Dear All
Despite everything in Scottish politics
being dominated by independence, down the road in sunny England life goes on!
The seat previously held by disgraced Lib
Dem MP Chris Huhne is up for grabs in a by-election, by-elections are different
from normal campaigning in that a more diverse group of activists come together
for what is essential a ‘special event’.
So, as expected all the main parties are
fielding candidates including UKIP which is led by Nigel Farage.
UKIP has bite deep into the Conservative
vote; you could say they are the Tory Party not at home!
In order to grab the headlines, the UKIP
candidate fighting the Eastleigh by-election said Romanians were associated
with crime and called for a temporary halt to all immigration.
Playing the race card; either public or
privately in politics is a doomed strategy, in the event that Diane James was
successful, she couldn’t stop Romanian crime and not affect a temporary halt in
immigration.
In these times of deepening austerity,
people have concerns about how they are going to get by in a job market which
is very tight.
Ms James, from Ewhurst in Surrey, said:
"Immigration is the elephant in the
room that the other parties want not to address because they are heavily
reliant on unrestricted immigration."
Awhile ago, I blogged on the EU, I still
think the EU is a great concept but it needs fixed, one of the ways to do so
among others is an internal EU immigration policy.
It is pretty straightforward, in order to
move to another EU country, you need to satisfy certain conditions, much in the
same way as if you were a student wanting to study at a university regarding
finances.
If anything will see Britain out of Europe,
it would be a backlash on immigration.
As a campaign strategy Ms. James has
effectively boobed, pointing the fingers and blame a certain section of a
community for all of lives ills is rather poor politics.
Yes, there are problems with Romanian crime
gangs operating in Britain, and yes, they are known to be involved in certain
types of crime such as picket pocketing, especially in London.
Ms. James continued that unrestricted
immigration was an issue for the country; this was caused by the great social
experiment under Tony Blair, touted as being done for economic reasons when
there was in fact another agenda which came out later.
That experiment led to increased disquiet
about immigration, James added:
"Until we sort out the UK Border
Agency and make it fit for purpose, the only way is a moratorium on
immigration."
If she gets in, which is doubtful unless
there is a massive crash in the vote, she said she wants to make history by
becoming the first ever UKIP MP and her election would send a very clear
message to the three major parties about their broken promises.
What could dampen her chances as an
outsider; is the fact she is an outsider, although it isn’t usual for
candidates not to live in the areas they stand for.
And she could benefit from a few tips on
public speaking as she uttered:
"I know Eastleigh well. I used to work
down here in the pharmaceutical industry, I have friends and family down here
and I fly from the airport two or three times a year - it's an area I
know."
Quite so madam!
Nigel Farage is upbeat, well you do in
politics even if the wind isn’t in your favour, you claim momentum where none
exists, on the basis if you keep saying it; votes will come!
Farage says his party was starting the
campaign with 16% of the vote and that the figures showed the party was is votes
from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
The question is will the Lib Dem vote walk
after Huhne’s exit, prior to this the Lib Dem vote in by-elections has suffered
greatly.
On the immigration issue fronted by Ms.
James, Mr Farage said he had "absolutely nothing" against the 29
million people.
But, he added there should not be an open
door policy for them.
Can UKIP pull of a win?
By-elections can be strange little things
in their own right, a UKIP win could happen if the voters want to punish the
three main parties, the Tories had a strong showing last time, but with
austerity and unfairness coming from the coalition government it is hard to
sell sweetness and light on the doorstep.
Upsets in politics help political parties
refocus on voters and sadly voters have been neglected.
I would like to see an independent get
elected or someone from a smaller party to upset the apple cart.
Politics is supposed to be about ideas and
vision, and we are seeing very little of that kicking about recently!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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