like of Mark Croucher & Mick McGough.
Meanwhile it seemed that some in control were robbing the party blind – viz less than 15% of the money collected via Ashworth Call Centre ever reaching the party (described by Nigel Farage as Ukip’s best ever fund raising scheme).
It was around that time that this web site disclosed the fact that Nigel Farage had set up an off shore trust in The Isle of Man and had in one deposit alone invested £250,000 in the tax haven!
UKIP’s rotten ‘Camborne Redruth and Hayle’ branch in Cornwall was supposed to be shut down after the election due to abject failure to achieve by-election sucess (23% REVERSAL in Pendarves, Camborne) not to mention almost total collapse of the branch during general election campaign, ousting of the branch Chairman and other officals by a cabal led by Cornwall Councilor Harry Blakeley – who then took over the branch himself!
Steve Crowther for reasons unknown made a “180 degree u-turn” and decided to bin the idea and keep the branch open! Nobody knows why, apart from Crowther!
Since then UKIP Cornwall has been a “distaster zone”, and is at the centre of a dispute with members over Anti-Semitic messages eminating from the St Ives branch. Crowther’s failures have caused MAJOR donors to pull out of UKIP funding, including personal friends of Nigel Farage in the Duchy who we, we are reliably informed, are “disgusted” with UKIP’s failure to do anything about these problems!
Local activists that attempted to deal with these issues were given no support from Crowther or UKIP Cornwall Council leader Steph McWilliams, in fact the party threatened those loyal members who attempted to deal with rampant corruption and anti-semitism with disiplinary action should they dare speak of it in public!
From: Steve Crowther <sjcrowther@btinternet.com> Sent: 29 June 2015 15:14 To: REDACTED Subject: Re: URGENT – Closing Camborne Hayle Redruth
Dear REDACTED
If Camborne, Redruth & Hayle branch has irreconcilable disputes or is failing to find adequate leadership, you have my permission to suspend the committee and take it into regional control, under rule B.7.2. However, I recommend identifying a caretaker chairman to keep the home fires burning.
Regards, Steve
—
Steve Crowther
Chairman, UK Independence Party (UKIP)
Disclaimer
This email and any attachments to it may be confidential and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. Any views or opinions expressed should not be regarded as, and are not intended to be, legal or other advice and are solely those of the author, they are not intended for publication and do not necessarily represent those of the UK Independence Party or the EFDD Group. Any third party email addresses that may be displayed in this email may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system without the written permission of the UK Independence Party or the sender. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must neither take any action based upon its contents, nor copy or show it to anyone. Please contact the sender if you believe you have received this email in error.
From: REDACTED
Date: Monday, 29 June 2015 11:57
To: Steve Crowther <sjcrowther@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: URGENT – Closing Camborne Hayle Redruth
Steve,
Just to be clear, does your comment below “I am sure you are right” equate to your written permission to close this dysfunctional branch? Unfortunately, the miscommunication, trouble-making & negativity coming out of CHR is invariably widely copied to other members & branches by the Chairman & undermines UKIP’s good name. I have always done my best by the Party & will take this step in the interests of the EU Referendum as I close down tomorrow if I have your backing. As you know, I drafted the letters to the committee & membership several days ago.
By the way, I will be attending the Taunton County meeting this evening as it seems the professional & proper thing to do!
A meeting was arranged so that members could voice their concerns, alas, the meeting was “spolied” by St Ives Chairman Guppy, Camborne Chairman Blakeley, plus an univited guest. The police were almost called to the meeting. Result? PROMOTION of Mr Guppy to “Vice Chairman of the County” a position that does not exist within UKIP!
I’m not sure why you’ve written to me, or any of the other recipients of your ludicrous email.
Let me give you some advice and guidance:
For a start, get your facts right. The person who wrote the minutes for the meeting on the 16th of September, was RO Guy Parfitt. I have re read the meagre account that Guy submitted as being the Minutes for this meeting, and can find no mention of “that woman”. See attachment.
Your version of the events, and with regard to the disruption that you, Blakeley and the woman caused at the start of the meeting, is complete rubbish. There is a full transcript of every word spoken during this 20 minute period of the meeting. This transcript exposes the fact that you have been blatantly misleading others into believing yours and Blakeley’s version of events.
I suggest we meet up at your next branch meeting and discuss this matter openly. Michael Muldowney would be happy to attend as well, and we’d be more than willing to present the transcript, plus other evidence…. can we agree to do this ?, after all, It’s only right that having copied so many in on this matter, that they should know the truth, and you will have the opportunity to prove me wrong, I think not!!!
