Why Clive Page is not very happy

Clive Page – UKIP Press Officer and convicted benefit fraudster – is becoming increasingly frustrated at being sidelined by Nigel. All the ‘important’ press jobs – are there any left? – are now handled by Ms Rowe. Poor old Clive is now left with the dross.

Nigel never forgave Clive for failing to support him over the Ms Fuller affair. Nigel is well aware that Clive was glad to see the back of Annabelle ( pictured above) as his working relationship with her had become almost intolerable. Remember her comments in The Independent and The Mail on Sunday?

In the Mail she mentioned an ‘irrevocable breakdown in working relationships with my closest colleagues’. She was, of course, referring to Clive Page.

Clive was also bitterly opposed to the Farage approved attacks posted on Robin Page’s blog by Bob Feal-Martinez and Ms Fuller. Clive correctly surmised that such attacks would make Robin even more determined to criticise the leadership of UKIP in future editions of his blog. Naturally Nigel did not agree.

Over the coming months Clive will be pushed more and more into the background. After June – if he lasts that long – expect to see him seeking pastures new.

Here is the original article on Clive Page’s benefit fraud conviction:

Ex-hack shamed over scam by Simon Armstrong, The Evening Chronicle, May 20th 2004.

A former Tyne Tees TV manager claims he has been left penniless after admitting swindling thousands of pounds in a benefits scam.

Clive Page, 60, dishonestly claimed more than £5,000 in housing benefit and council tax for a flat on Newcastle Quayside which he didn’t live in.

Despite having moved out of the property at the Watergate Buildings and sub-letting it to another tenant, the 60-year-old claimed the cash between July 2002 and July 2003.

Magistrates at Gosforth gave him an 80 hour community punishment order after his solicitor claimed he was a ruined man with barely a penny to his name.

Defending, Ruth Foster said: “He has been a highly-respected man. His one foray into the world of crime has led to his ruin.”

Page moved to Tyne Tees in 1978 and ran their news and sport from 1982 after starting his career at the Chronicle. He was sacked from Tyne Tees in 1988 as part of a departmental re-shuffle.

Page, who is living at his partner’s home in Sandhoe, Hexham, had previously pleaded guilty to making two false representations in order to claim £3,543 housing benefit and £1,943 council tax benefit. He also admitted providing a false statement which claimed he was living at the Quayside flat.

Prosecuting, Kerry Walker outlined the case against him: “Between July 2002 and 2003, he told the local authority he was living at the Watergate Building.”However, on those dates he was sub-letting that property for £500 per month. In effect, he was claiming housing and council tax benefit for a property he was not living in.”

See the original article at: Ex-hack shamed over scam Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England) Find Articles at BNET

Gregg Beaman on UKIP

Mr Beaman was UKIP’s democratically elected lead MEP candidate in the North West. As you will recall Farage and Paul Nuttall – UKIP’s odious second-rate Mussolini – colluded to remove him. Gregg resigned in disgust.

Gregg’s treatment at the hands of Nuttall, Duffy, Farage and Oxley clearly illustrates why they must go. The are without honour or decency – just like the rest of the leadership. Fortunately, they are now reaping the whirlwind and will fall.

And to think that Paul Nuttall told me that he is prepared to lead UKIP if Nigel “has to go”. I wonder if Nigel knows that his so-called loyal friend is prepared to stab him in the back?

Don’t bother to run for the leadership Paul. You will lose. Too many people in UKIP now see you for what you really are – a nasty little man with an over inflated opinion of himself.

More On ‘Leaving’ UKIP by Gregg Beaman

I was heartened yesterday to receive a letter from senior and respected members of the UK Independence Party expressing their thoughts, and fears, on the future of the Party. I agreed with them and some of the reasons I stood down as lead candidate in the North West for the Euro elections, and as Regional Organiser, are virtually the same.

