Dear All
Today’s big story is UKIP.
Since the Eastleigh by-election, you could
say that there is a sense of change in the air.
The change being that you don’t have to
vote for the ‘big three’ political parties in British politics of Labour,
Conservative and Lib Dems
The County Council elections in England are
important in the continual rise of the UKIP brand, if anyone is over the moon
this morning, it is Nigel Farage
For the Conservatives, UKIP is a serious
problem; they are losing support and voters to them.
So, after the battle of the ballot box, the
Conservatives have lost control of two English local authorities.
As well as that and of possibly more significance
is that the UK Independence Party (Ukip) claimed second place behind Labour in
the South Shields parliamentary by-election.
At present, UKIP have no seats in
Westminster.
Last night, was as equally bad for the Lib
Dems as the Conservatives.
Nick Clegg’s leadership is looking
increasingly estranged from the rest of his party, he sold them out; can’t
reconnect and the voters have abandoned the Lib Dems.
In politics there is a simple rule don’t
lie to the public, you can be forgiven for making a mess of it politically, but
lying carries severe penalties.
Nigel Farage's party is firmly on the road
to success, they have made inroads in the council elections becoming the second
largest party in Lincolnshire.
The bonus is that the Conservatives lost
control of the authority.
A cherry on that particular cake!
In Lincolnshire, UKIP won 16 seats to
become the second largest grouping on the council.
In the run up to this election, the
Conservatives adopted a flawed strategy, they decided to derided UKIP with David
Cameron describing them as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists"
and then Kenneth Clarke piled in and called them "clowns".
If anyone has a yearning for the Circus
this morning, it must be Cameron and Clark, their 'high wire act' ended in
despair, but there are spaces for clowns doing slapstick.
Mr Farage touring the TV and radio studios quipped:
"Send in the clowns!"
So, having done well, Euro elections coming
up with chances of more seats, but the real prize is Westminster.
Mr Farage said UKIP now has "every
chance" of winning a House of Commons seat at the next by-election in a
marginal constituency.
That by-election could be at Portsmouth
South this summer if Lib Dem Mike Hancock is forced to stand down.
Mr. Hancock is being investigated of claims
of harassment and alleged sex assault.
Farage said of his party’s success:
"We have been abused by everybody, the
entire establishment, and now they are shocked and stunned that we are getting
over 25% of the vote everywhere we stand across the country. This is a real
sea-change in British politics."
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps
said it was important for Tories to respond to the concerns of voters who
defected to UKIP.
He added:
"We get it. We have heard you, we
understand and we are also anxious to make progress."
Are we heading out of Europe?
Not yet, but there is one almighty fight
coming down the pipeline, and the ‘big three’ aren’t responding to the needs of
the people, so Farage is right there is a sea-change happening.
Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4's Today
programme:
"I think the results we have seen so
far demonstrate people have concerns and reasons for voting in different
directions, including UKIP which go beyond Europe.
To give it a name, I would call it Tory unfairness.
The South Shields contest, triggered by
David Miliband's decision to quit as an MP, was won by Labour's Emma
Lewell-Buck with a reduced majority of 6,505.
Expected!
Last night, Nigel Farage was saying on This
Week that UKIP would get about 25% of the vote, they got 24% of the vote
secured by UKIP's Richard Elvin to take second place.
Nick Clegg's party lost its deposit after
securing just 352 votes, finishing in seventh position behind an independent,
an independent socialist and the BNP.
To say that the Lib Dem support has
collapsed is an understatement and the pressure is on Clegg to find a narrative,
it might be that a return is only possible if he goes.
Lib Dem President Tim Farron acknowledged
the result in South Shields was "shocking" for his party!
Tory backbencher John Baron, last month
delivered a letter to David Cameron signed by 100 Conservative MPs calling for
referendum legislation.
So far despite a promise, nothing is going
through Westminster, this result is important, and it should be viewed as such.
Mr Baron said:
"I take the view UKIP are not simply a
protest party. There are a lot of people in Ukip with genuine concerns. If you
can deliver legislation in this Parliament, or at least show serious intent
that if the Conservatives get in we will definitely have an in/out referendum
in 2017, then my question to anyone is why would you bother voting for UKIP?"
Business Secretary Vince Cable said the
results were "obviously very disappointing" for the Liberal
Democrats.
Seems you can’t get anything passed Vince.
However, he lives in denial that UKIP are
merely a protest vote, it is more than that now, and he should sharpen up.
So, what now for Cameron?
Is it a shift to the right?
I would say no, however, there is a need
for creative politics, immigration is a problem, the solution lies in Europe;
there is a need for a proper EU internal immigration policy.
It is so obvious a policy, in the early
days of the EU when it was less than a dozen countries of more or less the same
economic status there was no real problem, expansion created more problems and
no solutions to make the adjustment were considered.
Dogma was allowed to fester and we are
where we are!
And if the situation isn’t addressed, the
people of Britain will vote to leave the European Union, in the process
destroying the ‘big three’’ political parties.
We aren’t at the tipping point yet, but we
are on the slope!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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