I also attach another damning comment regarding the perceived disgusting behaviour on the part of all three of you. See attachment. I think this comment sums up the general consensus of opinion from those who were at the meeting, and were unfortunately subjected to yours, Blakeley’s, and the woman’s obnoxious behaviour, in not only attempting to shut the meeting down, but by using the woman to do it. (Gutless is word that springs to mind) All three of you slunk away from the building after being told to leave. This of course can be fully verified by the security staff. The business of the meeting then continued without further disruption.
My advice, You thought you could cause problems, and disrupt the meeting. You succeeded for Twenty minutes in delaying the agenda for the evening. I’m not sure what cost benefits you derived from this futile exercise, but let me assure you that your irrational behaviour does more harm than good, so start acting in a more professional manner, or perhaps, just retire gracefully. The same advice is available to Chm Blakeley.
On another subject, and given the working relationship that you enjoy with Chm Blakeley, I have attached a message that I received from Steve Crowther on the 30th of June, giving permission to put CR&H branch into special measures by removing Harry Blakeley as Chairman of the branch. This came about as a result of a direct instruction from Nigel Farage at a meeting earlier this year.
There were issues during the GE campaign that precluded this edict from being implemented immediately, however, action with regard to this subject is ongoing, and hopefully will be concluded shortly.
Oops, you requested an apology, the answers no, but if you accept the proposed meeting, I’ll more than willingly apologise if I’m proved to be wrong, much as you will, ‘ve no doubt, when your proven wrong!
I look forward to your acceptance e-mail, please include the date, time, and venue for the meeting.
Subject: Re: A meeting to disclose the facts behind the current impasse.
From: dlucas290990@icloud.com
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2015 12:48:03 +0000
CC: REDACTED
To: REDACTED
Dear REDACTED
Thanks for the email. Once again, I have taken the liberty of copying this to REDACTED – as I did previously without adverse comment from you – since you may well agree that he should not be kept in the dark.
You say: ‘The opportunity to deal with the ongoing problems on an amicable basis is long gone.’ and ‘…there is little hope of dealing with these issues “in house’ thereby protecting UKIP’s image’. Since you have not specifically mentioned the possible meeting of the three of us I take this to mean that you do not now want to pursue that line. The phrase “in house” is ambiguous: do you mean within the Cornwall Committee, or within UKIP writ large? I suspect the former, in which case – after having spent hours reading much material including MM’s detailed dossier – I agree with you. I am sure you do not mean the latter – to bring up the issue outside Party channels – since that could only harm the Party and do more harm than good.
Yesterday (9 Dec) I discussed the issues with Steve Crowther and he has made the following rulings:
He has investigated the various complaints made primarily by you but also REDACTED against Harry Blakely and Stuart Guppy, and has decided that they do not provide grounds for Party disciplinary action.
If you or REDACTED wish to take these complaints further, you should do so using the Disciplinary Procedures laid down in the Party Constitution and Rule Book. You should get the appropriate forms from Diane Belk, and send them in duplicate when completed to David Chalice at Lexdrum. He will then initiate the necessary procedures within the Disciplinary Committee.
This dispute is not to be further discussed in Cornwall County Committee meetings.
This dispute should not receive any public airing outside UKIP channels. Any attempt to do so – e.g. promulgating anything relating to them in social media – could subject the perpetrator to Party disciplinary action,
The way ahead then is twofold. The County Committee will not discuss these old disputes, but will get on with other important County business. Meanwhile you or REDACTED or both are free to table a complaint under the Party Constitution and Rules as I have previously mentioned more than once. As I understand it, neither Harry nor Stuart is planning to resign; therefore the only ways to remove them are for their branch to vote them out, or for them to be removed by the Party Discipline Committee following a substantiated complaint. There is no formal action that the County Chairman or Committee can take, so there is no point in discussing the issue in County meetings. I agree with you that rotten apples should be eliminated, but this must be through the laid-down procedures.
Finally – a minor point that is not relevant to the main issue – I do not see that I have to ‘defend’ myself for accepting the County Chairman role without knowing all the facts. I accepted nomination reluctantly because I wanted to find out the facts and do all I could to defuse the issue so that Cornwall could get on with its main aims. Formerly, as a non-member of the Committee I was aware of the dispute, but had no locus standi to question people on the issue. As Chairman I had a mandate to do so. Following Steve’s rulings, I no longer need to exercise it.
Whether the above material, which flags up many points made on this web site elsewhere, was supplied to me now because it is ongoing (from what I hear it is) or because there is an election in process I leave to you to speculate.