Of course the clique in control of the party have tried to blacken my name. They have accused me of using a pseudonym on an internet forum to criticise the Leader. I was not registered on that forum but anyway, big deal, it shows how small-minded the current leadership clique are and how they respond to criticism perceived or real.

They also accused me of using my position as Regional Organiser to gain advantage in the election for the list in the North West. Paul Nuttall, and his little sidekick in Brussels, Michael McManus, lodged a complaint about a letter I supposedly sent to members canvassing their support in the Euro election poll. Of course the letter doesn’t exist as every member in the North West knows. The complaint was withdrawn anyway, but they have still used the imaginary letter to try and blacken my name.

Note that this blog is no longer ‘Gregg Beaman’s Blog’. The reason being that I was tired of receiving unpleasant ‘anonymous’ comments after I stood down. Who was sending the unpleasant ‘anonymous’ comments? Well at least one sender was Rachel Oxley. How do I know? Because I goaded the ‘anonymous’ one and received a text message from Rachel Oxley owning up. How very grown up and mature. Is she the kind of woman who should be Vice Chairman of a national political party?

I then had Lisa Duffy emailing people claiming that I stood down because of a debilitating illness and because I had only expected to come third rather than first. More fibs from a member of the ruling clique.

One of life’s ironies is that it was only in May 2008, at the North West Spring Conference in Morecambe, that Rachel Oxley and Lisa Duffy had complained to me that Annabelle Fuller had spent the Saturday evening texting Nigel Farage, quite suggestively and quite openly, about what she wanted to do with him when he came to the North West the following day. Lacking the courage of their convictions they happily passed it on to me. But later Duffy was terrified that the Party Chairman was upset with her for ‘spilling the beans’ on the Leader. And that was after them specifically asking me to pass on their concerns to the Party Chairman.

But Lisa Duffy was that way inclined. Before the last leadership election she had phoned me in a terrible panic after she had been contacted to consent to Farage’s nomination but had already promised to consent to David Campbell Bannerman’s candidacy. She didn’t understand that democracy worked that way. She clearly lacks the courage of he convictions, if indeed she has any convictions. Don’t fight for what you believe, just stay in with the right people seems to be her philosophy.

A few weeks before I stood down I had been critical of Nigel Farage to Rachel Oxley, describing him as a liability. It may be a coincidence but Rachel Oxley never spoke to me again after that. I only received an email from her informing me that she would no longer speak at a meeting of members that I had organised in Cumbria. Not very professional I thought, but very spiteful. I now see that it typifies the lack of respect for the members that typifies certain people in the current leadership clique.

That is some of the background that added to my increasing disillusionment over the last couple of years and, ultimately, to my decision to walk. But, most importantly, I had come to realise that after having MEPs since 1999 the Party had failed to move our cause forward. In 2008 we still only achieved 2% in the Crewe and Henley by-elections. A quarter of our MEPs elected in 2004 had gone, and I don’t need to go into detail. In my opinion too many of the remaining MEPs have been seduced by the position, especially the current party leader, and they ignore the fact that we have failed to make any impact in Parliamentary elections, which they continually argue will come with the resources gained from having MEPs.

In August I was told that Paul Nuttall was to become Party Chairman. I knew then that I could no longer continue. I had always felt that Paul was only in it for what he could get. The way he grovelled to Farage, even starting to dress like him, had made me cringe and some of us in the North West had even started referring to him as ‘Scouse Farage’.

When the results of the members’ poll were announced I was told that Farage was jumping up and down ranting that I had to be removed from the top of the list, and I heard that from three different sources. I wondered what had happened to the Party that had offered so much hope to so many of us. All my doubts about even standing in the European elections were still there and I was not prepared to stand if all it meant was a good living for five years for no political gain. Their behaviour had convinced me, more than ever, that there is an element in the Party only interested in the ‘gravy train’, their own vanity and little else.

