TAKE A DEEP BREATH ……
Here it is. This is the big one. The one that we’ve all been waiting for. The general election which could bring about the most fundamental change in British politics for 100 years is now just 3 months away.
Some in the media have got election fatigue already. After just two days of New Year squabbling between Labour and the Conservatives over who could borrow the most money to get the UK even further into debt, even the Daily Mail cried ’enough!‘ By the end of February, everyone will be heartily sick of them all. This will then be our opportunity.
As UKIP continues to rise, the behaviour of the Westminster Three will get even dirtier. They stand to lose everything in May; their cosy existence is now threatened by UKIP as never before. These are desperate men and women who will stop at nothing to preserve their accustomed way of life. In the next few weeks you will probably hear all sorts of smear stories about UKIP being put about in the press and media; drip feeding poison, prejudice and incitement into the minds of the susceptible.
Don’t be upset and don’t always believe what you might hear. Stay calm, stay focused, stay disciplined. Concentrate on what we need to do, not on the antics of others. Above all, be polite to everyone you meet. Try to respect our opponents (however hard they might make it). They might find it difficult to grasp, but its their freedom too that we’re fighting for.
We will show Britain by the power of our example, that we are a decent party of decent people, and that UKIP has the right prescription to get this country back on its feet again.
GROWING GREENS …… Recent reports that Green Party membership has reached 40,000 should concern everybody, but mostly the LibDems and Labour, who are likely to be the main losers from a Green surge splitting the left wing vote. As the Greens are currently polling around 9%, the LibDems might not be able to claim for much longer that they are even the fourth party in Britain. Although it is of interest, UKIP shouldn’t over estimate the significance of the Greens increased membership. Since the beginning of 2014 the Greens have lost their deposit in all five parliamentary by-elections (UKIP won two and came second in three).
Like many organisations that are based on devotion to belief systems, it may simply be that all the Green voters in the country have now decided to join the party. It doesn’t necessarily reflect a wider growth in public support at elections.
UKIP membership is now nearly 42,000 and rising, but unlike the Greens, this growth is backed by the 4.5 million UK voters who put their cross in the UKIP box at last May’s elections. SW Region UKIP membership is now 6,405, of which Dorset membership is 1,255.
ENEMIES, EVERYWHERE ..… Few writers understood better than George Orwell, the psychological need for all closed-thought, Utopian political systems to generate a constant supply of ’enemies’ both real and imaginary.
This process of paranoia has moved up a step in the EU, following the recent remarks of the new President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. On his first day in the post, he compared ’eurosceptics’ to the ‘military threat’ posed by Russia in the Ukraine, as; ’Threats to the EU coming from both outside and inside …… Today not only are eurosceptics questioning the EU’s value, we also have enemies, not only sceptics’. He also added; ‘Britain leaving the EU would cause the greatest crisis of Western civilisation as a whole …
This is the sort of wild talk that tends to start wars.
THE ROAD TO NOWHERE …. The Cons ‘Lets Stay On The Road’ poster has attracted widespread ridicule, amid claims of dodgy statistics and creative maths to make the ‘deficit’ appear smaller than it really is. Of course we in UKIP knew their poster wasn’t a true picture. The ‘British’ road had been compiled from a German landscape photo and had of course, no potholes, speed cameras, wind turbines or HS2 infrastructure anywhere in sight.
Rotten To The Core …. Under East Dorset District Council’s adopted ’Core Strategy’, 5,000 new houses are proposed for East Dorset, with more than half planned to be built around Wimborne and Colehill. Major new housing sites have been identified on Cranborne Road, south of Leigh Park, Cuthbury, St Margaret’s and Stone Lane. The effect of growth on this scale will be to turn Wimborne Minster from a small market town into an outlying dormitory suburb of the Poole/Bournemouth conurbation and add a massive stress to already overloaded public service infrastructure in the area. The consequences for traffic on the A31 hardly bear thinking about. Colehill Parish will be drastically reduced under the boundary changes proposed to create ‘Greater Wimborne’.
Understandably, local opposition to these plans is mounting, but much of it is already too late. Government Inspectors have passed the Core Strategy and all East Dorset Council can do is try to mitigate some of its more harmful side effects.
What many people are unaware of (but UKIP will be telling them), is that UK housing policy is driven entirely by central government, based on crude projections of population growth. It is the unsustainable growth in UK population (caused in part by open borders) that is the nub of the problem. Most of the new houses will be sold on the open market and the vast majority is likely to be bought by buy-to let investors. UK property is now an alternative international currency, so a significant proportion of these buyers could be speculators from overseas.