Do also consider this critique of Ukip Cornwall, firast published on 11-Apr-2016:
FULL COLLAPSE OF ENTIRE #UKIP CORNWALL AS ANOTHER COUNCILLOR QUITS
Cornwall might be on the periphery of the UK, but when it comes to UKIP it is central to their plans – and for those of us who keep tabs, an interesting barometer of UKIP fortunes. ‘Kipper’ success in the Duchy was at one time promoted heavily by the party, after it ‘won’ the 2014 EU elections with 37% of the vote in the county, it also returned the party six seats in 2013’s local elections.
Cornwall: Lots of elderly retirees, and by the sea. Perfect Ukip territory, you’d think.
The county has a unitary authority council running it, and there is high support for a Cornish assembly that would maximise devolved powers replacing the existing system, and although UKIP are against it, at one time they conceivably could have won seats in the proposed ‘parliament’.
This money has been used to fund infrastructure and education, however, UKIP wish to do away with it and despite claims they would replace it we’re yet to see any costed, serious, plans.
With the news that UKIP Cornwall Councillor Mark Hicks has quit, the party’s local representatives have fallen to just two, from the original six.
We have already covered the situation with racism and anti-Semitism in our previous articles, and with UKIP’s utter unprofessionalism and repeated gaffes in Cornwall we feel they are totally unelectable.
This should be a warning for anybody considering voting for UKIP as their local representative.
Here is our run down of UKIP’s Cornish Council failures.
MICHAEL KEOGH – Elected to a ward in the Falmouth and Truro area, Keogh became the first of the six to quit just months after the election. No official explanation from UKIP was given but rumours circulated about his health issues, which we are told were legitimate.
VIV LEWIS – Lewis claimed he was a paper candidate who just happened to get elected (by 12 votes) and in his mid-eighties when he came to office. Immediately involved in public bout of racism, he claimed he couldn’t be racist because he had “been to the West Indies on holiday”. He resigned in 2015 and his seat was won by Labour. Mr Lewis passed away in January of this year.
DEREK ELLIOTT – We’re told Elliott is a “solid councillor and a good chap”. A 2010 PPC who had a good profile in his constituency, he was pushed aside for ‘big draw’ Bob Smith, a personal friend of Nigel Farage for the Camborne/Redruth target seat. Still remains a Cornwall Councillor but we are told he won’t be running again in 2017.
STEPHANIE McWILLIAMS – Long term UKIP insider and former party health spokeswoman who has done the rounds on regional and county committees. Led the council election campaign on a pledge to oppose house building, but then voted for a 45,000 increase anyway. A lame duck since the housing vote, McWilliams was also involved in the anti-Semitic cover up in St Ives (see our previous articles) which caused donors to withdraw £100k in funding and support. We’re are also told she “did nothing” to support her general election candidate. She has since resigned her chairmanship of South East Cornwall and does not plan to seek re-election in 2017.
Is Farage Playing A Double Game as he milks the system for all he can?
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Is Farage Playing A Double Game?
May 3rd, 2016.
If the man had any sense of humility whatsoever, Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), who has consistently condemned EU politicians for wasting taxpayer’s money, might feel somewhat embarrassed about revelations that he has been charging said taxpayers as much as £15,000 per day for his own personal security.
Secura Associates, a firm hired to provide bodyguards to Farage, was tasked with arranging security for his attendance at political events. Their duties allegedly included ensuring that “adequate refreshments” were made available to him. Those who know Farage well may smile at that.
The company, which employs a number of former soldiers, charged some £58,000 over a relatively short period of time for providing security at a small number of events, many of which were barely attended.
What is most interesting about this story, which was reported in the Daily Mail as well as other media, is that the information provided – specifically documentary evidence of costs incurred and claimed for – could only have come from the Secretariat of Farage’s political group, the so-called Europe of Freedom & Direct Democracies (EFDD) within the European Parliament itself. This attack on Farage is an inside job.
Also, the specific details concerning attendance numbers at events for which security was provided, at great expense to the taxpayer, point to the source being a UKIP insider with access to both European Parliament papers, and UKIP internal reports.
This may suggest a disgruntled employee who has sufficient intellect to have tired of being a Yes Man to Farage, or it may indicate the rumblings of a wider internal coup.
Otherwise, it may tell us that Farage has unwittingly employed yet another Tory whose true allegiance rests with the Conservative Party which is now at odds with him over the issue of Brexit.
Of course, EU Today is well aware of the source.
There are attempts ongoing in the UKIP camp to silence dissent, and indeed to prevent staff speaking to unapproved journalists. There are “strong arm tactics being applied by an EFDD official with former Irish Republican terrorist links”, according to more than one source.
The apparent lack of integrity of the UKIP leadership may become a major factor in the outcome of the Brexit vote, and may contribute to the vote to remain in the EU: But perhaps that is how it was always intended to be…….