As far as Farage is concerned I knew when I met him, during the Preston by-election in 2000, that he was the personification of vanity and ego with little behind that wafer thin facade. I have seen his childish temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his own way, when I was on the NEC and later when I was on the Elections Committee. I have seen him bully people and have stood up to him when he has tried to bully me. He must be one of the coarsest most vulgar individuals I have ever come across. The proposed changes to the party constitution are a result of the complete lack of principle of the current leader and chairman and, it must be said, the lack of courage shown by certain members on the Party’s NEC.

One thing Farage has excelled at is driving decent, honest people away. There is no room under Farage’s leadership for open debate and discussion, and God forbid there should be any disagreement with him. When people have had enough and go his clique then proceed to try and blacken their names, and others have had much worse smears than I have directed at them. He only wants around him people who are easily flattered and who do not think for themselves.

The current changes to the constitution, if approved, will remove the right of the members to contribute to the party’s future and will certainly remove the right of members to criticise the decisions of the leadership. UKIP will then be no different from the European Union that it was formed to fight.

Finally I remember appearing in a TV debate in 2004 when Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy accused UKIP of lacking the principle of Sinn Fein, who refused to take their seats in a parliament they opposed. I have thought long and hard about that comment since and have to say that Sinn Fein are now power sharing in Ulster. Where are UKIP?

Gregg Beaman’s blog can be found at: A Brief Encounter

Fascism in UKIP: The Proposed Constitutional changes

Here are the proposed changes to UKIP’s constitution. These changes will give unlimited power to Farage and his odious sidekick Nuttall. These changes will be used by the leadership to persecute and expel all those who refuse to accept their word as law. Reject this attempt to stifle freedom of speech! Reject this attack on democracy! Reject their dictatorship!

Vote no to all these changes! Vote no to Farage fascism!

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE PARTY CONSTITUTION

The NEC recommends the following amendments to the Party Conference as agreed at the NEC meeting of Dec 1st 2008. Vote to accept or reject these changes using the enclosed ballot paper and please observe the instructions printed thereon.

The relevant current passages of the constitution are copied below, followed by their proposed amendment in bold italics

4 MEMBERSHIP4.5

Currently reads

Members shall accept the Party’s constitution and rules made in accordance with this constitution and do nothing to undermine the reputation of the Party or to bring the Party into public disrepute. Nor shall they act in a manner intended to cause, or actually causing, damage to the Party’s interests including by breaching confidentiality

Proposed amendment

4.5 Members shall accept the Party’s constitution and rules made in accordance with this constitution and do nothing to undermine the reputation of the Party or to bring the Party into public disrepute. Nor shall they act in a manner intended to cause, or actually causing, damage to the Party’s interests including, by wilful disruptive conduct or by breaching confidentiality.

4.6 new paragraph

Former members who have been expelled may only be readmitted with the approval of the NEC.

6 THE ANNUAL PARTY CONFERENCE

Currently reads

6.1The Party shall hold both a Business Meeting and an Annual Conference annually at places and times decided by the NEC. Only paid-up Party members may vote at the Business Meeting and at the Annual Conference.

6.2 The Business Meeting will be open only to paid-up Party members. Its business will be to receive reports from the national officers; to elect members of the Discipline Committee (who will serve until the next Business Meeting) receive and vote on the Party’s accounts and to determine the membership fee.

6.3 All motions at the Business Meeting may be passed by a simple majority of those voting. Procedures for submitting nominations and motions at the Business Meeting shall be determined by the NEC from time to time.

Proposed amendments

6The Party shall hold an Annual Conference and other national meetings as deemed appropriate by the NEC at times and places decided by the NEC. A report and presentation of accounts to the membership by the Party Treasurer will be presented at such a meeting. Only paid up members shall be entitled to vote at such meetings and the NEC shall give active consideration to holding a Spring Conference.