The government could cover the entire countryside with houses from Land’s End to John O’Groats, it still wouldn’t make our housing any more affordable or provide homes for those who really need them. Radical reform of our ‘open’ housing market is long overdue, combined with imaginative government funded incentives to re-use empty homes and re-develop brownfield land, as well as controlling our unsustainable population growth by tightening UK border controls.
Planet LibDem (Poole) is not a happy place, following the surprise decision of two of its longer serving Councillors, Graham and Lindsay Wilson (Newtown & Alderney), to defect to the Conservatives. Maybe they saw the writing on the wall for May 7th ?
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Local UKIP Branch News ……..
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Our Branch AGM on 17th January elected its Committee for 2015 -16. The new Committee is: John Butler (Chairman), Dave Evans (Vice-Chairman), John Kent (Treasurer), Diana Butler (Secretary), Valerie Foice and John DeRitter. Many thanks to the previous Committee for all their hard work.
We heard an interesting and informative talk from ‘The UKIP One’, our Dorset County Councillor Ian Smith, on standing as a candidate and on what you might expect to have to do if you get elected in May.
As always, the tea and cakes were excellent and together with the raffle and merchandise, raised £105.30 for branch funds.
Richard Turner’s Campaign News …….. We’re pleased to report that Branch members John De Ritter, David Mattocks and John Myers have agreed to join a campaign team to help Richard with his planning and organisation.
There are a lot more campaign activities planned over the next few weeks up until May 7th including market stalls, town centre walkabouts and public meetings and you will be receiving dates of these shortly. Please help and get involved wherever you can. Richard is regularly canvassing households with a team of helpers. More leaflets and a branch campaign newspaper are being prepared. We need more volunteers to help with leaflet distribution !
A short term lease has been agreed on a campaign office in Wimborne. It’s in a good town centre location, with strong visibility, smart, modern, fully equipped and ready to go. It will act as a base for Richard to hold his constituency surgeries, conduct interviews with the press and media, and meet the various important people in the local area. It will give us a professional look and show the other parties that we mean business. It will also give us a central point to store and distribute all our boards, posters and campaign literature (very welcome as our spare bedroom is full up !)
The office opening is arranged for Sat. 7th February. Please support the office as much as you can. As the campaign hots up we will need volunteers for office work; answering phones, folding and collating material, filling envelopes. Any time you can spare (a regular half day each week would be great), please let Richard (richard.turner@ukipmiddorset.org) know.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE, RICHARD TURNER
‘I would firstly like to thank branch members and the Committee for all the support both Olga and I have received since I became your candidate in August. We felt at home straight away and have made many new friends.
As from August, our campaign has been steadily gathering pace with leafleting, canvassing, public meetings and various public events. Now that we are in the new year and the ’long campaign’ has started, we will be keeping up the momentum in an effort to make sure that no-one in Mid-Dorset and North Poole will be going into the polling station in May without having heard from UKIP.’
‘I truly believe that we can achieve a fantastic result in the General Election. Our policies are right, our priorities are right and the timing is right. It seems that the uneasy relationship between the electorate and the political class has finally reached a tipping point. The old system of choosing between two and half virtually identical Westminster parties has gone for good. More and more people are looking for an alternative and huge numbers are turning to UKIP.’
‘That does not mean that the political class will give it up easily of course. We will have to work hard for every vote, so I hope that in the weeks to come you will be able to offer whatever help you can to our campaign and be a part of an historic moment in British political history ’
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Snouts In The Trough ……..
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‘Herman Van Rompuy will be entitled to more than £500,000 at the taxpayers expense for doing nothing over the next three years, after finishing his term as President of the European Council. After standing down, he will receive £133,723 a year (55% of his basic salary) until December 2017 in order to ’ease him back into life outside the world of Brussels’. Mr Van Rompuy will also receive a one off payment of £21,000 and aged 67, he will be able to draw a lifetime EU pension of £52,000 a year, taking his ’earnings’ to £578,000 over the next three years ……’ (Daily Telegraph, 4th Dec)
‘The head of Britain‘s foreign aid department was handed a bonus of almost £20,000 as it met a target to spend billions more on overseas development. Mark Lowcock, Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development was given the handout last year, according to the ministry’s annual report for 2013/14. Despite concerns over whether the aid money was being spent effectively, he received the bonus on top of his annual salary of almost £165,000 ……..’ ‘(Mail, 17th January)
‘It comes after the damning conclusion of auditors that DfID splurged £1bn in only 8 weeks at the end of 2013 to ensure it met the Coalitions commitment to spend 0.7% of national income of foreign aid …. The departments annual report for 2013/14 also shows that DfID’s Director General, Richard Calvert, received a bonus of between £10,000 and £15,000 in addition to his £130,000 salary…. ‘(Mail, 17th January)
Jonathan Isaby (Taxpayers Alliance) said: ‘Every penny of foreign aid should go to the world‘s poorest, and the arbitrary way in which the department spends money at the moment isn‘t contributing to freedom, health or safety in the developing world …..’
