Glory Glory UKIP Party

[Rob McCow]

Wow. How do people like Godfrey Bloom get into power?

A Ukip MEP caught on camera demanding Britain stop sending money to "Bongo Bongo land" has shrugged off condemnation and said it would "probably double my vote in the north of England".

Godfrey Bloom's comments about Britain's foreign aid contributions, much of which he said were spent by the recipients on flash cars and sunglasses, are now under scrutiny by the Ukip leadership and provoked outrage among political opponents.

Rushanara Ali, a shadow development minister, called on Ukip leader Nigel Farage to take action against Mr Bloom and was reported as saying: "It's just offensive and the kind of thing that should have been consigned to the history books.

The MEP made the remark about "bongo bongo land" at a meeting in Wordsley in the West Midlands when he told supporters he couldn't understand why Britain gave foreign aid when it needed the money itself.

"How we can possibly be giving a billion pounds a month when we're in this sort of debt to bongo bongo land is completely beyond me," he said in the footage obtained by the Guardian.

"To buy Ray-Ban sunglasses, apartments in Paris, Ferraris and all the rest of it that goes with most of the foreign aid. F18s for Pakistan. We need a new squadron of F18s. Who's got the squadrons? Pakistan, where we send the money."

The comments echo those made by Tory MP Alan Clark who prompted a furious backlash in 1984 when, in a debate on immigration, he said: "Send them all back to Bongo Bongo land." Two years later he was appointed Minister of Trade.

In the footage of the meeting in July Mr Bloom is also heard offering to hang the killers of soldier Lee Rigby and criticising the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for ruling that full life sentences could not be handed down.

"You can torture people to death but you jolly well can't give them a full life sentence because that's against their human rights," he said. "We can't hang them because we're now a member of the European Union and it's embedded in the treaty of Rome.

"It's a personal thing, but I'd hang the bastards myself. Especially for some of these, especially for the guy who hacked the soldier to death. I do hope they would ask me to throw the rope over the beam because I'd be delighted to do so."

The MEP, who denied his comments were racist, and told the newspaper when asked about his speech: "What's wrong with that? I'm not a wishy-washy Tory. I don't do political correctness. The fact that the Guardian is reporting this will probably double my vote in the north of England."

He has previously provoked an outcry in comments on women when in 2004 he said: "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age."

When he was given a seat on the European Parliament's women's rights committee he said, in what he later explained was intended to be a joke, that he was interested in the subject because: "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough."

He might have a point about the way foreign aid money is spent, but it's lost because of his childish use of language. It's so infantile it's hard to describe him as racist.

It's all attention for their skewed little party anyway, he's clearly quite pleased with it.

[SiHart]

Nice.

Really, why are people voting for UKIP? They are all a bunch of loonies!

[Dirk Gently]

Birds of a feather and all that I suppose, Si.

[Dino]

"Nigel Farage is a libertarian who will legalise cannabis. He said it in an interview once."- someone I know

"He won't though, and what he might have said before, he certainly doesn't say now, given that he's closer to power and had lunch with Rupert Murdoch, which means he's just another one. No alternative at all." -My reasoned argument.

And then I got a sweary Facebook "Get a job" comment from his younger brother after I criticised, not just UKIP, but all of them.
I'd expected to have Labour voters complain, but not him! Oh well.

EDIT: Amazing what surviving a plane crash will do to your principles and reasoning, eh?

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Really, why are people voting for UKIP? They are all a bunch of loonies!

No arguments here. The phrase UKIP MEP is surely an oxymoron.

[Mike Saville]

They're a bunch of loonies who've recognised that a very, very large number of people no longer feel represented by party politics- especially the big three. For those of us whose leanings are left of centre for instance, there is nowhere to go unless you go so far left you bump into Arthur Scargill on the way over. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather abstain than vote for these clowns, but if like me you're squarely anti European, then at least they're committed to getting us out of Europe as soon as possible.

I actually get the Bongo Bongo Land reference- it's from Spitting Image and is actually a satirical dig at the Tories and it, along with Chilly Jocko Land, Slanty Eyed Takeaway Land, Greasy Goucho Spik Land and lots of others, was in very common usage in the mid eighties as anti racist comments. I think it's gotten a bit lost in the intervening decades though, and I doubt that Godfrey Bloom uses it in any form of anti colonialist barb. Even if he had, politicians should have learned that they shouldn't use satire because it'll be reported badly.