6.2 & 6.3 delete

9 THE PARTY TREASURER

currently reads

9.2 The Treasurer shall be responsible for managing the Party’s finances, for preparing annual accounts and presenting them for approval at the Business Meeting which shall be held within the time required by the Electoral Commission for reporting accounts by the Party. He or she will carry out any other functions prescribed by statute in relation to the finances and financial reporting of the Party. He or she will chair the Finance Committee.

proposed amendment

9.2 The Treasurer is responsible for managing the Party’s finances, for preparing annual accounts and presenting them for approval at a meeting which shall be held within the time required by the Electoral Commission for reporting accounts by the Party. He or she will carry out any other functions prescribed by statute in relation to the finances and financial reporting of the Party. He or she will chair the Finance Committee.

10 THE PARTY SECRETARY

currently reads

10.3 The Party Secretary shall chair the Committee on Standing Orders and he or she will determine its composition.

proposed amendment

10.3 delete (committee defunct)

13 STANDING AND TEMPORARY COMMITTEES

currently reads

13.1 The standing committees set up by the NEC shall include a Finance Committee, a Discipline Committee, a Committee on Standing Orders and a Conference Committee. 13.3 The Discipline Committee shall comprise the Party Secretary and the members elected for this purpose at the Party Business Meeting and shall be chaired by the Party Secretary. 13.4 The Committee on Standing Orders shall be chaired by the Party Secretary and will be responsible for making recommendations to the NEC for maintaining and updating the rules prescribed by the Party for various purposes and for reviewing proposals for amendments to the Party constitution. The Conference Committee will be chaired by the Party Chairman and will have the responsibility for all matters relating to the agenda of the Party Conference, including the selection of motions for debate.

proposed amendments

13.1 The standing committees set up by the NEC shall include a Finance Committee and a Discipline Committee (deleting Standing Orders and Conference Committees)

13.3 delete (revised below in 14)

13.4 The Conference Committee will be chaired by the Party Chairman and will have the responsibility for all matters relating to the agenda of the Party Conference, including the selection of motions for debate. (deleting the first sentence on Standing Orders)

14 DISCIPLINE currently reads14 The Party shall establish a Discipline Committee comprising of the Party Secretary and up to ten members approved by the annual Business Meeting from fully paid-up Party members. The Party Secretary and a minimum of four members of the Discipline Committee shall conduct specific hearings in accordance with the appropriate rules which shall be made by the NEC from time to time. Serving members of the NEC may not be nominated for election to the Discipline Panel, and elected members of the Discipline Panel must resign if elected to the NEC.

proposed amendments

14.1 The Party shall establish a Discipline Panel comprising of the Party Secretary as Chairman who shall, at any one time, select 3 Party members in good standing from a pool established as 5 members from each region, selected by each Regional Committee. MEPs and paid employees of the Party shall be excluded from serving on disciplinary panels.

14.2 Disciplinary complaints may be lodged by individual party members, or by the party chairman if he/ she deems that there has been a breach of paragraph 4.5 of the Party Constitution.

14.3 When a complaint is lodged by the Party Chairman he/ she has the authority to order immediate temporary suspension of the member concerned from all party offices or candidatures or from party membership, with suspension from membership implying suspension from all party offices and candidatures. The case will simultaneously be referred to the Discipline Committee which will decide within 14 days whether to confirm any such suspension and will proceed according to the Discipline Rules.

END

Robin Page on the Tories, Nigel Farage, John West, Jeffrey Titford and UKIP’s proposed constitutional changes.

Taken from Robin Page’s blog: http://pageblog.dailymail.co.uk/

29 January 2009 11:47 AM

Dave, sleep peacefully,UKIP is a Small Party Getting Smaller Politics and politicians – what a shambles. Dave you may be lightweight – about the same weight as John Major – but you are considerably lighter than William Hague, who stupidly accepted the leadership of the Tory Party when he was too young. In my view later on today would be the right time for him.