Farage’s £15,000 a day bodyguards… on the taxpayer: Ukip leader branded a ‘hypocrite’ after using EU money to fund team of ex-military personnel – while attacking wasteful spending by Brussels
Security firm guarding Nigel Farage sent hefty bills to European Parliament
Its checklist of tasks included ‘ensuring refreshments have been arranged’
Team accompanied MEP at great expense throughout his nationwide tour
Opponents called Farage a ‘hypocrite’ for seemingly extravagant spending
PUBLISHED: 23:24, 1 May 2016 | UPDATED: 13:03, 2 May 2016
Nigel Farage has claimed up to £15,000 a day in taxpayer-funded expenses for bodyguards, it can be revealed today.
The Ukip leader used EU funds to pay for a team of ex-military personnel to follow him around the country as he made referendum campaign speeches.
Documents leaked to the Mail show how the security firm, whose guards have previously protected Sir Elton John, sent a series of hefty bills to the European Parliament for its services. A checklist of tasks included ‘ensuring refreshments have been arranged’ for Mr Farage.
Protected: Ukip leader Nigel Farage has been branded a ‘hypocrite’ for claiming up to £15,000 a day in taxpayer-funded expenses for bodyguards
The team, led by a former military police officer who served in Afghanistan, accompanied the MEP at great expense through his tour – even when he was speaking in front of only a few hundred people.
Mr Farage, who has repeatedly criticised wasteful EU spending, racked up a security bill of £58,000 for just five events held in modest venues such as a darts arena in Essex where there was not a single demonstrator. Opponents last night branded him a ‘hypocrite’ as he confirmed the seemingly extravagant spending.
The European Parliament refused to condemn the payments, saying it was up to Mr Farage how his Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group (EFDD) spent its £2.5 million-a-year EU funding.
Mr Farage embarked on the ‘Say No to the EU’ tour – a series of public meetings he described as ‘the largest Eurosceptic campaign perhaps ever seen’ – in the final four months of last year.
Leaked paperwork shows how Secura Associates, the firm hired to provide bodyguards to Mr Farage in the run-up to the General Election, was tasked with arranging security for the events.
WHY IT COSTS US SO MUCH TO PROTECT HIM
Threat assessments produced by Secura Associates and submitted to the European Parliament to justify the hefty bills included how it was necessary to have enough guards to create a decoy and ensure there were adequate refreshments for Mr Farage.
In the documents, leaked to the Mail, the firm said the assessments had ‘been conducted based on historic events, current open-source intelligence and liaison with local law enforcement agencies’.
They claimed it was necessary ‘to assess all potential risks and weigh these against the security measures we can employ to negate them – prevention being better than cure’.
The firm set out how a ‘venue security team leader’, ‘team members’ and ‘intelligence-gathering staff’ were needed for each event. It added: ‘Our aim is not simply to stop an attack or a protest – we are there to prevent harm from whatever source befalling our principal and event delegates’.
A checklist of actions to be carried out by the security officers included ‘ensuring refreshments have been arranged’.
Despite the relatively small size of some of the venues, the company charged at least £9,000 for each appearance.
As Mr Farage kicked off the tour at the Emmanuel Hall in Westminster, security cost £15,000, even though it was claimed there were just 15 protesters outside.
For a speech on September 7 at the Winter Gardens in Margate, Kent – the scene of the Ukip leader’s election defeat four months earlier – the company charged £9,000.
The next week, Mr Farage flew to Belfast to speak at a hotel in the city, where according to the local party, ‘a packed house of 300 people were in attendance’.
Northern Irish police provided armed officers outside the venue, yet according to a bill addressed to Mr Farage’s group in the European Parliament, Secura charged £10,000 for its services.
Three days later, as Mr Farage spoke at a darts arena in Purfleet, Essex, the sum was again £10,000. Organisers said there were no demonstrators at the venue, which is downstairs from a strip club.
Additional spending records for the tour show £14,000 was charged for an event in Gateshead on October 12. It is thought the security firm provided about ten close- protection officers for each event.
The EFDD group, which funded the tour, last night confirmed the £58,000 security bill was charged to the taxpayer through its allowances. A spokesman for the group, which is made up of Ukip MEPs and Eurosceptics from other countries, said: ‘All spending on the speaking tour in late 2015 came out of the delegation budget in conformity to the rules. Everything is completely above board and was done before the regulated referendum period.’
Guy Verhofstadt exposes Nigel Farage as a gravy train rider
Mr Farage, who has repeatedly criticised wasteful EU spending, racked up a security bill of £58,000 for just five events held in modest venues such as a darts arena in Essex where there was not a single demonstrator
He added: ‘Incidents have demonstrated that as a high-profile figure, Nigel Farage needs professional security cover.’
But Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said last night: ‘Once again Ukip have been found taking the British taxpayer for a ride. Nigel Farage complains about EU funding but he’s got no qualms about using it for his own ends.’
Tory MP Damian Collins said: ‘For Nigel Farage to complain about EU waste while billing European taxpayers for the costs of his tour is the height of hypocrisy. It is very clear that the people of Britain cannot trust Farage and his crew with what is best for our country.’
In a book published last year, Mr Farage wrote about hiring James Woolfenden, the owner of Secura Associates, who he described as a ‘former British Army man’.
Mr Farage said the appointment was ‘unavoidable’ after he was forced to retreat to a pub in Edinburgh in 2013 when confronted by dozens of protesters.
The Secura Associates website describes the company as ‘a global team of dedicated security industry professionals, offering a complete range of security, surveillance and investigational services to a diverse portfolio of clients’.
Published: 13:37, 3 May 2016 | Updated: 13:37, 3 May 2016
Ukip leader Nigel Farage has denied using British taxpayers’ cash to pay for bodyguards.
Mr Farage was speaking after the Daily Mail reported Ukip used EU money to fund £58,000 worth of security at five events last autumn.
The Ukip leader insisted the money was not for his personal protection, but to pay for security at party meetings.
Nigel Farage is the leader of Ukip
Asked if it was a good use of public funds, Mr Farage said: “It’s not public money, I get zero public money from this country. The fact that the Germans help subsidise our public meetings in this country through their EU contributions – justified entirely.”
Mr Farage, who complains that British taxpayers send £350 million to Brussels each week, said he gets no help from the UK Government for his protection.
“I am the only party leader, or senior political figure, who gets no help, zero help, from the British Government, even after my family was attacked last year, I get no help at all.
“So, we have to fund the whole thing privately, which for a party the size of ours is very difficult indeed,” Mr Farage said.
The Ukip leader insisted the costs involved related to “big public events” held by the party.
“That’s less about me and more about the crowds that come, and making sure they are checked, and searched, and that good people who come along to attend political meetings can do so feeling safe.
“Do any of our other MEP’s hold public meetings around the country where anyone can come? No,” Mr Farage said.
One of the events where security costs were claimed for was held in a darts arena in Essex where there were no protesters , and duties for personnel included “ensuring refreshments have been arranged”, according to the Daily Mail.
The Ukip leader’s remarks came he unveiled a new election poster outside EU offices in London ahead of this week’s elections in the capital.
“Breakthrough Thursday – that’s what we are after. At the moment we have no representation in London, Cardiff, Belfast, or Edinburgh, and I am absolutely confident that we will breakthrough into London, Wales, Northern Ireland – and Scotland, there’s a real chance too.
“According to the opinion polls we are pretty much the highest we have ever been in the history of the party,” Mr Farage said.
The money came from £2.5 million allocated by the EU to the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) grouping in the European Parliament of which Ukip is a member.
The Daily Mail reported that a European Parliament official said it was up to the group how it spent the money given to it by EU taxpayers.
The EFDD funded Mr Farage’s speaking tour, including the security costs.
A spokesman for the group told the newspaper: “All spending on the speaking tour in late 2015 came out of the delegation budget in conformity to the rules. Everything is completely above board and was done before the regulated referendum period.”
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the spending showed Ukip had taken the British taxpayer “for a ride”.
PUBLISHED: 18:07, Tue, May 3, 2016 | UPDATED: 18:46, Tue, May 3, 2016
PA
Nigel Farage insisted the money was not spent on his own personal protectionThe Ukip leader highlighted attacks on his family as he hit back in a row over whether he used up to £15,000 a day in EU funding to pay for bodyguards.The MEP, who battles against wasteful Brussels spending, has been branded a “hypocrite” after a Daily Mail report claimed Ukip used £58,000 of EU funds to pay for a team of ex-military personnel to follow him around the country at a series of events.But Mr Farage today insisted the money was not spent on his own personal protection but to pay for general public security at events on the ‘Say No to EU’ tour, which took place over the final four months of last year.The Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group, which sits in the European Parliament and is chaired by Mr Farage, have confirmed they paid for the tour through their £2.5 million-a-year EU funding.Appearing on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme this afternoon, Mr Farage dismissed the ”ridiculous story” as he insisted his personal bodyguards are funded through private money.He said: “I’m the only political leader or, I guess, politician of prominence in the UK who gets zero help from the taxpayer, zero help from the authorities in this country.
“We have asked, particularly after last April when my family were attacked on a Sunday lunchtime which was pretty nasty.”