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Stories You Won’t Hear on the BBC ….
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Greece now owes £245bn in debt (120% of GDP) and has 35.7% of people on the poverty line. Athens restaurant boss Eva Papageorgiou knows what she would do with her business if it had the same levels of relative debt as her country: ’I’d shut down, go bust. Then I’d start again. Greece should start again too – this time outside the euro‘. Shopkeeper Spiros Aravantinos is no fan of Mrs Merkel. He said: ’There is a hand gesture I could use for her, but I’m too polite. She did what she did so Greek people would be scared and would vote how she wishes. I believe only God can help us now …’ (The Sun, January 16th)
‘The SNB’s decision to scrap its link to the euro came just a week before the European Central Bank is expected to unleash a £400bn* ‘quantitative easing’ programme (ie. money printing) to prop up the ailing euro …. (Daily Mail, 15th Jan) * nb. this has now risen to 1.1 trillion euros, ed.
‘Following the Swiss National Bank’s decision to ‘scrap the cap‘, linking the value of the Swiss Franc to the euro, the value of the Swiss Franc rose by nearly 40% overnight, and the UK £ and US $ reached 7 and 11 year highs …..’ (Teletext News, 17th Jan).
‘Europe’s working age population peaked in 2012 at 308 million and will fall to 265 million by 2060. The ratio of pensioners to workers will, according to The Economist, rise from 28% to 58%, even assuming the arrival of a million migrants from outside the EU every year ……. In 2013, the Commonwealth’s economy overtook the Euro zone. All the core Anglosphere countries are projected to grow this year by 2.5 and 3.1%. India, according the IMF, will grow at 6.4%. But we can’t sign a bilateral free trade agreement with any of these countries. We surrendered our trade policy to Brussels on January 1st 1973 ….’ (Daniel Hannan, MEP, 23rd January)
‘Customer borrowing has rocketed as consumers splash out ….. Industry figures reveal a 10% surge in a year to £72.7bn in the amount spent on credit cards, second mortgages and car finance deals ….. Credit card and personal loan borrowing leapt 5% to £37.6bn in the year to last November. Official forecasts suggest that the public will go on a borrowing spree over the next 5 years that will add to its pile of unsecured lending by £360bn. A spokesman for debt charity Stepchange warns: ’Households are more financially vulnerable than they have been for years and if we repeat the mistakes of the past we could see millions falling into serious financial difficulty ….’ (Daily Mail, 17th January)
‘Offshore wind turbines take power from the national grid even when they are not generating any power themselves ….. They need electricity to keep their blades rotating slowly in cold weather to prevent them from icing up. It is also needed for their hydraulic systems that turn their blades into the wind ….‘ (Daily Mail, 2nd January)
‘Home ownership in Britain has fallen to 64.6%, compared to 70% in 2005 (EU average 70%) …… The vast majority of new houses built since 2000 have been bought by landlords …… some 2.5 million homes built in 2000 – 2012 went to the private rented sector, with only 400,000 being bought by occupiers’ (Eurostat, 2nd January)
Britain poured more than £1bn in aid into countries run by the world’s most corrupt regimes in 2013 – despite warnings that much of it will go to waste. A study by the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, reveals that all but one of the world’s 20 most corrupt countries received aid from Britain, (including even North Korea, £1.3m)
‘Thousands of ‘kitchen table entrepeneurs could be forced out of business by a new EU tax law …. From 1st January all companies selling digital products online will have to charge VAT based on the country where the buyer lives, rather than where the seller is based. It aims to stop multinational corporations undercutting rivals by setting up headquarters in low VAT countries such as Luxembourg.’