Never mind – you can still sleep peacefully as the UKIP implosion continues apace through the skills of disintegration being used so well by leader Nigel Farage, now called “Fuhrer Farage” by many who can see what is going on. He is supported in all this nonsense by a group of handpicked nodding donkeys and sycophants who have turned UKIP in to a mini-mirror image of the EU – which they proclaim to hate. So the Party promising to clean up the sleaze and corruption of Brussels and leave the EU has becoming a Party slowly disappearing beneath what appears to be its own sleaze and corruption, with most of the “leaders” – Farage and friends – desperate to keep on or get on the Brussels Gravy Train. Incidentally I was reprimanded the other day for using the term Gravy Train – I was told it is a “Gravy Boat”, as modern boats are so much bigger than trains.

There are many questions to be asked – but so far none have been answered. I have asked them directly to Nigel Farage, and have never even had an acknowledgement. As a journalist, I need them answered for accuracy. As an individual I ask questions because I want to get to the facts – and the truth. I don’t want to smear or cast aspersions – I want the facts.

Some time ago Nigel told me that UKIP’s call centres were making a lot of money. How much? And where did the money go? The answers should be simple.

There are people who claim that huge amounts of money are not accounted for. I don’t know – is it true?

Some people tell me that Nigel has an “Educational Trust” on the Isle of Man. My simple questions to Nigel were – is this true? What does it do? Where did the money come from? All unanswered – so I don’t know whether this is true or false.

I understand that one evening Nigel had been enjoying the falling down water and had indeed fallen over. It is then claimed that he said of a Tory MEP of Asian origin: “Get that … away from me”. It was apparently witnessed, and indeed recorded, by others – is this true? That is all I have asked, and answers from UKIP’s leader would help to clarify the situation. We all have lapses – I recorded one of mine the other day (What an Own Goal). I am told that British MEPs from other parties witnessed all this – but I was also told “You’ll never get an answer as they are all at it”. Whatever does “at it” mean?

Dave, are your MEPs “at it” in Europe, and what are you going to do about it?

But UKIP’s state is even more serious – now any criticism of the Fuhrer is regarded as blasphemy, and properly elected members of UKIP’s NEC have been summarily turfed off, and John West – a Farage critic from Suffolk – next in line for the NEC has been stopped from filling the vacancy that the nodding donkey firing squad created.

Can you believe that all this is from the Party horrified by the lack of democracy and rampant corruption in Europe?Now even worse – the gang that has stolen UKIP from its grass roots want to change the constitution making it even less democratic. On the question of democracy – one of the nodding donkeys – MEP Jeffrey Titford, has moved to Sussex – miles out of his East Anglian constituency – yet as far as I am aware he has not told his constituents, nor his East Anglian party members (of who I am one) and he certainly has not had the decency to resign. Titford of course was an undertaker, now unwittingly helping to bury UKIP. Interestingly too, when Bob Spink first resigned from the Tory Party, he was described as “UKIP’s first MP”. Bob Spink has confirmed to me that he is not a UKIP MP he is an “Independent MP”.

As a result of all this, a group of virtually all UKIP’s high profile members is fighting the centralising of power by the Fuhrer and his nodding donkeys. They include

Sir Richard Body – former MP and first member of the House of Commons who could accurately be described as “green”: also, one of the few politicians I would cross the road to meet.

Roger Knapman MEP, former UKIP party leader

Piers Merchant former UKIP chief executive, returning officer and former MP

Prof. Tim Condon – one of the few nationally known figures to have joined UKIP

Bruce Lawson – former UKIP Treasurer

Dr.David Abbott – despite being an elected member of the NEC he was recently thrown off by the nodding donkeys.

Ukip’s constitutional changes are astonishing. One abolishes the Party’s annual business meeting – taking away the right of members to vote on the Party’s accounts – well there’s a surprise.

Another will abolish the democratic right of members to elect a Disciplinary Panel and it will give the unelected Party Chairman (appointed by the Leader) – with the most inappropriate name possible – ahem – Mr.Nutall – the arbitrary powers to suspend any member for any reason without a hearing.

I say, I say, I say, yes folks – this is UKIP – the party that believes the EU is corrupt and undemocratic.