[Mike Saville]

Found a link.
Tory Map of the World

[Dirk Gently]

I see Portugal gets around a bit.

[Perry Vale]

I'll be voting for the Respect Party, if a candidate is available.

The rising 'Right Wing' trend in European elections of late, suggest these loonies will do quite well it seems. The best we can hope for is a hung parliament, with no overall power for any of these serial criminals.

[Dino]

And of course Sky News helpfully produces a poll (I was never asked to vote in it, and I bet not a single person on this forum was asked to vote in it) suggesting that 51% would vote for a party that would reduce immigration.
Juuuust as Labour start announcing policies. The smell of fear is stronger from Rupert Murdoch than it is over immigration fears.
"It's not racist to talk about immigration". No, but it does make you seem a bit paranoid and obsessed!
It's the banks, the banks and the banks that are really causing the problems and need reigning in.
But who am I to stop a good media scare!

EDIT: But given it was Gordon Brown relaxing the banks back in the wacky giddy 90's in the first place, don't think I'm flying the flag for them exclusively!
None of them will tell the truth that to keep their precious interest rates low, there has to be unemployment. So all this "Get tough on people on benefits" is nonsense. This is done by design. The big three want to carry it on. And my area only ever goes red or blue. Safe seat of idiocy!

[Perry Vale]

It's the banks, the banks and the banks that are really causing the problems and need reigning in.
But who am I to stop a good media scare!

EDIT: But given it was Gordon Brown relaxing the banks back in the wacky giddy 90's in the first place, don't think I'm flying the flag for them exclusively!
None of them will tell the truth that to keep their precious interest rates low, there has to be unemployment. So all this "Get tough on people on benefits" is nonsense. This is done by design. The big three want to carry it on. And my area only ever goes red or blue. Safe seat of idiocy!

And this is the truth that many people are slowly waking up to see. All this 'Left/Right' two party political debate is an illusion, perpetuated by the real people who run things - the rich elite families who own everything. They own you. They own the politicians, and the media that brainwash and influence the voters. They became richer from the 2008 economic collapse, and are currently being made richer with the 'Help To Buy Votes' housing bubble scheme and Quantitative Easing, whilst we have 'Austerity' forced on us.

And they love to see us squabbling amongst ourselves, blaming all our problems on one part of society or the other, be it immigrants or benefit cheats. All the while not noticing the real heart of the problem, and the bigger picture.

You and I have no choice (currently) who we elect to power. The US has shown this. Bush lost the election in 2000, but became President. Ron Paul was cheated out of the presidency in 2012 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_WBo4sfmi4 ), and current Obama policies show this is effectively Bush's fourth term in office.

Milliband has shown he is no different, nothing important will change should he get in to power.

[Rob McCow]

So - democracy is over!

Nice while it lasted, if indeed we ever really had it. I think there was a brief spell between 1945 and 1960?

[Perry Vale]

It was overrated.

Yes, it's all been downhill since the CIA murdered JFK.

[Wayne]

I'll be voting for the Respect Party, if a candidate is available.

[Dino]

Well, Russia since the late 90's Russia's favourite homoerotic homophobe was made a permanent member of the security council of the Russian Federation, Prime Minister, Acting President, President until 2012, Prime Minister and then President again! Not bad for a country that overthrew the Tzar, eh?

While in Britain we've had Thatcher, Thatcher failure (Major), Labour Thatcher, Labour Thatcher Disaster, and then the Son Of Thatcher in the Coalition. So by that reckoning, we're due Son Of Thatcher disaster Labour!

Or David Cameron can fall on his sword and resign due to something unforeseen over the next year and we could see Boris as Prime Minister! That's good! Boris is funny! He was on Have I Got News For You! Just like Nigel Farage and.... oh....

[Perry Vale]

Or David Cameron can fall on his sword and resign due to something unforeseen over the next year and we could see Boris as Prime Minister!

Be careful what you wish for. They've even started locking themselves in to parliament with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011...

[Andrew Curnow]

They've even started locking themselves in to parliament with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011...

Yes, I'm still not sure how they managed to slip that in almost without any kind of announcement at all. I thought Labour (and the Liberals for that matter) might have kicked up a fuss at the time, as it meant they had no chance of getting a win for another 4 years. Very odd.