He added: “I don’t get any help in any way at all.”
I’ve spent 17-and-a-half years using EU funds to try and fight the EU and I shall go on doing so as long as we’re in the EU.
Nigel Farage
The Ukip leader claimed without his personal security team he “wouldn’t be here” as “the hard-Left have been so vicious and so nasty”.Two sepearate Ukip sources later told Express.co.uk knives had been found by security at previous party events, including at one event as recently as last month.Describing the number of political events he attends each day, Mr Farage said: “I have to have people to drive me and look after me, that’s reasonable. We fund all of that through private donations.
“I’ve never used a penny of my European allowances, which I get to employ staff, to do security.”
Mr Farage denied the money was spent on his own bodyguards but on “expensive” general security at “big public events that we were holding in this country”.
Hitting back at claims of hypocrisy, he added: “I’ve spent 17-and-a-half years using EU funds to try and fight the EU and I shall go on doing so as long as we’re in the EU.
“But hopefully we’ll vote for Brexit, I’ll be redundant, there’ll be no need.
“I’m the turkey that will happily vote for Christmas.”
Tom Maddick•SWNS
An EFDD spokesman said: “All spending on the speaking tour in late 2015 came out of the delegation budget in conformity to the rules.
“Everything is completely above board and was done before the regulated referendum period.”
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said the spending showed Ukip had taken the British taxpayer “for a ride”.
The exposing of Nigel Farage, his implausible and contradictory denial & his bigging himself up following one immediately after the other reads like a script for the step caller in a Hokey Cokey!
One is forced to wonder if this is a ruse by his fan club to make him seem important – just who would see him as sufficiently relevant to assault, in serious terms, let alone his claims of potential assasination. Lets face it after 23 years of espousing anti EU membership he and his cult following have failed to come up with any type of responsible, workable & costed EU withdrawall and survival strategy for these United Kingdoms – so implausible is his position that he is replicating all of the mistakes made by the BreXiteers of 1975’s Referendum and he holds no role of substance in the EU Referendum Campaign beyond that which his chum Aaron Banks has bought for him with the help of the sleaze publisher of The Express acting as his praise singer in corruption of the basic tennets of honest journalism!
.
Regards,
Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
Ukip’s Foolish Relationship With ex BNP Rosie Ward In Cornwall & Beyond!Smears them with the BNP link & association with drugs via yet another all too typical failure in selection checking!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
The Curious Case Of #Ukip’s Rosie Ward
As with many of UKIP’s ‘bright young things’, Rosaline ‘Rosie’ Ward’s rise up the UKIP ranks is a tale of back stabbings and cover-ups. It’s the way, in Ukip.
First picked up at a UKIP ‘luncheon’ by outed anti-Semite Stuart Guppy, she was quickly passed around to UKIP Councillor Harry Blakeley, who in turn groomed her for a meteoric climb up UKIP’s greasy pole – which concluded in a rather cushy job in the European Parliament, from all reports doing very little.
Cornwall Councillor Harry Blakeley promotes Rosie Ward’s rise. [Click for email detail].ption
“Blakeley was 69 at the time and a married County Councillor,” explains a former branch officer who has since quit the party.
“He was often seen driving around with her and soon engineered her appointment as Branch Chairman. He also touted her to Nigel personally and attempted to have her employed as YI (UKIP’s youth movement) Press Manager.”
“The fact she was [at 16] younger than his grandchildren didn’t seem to bother him; but a lot of us felt quite uneasy about their relationship. Our parliamentary candidate once commented that he thought Blakeley was ‘infatuated’ with her.”
Indeed, whenever his young protégé was criticised, Blakeley would attack with ferocity, ‘denouncing’ members and the public alike. For the aging Cornwall Councillor, Ward could do no wrong.
So when local patrons found evidence of BNP affiliated articles, authored under her name on Nick Griffin ally, Jack Buckby’s Culturalist website, Blakeley lied to members to get her off the hook.
Steve Crowther, UKIP National Chairman, also weighed in by officially telling concerned staff that he had “concluded that for a 16-year-old it was a mistake which should be acknowledged but should not terminate her political involvement.”
Clearly many in UKIP were prepared to look the other way and continue to promote the young woman in the public eye.
Cornwall Councillor Harry Blakeley attacks members and officials for raising concerns about Ward’s BNP links [Click for email details]
As always Councillor Blakeley was there to save the day and her mandate was reaffirmed.
UKIP soon entered the planning stage for the 2015 general election, and with Camborne & Redruth listed as their third highest target seat UKIP Chairman Steve Crowther was confident that an 18-year-old with no experience was fit to lead the campaign.