At a time like this, when Britain needs a political party of substance and honesty – doesn’t it make you weep?

Sleep easy Dave – sadly you’ve nothing to worry about.

The beginning of the end for Farage, Nuttall and their sycophants

Last Friday I predicted that Farage would reap the whirlwind within seven days. I was aware of this letter and it’s contents but decided to reman silent until it was sent to all UKIP members. I can assure you that Farage, Nuttall and the nodding donkeys on the NEC are finished. They should now resign from UKIP for bringing our Party into disrepute. By conducting kangaroo courts, witch-hunts and promoting the corrupt they have shown that they are unfit for any political office. They are a disgrace both to UKIP and the whole Euro- realist movement.

Here is the text of the letter sent to all UKIP members:

Dear UKIP member,

We are writing this letter more in sorrow than in anger. At a time when every effort should be directed to our June election campaign, the NEC is wasting time and money on divisive and controversial changes to the UKIP constitution. It is now holding a members’ referendum on this.

What is worse, the purpose seems to be to make it easier to get rid of members at a time when we should be concentrating on the reverse – expanding our membership. The changes will stifle freedom of expression within the party and reduce and weaken the power of members:

Amendments 6 and 19 (VOTE 2) The changes abolish the annual business meeting. Members will be deprived of their current absolute right to vote annual on the Party’s accounts at a meeting of all members and to receive annual reports from all national officers. Yet the Party should belong to its members and the leadership should be accountable to them.

Amendments to 14 (VOTE 4) the changes will abolish the democratic right of members to elect a Disciplinary Committee at the annual business meeting. Instead a Disciplinary Panel of three will be selected arbitrarily by the unelected Party Secretary from a “pool” of about 55 people, themselves appointed by regional committees. Further changes will give the unelected Party Chairman (appointed by the Leader) arbitrary powers to suspend temporarily any member for any reason without a hearing.

These changes are worthy of the EU itself – reducing accountability and democracy.

Given that the leadership launched this attack on members’ rights and is now asking your view, we feel it right to present the case against. We ask you to vote AGAINST all changes but particularly Vote 2 and Vote 4. The other changes are simply needless.

In less than six months voters will be choosing their MEPs. UKIP should be campaigning now for a major breakthrough. Yet it is low on the opinion polls and short of campaign funds.

The NEC discussed the coming campaign for the first time only a few days ago. Meanwhile it has been wasting energy on feuding and squabbles. It then launched a witchhunt for imagined enemies within. Two NEC members elected by the members were summarily kicked off the NEC; their crime apparently being to express their own opinions (and absolutely nothing to do with the BNP as some have tried to imply). The deputy treasurer was similarly removed. Ordinary members have been thrown out without being given the right to any hearing.

We condemn this navel-gazing and misdirection of effort. It must stop. We call on the leadership to accept that any democratic party is bound to have a spread of views; that intellectual debate can be healthy and that, amazingly, the Leader, the Chairman and the NEC may not always be right.

As prominent UKIP members we call on the Party to unite, dispose of this distraction quickly by voting against these unneeded changes and concentrate on the proper task in hand.

Yours sincerely

Sir Richard Body, was MP for 39 years
Tim Congdon CBE, leading economist
Roger Knapman MEP, former Party Leader and MP
Dr. Eric Edmond, elected NEC member
Piers Merchant, former UKIP Chief Executive and MP
Bruce Lawson FCA, former UKIP Treasurer
Martin Haslam FCA, former UKIP deputy treasurer
Del Young, elected NEC member
Dr. David Abbott, elected NEC member

PS Please send us your views and comments on: sayno2009@hotmail.co.uk

The beginning of the end for Nigel Farage

Here is the letter that will prove the final nail in Farage’s coffin.

It was signed by Sir Richard Body, Roger Knapman MEP, Piers Merchant, Bruce Lawson FCA, Martin Haslam FCA, Tim Congdon CBE, Dr Eric Edmond, Del Young & Dr David Abbott.