[Jon Masters]

I might have to vote UKIP, as that is the only way of getting the Tories out of the Ultra-safe seat of my MP

[Perry Vale]

Yes, I'm still not sure how they managed to slip that in almost without any kind of announcement at all.

With the usual mixture of 'spin' and controlling the media, who tell us it's "for our own good". 100 Years as the central part of our democracy, gone in a blink of an eye.

I thought Labour (and the Liberals for that matter) might have kicked up a fuss at the time, as it meant they had no chance of getting a win for another 4 years. Very odd.

In a true two (or even three) party democracy, you would expect that, wouldn't you? It just reaffirms to me that there isn't.

[Rob McCow]

The latest Opinium/Observer poll gives Labour, on 37%, a 9 point lead over the Tories, who are on 28%. Ukip is on 16% and the Lib Dems are on 9%.

[Jon Masters]

I disagree. The greater the number of right wing , anti-europe, anti-social care, anti-consensus people who vote for these nutters, the less chance there is of a Tory government

[Perry Vale]

A few more outright lies in the election campaign, and the fact that the Murdoch press will never get behind Milliband in a million years, makes me think CallMeDave will be elected again to become CallMeCaesar....

[Dino]

Can we just skip the elections and go straight to the Docudramas they are going to make about UKIP instead?...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz32GgQjbfi

Ukip scraps 'carnival' to prove it's not racist after steel band refuses to play in front of 'Love Colour' sign and Farage stays away
Members of the steel band say they are 'embarrassed' to be there - and leave
Ukip planned 'bold and vibrant' event in Croydon to dispel racism claims
Steel band told to set up in front of a shop window with 'Love Colour' sign
Party members clashed with angry protesters as police looked on
Croydon council candidate Winston McKenzie brands the town 'a dump'
Nigel Farage pulled out of attending the event amid security concerns

[Stuart Wallis]

I notice the steel band were called Endurance - they certainly needed it!

And it would be nice to ask certain top peoples' views of UKIP in light of Prince Charles' views of President Putin and certain UKIP members' views of Lenny Henry.

"No, no, no, we of the UKIP aren't racist - we hate everyone equally!"

[Mike Saville]

There are two main reasons why UKIP have had a surge, and immigration is the secondary one. The main one is Europe. Clear and simple.

I have been voting longer than some here have been alive probably- 30 years- and I have never had a say. My parents had some say on a Common Market, but not one person has had a vote on whether we forge closer ties or not. Power clearly IS being devolved to Europe, and as a parent of a 21 year old, I would like for his votes over his first 30 years of voting to mean something. If he (and you all) vote for closer ties, so be it, as long as it's consensual.

And this is what gives Farage his power. LibDem don't support a referendum (and frankly no one would now believe them if they said they would), Labour don't support a referendum, and the Tories promise one if they are returned with a majority government, which we all accept is very unlikely to happen.

A vote for UKIP in the Euro elections was my only option then. Now, as I said before, in domestic or council elections I have no will to vote for them, but an important message was sent to the incumbent 3; Your time of indiscernible ideology is under threat unless you create some real difference in your individual manifestos.

On immigration, there is an issue because it hasn't been allowed to be discussed by any mainstream politician for fear of the whip being withdrawn, or worse. No one wants to be misremembered for their own little Rivers of Blood speech.

But immigration is an issue. Not in the sense of 'them fuzzy wuzzies come over here', because we have a rich history of this land, much of it based on immigration (and colonisation, but we'll not talk about that). I love that, even in 2014, people will cling o the underside of a lorry or an aeroplane wing to get here... you don't do that kind of thing just because you want to claim housing benefit, despite what the bigots may say.

However. We need infrastructure. Since Thatcher introduced the right to buy, while simultaneously forbidding local councils from building new stock, she over inflated rents by getting rid of the Fair Rents Offices while putting the majority of rented property into the hands of private landlords. I am all for immigration (though I'd give priority to former British colonies over free movement of Europeans), but it is really hard to argue with the chap in the pub whose daughter can't get a council flat because 'they're reserved for refugees'.

Immigration is great. But it has to come with affordable housing (and listening to the Tories say that's up to £200,000- in what world is that affordable?), schools, hospitals, local amenities and facilities. Bunging them in a hostel 5 to a room and pretending it isn't an issue will only breed racism in the less intelligent.

And that's when the problems swept under the carpets become real edifices.