Rosie Ward wrote for BNP insider Jack Buckby here with Nick Griffin
“Ward should have never been given that level of responsibility at her age,” comments a former UKIP colleague.
“Putting someone so young into a public position under scrutiny like that, especially when it is UKIP is very irresponsible; but Blakeley refused to entertain any suggestions otherwise. He had his own agenda to keep promoting her and that is exactly what he did.”
“Pointing out that she was making repeated gaffes and ruining her own reputation was seen by Blakeley as ‘unfair criticism’. He even started ghost writing offensive internal letters and asking her to send them out under her name. He should be ashamed of himself.”
Issues came to a head when Camborne & Redruth’s candidate was arrested and charged for animal cruelty. Ward took the wise decision to use this incident to resign from her role. The new candidate, Bob Smith, banned the young ‘kipper’ from any activity in the campaign due to her BNP affiliations; including a keynote speech she was due to give at the YI Conference; much to the chagrin of her replacement … the ever present Councillor Blakeley.
According to comments from a former Camborne and Redruth branch Chairman posted on an internet blog, Ward was told to leak information about the election campaign; including sensitive information about party leader Nigel Farage. This, once again at the behest of Harry Blakeley.
(Ward has since worked hard to remove all references to her BNP work, but caches and links remain active)
“UKIP member and right wing individual” Ward joins a BNP affiliated site
However, for reasons unknown, UKIP’s European level staff, including MEPs, decided to ignore the evidence – and BNP affiliation – and offer the YI member a three month paid intern contract.
What Ward’s duties amounted to at the European Parliament have never been specified, but we’re told that she was “taken under the wing” of senior UKIP advisor, Anthony Brown; who immediately began posting her articles on his personal website.
“Nobody really knew why she was there or what she was doing,” remarks a former colleague. “Apart from taking several coffee breaks a day there didn’t seem to be much output. The main thing I recall was her posting nonsense on social media, and that her housing situation was compromised for much of her stay and she did the rounds asking colleagues for a thousand Euros to pay her deposit.”
Rosie Ward, now 19, has since quit social media and we are told no longer has involvement with the party – although she has been heavily featured in posts by the Leave.EU Campaign.
Ward featured in a ‘Students For Britain’ ‘Brexit’ post.
While her age is a factor, remember UKIP Councillors and even their National Chairman were happy to put this young woman in a high profile public role and use her for their own ends.
Perhaps her involvement with the BNP can be seen as naivete, but it proves once again that UKIP are happy to overlook such affiliations – so long as it helps their cause.
This post is less about Rosie Ward and more about how Ukip, a party dominated by middle-aged males, jumped at the chance of a photogenic token female future candidate, regardless of skills or knowledge. So much so that her BNP history was casually, effortlessly air-brushed away as a minor inconvenience.
We understand that although Ward has been ‘off radar a bit’ recently, this is more due to her studies than any other factor.
We expect her to resurface at some time, branded, polished and with a whitewashed history.
Looks Like Thanet Ukip Councillors Helen Smith & Konnor Collins Have Turned To Theft!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Hi,
due to Ukip’s utter incompetence in Thanet it looks as is they have embroilled the Council in the election of two thieves, see also CLICK HERE, but first let us go back to last August when these apparent low lifes were making fools of themselves and squabbling:
UKIP turmoil: Statement by councillors Helen Smith, Konnor Collins, Beverly Martin and Ash Ashbee
Statement by councillors Helen Smith, Konnor Collins, Beverly Martin and Ash Ashbee
. Helen Smith & her partner Konnor Collins
“Over the last few weeks we, as UKIP members of Thanet council, have become increasingly alarmed at what we see as the dictatorial and often unpredictable behaviour of the current Thanet council leadership. In particular some of us have struggled against what we feel is considerable resistance to appraise ourselves of the true situation regarding UKIP’s key election pledge , the compulsory purchase of Manston Airport,and the state of the relationship with TDC’s potential indemnity partner, RiverOak.
Councillor Helen Smith felt that her position as a Cabinet member had already become untenable by the time Councillor Wells ejected her from his cabinet. Even as a cabinet member, with responsibility for corporate governance, risk and public relations, she feels that she has been repeatedly undermined, ignored, blocked and kept in the dark.
Helen says that amongst other things there was no central file for the Manston project, and when a dossier did finally appear, key documents were not produced. She says her requests for meetings were dismissed, and despite repeatedly asking for a copy of the draft indemnity agreement, it was never produced. Helen believes the cursory briefing the cabinet was eventually given was inaccurate in a number of respects. Given the nature of Helen’s portfolio, she feels this is alarming.
