The Floodgates Are Creaking …..… The sudden escalation in Europe’s migrant crisis has finally brought home to many in the UK, the sheer stupidity and malignant consequences of EU policies on trade, aid and uncontrolled movement of people. The first wave of 120,000 migrants is likely to be only the start of a massive population shift; there are 60 million people in the Middle East and North Africa who desperately want a better life. With the irresponsible encouragement of Angela Merkel and others, they will come to Europe, putting their lives at risk and their welfare in the hands of criminal trafficking gangs.
The UN estimates there is a daily flow of around 8,000 migrants from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe; a trend which is likely to continue. More than 5,000 a day are now arriving in Greece alone. According to Eurostat, 80% of the migrants aren’t refugees from war-torn Iraq or Syria. It is even doubtful how many of the remaining 20% are from these countries; fake Iraqi or Syrian passports sell in Turkey and Greece for 200 – 300 euros and a cache of 10,000 fake Syrian passports was seized recently in Bulgaria. The various national authorities are overwhelmed. Identifying and processing the genuine refugees and asylum seekers in accordance with their international obligations, is now all but impossible.
It is no exaggeration to compare the current situation with the great movements of peoples in the 5thC AD which precipitated the final collapse of the Roman Empire. If it finally brings about the collapse of the EU (but also much we value as well), we will only have ourselves to blame. EU policies over decades have impoverished the peoples of North Africa, imposing unequal trade agreements which allow European producers to operate without constraint while denying their fledgling businesses fair access to European markets. Their farmers livelihoods have been undercut by the mass dumping of surplus EU food at rock bottom prices while their coastal fishing communities have been pillaged by EU super-trawlers. Various aid programmes have succeeded only in keeping many people in poverty and welfare dependency. In the Middle East, the EU (with the UK in the lead) and USA have sought naively to impose ’democracy’ by aerial bombing and drone strikes, reducing Iraq, Libya and
Syria to utter chaos, stimulating the rise of Islamic extremism, and creating a vast arc of turmoil stretching from Algeria to Iraq. Is it any wonder that so many want to come here for a better life ?
True to form, the EU already sees this as a ‘beneficial crisis’, cynically exploiting the opportunity to launch a new power grab over immigration and asylum policy. The compulsory re-settling of migrants by quotas in each nation state has been decided by majority vote; Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania didn’t want it but it has been imposed on them nonetheless. David Cameron may try and kid you that being outside Schengen, it doesn’t affect Britain but it does, since many of these migrants will eventually be issued with EU passports, which will entitle them to come freely to settle in the UK and access our welfare state.
Navitus Bay – Gone Away ! In an historic victory for ‘People Power‘, the hideous Navitus Bay Wind Turbine development has been refused by the Secretary of State, acting on the Planning Inspectors’ advice. Unless there is a legal or procedural error in their decision making, that is the end of it. A huge shadow has been lifted from the precious little corner of our green and pleasant land called Dorset.
It’s time to celebrate and give thanks to those who made this possible. Raise a glass to everyone at Challenge Navitus, and in particular Dr Andrew Langley, whose excellent computer graphics showed the full visual horror of the proposals and their impact on the Jurassic Coast. To the Poole and Christchurch Bay Association, whose public meetings, petitions and campaigning did so much to raise residents awareness. To ‘Say No To Navitus’ from Swanage, who formed that memorable human chain on the Swanage seafront. To local MP’s Conor Burns, Tobias Elwood, and Richard Drax, who bravely put their duty to their constituents first and spoke out strongly against the scheme. To Bournemouth Borough Council, who made a compelling case showing the adverse effects on tourism in the area (where were you, Poole Council ?).
Last and by no means least, a toast to all those UKIP activists and volunteers in our local branches, for their non-stop activity and campaigning on this vital issue over several years. For many of us it has been valuable experience in cross-party (or non-party) campaigning which will be useful in the forthcoming referendum, when we will need to work with many people of different parties and persuasions.
Referendum Manoeuvres ….….. Since our last newsletter, there has been a coming together of the various forces involved in the ‘No to EU campaign’. The cause has been boosted by a welcome intervention from the Electoral Commission (!). Unlike the loaded ‘Should Britain remain in the EU’ (which has an explicit bias towards the status quo), the question will now include ’….. or leave the EU ?’ By making the choice to leave explicit, the ’No’/’Leave’ option will have parity with ’Yes/Stay’.