The letter calls on all UKIP members to vote against the proposed changes to UKIP’s constitution – changes that will give Paul Nuttall the power to remove anyone who dares criticise the leadership. Such changes will turn UKIP into a full-blown fascist party.

I applaud these brave men for standing up for democracy, truth and justice.

Del Young & Wayne Harling: Is Mr Harling a fit candidate for UKIP’s NEC?

Del Young is an extremely popular member of UKIP. He is also member of UKIP’s NEC and was the first Director of Young Independence. In November 2007 he was the victim of a Farage orchestrated kangaroo court and was replaced by Lisa Duffy – a Farage sycophant with limited ability and therefore limited ambition.

Mr Young was never popular with the Farage cabal as he was quite prepared to criticise Nigel if the situation demanded it. He could also not be intimidated. Nigel also suspected that Del wanted to replace him as leader. Nigel’s insecurity proved Del’s undoing.

It should be noted that Wayne Harling – who is currently seeking election to the NEC – was part of the plot to remove Mr Young.

Wayne Harling had been sacked as chairman of Young Independence after Del realised that Mr Harling lacked ability, maturity and motivation. As you can imagine Wayne was looking to get even.

Here is Mr Young’s account of this shameful episode. It was originally published in 2007:

Dear UKIP Members,

I am writing to update you on UKIP Young Independence, the fledgling section of our party intended for younger members. Unfortunately some serious problems have emerged.

In January 2007 I pointed out to John Whittaker that UKIP Youth kept appearing on the NEC agenda and nothing was being done about it and we were missing an important opportunity to bring young people into the party. He told me if I was so concerned about it I should put proposals/ideas together about making it work.

In February 2007, I went to the NEC with a plan of action and explained it to the NEC I stressed to them that I needed the autonomy and the authority to set up and run UKIP Youth as I saw it but I also insisted on giving the NEC a running Commentary at the monthly meetings on what was happening in UKIP Youth, as they are the managers of the party and UKIP Youth must be under their overall management but in a loose way.

It’s important to note that there have been times when I went to give the NEC updates about UKIP Youth and the Party Chairman stop me from giving it and sometimes UKIP Youth was never on the agenda.

I appointed a Chairman, Secretary, Press officer, Fund Raising officer, Membership officer. I also appointed four Mentors from amongst members of the party, they were there to give support to the Youth Council when asked and I used them as a sounding board and advice when I wanted to. I was asked by the NEC to find a paid administrator and despite the difficulty of finding funding, and a lack of cooperation from some people, the organisation was successfully set up and an excellent administrator was appointed.

The mentors and I would have gradually fallen away as the organisation got strong and could stand on its own two feet.

After the completion of the Web site and a meeting in Birmingham with two mentors five members of the Youth council and I setting out how we were all going to make UKIP Young Independence a success. There was no action from some members of the Young Council. I phoned and contacted the mentors on a number of occasions to express my concerns and told them I was considering removing and replacing some members of the Young Council to improve things.

A few weeks after conference 2007, I did a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Trends) on the organisation and the inactivity and silly mind games by some Young Council members stood out as one of the biggest weaknesses and obstacles to UKIP Young Independence becoming a success.

I therefore exercised my right to reorganise the Young Council to make it more effective and successful. I removed the Chairman, the Press Office and the Fund raising Officer on the 1st November 2007.

When I attended the last NEC meeting on the 5th November, as an elected member, I was surprised to discover that an item was suddenly raised that had not been on the agenda. I was equally surprised to discover that the chairman of Young Independence I had appointed and removed had been invited.

What followed I can only describe as an orchestrated denunciation which, among other things, included claims that I had criticised the Party leader, Deputy Leader and the Party Chairman at a meeting of UKIP Young Independence in Birmingham. In fact this is not true, though I had not realised that criticism was no longer allowed.