Recent events take place against what some Ukip members describe as a backdrop of increasing fear and suspicion within the local party. Members say they have been told in effect to shut up and behave. In fact many are beginning to wonder what on earth has happened to democracy and free speech within Thanet UKIP in the last few months. Nigel Farage famously stood up in the EU Parliament and asked Mr. Junker “Who the hell are you?” Nigel has always led by example and has never shrunk from asking difficult questions and speaking truth to power. What has happened to that spirit here in Thanet?
Where is the party and the principles in which we and so many others put their faith? Has asking a few awkward questions now become some sort of ‘thought crime’ and a sackable offence?
On the day of the count, just after we were elected, Nigel Farage was heard to say “the people have spoken, they have given you your voice – USE IT!”
What happened? How can we have gone in three months from high spirits, high principles and high hopes, to a situation in which a straightforward cross party Ramsgate Town council meeting, organised expressly for the purpose of gathering information only, should have become so contentious and ridden with anxiety that elected UKIP members described feeling intimidated in an apparent attempt to undermine the meeting.
Those courageous enough to attend were left in little doubt that RiverOak, potentially a major inward investor, and currently the only feasible partner in delivering our key election pledge on Manston, has been treated quite appallingly.
Unless we, as a party, can ‘walk our talk’ and genuinely stand by our commitment to democracy, transparency and free speech, we fear UKIP’s days as a political force are numbered . How could it be otherwise? The stakes are high and lip service is simply not good enough. The people who elected us will quickly see through such a charade, and rightly so. Of course it does not have to be like that, and despite our concerns, we remain optimistic that things could be turned around very quickly if the willingness and openness are there. We still believe profoundly in the principles and values we were elected to uphold, but know that we cannot expect the people to trust us if we cannot trust ourselves and each other.
It must be obvious by now that we have lost faith in the current leadership. For all we know Councillor Wells may have the best of intentions, but we sincerely believe that the current high-handed leadership style and apparent unwillingness to delegate has become a serious liability, not just for the party , but for the future well-being of Thanet as a whole. We take no pleasure in reaching such a conclusion, but feel we cannot simply sit back and watch one individual’s idiosyncrasies ride roughshod over the hopes and dreams of the majority. We felt the time had come to use the voices we have been given and the power with which we were entrusted, to take a leaf out of Nigel’s book, stand up and say, in effect “Enough is enough. Councillor Wells – what on earth are you doing? “. For daring to do just that, respectfully and privately, one of us was unceremoniously sacked form her cabinet position. The four of us were spoken to in a way which we perceived to be extremely intimidating. This sort of behaviour is unacceptable, in fact we would argue that our assertions that we can stand up against domineering behaviour on the international stage will ring very hollow if we cannot face it down in our own backyard. How can this be happening in a party which, we still hope and believe, stands above all for liberty, personal integrity, and opposition to political tyranny of any persuasion.
To be absolutely clear, we are not attacking or deserting UKIP, far from it. We are merely standing our ground against the entrenched methodology of “the old guard” in the way we believe the people of Thanet would expect us to. We hope that colleagues of all parties or none will feel able to stand up alongside us , and with the help of the TDC employees and officers , move Thanet forward towards the brighter and more democratic future we all want to see.
The alternative, a return to “business as usual”, the destruction of the place we love, and the ultimate triumph of the property speculators is surely unthinkable.”
Now two of these scoundrels selected and elected by Ukip, to represent ward members in Thanet, would seem to be dragging the Councils name in the gutter! Thanet must be very relieved that they rejected having a Ukip MP and did not elect Nigel Farage!
Northwood councillor warned police will bring her to court if she fails to show up
Neither of the Northwood ward councillors have appeared in court to answer theft charges.
Cllr Smith is also accused of assaulting a staff member at Wyevale Garden Centre. Thursday was the tenth time her case had been listed to be heard.
Mr Cuff said he would go round to Cllr Smith’s home in St John’s Avenue, Ramsgate and bring her to court for the next hearing.
Jody Twyman, prosecuting, said the pair were ‘blatantly filling up a shop trolley with items.’
Cllr Collins, also of St John’s Avenue, is currently in Kent and Canterbury Hospital. The court was told at a previous hearing on April 7 that the 53 year old had undergone brain surgery. He is also due back before the court on May 5.
Mr Cuff said Cllr Smith was unable to carry out council duty as she would not leave her house. A hearing on April 7 was told Cllr Smith was suffering from agoraphobia as part of a depressive illness.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
. Re-TWEET my Twitterings
Former MEP Nikki Sinclaire
Nikki Sinclaire
UKIP candidate is accused of calling fellow Muslim a…
PA
.
Ukip-vs-EUkip 