At UKIP’s National Conference in Doncaster, Nigel Farage has thrown UKIP’s weight fully behind the ’Leave EU’ campaign, a non-party group headed by the excellent Richard Tice and sponsored by Aaron Banks and other leading businessmen. They have united the forces from Global Britain, Bruges Group, Campaign for Independent Britain and the Democracy Movement. In just 6 weeks, their leave.eu website and Facebook account has gained 150,000 followers, with the slogan ’Love Europe – Leave the EU‘. The campaign already has 50 staff in two offices, currently phoning 2000 members of public a day. Consultants Goddard Gunster have been appointed; a firm with an unparalleled record of success in advising on referendum campaigns.
‘Better Off Out’, a campaign group run by the Freedom Association, will continue for now on an independent, but parallel track with UKIP and ‘Leave EU‘, as important allies giving valuable support to our campaigns and vica-versa.
UKIP’s decision not to back (for the moment), ’Business For Britain’ (of which UKIP’s one MP is a Director) has led to considerable mischief making in the Tory press, who are working night and day to try and drive a wedge between Douglas Carswell and Nigel Farage. Don’t believe the scare stories that you might read in the press on this topic.
‘Business For Britain’ is a campaign group with links to Conservative ‘euro-sceptic’ MP’s and the Taxpayers Alliance, but it has yet to support the proposition for Britain to leave the EU, preferring to wait for the results of David Cameron’s ’re-negotiation’. For this reason alone, it has not been endorsed by UKIP, although it is hoped that eventually, they will come fully on board. In the meantime the ‘Yes’/Stay campaign is already out there campaigning and UKIP can’t afford to wait any longer. The train leaving the EU is about to depart the station and any late arrivals will just have to catch up later.
UKIP will work with all other parties that want to leave the EU, but whether the ‘euro-sceptic’ Conservatives will finally bury their tribal attitudes and work with UKIP remains to be seen. What the Conservative Party fears more than anything is UKIP gaining a massive surge at a general election (in a similar manner to the SNP), as a result of playing a prominent role in a referendum campaign which results in a sizeable, if not majority vote for independence. So they and their media allies are doing all they can to attempt to ‘own’ both sides of the argument and to ‘sideline’ UKIP’s role in the campaign. UKIP’s bold declaration of intent at the Doncaster Conference ensures that this will not be allowed to happen.
Locally, UKIP in Dorset has made a positive start, with the formation of ’Dorset Out’ headed by Poole Chairman David Darling. Campaign badges, car stickers and a website (www.dorsetout.com) have been produced. It is expected that David’s team will soon be linking up with the national campaign being run by Leave EU. A campaign stall was at Dorset County Show in September and a number of information events are being programmed over the autumn and winter. Our branch will be doing an information stand at Wimborne Market on 10th October and have started leaflet distribution in our area. If you can help with the referendum campaign please contact David at david.darling@ukippoole.co.uk
House of Cronies …….. The 780 member House of Lords is second only to the People’s Congress of Communist China (pop 1.4 bn) as the largest electoral chamber in the world. The once respected hereditary peers (who often had no party allegiance, so were truly independent critics of government), have largely been replaced by personal cronies, party donors and political failures. The Lords is fast becoming a dumping ground; a septic tank of political patronage at its worst. As David Cameron proceeds to stuff the House with yet more political cronies, adding 50 unwanted ‘Lords’ to an already bloated chamber, there is an opportunity for UKIP to propose some practical reforms. Halving their numbers would be a good start.
An elected Upper House might be part of the answer, but it runs the danger of generating yet more politicians; place-men and women who owe their primary allegiance to their party machine. Maybe a quarter of the places could be allocated on a rolling one-year cycle for those members of the public who choose to offer their services, selected at random (in the manner of jury service), with legal guarantees of job protection and compensation for loss of earnings while away ? The rest could be appointed by an Independent Royal Commission every 3 years, and could comprise a range of professional and technical experts; eminent people from all walks of life, as well as religious leaders of different faiths. Such reforms would ensure that the House of Lords reflects the diversity of modern British society and fulfils once more, its primary purpose; to scrutinise and hold the Commons to account.
Laughter is the Best Medicine …….. The leaders of the ‘Westminster 3’ have been doing their best to keep us entertained during the political holiday season. The fiasco surrounding the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour party leader should surprise no-one – after all this is only HM’s ‘official opposition’; the people who aspire to run this country. Even Ned the 3-year old tabby cat managed to register as a Labour supporter, to vote for Jeremy. Now it appears they are going to allow ‘supporters’ to vote for party policy as well. Good luck with that one.
