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| Jay Beecher |
Ukip claims to be strong in the Midlands, and one of their few successes is Peterborough, driven in the main by Jay Beecher, deputy chairman of the local branch, who co-ordinated the local Vote Leave campaign during the recent EU Referendum.
Beecher has now been suspended and has fired off a damning statement (see update at foot of post) which confirms pretty much everything we’ve ever said about Ukip.
Beecher in effect made two ‘faux-pas’. The minor one was being Campaign Manager for Lisa Duffy in the recent Ukip Leadership Election. Diane James will never forget.
But the major ‘no-no’ was to speak out, publicly about the racism, cronyism, hypocrisy and corruption. We always though Ukip claimed to stand for ‘Free Speech’ Clearly not, when it doesn’t suit them.
A few days ago he tweeted:
And Ukip’s response to this? Much like the response to when Suzanne Evans did the same 6 months ago : Immediate suspension.
Mr Beecher told the Peterborough Telegraph:
“I’ve been suspended for standing up to and speaking out against elements of racism, cronyism, corruption and hypocrisy which I became privy to during the leadership race. All these things are destroying UKIP.”
“I’m very disappointed with the route I’m having to take, but I’m proud to be making a stand. We shouldn’t ever shy away from challenging someone’s immoral or racist behaviour simply because we might share the same political beliefs or swear allegiance to the same party.”
“Since my suspension I’ve had members from all over the UK – chairmen, grassroots, and even members of the NEC and the Welsh assembly – contact me to offer their support.”
“Our party looks to be turning in a rather questionable direction. Our grassroots, our elected officials and the people they represent are being sorely let down. It’s time we made a stand.”
In reply, an un-named UKIP spokesman said: “Mr Beecher has been suspended after repeatedly making deliberate and demonstratively false allegations against other members of the party, and doing so to various media outlets. He is a talented young man and it is a shame that he uses his time to attack people in his party rather than to build up support as we move forward to the Cambridgeshire County Council elections next year.”
So Ukip have determined that these allegations are, apparently ‘demonstratively false‘. That’s quick – within 24 hours – yet it takes them 6 to 9 months to investigate whether a racist tweet is against their policies.
However, Ukip’s denials are all in vain: Beecher’s allegations are mostly true from what we can see.
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| Evans – Reinstated |
Ironically this happens on the very day that Suzanne Evans is reinstated to Ukip after her suspension, for speaking out against the selection of ‘the most homophobic man in politics’ Allan Craig as a #Ukip Candidate in London.
Seems to us these actions should get Beecher promoted, not suspended.
But this is how Ukip works. All dissent is hammered while simultaneously wailing about Free Speech. For any suspension for racism, homophobia, islamophobia, etc, the whole process can take months. Beechers ejection seems to have been overnight.
Such was the system under Farage : Diane James is clearly continuing that legacy.
Update:
Almost the moment this post went live, Beecher made a full statement, in a long, rather rambling post he laid out a damning indictment against the party, and a complete confirmation, from an insider, of almost all of the issues we and others have raised.
“As campaign manager for one of the leading candidates, I’ve been able to get a good insight into how our party operates. As a result, from what I’ve learnt, I’m resolved that, in its current format, UKIP is in a state of crisis.”
“A few at the top, through ego, and through personal interest, have launched a fierce regime to control our great party.”
“Anyone who has dared to point out the immoral actions of anyone associated with the top tier cronyism in our party has been slandered and demonized by an egotistical clique. Party loyalty has been rebranded as disloyalty. We have also fallen victim to a controlling donor, to corruption, and in some cases, have even allowed acts of racism to go unpunished. This MUST stop.”
(Beecher says ‘some cases’. We would say ‘many’ and have documented them on this site and on our Social Media feeds.)
“When Suzanne Evans is suspended for speaking out against homophobia, yet Jamie Ross McKenzie – the chairman of our Youth Wing, gets away scot-free after being cautioned by police for verbally and racially abusing a black doorman, or after using white supremacist terms on social media and encouraging appalling levels of racism and trolling, you know we have a serious problem.”
“I filed an official complaint, calling for the discipline or expulsion of certain members who had made racist or derogatory comments; the chairman of YI included. Yet to date, this complaint has been ignored. And that is because Jamie Ross McKenzie – who gave the closing speech at our Bournemouth Conference, worked for a particular candidate in the leadership race.”
“Diane, however, as Ian told me, didn’t want the job at all. She lives predominantly in France, and her employment as an MEP supports this rather agreeable lifestyle.”
“But it was already decided for her that she would stand. Farage convinced her. And Arron Banks (who uses our party as his play thing) convinced her not to attend any hustings for fear that she wouldn’t fare well against stronger candidates.”
(We were always critical about Diane James refusing to attend hustings. We now know why.)
“In direct contradiction of rule N4 of our party’s rulebook, Diane James was given unfair advantage in the contest by being able to use the Leave.EU database to send out her campaign material to millions of people.”
“Meanwhile, it appears clear that the outcome of the race had been determined long before the off.”
“One of Diane’s assenters, the wife of Ian McKie, in fact, is NOT a member of UKIP. This has been confirmed by head office, and means that Diane’s paperwork wasn’t in order, did not meet the strict criteria set out from the beginning, and as such, just like Steven Woolfe, Diane James should NOT have been able to stand, and subsequently should NOT be out new leader.”
(We checked on this. Beecher is correct, McKie’s wife is not a member. Thus, Diane James has no legitimacy as Party Leader.)
“Our rules are there for a reason. Bending them for personal interest only goes to show that, through corruption, mismanagement, and the exploitation of incompetence, a handful of people are trying to turn our party into one that is like all the others.”
“We cannot allow a small handful of self-serving politicians or plain and simple negligence, or a power-hungry donor, destroy what so many passionate and decent people have achieved.”
“I will continue to fight against the poisonous elements trying to destroy UKIP from within, and will continue to expose the many cases of cronyism, hypocrisy, corruption, and indeed racism, until it can no longer be swept under the carpet.”
“I urge you to fully investigate this leadership election and to reconsider the legitimacy of Diane James’s candidacy and subsequent leadership.”
This is one of the most damning indictments of Ukip we’ve ever seen. It will be interesting to see how Ukip, and Diane James, spin this, her first crisis.
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
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Ukip-vs-EUkip 