‘But it also means that fledgling businesses must now record which European country each customer is from and charge their national VAT rate. They must then keep hold of customer accounts and bank addresses for 10 years. Even small businesses will have to hire accountants and spend many more hours on paperwork, forcing many to close. Enterprise Nation, a campaign group representing small and micro-businesses, estimates that 250,000 businesses will be affected by the change ….’ (Daily Mail, 2nd Jan)
‘A backlog of more than 390,000 immigration cases has been built up by the Home Office – equivalent to the population of Cardiff. The figure is revealed in a report from MP’s that describes the UK immigration system as being ‘in intensive care’. Chief Inspector of Immigration John Vine, said that the number of missing migrants in the UK was 89,000, but the Home Affairs Select Committee have found a further 304,222 case files piled up elsewhere in the system, including asylum seekers and foreign criminals. The revelations come as separate figures show that a record 3,000 migrants a month are being caught trying to gain access illegally into the UK (how many succeed ? ed)…..’ (Daily Mail, 20th Dec)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EVENTS …. EVENTS .… EVENTS ….
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First Thursday each month (12th Feb, 5th Mar, 2nd April), 7.30pm: Dorset Branches Pub Social at the Charlton Inn, Charlton Marshall. All supporters and friends welcome. Tel. John Baxter 01202 897884
Second Thursday each month (12th Feb, 12th Mar, 9th April), 8pm: Poole Branches Pub Social at Twin Sails Wharf, West Quay Road. UKIP Supporters and friends welcome. Contact John Butler, 01202-602427:
Saturday 31st January, 9.30 – 5pm Young Independence SW Campaign Launch, Bath Racecourse. With Guest Speakers; Julia Reid MEP, Jill Seymour MEP, and others. Candidate Training from 2.00 pm. Tickets £15 (£5 for YI members), contact aaronfoot119@gmail.com
Saturday 31st January,2.30 pm Poole Public Meeting, (Branksome East & West), at Bourne Valley Community Hall, 56 Herbert Avenue, BH12 4EE. Guest Speakers: David Young (PC Poole) and Martin Houlden (PC B’mth West)
Thursday 5th February, 7.00 for 7.30 pm; Public Meeting with Stuart Agnew MEP and Steve Unwin (North Dorset PC), at The Exchange (Bow Room), Old Market Hill, Sturminster Newton, DT10 1FH. Contact John Baxter: john@ukipdorsetnorth.org.uk
Tuesday 3rd February, 6.30 pm. Local Election Candidates Training Evening at East Dorset Council Offices, Furzehill, Wimborne. Find out more about the election processes, nominations and how to stand as a candidate, (nb. this event is repeated at Christchurch Council’s offices on Thurs 12th Feb (evening)
Saturday 7th February; UKIP Candidates Training at Portland Town Council Chamber. Contact Dorset RO Guy Parfitt; guy.parfitt@ukipsouthwest.org.uk
Saturday 7th February, 12.00 onwards UKIP Mid-Dorset & North Poole Office Opening, 24 West Street, Wimborne (richard.turner@ukipmiddorset.org)
Saturday 7th February, 7.30 pm; Public Meeting (Stapehill), The Village Hall, 224 Wimborne Road West, Stapehill, BH21 2DY. With Robin Grey (PC, Christchurch)
Wednesday 11th February, 7.00 pm; UKIP South Dorset Social Meeting at The Centenary Club, 21 Jubilee Close, Weymouth DT4 7BG.
Saturday 14th February, 2.00pm; Mid-Dorset & North Poole Public Meeting, St Paul’s Church Hall, Culliford Crescent, Canford Heath. With Richard Turner and Zac Stanworth (Dorset Chairman, Young Independence).
Fri 27th & Sat 28th Feb: UKIP Spring Conference, Margate. For Tickets ring Head Office 01626-831290 or online at www.ukip.org
Saturday 7th March & 2nd May: Corfe Coffee, 137, Wareham Road, Corfe Mullen. 11am chat, coffee & / or snack. Tel Dave Evans 01202 602856
Saturday 7th March: UKIP SW Conference, Riviera Centre, Torquay. For Tickets ring 0333-666-3366 or online ukip.ticket source.co.uk
Saturday 28th March; Poole Public Meeting with Paul Nuttall (Deputy Leader) and David Young (PC, Poole) – details tbc. Contact David Darling, david.darling@ukippoole.co.uk
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Quote of the Month: ‘I don’t subscribe to the notion that there will be a hung parliament after the next election; at least not entirely. The British people, being a fair minded lot, are bound to spare a few ….’’ (Reader’s letter, Daily Mail, 23rd Jan)
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Items for next Edition by 30th April to:
John Butler, 20 Nightjar Close, Poole BH17 7YN
e-mail: john.butler@ukipmiddorset.org All items in this newsletter are personal views only and do not necessarily represent the views of the UK Independence Party Mid-Dorset & North Poole