Meanwhile the LibDem’s new leader appears to be a spin-off from Harry Enfield & Chums, which also featured a character called ‘Tim’ (Nice but Dim?). As for DC, his fall-out with Lord Ashcroft (peeved at not getting a Cabinet post in return for his cash), has reached epic proportions, with Ashcroft’s lurid tales of Cameron’s misspent youth in the Bullingdon Club and much else besides.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Local UKIP Branch News ……..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poole Council appears to have a program of ‘stealth withdrawal’ from contact with the public. ’Poole News’ has been cut from four to two issues a year, supposedly to save money. Any news of Council updates, meetings etc will now be accessible online at www.poole.gov.uk, but residents without internet will have to telephone or visit Councillors or officers direct. Numerous ward and scrutiny meetings have also been cancelled recently, supposedly due to ‘lack of business’. Do try to attend your local ward meeting and encourage others too (see above website, or tel 01202-633013), otherwise we could lose this valuable means of holding our local Councillors to account.
UKIP Bournemouth West had a table at Bournemouth Univ. Freshers Fair (the first time ever) and attracted some new members and supporters. Well done to Duane Farr and his team of helpers.
Tony Woodcock (UKIP Poole) and Rupert Matthews (Better Off Out) handed out leaflets to delegates at the LibDem Conference at the BIC for an full hour and a half, before being moved off by stewards. They then proceeded to the seafront, where they leafleted more delegates during the lunch break !
South Dorset UKIP are gearing up for their local elections (Weymouth & Portland BC) next May. We have a UKIP Councillor to defend (Francis Drake, Melcombe Regis). As it is the only area in Dorset with local elections next May, we are hoping that all UKIP branches locally will be able to help with leafleting. Try and keep some free time in your diary for next April !
Don’t forget to look at our branch website (www.ukipmiddorset.org) and encourage others to do so too. It has some interesting articles, plus events and regular updates on the referendum campaign.
We will soon be seeking nominations for our branch Committee for 2016/17. If you are interested in being a Committee member, or would like to stand for any of the Committee posts, don’t hesitate to ask the Chairman or Secretary for more details (01202-602427)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Snouts In The Trough ……..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Almost 1 in 5 Conservative peers appointed by Cameron are party donors. 13 of the 83 new Tory ‘Lords’ since 2010 have donated a total of £23 million ……. Another 43% of Cameron’s new Tory peers are political cronies, including former special advisors, councillors and party top brass …… 47 Labour and LibDem peers created since 2010 also include key party donors such as Gulam Noon (£882,000), Willie Haughey (£1.5mn), Jamie Palumbo (£1.1mn) and Rumi Vergee (£1.8mn) (Daily Mail, 31st July)
‘Billionaire peers are topping up their fortunes by claiming £300 a day for turning up at the House of Lords ..…… Lord Paul, a Labour peer whose steel business is worth more than £2.2bn, received more than £40,000 in tax free daily allowances, for attending Westminster last year ..….. He is one of three peers with combined family fortunes estimated at more than £4.5bn, who were together paid more than £100,000 in taxpayer funded attendance allowances in 2014/15 …..’ (Daily Mail, 1st August)
‘EU civil servants use their office credit cards to spend more than £85mn in a year. Some 13,000 EU officials use the cards to pay for hotels, meals and entertainment when travelling on business, and when working away from home are entitled to an allowance of up to £83 a day for ‘incidental expenses’ (apart from hotel bills). For a full time worker, this would come to a maximum of £20,000 a year, on top of basic salary, with a special EU tax rate of only 16% …… (Daily Express, 18th August)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Using Britain’s Influence ….….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Between 1996 – 2014, Britain voted ‘No’ in the EU Council of Ministers 55 times, and lost every time….’ (Business For Britain, 23rd August)
Britain failed to block a single EU measure during David Cameron’s first 5 years in office. In decisive votes at the EU Council of Ministers, where rules and regulations affecting all areas of policy are decided, the UK was defeated 23 times and abstained 18 times; in each case the measure went through, often with potential costs to British taxpayer of £billions. Taking into account votes at earlier stages, the UK voted or abstained in vain a total of 70 times, although this was only a small proportion of more than 600 votes over the period. (source: VoteWatch Europe, 20th August)