I was then asked to leave the meeting – despite being an elected member – and when allowed back was kindly informed that “my resignation as Director of Young Independence had been accepted,” even though I had not resigned.

At no point in that NEC meeting which was more akin to a Soviet-style Politburo purge did I tell the NEC I resigned or handed them a letter of resignation!

Half way though the former chairman Wayne Harling`s report to the NEC I interrupted to informed the NEC he was lying and I needed a copy of the report to produce evidence and witnesses proving to them that he was lying. A member of the NEC told me I was being confrontational and I didn’t need a copy of the report. I then said “If you all are going to sit here and believe these lies I might as well step down from this thing”

This was a comment which has obviously been cynically manipulated as a resignation in order to get rid of me. It is also important to note that:

I did not have a copy of the Harling report before or after the NEC meeting

I did not have an opportunity to provide witness and evidence to prove my case

I did not know Harling was going to be at the meeting or that any issue would be raised

The Chairman (John Whittaker) and some other members of the NEC said I do not need a copy of the report when I asked Wayne Harling for the copy he had in his hand. Wayne Harling said he will email me a copy and to date I have not receive a copy of the report from Wayne.

Why didn’t the NEC want me to have a copy of Wayne Harling report?

Why didn’t the NEC speak to the Mentors and the other members of the Young Council before the ambush?

Why get rid of me when the structures and systems I had and was putting in place, stood a good chance of making UKIP Young Independence a success?

Why did the NEC got rid of me and reappoint the members of the Young Council whom I removed for being inactive, incapable of making UKIP Young Independence a success?

In other words this was a blatant ambush and an abuse of procedure.

The result of all of this is that our Young section is now in turmoil, there is no direction, the administrator has no guidance and a great opportunity is being squandered.

In addition, given the way in which I was treated at the last NEC some have suggested to me that I might as well resign altogether. However I was elected by the members to serve them on the NEC. I think it is important to have strong, independent voices on our governing body, so I intend to continue. My aim is to make an entirely positive contribution to the Party, but I will speak my mind at meetings in the interest of the members, their party and its aims and goals at the NEC as I am sure those who elected me want.

Yours faithfully
Delroy Young
Elected Member of the NEC

Another private message for Mr Nuttall

Caro Paul, ancora ottenente potabile a Bruxelles? Don’ la t dice la moglie!

Nigel Farage, Nazis and the TICAP conference

FORCES international, one of the lobbying groups behind Godfrey Bloom’s anti- smoking ban conference, has launched an astonishing attack on anybody who disagrees with its stance. In an article, ‘attempt to suppress TICAP conference’ it manages to make reference to Nazism and fascism 5 times each, not to mention occasional reference to whores and scum, Marxists, and a supportive quote from Nigel Farage. The piece concludes with the comment “See you in Brussels. Get on that plane now. We have a fuming message we are going to blow right into their ugly, Nazi faces!”

An attempt to gain credibility for the conference floundered when the Parliament’s bureau noticed on the agenda some rather interesting references to “opportunities to engage with leading industry figures”.

As the smokers gather in a nearby hotel room to be anti-anti-anti (sorry if that is too few or too many “anti”s, its hard to keep up with exactly what the contrarians are for or against these days) another conference will be getting underway just a stones throw away. Open Europe, the right of centre Eurosceptic think tank, will be presenting its paper ‘The hard sell: EU communication policy and the campaign for hearts and minds’ paper. This provocative and illuminating document was prepared by Lee Rotherham and Lorraine Mullally, and the presentation will be attended by prominent figures such as journalist Hans Martin Tillack, and various eurosceptic MEPs. The choice of venue is extremely telling – Libertas headquarters. It would seem that serious euroscepticism has just shifted its powerbase.

So as Farage’s jolly jape club prepares to meet the electoral firing squad on June 4th, they seem to have opted for one last cigarette and a blindfold.

More from Nigel’s photo album

Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall ‘advise’ two new UKIP members on how to vote in the NEC elections