‘The actual situation is even worse. British officials in Brussels tend to back down gracefully beforehand when they think they’re going to lose and find a way of saving face, claiming some minor amendment that makes the measure ‘acceptable’….. The fact that we have been outvoted as often as we have, is only the tip of the iceberg’ (Daniel Hannan MEP)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stories You Won’t Hear on the BBC ….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘The number of migrants reaching EU borders hit a record high of 100,000 last month (July). It was the third consecutive monthly record, well past the previous high of 70,000 in June, and three times the figure recorded in July last year …. The figures released by EU border agency Frontex, show migrant numbers between January and July reached 340,000, compared with 123,500 in the same period last year …. (Daily Express, 20th August)
‘Offshore companies have bought more than £150bn worth of property in England and Wales over the last 15 years, according to Land Registry data. The figure is almost as much as this year’s welfare and defence budgets combined ……. The use of firms based in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, extends to properties far beyond London, including the Home Counties, Cardiff and Bristol. ….. The figure is likely to be a significant underestimate, since Land Registry data did not include a sale price for 34% of transactions involving foreign owned companies … (Daily Mail, 24th August)
‘EU sanctions have had little affect on its business in Russia, according to the President of BSH (Bosch, Siemens, etc) Norbert Klein. BSH is one of world’s largest producers of domestic electrical appliances. Since 2005 it has invested heavily in production in Russia, exporting machines to much of Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Turkey as well as the Russian domestic market. Klein comments: ’We go into a country, because we are convinced this is a market that is good for us …… sanctions or no sanctions, it doesn’t matter, we take a long term view ….. frankly speaking, these sanctions have only indirectly affected our business.’ (Moscow Times, 10th Sept.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EVENTS …. EVENTS .… EVENTS ….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Thursday each month (5th Nov, 3rd Dec), 7.30pm: Dorset Branches Pub Social at the Charlton Inn, Charlton Marshall. All supporters and friends welcome. Contact John Baxter 01202- 897884
Second Thursday each month (12th Nov, 10th Dec), 8pm: Poole Branches Pub Social at Twin Sails Wharf, West Quay Road. All UKIP Supporters and friends are welcome. Contact David Darling, david.darling@ukippoole.co.uk
Thurs 15th Oct, 7.00 pm. UKIP South Dorset Public Meeting, Guest Speakers, Ray Finch MEP, Rupert Matthews (Better Off Out Campaign); Rembrandt Hotel, 12-18 Dorchester Rd, Weymouth, DT4 7JU. Contact francisgeorgedarke@googlemail.com
Fri 16th Oct, 7.00 for 7.30 pm UKIP Christchurch Carvery Dinner & Quiz Night at The Bridge House, Longham, BH22 9AN. Tickets £11, contact Linda Hills (07511551115) or linda.hills1@sky.com
Thurs 22nd October, 7.30 pm, UKIP Bournemouth West, Pub Social at The Crown, Broadhurst Avenue, Northbourne, Bournemouth BH10 6JW.
Contact : duanefarr.ukip@gmail.com (07855 349387)
Thurs 22nd Oct, 7.30 pm, UKIP Christchurch Social Evening at The Soho Bar, 7-9 Church Street, Christchurch, BH23 1BW. Contact Chris Grace 01425-
511167
Friday 30th October : UKIP Mid-Dorset & N. Poole Pub Skittles, prizes & choice of hot meal £7 (£8*)
Please book by 21st using attached form.
Sat 7th Nov & 2nd Jan 11.00 am, Chat, Coffee or Snack at Corfe Coffee, 137 Wareham Road, Corfe Mullen, BH21 3HH. Contact Dave Evans, 01202-602856
Sat 7th Nov. 6.00pm, Bonfire Night Party with John & Susie Baxter, at Greenacres, Angel Lane, Longham, BH22 9DZ. With Soup, Mulled Wine and Many Nibbles Pre-book for £10 (includes £2.50 donation to ’Dorset Out’ ) Contact John Baxter
john@ukipdorsetnorth.org.uk
Thurs 26th Nov, 5.30 – 9.00pm, Trip to Salisbury Christmas Market. Tickets £12, Contact Linda Hills (UKIP Xchurch) linda.hills1@sky.com (07511551115)
Don’t forget to check the monthly Dorset Digest (obtainable via e-mail) for up to date bulletins of ‘What’s On’ locally, as well as checking our branch website www.ukipmiddorset.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quote of the Month …
‘Every one of the posturing notables, simpering ‘refugees welcome’ , should be asked if he or she will take a family into his or her home for an indefinite period and pay for their food, medical treatment and education. If not, they are merely demanding that others pay and make room for them, so that they can experience a self-righteous glow….’
(Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday, Sept 6th).
‘It’s ironic after all the lies told by Tony Blair, that when he tells the truth about Jeremy Corbyn, nobody believes him ….’ (Letter, Daily Express, 19th August)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Items for next Edition by 30th November 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
